Comentário sobre Gênesis 41:1

ויהי מקץ AND IT CAME TO PASS AT THE END — As the Targum renders it by מסוף “at the end” All forms of the noun קץ signify one end or the other.

BY THE ‘YE’OR’ (RIVER). With the exception of the Nile, none of the other rivers is called ye’or, a word signifying “canal,” because the entire country consists of artificially constructed canals, and the waters of the Nile¹“Rain does not fall in Egypt, but the Nile rises and irrigates the land.” (Rashi, Exodus 7:17). flow into them. This is the language of Rashi.
Onkelos however did translate the word ye’or here as “river,” but in the book of Exodus he translated al ye’oreihem²Exodus 7:19. as “on their canals,” as he had to distinguish between nahar and ye’or since they are both mentioned in the same verse: ‘al naharotham ve’al ye’oreihem’ (on their rivers and on their canals). Thus, according to Onkelos, all rivers are called ye’orim, with the large ones being called both n’haroth and ye’orim while those canals constructed by man are also called ye’orim.³Thus the word nahar applies only to a natural river, while the word ye’or applies to both a natural river and a man-made canal. Thus we find that the Tigris, besides being called nahar, is also called ye’or, as it is written, I was by the side of the great ‘nahar’ (river), which is Tigris… and behold a man clothed in linen,⁴Daniel 10:4-5. and it is further written there: And, behold, there stood other two, the one on the bank of the ‘ye’or’ (river) on this side, and the other on the bank of the ‘ye’or’ on that side. And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the ‘ye’or’ (river).⁵Ibid., 12:5-6. In my opinion the fact is as Onkelos said,⁶When he said that ye’or and nahar are both terms for rivers. as both ye’or and nahar convey the same concept, both being an expression for orah (light). The rain, likewise, is called or (light), as it is said: He spreadeth ‘oro’ (His light) upon it;⁷Job 36:30. He spreadeth abroad the cloud of ‘oro’ (His lighting);⁸Ibid., 37:11. and as Rabbi Yochanan said,⁹Bereshith Rabbah 26:18. “All verses in Elihu’s speech in the book of Job containing the word orah refer to the coming down of rain.” Perhaps this is because the rains are influenced by the luminaries,¹⁰“Luminaries.” In his commentary to Job 36:30, Ibn Ezra writes: “For the rain is called or (light) on account of the small luminary (the moon), since its movements, by command of the Creator, cause the rain.” An identical explanation is also found in R’dak’s Sefer Hashorashim, under the root or. and the rivers which are formed by the rains are thus related to their first cause,¹¹This explains why rain is referred to in Elihu’s speech as or (light), since the rain is caused by the movement of the luminaries, as explained above. the luminaries.

ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים, two whole years according to Leviticus 25,29-30 ימים תהיה גאולתו, “it may be redeemed until the end of one year.” Here the Torah speaks of שנתים, i.e. twice a year. The word ימים as meaning a year has already occurred in Genesis 24,54 ימים או עשור, “a year or at least 10 months.” Also in Exodus 13,10 we find the expressionמימים ימימה, which means: “from year to year, annually.” When the words מקץ שנתים occur without the addition of the word ימים, they mean “one year.” When an animal did not yet reach the first anniversary of its birth it is called as being בן שנתו, “an up to one year old.” (compare Leviticus 12,6)

ויהי מקץ..ופרעה חולם, while he was dreaming about all kinds of matters of no relevance, matters reflecting what he had experienced during the course of the previous day, he also dreamt something totally unrelated to matters he could relate to, i.e. he saw himself standing on the banks of the river. The word חולם in the present tense, as opposed to חלם in the past, recalls Daniel’s statement as well as the Talmud’s statement in Berachot 55 that generally the subjects one dreams about are unfinished business of what one had been thinking of in the course of the previous day.

ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים, It happened at the end of two years, etc. The reason the Torah introduces this paragraph with the word ויהי, a word indicating an unhappy event, is that as of now the exile of the Jewish people begins to unravel. Even though this exile had been decreed almost two hundred years previously, it had not been decreed anywhere that this exile had to be in Egypt. Moreover, the exile turned out to be more cruel than necessary in order to satisfy G'd's decree as we know from Tossaphot on Shabbat 10 and as the ראב׳ד has written in a glossary on Maimonides's Hilchot Teshuvah chapter six. He explains that the Egyptians behaved in an abnormally cruel manner as indicated by Genesis 15,13.

ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים, at the end of two years after the release of the cup bearer Pharaoh had given this banquet, following which he had the dream narrated here.

ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים, “it was at the end of two years.” Pharaoh’s dream occurred two years after the reinstatement of the chief of the cupbearers. Although the Torah did not specify when the two years which it describes as having ended commenced, it is reasonable to assume that they commenced at the time the cupbearer had been released. The Torah implies that although the time had come then for Joseph to be released also, the fact that he pinned his hopes on the goodwill of the cupbearer whose good fortune he had foretold caused G’d to keep him in jail for another two years. As a result, he spent a total of 12 years in jail. He had served in the house of Potiphar for only one year. We arrive at this conclusion by the verse which says “the blessing of G’d was on the house of the Egyptian both in the field and in the house, the field being a reference to the summer, and “the house” being a reference to winter, the season when most people in temperate climates spend most of their time indoors. He had already been in jail for 9 years before the king’s prisoners joined him there. This is clear from the verse (Genesis 40,4) “they had been in jail for one year.” (a reference to the two ministers.) These ten years were followed by another two years that ended at the beginning of our portion. This account is difficult to reconcile with a statement in the Midrash Hagadol on Genesis 40,1 that the cupbearer and the chief baker sinned [in the sense that the Satan encouraged them to sin, Ed.] in order that they should have reason to bemoan their own fates instead of slandering Joseph, etc.” If the Midrash is correct, it is strange that they were not jailed many years previously. Perhaps one could say that though both the cupbearer and the chief baker committed a variety of sins against their king much earlier, the identity of these sinners had not been discovered until much later so that they were not jailed until Joseph had already been in jail for nine years.

Every form of the word קץ means “the end.” It is obvious that קץ means “end,” as Onkelos translates it. However, [Rashi is answering the] question: Why does Scripture write the word ימים? It would be understandable if קץ did not [always] mean “end,” but [also can mean] “some of,” as in מקצה אחיו, “From some of his brothers” (47:2). Accordingly, here it mentions ימים to indicate that it was two full years, not part of two years. But if מקץ always means “end,” why does Scripture write ימים? Rashi answers: We might think מקץ means “some of,” and it always means this, unless it is evident otherwise from the verse. That is why it is written here ימים — to show that it means “end,” and not “some of.” Consequently, קץ always means “end.” For it is evident here that קץ means “end,” and we make a gezeirah shavah between קץ [written here, and any other instance of] קץ. Thus Rashi says, “And [henceforth,] every form of the word קץ means ‘the end’.” So it seems to me, as opposed to Re’m’s explanation, that Rashi says every form of the word קץ means “the end” because Rashi wishes to distinguish קץ from קצה. This is because קצה sometimes means “end,” as in: “At the end (מקצה) of three years” (Devarim 14:28). And it sometimes means “side,” as in: “One cherub on this side (מקצה)” (Shemos 25:19). And it sometimes means “some of,” as in: “From some of (מקצה) his brothers” (47:2). Although [the word קץ] appeared several times previously in Scripture, [and Rashi did not comment there,] this is not problematic, as many similar cases exist [where Rashi does not explain a word the first time it appears]. Re’m writes: We need not object that it says, “At the קץ of seven years, you are to make shemitah” (Devarim 15:1), which apparently means at the beginning of shemitah, as it is written, “But in the seventh year you must let it rest” (Shemos 23:11). For [the answer is:] The verse in Devarim is speaking of releasing debts (השמטת כספים), and this is at the end of shemitah.

