## Rashbam on Genesis Chapter 49

###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:1:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:1:1)

ויקרא יעקב - שלח בשבילם.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(1) YA'AKOV CALLED. He sent for them.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:1:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:1:2)

האספו - כי שבעים נפש הגדילו באלו שבע עשרה שנה ונעשה עם רב, וכדברי רבותינו (לשש) מאות אלף.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(2) COME TOGETHER. For the seventy persons had increased during these 17 years and had become a numerous people, and according to the words of our Sages, to (six) hundred thousand.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:1:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:1:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:1:3)

את אשר יקרא אתכם - ענין גבורתם ונחלתם.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(3) WHAT IS TO BEFALL YOU. With respect to their power and their inheritance.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:3:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:3:1)

כחי וראשית אוני יתר שאת ויתר עז - דיבור אחד הוא. דרך המקראות לכפול את דבריהם כחי, חילי, ממוני. וגם אוני ממוני הוא, כדכתיב: מצאתי און לי. וידיו תשבנה אונו כלומר: בכורי אתה ומתוך כך חילי וראשית ממוני.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
כחי וראשית אוני יתר שאת ויתר עז, although it sounds as if Yaakov is describing more than one facet of Reuven, it is a single statement incorporating what writers call “poetic license.” כחי, my power, my economic might; We find the word און as also referring to money, i.e. economic power in Hoseah,12,9 אך עשרתי, מצאתי און לי, ”I have become rich, I have gotten power.” Also in Job 20,10 the word און appears in the sense of economic power, וידיו תשבנה אונו, “his own hands must give back his wealth.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:3:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:3:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:3:2)

**יתר** על אחיך היה לך **לשאת**. **ויתר עז** היה לך למלוך על אחיך, אבל פחיזה ובהלה היה לך כמים הנשפכין, לכן **אל תותר** לא הבכורה ולא המלכות.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
What Yaakov is referring to is that although Reuven as the first-born was entitled to a double portion of his father’s estate, his conduct resulted in his forfeiting this advantage and forfeiting his chance of being the leader among his brothers. פחז כמים, having been unstable like water, you will no longer enjoy your excellence, i.e. יתר שאת, neither the rights of the first-born nor the claim to be king over the tribes.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:4:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:4:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:4:1)

כי עלית משכבי אביך - וכן כתוב בדברי הימים: ובחללו יצועי אביו נתנה בכורתו לבני יוסף בן ישראל ולא להתייחס לבכורה, כי יהודה גבר באחיו ולנגיד ממנו והבכורה ליוסף.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
כי עלית על משכבי אביך, for through your having mounted your father’s bed, (you disgraced, etc.). Reuven having been deprived of his privileges as first-born has been spelled out more clearly in Chronicles I 5,1-2) “He was the firstborn of Israel; but when he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, son of Israel, so he is not considered as first-born in genealogy.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:4:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:4:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:4:2)

יצועי עלה - כלומר, יצועי היתה עולה. הרבה לשון פעל מתפרשים לשון פועל, כמו: נתתי כסף השדה, נותן אני.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
יצועי עלה, the indirect mode עלה, “he mounted,” means “you were about to mount.” We find numerous instances in Scripture when a past tense is not really a past tense, such as when Avraham said to Efron that he had already given the money for the cave of Machpelah, נתתי כסף השדה קח ממני, when what he meant was that he had the money all ready and prepared. (compare Genesis 23,13). [Avraham could not have paid for the field at that time, not having wanted to buy the field nor even having made an offer to buy it. He would have considered it improper to ask someone to sell an ancestral field. Ed.]


