Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Genesis 49:14

“…when he tells them: “This is menuhah, rest….”²⁸Isa. 28:12. (It was known to the people of Israel that the Torah was called “rest” from Jacob’s blessing to Issachar: “He saw that rest was good and that the land was pleasant, yet he bent his shoulder to bear, and he became an indentured laborer.”²⁹Gen. 49:15. As it has already been explained in the [Midrash Rabbah],³⁰Midrash Rabbah on the Torah portion Vayyehi, Gen. 98:17. the word “rest” refers to the Torah. The subject of this verse is that it was the custom of the tribes of Israel to set apart a fund [to support] the soldiers and [cover] their expenses. It is known that men of valor [due to their involvement with military affairs] cannot immerse themselves in the study of Torah, nor are they able to settle the Land [of Israel]. Therefore, for this reason, Jacob blessed Issachar, for he [Issachar], saw that the “rest” of the Torah was good, and that the land was pleasant. [Jacob] did not wish to [bless Issachar] with valorous men, for they loved “to rest between the boundaries,”³¹Gen. 49:14. The full verse is, “Issachar is a strong-boned donkey; he rests between the boundaries.” See Part 1, chapter 18 for an explanation of this verse. [that is, to sit and toil in the study of Torah day and night].

ומספר את רבע ישראל, "or numbered the births of Israel?" We have already explained that Bileam had mentally divided the Israelites into two categories, the elite and the average Israelites. He referred to the latter as "Jacob," whereas he referred to the elite as "Israel." When he had said: "who counted the dust of Jacob," he referred to the number of average Israelites, whereas when he referred to the numbering of Israel, he meant the elite amongst the people. He was impressed to have found out that there was an innumerable number of righteous people amongst the Israelites. Alternatively, he may have meant that although the actual number of righteous was not all that impressive, their impact on the Israelite society on the whole made them appear as innumerable. The reverse is true of the wicked. Although they may be large in number, their influence may be negligible. We know this from what G'd said to King Chiskiyah who had complained about the large numbers of Assyrians facing him (compare Sanhedrin 27). G'd assured Chiskiyah that the wicked are not important in proportion to their number. The reason that Bileam referred to רבע is an allusion to the righteous who are "lying" within their tents as we know from Jacob's blessing to Issachar in Genesis 49,14: "couching down between the sheep-folds." [The author uses the word רבע and רבץ interchangeably .Ed.] Another reason may be that the שכינה רבעת עליהם, that G'd's presence is constantly "resting" uopn them. There is also a mystical dimension here, i.e. that the righteous are the cause that G'd's Unity is able to fuse with the terrestrial world.

A tearing and roaring lion: – i.e. a lion which is tearing and roaring, אריה (lion) (here) lacks the kaph of comparison. Similarly we have, “Judah is a lion's whelp” (Gen. 49:9); “Issachar is a strong ass” (ibid. 14); “Naphtali is a hind let loose” (ibid. 21), and such like. The roaring of the lion after he has torn is for joy and pride, as (says) the text (Amos. 3:4): “Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing?” So it is with enemies; after killing and plundering us, they rejoice and behave as insolent boasters.