קץ ,מקץ von קצץ verwandt mit גזז abschneiden, trennen, auch mit כסם Zahl und Maß bestimmen, wovon כס ein Gefäß von bestimmtem Maß. Vergl. גזר ,כרת: trennen und bestimmen. So auch קצץ beides. ויהי מקץ: es war eben, als man von Beendigung zweier voller Jahre kam. — פרעה: kein Nomen proprium, sondern Bezeichnung der königlichen Würde in Ägypten, wie alle Könige in Philistea Abimelech heißen. Demgemäß ist das Wort allerdings ägyptischen Ursprungs. Würde es hebräisch oder die Bedeutung in beiden Sprachen dieselbe sein, so käme es von פרע, ungebunden sein, und wäre eine sehr charakteristische Bezeichnung der Majestät in Ägypten. Es gab keinen Staat, wo alles so gebunden, so fest geregelt war, wo sich das ganze Staatsleben in so festen Klammern bewegte, wie Ägypten. Einen gab es da, der frei war, es war die Spitze, der König, er hatte das alle fesselnde Band der Staatsgewalt zu halten, er war somit frei, jedoch auch nur in seiner Art; denn in Wirklichkeit war es war ein Königstraum. — עמד על, wo es nicht konkret auf etwas stehen bedeutet, heißt es in der Regel nicht nur räumlich neben etwas stehen, sondern zugleich Geist und Gedanken darauf gerichtet haben. העומד על (z. B. M. 18, 13). ויעמד העם על משה בני עמך (Daniel 12, 1 [siehe Kap.28, 131]). Also: er stand sinnend an dem Flusse. Der Fluss war Gegenstand seiner Betrachtung, der Fluss, der durch seine überschwemmung die ganze Fruchtbarkeit des Landes bedingt. — יאר vielleicht verwandt mit קער ,יער, vielleicht auch קערה .יהר: Schüssel, also: Behältnis zur Aufnahme von Flüssigkeiten. יערת רבש, also ebenfalls eine Ansammlung von Flüssigkeiten. Möglich auch, dass auch יער darum Wald bedeutet, da Waldung für die Gegend ebenfalls eine Vermittelung der Ansammlung von Feuchtigkeiten ist. Somit יאר eine Wassersammlung, speziell der Nil, in welchem sich die von den Gebirgen herabströmenden Wassermengen ansammeln und überfließen. Vielleicht so auch גבר יָהִיר übersprudelnder Mutwillen, ולא ינוה, der daher keine bleibende ruhige Stätte gewinnt (Habakuk 2, 5).

ויהי מקץ, “it was at the end;” according to Rashi, the word מקץ means: at the end.” The reason why Rashi was forced to give this interpretation-which to most of us is quite clear, is that there are occasions when this expression means: “at the beginning.” One such example occurs in Jeremiah 34,14: מקץ שבע שנים תשלחו חפשי, “at the beginning of the seventh year you must release him to freedom” (the Jewish slave) [Seeing that his term or servitude is for six years, (Exodus 21,2) it cannot mean that he is to be released only at the end of the seventh year. Ed.] There is another verse involving this expression in Deuteronomy 15,1: מקץ שבע שנים תעשה שמטה, but this is inconclusive for our purpose, as the release of the debtor from overdue loans becomes effective only at the end of the seventh year.

ויהי מקץ, “it was at the end of;” Rashi writes that the meaning of this word corresponds to Onkelos’ translation, i.e. “at the end,” as it does always. If you examine the Hebrew language closely you will find that this word does not always mean “end,” as for instance when Joseph in Genesis 47,2 presents some of his brothers to Pharaoh and the word chosen for “some of” is מקצה. We also find this word in Jeremiah 34,14, meaning: “at the beginning of seven years.

על היאר BY THE RIVER — No other river is called יאר) except the Nile, because the whole country (Egypt) is full of artificially constructed canals (יאורים) and the Nile flows into them and fills them with water, since rain does not fall in Egypt as regularly as in other lands.

ופרעה חלם. He was dreaming that he was standing by the river. The word על as meaning “besides, close to,” occurs for instance, also in Numbers 2,20 ועלי מטה מנשה, “and beside him (the army of the tribe Ephrayim) camped the army of the tribe Menashe.” The meaning certainly could not be that Menashe was “above, over,” the tribe of Ephrayim, a more common meaning for the word על. G’d directs all these various apparently unrelated little incidents in mysterious ways in order to promote the realisation of His overall plan in historical developments, both of His people, and of mankind generally. Pharaoh’s dream was inspired by G’d in order that the prophecy to Avraham that before his descendants would take possession of the land of the Canaanites which He had promised them could come true. He had spoken of a period of 400 years parts of which would be harsh treatment of Avraham’s descendants as slaves. In order for this to come about, Avraham’s descendants had to be in Egypt. In order for them to go there voluntarily G’d had to orchestrate the famine. In order for Egypt not to perish during the famine Joseph had to interpret Pharaoh’s dream correctly and make the Egyptians indebted to himself and his family, thus reducing the number of years the Jews would do slave labour there. David details these steps of G’d’s השגחה in Psalms 105. When we look at Pharaoh’s dream with hindsight, we cannot fail to wonder why this dream was so difficult to interpret, and why the collective wisdom of all of Pharaoh’s wise men failed them. The answer is that G’d withheld their normal sagacity in order to bring Joseph into the picture. This concept of G’d interfering sometimes with the thought processes of human beings [not with their will which is inviolate they having been created in the image of G’d, i.e. with free will. Ed.] is described by the prophet Isaiah with the words משיב חכמים אחור ודעתם יסכל, “He turns sages back and makes nonsense of their knowledge.” (Isaiah 44,25)

מקץ, Rashi, following Onkelos, translates this as “at the end.” The reason he interprets the word as meaning “at the end,” is so we should not misunderstand its meaning to be “at the beginning,” as in Deut. 14,28 מקצה שלש שנים, where it means “the beginning of the third year.”