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:5:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:5:1)

מכרותיהם - אַחֲוֹתֵיהֶם כפל לשון של שמעון ולוי אחים כלומר, שמעון ולוי אחים היו לרעה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
מכירותיהם The reason why Yaakov used such a dual, pluralistic, mode of the word was the special relationship which existed between Shimon and Levi, a relationship almost like that of twin brothers, as if the term אחותיהם instead of merely אחים, would describe their mutual brotherliness. However, their special relationship appeared to concentrate on their doing something negative, i.e. they used destructive tools, weapons in the pursuit of their designs.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:5:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:5:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:5:2)

כלי חמס - הייתה אַחֲוָתָם מכרותיך ומולדתיך לשון קרובים, אבל מְכֵרוֹתֵיהֶם משקל דגש הוא, כמו מסיבותיהם לשון קורבה, אבל הריש במקום החירק נהפכת לציר"י הוא קמץ קטן, כמו בֵּרֵךְ תחת בִּרֵךְ איבד ושיבר. וכן: חרף ה'. ושרת את אחיו, כלם משקל דגש מכרותיהם לוד פרנטייש בלע"ז.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
Whereas the terms מכורותיך and מולדתיך occur in Ezekiel 16,3-4, describing close relatives in one’s birthplace, in our verse, the vowel tzeyreh under the letter כ converts this word into one that could have been written with a dagesh, i.e. from the conjugation piel, the strong, transitive conjugation, suggesting that these emotions were evident only when the two brothers engaged in a scheme of doubtful ethical merit. The construction of the word is parallel to Job 37,12 where the word מסבות, describes clouds in constant motion foreboding turmoil, nature at its most destructive. Examples of the expected vowel chirik becoming a tzeyreh instead, are found in Lamentations 2,9, as well as in Numbers 8,26, and in Psalms 74,18. In all those examples the addition of the extra “dot” next to the chirik converts the meaning into something stronger, more aggressive, more intense.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:6:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:6:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:6:1)

בסודם אל תבוא נפשי - יהי רצון שלא תהא נפשי בעצתם, כי כל אל שבתורה להבא הן או קללה, או בקשה או ציווי לא ימצא אל לשעבר, לכן אין לפרש לא באה נפשי.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
בסודם אל תבא נפשי, may it be G’d’s will that I will not feature in their plots. Every time we encounter the expression אל, al, in the Torah, it is a curse, a request, or a command. It would therefore be wrong to translate this word here as meaning “I have not been part of their devious plot.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:6:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:6:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:6:2)

כי באפם - שהרי באפם.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(2) KI IN THEIR ANGER. Because in their anger.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:6:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:6:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:6:3)

עקרו שור - כמו: ואת סוסיהם תעקר.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
כי באפם עקרו שור, the word עקרו here has the same meaning as the word תעקר in Joshua 11,6, where G’d promises the Israelites that they will totally disable, hamstring the horses of their enemies.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:7:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:7:1)

ארור אפם - לא יצליחו באפם להינקם ולעשות רעה ולכן איני חפץ בקהלם ובחיבורם יחד.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ארור אפם, they shall not succeed to take revenge in their anger and to wreak destruction when it is vented on the innocent. Seeing that they abused their brotherliness in the past, I do not wish to be associated with their method of operation. Their close association is potentially dangerous.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:7:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:7:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:7:2)

אחלקם ביעקב - כי לוי נתפזר בשנים עשר שבטים, כדכתיב ביהושע, נמצא שמעון לבדו בלא לוי.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
אחלקם ביעקב, the tribe of Levi was scattered between 48 cities throughout the land of Israel and its various tribes, as described in Joshua chapter 21, so that the tribe of Shimon remained isolated from its close associate.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:8:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:8:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:8:1)

יהודה אתה יודוך - המפרש ישבחוך אחיך שטות הוא בידו, אלא לפי שגינה את הראשונים ונטל מלכות מראובן ופיזר שמעון ולוי אמר ליהודה: אבל אתה - יתנו, לך אחיך - הוד מלכות כמו שמוכיח סוף הפסוק ישתחוו לך בני אביך. וכן: ונתת מהודך עליו, תן לו משירותך בחייך. וכן בדניאל: ולא נתנו עליו הוד מלכות. וכן בשלמה כתיב הוד מלכות: ויתן עליו הוד מלכות בדברי הימים.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
יהודה אתה יודוך אחיך, anyone who interprets these words to mean that the brothers ought to praise Yehudah is grossly mistaken. The reason that Yaakov transfers the status of leader of the brothers, and, ultimately, hereditary royalty to Yehudah, was not his excellence as much as his older brothers’ unfitness. Yehudah’s elevation to this status would be initiated by his own brothers by their own volition, not through his father imposing him on the rest of the brothers. (compare the end of our verse “and the sons of your father will prostrate themselves before you.”) In Numbers 26,20 when Moses appoints Joshua as his successor, G’d suggests that he on his own account transfer his mantle of leadership to Joshua, [although G’d could have removed it from Moses and then Himself have bestowed it on Joshua. Ed.]


