מִ֤י מָנָה֙ עֲפַ֣ר יַעֲקֹ֔ב וּמִסְפָּ֖ר אֶת־רֹ֣בַע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל תָּמֹ֤ת נַפְשִׁי֙ מ֣וֹת יְשָׁרִ֔ים וּתְהִ֥י אַחֲרִיתִ֖י כָּמֹֽהוּ׃
Sino ang makabibilang sa alabok ng Jacob, o sa bilang ng ikaapat na bahagi ng Israel? Mamatay nawa ako sa kamatayan ng mga matuwid, at ang aking wakas ay maging tulad ng sa kanya!
Haamek Davar
This Book commonly known as The Book of Bereishis, is referred to by the Prophets as Sefer HaYashar, the Book of the Upright, as stated in Tractate Avodah Zarah 25a pertaining to the two [following] verses:
1. “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Sefer HaYashar?”1Josh. 10:13.This verse refers to the miracle, where Yehoshua ordered the sun and the moon to stand still so that the Israelites could destroy their enemies in battle before nightfall. See Avodah Zarah ad loc.: “Where [in Genesis is the miracle of the staying of the sun and moon] alluded to? [In the verse where Yaakov blesses Ephraim, Yehoshua’s ancestor:] The awe of his offspring will fill the nations (Gen. 48:19)
2. “And he said to teach the Sons of Yehuda the bow. Behold it is written in the Sefer HaYashar.”2II Sam. 1:18. In his eulogy for King Saul and his fallen sons, David states that it is written in the Sefer HaYashar that the children of Yehuda are the ones most suited for archery. Tractate Avodah Zarah ad loc continues: Where [in Genesis is Yehuda mastery of archery] alluded to? [In the verse where Yaakov blesses Judah:] Judah – you, your brothers shall acknowledge, your hand will be at the nape of your enemies (Gen. 49:8). Which form of warfare requires the hand to be raised opposite the nape? You must say that it is the method used with the archer’s bow.”
R’ Yochanan [ad loc.] explains that [Sefer HaYashar] is the book, [Bereishis, depicting the lives] of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, who were called “upright” [by Bilaam ]3This was recited by Bilaam the Wicked, who was hired by Balak, King of Moab to curse the Nation of Israel. The meaning of this phrase will be explained below., as stated, “Let me die the death of the upright.” 4Num. 23:10. ….
1. “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Sefer HaYashar?”1Josh. 10:13.This verse refers to the miracle, where Yehoshua ordered the sun and the moon to stand still so that the Israelites could destroy their enemies in battle before nightfall. See Avodah Zarah ad loc.: “Where [in Genesis is the miracle of the staying of the sun and moon] alluded to? [In the verse where Yaakov blesses Ephraim, Yehoshua’s ancestor:] The awe of his offspring will fill the nations (Gen. 48:19)
2. “And he said to teach the Sons of Yehuda the bow. Behold it is written in the Sefer HaYashar.”2II Sam. 1:18. In his eulogy for King Saul and his fallen sons, David states that it is written in the Sefer HaYashar that the children of Yehuda are the ones most suited for archery. Tractate Avodah Zarah ad loc continues: Where [in Genesis is Yehuda mastery of archery] alluded to? [In the verse where Yaakov blesses Judah:] Judah – you, your brothers shall acknowledge, your hand will be at the nape of your enemies (Gen. 49:8). Which form of warfare requires the hand to be raised opposite the nape? You must say that it is the method used with the archer’s bow.”
R’ Yochanan [ad loc.] explains that [Sefer HaYashar] is the book, [Bereishis, depicting the lives] of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, who were called “upright” [by Bilaam ]3This was recited by Bilaam the Wicked, who was hired by Balak, King of Moab to curse the Nation of Israel. The meaning of this phrase will be explained below., as stated, “Let me die the death of the upright.” 4Num. 23:10. ….