All other rivers are not referred to as יאורים except for the Nile... Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written היאור, with a definite article? [The answer is:] Perforce it refers to the known יאור, mentioned earlier — the four נהרות written in Bereishis (2:11). Accordingly, why is it not written נהר here, like it does there? Surely [the answer is:] If it was written נהר here, we would not know which נהר, as four נהרות were mentioned earlier. Thus it says יאור, meaning the נהר that has יאורים. And all other נהרות are not called יאורים, only the Nile, as Rashi goes on to explain. The Nile is the Pishon River mentioned in Bereishis, as Rashi explains there. When Rashi says, “All other rivers,” he is referring to the other three נהרות written in Bereishis.

An additional reason for introducing this paragraph with the word ויהי is that G'd announced that there would be a famine and G'd always shares the pain He inflicts on His world (compare Megillah 10 on Exodus 14,20).

ופרעה חולם, “and Pharaoh was dreaming;” G–d’s method of applying reward and punishment cannot be compared to any human system of doing so. Human beings inflict wounds with a chisel, a metal and pain causing instrument, while they apply only a flimsy plaster to heal the wound. G–d inflicts a wound that is superficial, like the application of a plaster, but when it comes to healing it, He uses immediately effective means. Joseph had been thrown into a pit on account of a mere dream he had dreamt concerning his brothers; he was healed by a dream dreamt by the then most powerful ruler on earth, the King of Egypt. In other words, G–d employed “the heavyweight” on earth in order to heal his wounds. One of our liturgists pointed this out already in a s’lichah recited on the third day of the “s’Iichot” recited before Rosh Hashanah. He points out there that the remedy G–d used to heal Joseph consists of parts of the weapon used to harm him.

”שנתים ימים, “two years;” these years are counted from the day that the chief cupbearer was released from imprisonment. In other words שנתים ימים means two complete years (i.e. complete with 730 days, just as חודש ימים means a month complete with 30 days). If the Torah had used the word שנתים, which also means “two years,” I might have thought that it could have been as little as one year plus a day, as we find the years of a king’s rule is described in such a way from the moment the second year of his reign has commenced. The Torah wished us to know that Joseph spent a whole two extra years in jail because the chief of the cupbearers did not keep his promise.[Had he kept it, it is doubtful that he would ever have become viceroy and that the Egyptians would have been saved from the ravages of the famine. Ed.] From G-d’s point of view he was punished for putting his trust in that cup bearer instead of praying to G-d for his release. An alternate exegesis: the two years were two years that had been added to G-d’s decree for Joseph to spend time in jail. (Compare Talmud Sotah folio 36) According to the Talmud, Joseph had actually wanted to sleep with the wife of Potiphar when his father’s image appeared to him and helped him to overcome the temptation. According to the description there, he dug his fingernails into the floor and ejaculated semen by that means. The Talmud continues that he was really meant to sire twelve tribes just as had his father Yaakov, but enough semen escaped through the ten fingernails to preclude him from fulfilling his destiny in that respect. Instead, he spent ten years in jail as penance. Pharaoh’s dream occurred 12 years after he had been jailed. The Torah reports that he was 30 years old when appointed to high office. (verse 46). He had served in Potiphar’s house for a year. Therefore he was in jail for a total of 12 years.

The chief butler did not remember. After he was restored to his position he considered it beneath his dignity to remember a lowly Hebrew slave.

שנתים ימים, “two years;” seeing that the word שנתים means “two years,” why did the Torah add the superfluous ימים “years?” Some commentators explain this as meaning that here the Torah speaks of solar years instead of lunar years, as in ימים תהיה גאולתו, “it is to be redeemed within a year.” (lunar year of 12 months.) (Leviticus 25,29). This is supported by the words עד מלאת לו שנה תמימה, “until he has completed a full year” (Leviticus 25,30) Other commentators understand the phrase as referring to two of three ימים that Joseph spoke of in interpreting the dreams of the cupbearer and chief baker.

The entire country is made up of man-made canals, and the Nile overflows... Rashi is answering the question: Since this verse is referring to one of the rivers mentioned in Bereishis, why is it not mentioned by its name? [The answer is:] Since Egypt is made up of man-made יאורים, its river [came to be] called יאור. But all other rivers [of other countries] are not made up in this manner.

