Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Genesis 49:13

AND THE ETERNAL SHOWED HIM [MOSES] ALL THE LAND — all the Land of Israel beyond the Jordan [westward] — and then the verse states that He showed him even Gilead, as far as Dan. Now Moses was in the territory of Reuben, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities thereof²⁸⁹Above, 3:12. belonged to the children of Reuben,²⁸⁹Above, 3:12. and the other half belonged to Menasheh.²⁹⁰Joshua 13:31. Therefore the verse before us must mean that [G-d showed Moses the whole Land] “from Gilead²⁹¹The verse cannot mean that G-d showed him the land of Gilead, because that is precisely where Moses was. Instead the word eth — eth Gilead — must mean “from” the Gilead onward. as far as Dan.” Or it may be that there was [a place called] Gilead in the Lebanon in the Land of Israel, as it is written, thou art Gilead unto Me, the head of Lebanon.²⁹²Jeremiah 22:6. The verse mentions as far as Dan which is at the extremity of the border of the Land of Israel, as it is written, Go now to and fro through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba.²⁹³II Samuel 24:2. It mentions the land of Ephraim and Menasheh²⁹⁴Verse 2. which were in the northern part of the Land of Israel, and the land of Judah was to the south, as it is written, Judah shall abide in his border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their border on the north,²⁹⁵Joshua 18:5. for Judah took all the south of the Land of Israel from the Jordan to the sea, and Dan took the north-west. It mentions Naphtali²⁹⁴Verse 2. who was on the east, near Judah,²⁹⁶Ibid., 19:34 [in speaking of the border of Naphtali]: and it reached… to Judah at the Jordan toward the sunrise. but it does not mention Asher and Issachar, for they were among Ephraim and Menasheh, as it is written [about the borders of Ephraim and Menasheh], and they reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the east.²⁹⁷Joshua 17:10. It did not mention Simeon, for their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah,²⁹⁸Ibid., 19:1. nor that of Benjamin whose border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph,²⁹⁹Ibid., 18:11. already mentioned near them. It states as far as the western sea²⁹⁴Verse 2. which alludes to Zebulun who dwelt at the shore of the sea,³⁰⁰Genesis 49:13. or it may be that [Zebulun] is included [in the statement that G-d showed him] the south, and the plain³⁰¹Verse 3. [since the territory of Zebulun was in the plain at the sea]. It mentions the valley of Jericho³⁰¹Verse 3. because it is a deep valley, not visible from the top of the mountain [where Moses stood], but G-d showed it to him miraculously. In general then He showed him the entire inheritance of Israel, as it is written, This is the Land which I swore etc.³⁰²Verse 4. Our Rabbis in the Sifre³⁰³Sifre, Brachah 357. have elucidated about these places mentioned in Scripture.
Now, the reason for this sight which He showed him was because the Land of Israel is full of all good things,³⁰⁴Above, 6:11. and is the beauty of all lands.³⁰⁵Ezekiel 20:6. And since the great love with which Moses our teacher loved Israel was manifest to Him, He made him rejoice by beholding the abundant goodness with his eyes.³⁰⁶Ecclesiastes 5:10.

את הגלעד עד דן, “Gilead as far as Dan.” Moses was standing on part of the land owned by the tribe of Reuven, whose territory also included some parts of Gilead. Menashe had conquered the other half of Gilead. There was also a “Gilead” in the mountains of Lebanon, which was located on the west side of the Jordan in Israel proper. This is based on Jeremiah 22,6 גלעד אתה לי ראש הלבנון, “Gilead, you are for Me the head of Lebanon etc.;” The reason the Torah mentions the words עד דן, is because that is the northernmost boundary of the land of Israel. The land of Yehudah, basically describes the southern part of the country. Proof of this is Samuel II 24 where Beer Sheva is listed as the southernmost city in Yehudah at the time David commanded Yoav to count the men capable of bearing arms. The tribes of Menashe and Ephrayim are mentioned by name as they populated the others regions. So are Naftali and Dan. Naftali bordered Yehudah in the east. Issachar’s boundaries are not mentioned, as its territory bordered Ephrayim on one side and Menashe on the other. Shimon was an enclave within the territory of Yehudah, and also did not need to be mentioned separately. Binyamin is also not mentioned because its territory was wedged between Yehudah to the south and the tribes of Joseph in the north. The reason the boundary of the Mediterranean is mentioned is on account of Zevulun whose territory was adjacent to the shores of that ocean. There is a view that the territory of Zevulun was situated all the way to the Dead Sea, near Jericho, based on the Torah describing that tribe as dwelling between “seas” (plural). (Genesis 49,13) The valley of the Jordan near Jericho is mentioned especially, seeing that the area is 1200 meters below sea level and not easily visible from where Moses had been standing. G’d invoked a miracle to enable Moses to see all this with his physical eyes. It is clear that Moses was shown the entire land clearly as the Torah testifies that G’d said: “I have shown you the whole land that I have sworn to give to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov.” (34,4) The principal reason G’d showed Moses the land was to impress him with its goodness. G’d was aware of the tremendous love Moses possessed both for his people and for the land of Israel. He knew that He gave Moses a great deal of joy by showing him what his people had to look forward to.

"The word of Gd came to Jonah ben Amittai..." until "the sailors feared". Our sages say that Yonah was from the tribe of Asher and he was the son of the widow who had sustained Eliyahu and he was the dead who Eliyahu had brought back to life. But Rabbi Yochana said he was from the tribe of Zevulun because when he is introduced in II Kings 14:25 weare told he is from Gat Chefer (in Zeveulun's portion). Rabbi Levi says that his mother was from Asher and his father was from Zevulun (who was blessed to dwell by the sea until Tzidon" and he went down to Yaffo and found a ship going to Tarshish, and Elisha trusted him as prohet to deliver the messenger abut annointng Yehu ben Nimshi as King and because he was trustworthy, he was called "Amitai" And from this were learn taht this wasi n the Kingdom of Efraim before Sancherib destroyed the Shomrom but after the Assyrians defeated the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and half of Menashe that were on the other side of the Jordan and after they exiled Zebulun and Naftali and there is no doubt that all the other prophets who remained were scared of the King of Assyria that he would come and destroy the Shomron like he did to the previously exiled tribes. And this fear was in the hearts of the wise of Israel and therefore affected Yonah's actions as will be explained in this book and what Gd commanded Yonah to (Yonah 1:2) go to Ninveh the big city which was the capital with the king's throne. And the Ibin Ezra explains that the big city for Gd because the Ninveh people feared Gd from early days but only now in the days of Yonah had begun to sin and do eveil in the eyes of Gd and only because they had previously been righteous did Gd command his prophet to rebuke them. But I disagree wit hthis and I explain " a great city for Gd" in a different way.