ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף בראשית 30:34

We wish that we had died. Meaning that this is similar to הן לו יהי כדבריך ["Would that it be like your words"] (Bereishis 30:34). However it is not in the sense of “perhaps” as in לו ישטמנו יוסף ["Perhaps Yosef bears a grudge against us"] (Bereishis 50:15) and not in the sense of “if” as in לו הקשבת למצותי ["If you had paid attention to my commandments"] (Yeshayahu 48:18).

לו ישטמנו means PERHAPS HE WILL HATE US. The word has many different meanings. There are examples of לו used to denote a petition, having the meaning of “Oh that!” as for instance: (Genesis 30:34) “Would (לו) it might be according to thy word”; (Genesis 23:13) “Oh that thou wouldst (לו) only hear me”; (Joshua 7:7) “Would that (לו) we had been content”; (Numbers 14:2) “Would that (לו) we had died”. ,There are examples of לו used in the sense of “if” and “אולי” as, (Deuteronomy 32:29) “If (לו) they were wise [they would understand this]”; (Isaiah 48:18) “If (לוא) thou wouldst hearken to my commandments, [then would thy peace be as a river]”; (2 Samuel 18:12) “If (לו) I would receive [a thousand pieces of silver] in my hands, [yet would I not put forth my hand etc.]”. There is an example of לו used in the sense of “perhaps”, — in our verse — “Perhaps he will hate us”, but there is no other example of its usage in this sense in Scripture. Here it corresponds in sense with the word אולי, “perhaps”, as for example in (Genesis 24:5) “אולי the woman will not be willing to follow me” which means “perhaps she will not etc.” As a matter of fact אולי has all the meanings of לו, for there are examples of אולי denoting a petition as for instance (2 Samuel 16:12) “Perhaps (אולי) the Lord will look upon mine eye”, (where the context shows that this involves a kind of petition that God should do this); (Joshua 14:12) “Perhaps (אולי) the Lord will be with me [and I shall drive them out]”, (involving also a petition that God should do this), where אולי has a similar meaning to לו in (Genesis 30:34) “Would (לו) it might be according to thy word”. Then again the word אולי has the meaning of “if”; for example, (Genesis 18:24) “Perhaps (אולי) there are fifty righteous [wilt Thou destroy etc.]” (which is equivalent to “if there are fifty… wilt thou destroy?”.)

Looking at our verse from a rational, investigative point of view [this is still a quotation from the writing of Rabbi Shlomoh Aderet on this subject], the subject of Leviathan which G’d created male and female may be an allusion to the relationship of שכל ונפש, mind and soul. The Kabbalists have explained that man, as opposed to the angels, is not obligated to act in a certain manner. Seeing that angels are intrinsically rational beings, they have שכל intelligence, but do not have a soul. As a result they have no free choice. Man who has both נפש ושכל, is different. We may perceive of שכל as the masculine part of man’s spiritual faculties, whereas נפש represents the feminine part of these faculties. Alternatively, you may view שכל as the צורה, “form,” and נפש as theחמר , “material.” The word לויתן, “Leviathan,” means “connection;” it is a combination of the two words לוית חן, (compare Proverbs 1,9 where the word חן describes that there is an element of פאר, ”magnificence” connected with Leviathan, as well as Genesis 30,34 ילוה אישי אלי, “my husband will join me”) The intellect (masculine, active) is perceived as joining the soul, (the feminine, passive). If our sages called this “monster” לויתן, this expressed the idea that it combined both masculine and feminine properties within one whole. It was an unusual species. At other times our sages speak of Leviathan as if it were two different creatures, one male one female. Seeing that both the נפש as well as the שכל aspect of man i.e. his non-tangible components, become attached to the body of man, we can now understand why man was not created similar to the disembodied angels who are dominated by their intellect. The reason is that G’d wanted that נפש and שכל be dependent upon one another at all times so that in fact these two forces operate as if they were disembodied entities. This is what the sages meant when they said that if the male and female Leviathan were tied to one another so that they are indispensable to one another they would ruin the universe. [the Hebrew word is נזקקים, a word which describes the dependence of male and female marriage partners on one another. Ed.] The reason is that the urge to reproduce the species would be absent in the world if its superior creature, man, were to be guided merely by intellectual powers. It is the נפש, the seat of desire, which motivates man to seek physical union with the female and thus to ensure the survival of the species. On the other hand, if intellect would exercise constant and ongoing dominance on נפש this would result in the נפש part of man to become so attached to the divine that just as the prophet Elijah [compare Elijah’s departure from earth in Kings II 2,11. Ed.] the נפש would “drag” its body with it to the celestial regions in order to cleave to G’d. What did G’d do in order to prevent either of these developments to occur? “He castrated the male, the power of שכל, and He “killed” the female power, i.e. נפש. Castration is a denial of the ability to procreate; “killing” is also a form of the denial of life. This is why our sages described the absence of something either as a form of castration or as a form of death. When the Midrash went on to say that G’d “salted away the meat of the female Leviathan for the righteous in the future,” the word “salted” is a simile for everything which keeps for a long time. This is why an eternal covenant between G’d and the Jewish people is described as ברית מלח עולם, “a covenant of salt for all times.” The presence of salt is insurance against loss by deterioration. On the other hand, the sages made fun of people who thought they could stash away their money thus guarding it against loss, and they advised the giving of charity as an insurance against losing one’s money. They coined the phrase (Ketuvot 66) “he who salts his money will experience that it shrinks.” The overall consideration guiding our sages in the way they depicted the Leviathan was that by depriving both male and female of the power to procreate this would lead to the depopulation of earth. By telling us that G’d salted away” the meat of the Leviathan, the sages wanted to remind us that the righteous will have a life to look forward to in the hereafter. In that world their existence would not be limited by time. <bר>Seeing that the origin of both נפש and שכל is in the region of water, the water created on the second day, they are also frequently described as fish, i.e. they have this in common with the fish that they both were created out of water [though out of different categories of water. Ed ] Thus far I have copied from the words of my teacher, may his light continue to shine. [Rabbi Shlomoh Aderet obviously was still alive at the time Rabbeinu Bachya wrote this part of his commentary. 1235-1310 Ed.]