The word ויהי also reflects the mental anguish Joseph endured during the two years after the chief butler was released from jail. Originally, it had been intended that Joseph should be released at that time (Bereshit Rabbah 89,2). He had to endure two additional years in jail because he had put his trust in a human being. The Midrash there understands the words ויהי מקץ as indicating an end to darkness. קץ is also a word which describes the evil urge, i.e. קץ כל בשר. Accordingly, the Torah uses this word to allude to the reason that Joseph had to stay in jail another two years. These two years during which Joseph experienced mental anguish are counted as part of the Jewish people's exile experience because the chief butler had neglected to remember Joseph favourably. The reason that not one but two additional years were decreed was because Joseph said both כי אם זכרתני and והזכרתני. He wanted to be remembered and to be mentioned favourably.

ופרעה חלם, “and Pharaoh had a dream.” The prefix letter ו at the beginning of the word ופרעה, is an oblique confirmation of the statement by our sages that G’d does not set in motion an important sequence of events without first consulting with the Heavenly Tribunal and revealing it to His prophets. Joseph, supposedly, also dreamt Pharaoh’s dream. We are therefore encouraged to treat this paragraph as a continuation of the preceding one by means of this letter ו, although on the face of it, it would appear to introduce something not connected to what immediately preceded it. [the Talmud does not include Joseph in its list of 48 prophets and 7 prophetesses. Ed.]

The wording מקץ שנתים also means that it was on the second anniversary of the day the chief butler and the chief of the bakers had their dreams. When Joseph's fortunes took a turn for the better this was to be related directly to the dreams, showing that the dream had correctly forecast what would happen.

והנה עומד על היאור, “and here he was standing over the river (Nile)” According to Rashi no other river has ever been referred to as יאור. Nachmanides disagrees, saying that the river Tigris has also been described as יאור as we know from Daniel 12,6 where the word יאור cannot refer to the Nile but must refer to the Tigris. We also find that Onkelos translates the word יאור simply as נהרא, “river.” If it were a designation that applies exclusively to the river Nile, Onkelos could not have chosen the word נהרא to describe it. The word יאור is a derivative of the word אור, light, and we also find the word אור describing גשם, rain. (Job, 37,11 יפיץ ענן אורו, “the cloud spreads its rain). Bereshit Rabbah, 26,7 (quoting Rabbi Yochanan) states that wherever in the Book of Job, Elihu speaks of אור, he refers to rainfall. Perhaps this is all connected to the vapours rising from the streams and rivers, eventually producing rain. [the author must consider the “atmosphere” as another term describing light in the sense of daylight (seeing that we have daylight even when the sun does not shine, and as proof he considers the rainbow as part of this “atmosphere.” [Seeing that the author engages in speculation, I have added my own so as to make his speculation more plausible sounding, even if not scientifically correct. Ed.]

By asking the Chief of the butlers to intercede on his behalf, righteous Joseph demonstrated that he had not attained the level of trust in G’d which an Elijah demonstrated in his life. As a result Joseph was punished by having to stay in jail two years longer than had been decreed originally.

ופרעה חולם, and Pharaoh had a dream. Inasmuch as the Torah here begins with the introduction of a new episode, we would have expected either the word חלם, or ויחלום, he dreamt, not חולם, he was dreaming. The latter word would only be appropriate if the Torah told us about the continuation of something that we knew had begun previously. Actually, the Torah uses this present tense in this case to show that Pharaoh's dream was a direct continuation of events which had begun when the chief butler and the chief of the bakers had had their dreams. The Torah wanted to show us that even though the chief butler did not want to help Joseph get out of jail, G'd had other means at His disposal to help Joseph get out of jail. It is therefore best to imagine the last verse of the previous chapter and the first verse in this chapter as being continuous, thus: "since the chief butler did not remember Joseph and forgot him Pharaoh had a dream at the end of two years." This eventually forced the chief butler to speak up and mention Joseph as a successful interpreter of dreams.

It is also possible that during the two years Pharaoh repeatedly kept dreaming the same dream without recalling it in the morning. Now that two years had elapsed he suddenly had a vivid recollection of this dream.

The words "and Pharaoh was dreaming" may also have been intended to tell us that even Pharaoh personally felt during his dream that he was dreaming. The reason he felt that way was that the events that occurred during the dream were so totally unlikely. The Torah wishes to teach us a lesson here about how to determine if a dream has meaning as a message to the person who dreams it. When a person feels during his dream that he must explore the meaning of what has appeared to him in the dream, this is a clear sign that the dream cannot be dismissed as being of no consequence but that it presages something that will occur in the future.