בְּנֵ֥י יוֹסֵ֖ף לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑ם מְנַשֶּׁ֖ה וְאֶפְרָֽיִם׃
Os filhos de Yosef, segundo as suas famílias: Menashe e Efraim.
Ibn Ezra
“And Korah took” - This matter that was in the wilderness of Sinai, when the firstborns were replaced and the Levites were separated,
For the Israelites thought that Moshe our Leader did it according to his own thought, to give greatness to his brother, and also to the sons of Kehat for they are close to him, and all of the Levites that they are his family.
And the Levites conspired against him because they were given to Aaron and his sons.
Datan and Aviram conspired because the firstborn privilege was removed from Reuven their father and given to Yosef; perhaps they suspected that [Moshe did that] for the sake of Yehoshua his servant [who was from Yosef].
Also Korah was a first born, for thus was written.
>And those Heads of the Congregation (edah) were firstborns and they were bringing the olah offerings.
And the proof for this explanation is the miracle of the staff (Bamidbar 17:16-26) that all of Israel saw that Hashem chose the tribe of Levi in place of the firstborns, and therefore it is written (Bamidbar 17:25) “their mutterings ceased,” for the mutterings were about this.
Also Moshe said that “it is not from my own mind” (Bamidbar 26:28), because they suspected that it was from his own mind that he did it.
And further proof is “Hashem did not send me” - for this task - because all the Israelites already believed in him [in general]. Another total proof is “all the congregation are holy” and this is a hint to the firstborns that they are holy, because it is written (shemot 13:2) “sanctify to Me every first born” and they are the priests (Kohanim) that approach Hashem and they are the essence of the whole congregation.
For the Israelites thought that Moshe our Leader did it according to his own thought, to give greatness to his brother, and also to the sons of Kehat for they are close to him, and all of the Levites that they are his family.
And the Levites conspired against him because they were given to Aaron and his sons.
Datan and Aviram conspired because the firstborn privilege was removed from Reuven their father and given to Yosef; perhaps they suspected that [Moshe did that] for the sake of Yehoshua his servant [who was from Yosef].
Also Korah was a first born, for thus was written.
>And those Heads of the Congregation (edah) were firstborns and they were bringing the olah offerings.
And the proof for this explanation is the miracle of the staff (Bamidbar 17:16-26) that all of Israel saw that Hashem chose the tribe of Levi in place of the firstborns, and therefore it is written (Bamidbar 17:25) “their mutterings ceased,” for the mutterings were about this.
Also Moshe said that “it is not from my own mind” (Bamidbar 26:28), because they suspected that it was from his own mind that he did it.
And further proof is “Hashem did not send me” - for this task - because all the Israelites already believed in him [in general]. Another total proof is “all the congregation are holy” and this is a hint to the firstborns that they are holy, because it is written (shemot 13:2) “sanctify to Me every first born” and they are the priests (Kohanim) that approach Hashem and they are the essence of the whole congregation.
Da'at Zekenim
למטה יוסף, למטה מנשה, “from the tribe of Joseph, the tribe of M’nashe; here “M’nashe is mentioned first, as the representative of that tribe who would prove to be one who slandered the Holy Land together with the majority of the spies, whereas Joshua, the representative of Ephrayim, the other half of the tribe of Joseph, although the favourite of Yaakov (Genesis 48,19) when he blessed the children of Joseph, was not lumped together with the other spies. (Compare Numbers 1,10, 32, and Numbers 26,28)
Rabbeinu Bahya
Avimelech responded to all three questions:
Concerning the question why he had come, he acknowledged: “we have seen very clearly that G’d is with you" (verse 28). They repeated this, thus implying that Yitzchak’s success in planting and bringing in a bumper crop, plus the fact that he always found water was ample proof that G’d was on his side. As a result of this belated realization they had come to make a covenant with him. Onkelos translates the word אלה, oath, as מומתא, “oath,” and the word תהי was meant to reconfirm an existing obligation entered into by Avraham. [They were afraid that by expelling Yitzchak they had given him cause not to feel bound by his father’s covenant with the same king. Ed.] A totally different explanation is quoted by our author in the name of Rabbi Ishmael the author of Sifri. [Our editions of the Sifri do not have this — Rabbi Chavell]. Rabbi Ishmael views the offer of a covenant as not related to the covenant concluded with Avraham but as a new “non-aggression pact” between Yitzchak and Avimelech not to cause each other damage in any way. They wanted this to be a secret agreement that the world was not to know about. It was embarrassing for Avimelech if the world at large would hear that he had come all the way to Yitzchak to make the latter swear not to harm him in any way, and that he was so scared of Yitzchak’s power.
Concerning Yitzchak’s second point about their hating him, Avimelech said that this was absolutely not the case and he had no cause to be hostile to them. In fact he would be ungrateful if he did them any harm seeing they had not only allowed him to depart in peace but had not prevented him from taking all his wealth with him. [In the opinion of the Gentiles, letting a Jew depart with his locally made fortune is proof that they do not hate him. Ed.]
As to the third point Yitzchak had made, i.e. that they had expelled him, he had not suffered by this as G’d had made him equally successful elsewhere so that the fortune he had made could not be attributed to the location Gerar which they had recently denied him.
Concerning the question why he had come, he acknowledged: “we have seen very clearly that G’d is with you" (verse 28). They repeated this, thus implying that Yitzchak’s success in planting and bringing in a bumper crop, plus the fact that he always found water was ample proof that G’d was on his side. As a result of this belated realization they had come to make a covenant with him. Onkelos translates the word אלה, oath, as מומתא, “oath,” and the word תהי was meant to reconfirm an existing obligation entered into by Avraham. [They were afraid that by expelling Yitzchak they had given him cause not to feel bound by his father’s covenant with the same king. Ed.] A totally different explanation is quoted by our author in the name of Rabbi Ishmael the author of Sifri. [Our editions of the Sifri do not have this — Rabbi Chavell]. Rabbi Ishmael views the offer of a covenant as not related to the covenant concluded with Avraham but as a new “non-aggression pact” between Yitzchak and Avimelech not to cause each other damage in any way. They wanted this to be a secret agreement that the world was not to know about. It was embarrassing for Avimelech if the world at large would hear that he had come all the way to Yitzchak to make the latter swear not to harm him in any way, and that he was so scared of Yitzchak’s power.
Concerning Yitzchak’s second point about their hating him, Avimelech said that this was absolutely not the case and he had no cause to be hostile to them. In fact he would be ungrateful if he did them any harm seeing they had not only allowed him to depart in peace but had not prevented him from taking all his wealth with him. [In the opinion of the Gentiles, letting a Jew depart with his locally made fortune is proof that they do not hate him. Ed.]
As to the third point Yitzchak had made, i.e. that they had expelled him, he had not suffered by this as G’d had made him equally successful elsewhere so that the fortune he had made could not be attributed to the location Gerar which they had recently denied him.