Rabbeinu Bahya
נפש כי תחטא בשגגה , “when a person will sin inadvertently, etc.” The expression נפש includes the body and the invisible life-force. When G’d began to create man in Genesis 2,7 we find that the Torah wrote וייצר ה' אלו-הים את האדם עפר מן האדמה, “the Lord G’d formed man dust from the soil;” afterwards, the Torah added that “He blew into his nostrils a living soul;” as a result of these two parts being joined together man, i.e. האדם, became a living being, i.e. נפש חיה. In other words, the word אדם means “a combination of body and spirit.” The word הנפש just as האדם refers to a combination of body and spirit. It is important for us to know this so that we appreciate that whatever reward or punishment G’d metes out He metes out to both body and spirit. The spirit alone, or the body alone, are not capable of performing actions which qualify for either reward or punishment. This is the meaning of Leviticus 17,10: ונתתי פני בנפש האוכלת את הדם, “I will set My face against the person eating the blood, etc.” This is clear proof that the Torah calls the combination of body and spirit נפש, as the spirit by itself could not eat, and even if it could, it would not be culpable. When the Torah concludes the above verse it writes והכרתי אותו, “I will wipe him out, etc.” Seeing that the word נפש was treated as feminine at the beginning of this verse, it is clear that the Torah switching from the feminine to the masculine wants to teach us that the term נפש refers to the combination of spirit, נשמה, (feminine) and body i.e. עפר (masculine). In our verse here we also find the Torah using once the feminine כי תחטא instead of כי יחטא, whereas at the same time the Torah speaks of ועשה, “and he committed,” instead of ועשתה, “and she committed.” This grammatically otherwise untenable combination is proof that man is a composition of body and spirit. In the next verse the Torah describes such an unintentional sin by the High Priest with the words: אם הכהן המשיח יחטא, “If the High Priest sins” (all masculine). The formula is in order as the High Priest consists of body and spirit. Seeing that the term נפש has been used by the Torah in Genesis to describe man, we find in a variety of instances that the Torah employs the same term when speaking of a living human being. Whenever this term occurs it never refers to the invisible spirit alone but always to a human being, i.e. a combination of body and spirit. On other occasions when the Torah describes the creature addressed as אדם, what is meant is also this combination of body and spirit. However, in other parts of the Bible, we do encounter the term נפש as applying only to the body. Examples are Kings I 20,31 where the servants of Ben Haddad advise their king to surrender himself to the Jewish king, claiming that the soft-hearted King Achav might spare his life. The word נפשך in that line can hardly apply to Ben Haddad’s soul as it was not within the power of Achav to make dispositions of Ben Haddad’s soul. Besides souls are not mortal. When the prophet Bileam wished himself a death such as the death of the righteous (Numbers 23,10) he referred to his body only seeing the soul is not mortal anyway. Our sages (in Sifra nedavah 1,1), comment as follows on the words נפש כי תחטא, “the expression נפש is meant to include converts and slaves of the Jews.”
Rashi
שתום העין WITH THE PENETRATING EYE — his eye was bored out and had been extracted and its eye socket could be seen to be open. The word שתום used in the sense of “boring a hole” is a Mishnaic usage: sufficient time that we can bore a hole (ישתום) in the cask and stop it up, and it (the clay of which the stopper is made) can dry (Avodah Zarah 69a). And our Rabbis said, Because he had said, (Numbers 23:10) ומספר את רבע ישראל, meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, occupies Himself with counting the issue of the marital life of the Israelites, awaiting the time when a righteous man will be born, he therefore said to himself, “Does He who is holy and whose ministers are holy direct his mind to matters such as these?” On this account Balaam’s eye was blinded (Niddah 31a). But some explain that שתום העין means “open-eyed”, just as Onkelos translated (“who can see well”). And since it says, שתום העין "with an open eye” and it does not say, “with open eyes”, we may learn that in one of his eyes he was blind (Sanhedrin 105a).