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:8:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:8:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:8:2)

יודוך - ימליכוך. כמו יהודוך, כדכתיב: כי על כן עמים יהודוך. וכן יושיעך ה' כמו יהושיע. ומ"מ אע"פ שנגזר יודוך מן הוד מלכות, אין הה"א עיקר אלא מגזרת חטופי פ"ה פעל של אות יו"ד הוא, כמו ישב יצא, שיאמר הוציא הושיב. וכן מן ירה בים הורה. ויורו המורים. וכן: איש לא הונה מגזרת לא תונו. וכן יאמר הודו לה'. יודו לה'. הוגה ורחם כלם עיקרם בראשם אות יו"ד ונופלת לפרקים ובאה אות וא"ו במקומה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
יודוך, they will crown you. The word is abbreviated in its spelling, being the equivalent of יהודוך, (as in Psalms 45,18) Similar constructions [a letter being omitted, Ed.] are found in Kings II 6,27 where we have יושיעך instead of יהושיעך). The latter and proper spelling is found in Samuel I 17,47 i.e. יחושיע. At any rate, even though the word יודוך is derived from הוד as in הוד מלכות, “regal majesty,” the letter י is not an integral part of the word, but is added as part of the constructions known as חטופי פ'ה, the first root letter in roots commencing with the letter ה being shortened in sound. When we encounter to word הוציא, a transitive past construction derived from the root יצא, the first root letter of יצא has actually been omitted, the letterה in הוציא not being part of the root, but substituting for the letter י of the root. The same is true of the root ישב and the transitive construction of that verb as הושיב. We encounter the same phenomenon in Exodus 15,5 where the Torah wrote ירה בים. In our case the root of יודך is הרה. [The author quotes more examples of this kind, which I think we can skip. Ed.]


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:8:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:8:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:8:3)

וישתחוו - שתמלוך עליהם.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
וישתחוו, in order to enthrone you.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:8:4
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:8:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:8:4)

בני אביך - לפי שמארבע אמהות היו אמר: בני אביך, אבל כשבירך יצחק את יעקב, כתיב: בני אמך.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
בני אביך, Yaakov chose this formulation because having had four wives it was the simplest way. On the other hand, when Yitzchok (who had only one wife) blessed Yaakov, he spoke of בני אמך, “the sons of your mother” (27,29)


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:9:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:9:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:9:1)

גור אריה יהודה - כמו: והנה כפיר אריות. הנער קרוי גור, כדכתיב: בתוך כפירים רבתה גוריה. לפי שהוא קל וגיבור יותר מאריה זקן, ממשיל את יהודה לגור אריה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
גור אריה יהודה, an expression similar to כפיר אריות, (Judges 14,5) the young, not fully grown lion is called גור, whereas the fully mature lion is known as כפיר as we know from Ezekiel 19,2 בתוך כפירים רבתה גוריה, “a young lioness crouched among the fully grown lions.” The young lion enjoys the advantage of speed and self-confidence, hence more aggressiveness, over an aging lion. It is not surprising therefore that when complimenting Yehudah, Yaakov compares him to a young lion rather than to a fully mature one who is already on the way to decline.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:9:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:9:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:9:2)

מטרף בני עלית - אתה יהודה בני לאחר שתעלה מלטרוף טרף באומות ותכרע ותשכב בעירך, לא יבא אויב להחרידך ולהקימך ממקומך. זהו עיקר פשוטו. והמפרשו במכירת יוסף לא ידע פשוטו של פסוק ולא בחילוק טעמים כלל.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
מטרף בני עלית, you my son Yehudah, seeing that after you have risen from dealing with the spoils of war you had acquired stature and were held in awe, have lain down like a lion, supremely confident that no one would dare disturb your rest. No enemy will dare to become the one to disturb your sleep and to attack you. This is the plain meaning of the verse repeating the word Yehudah twice in the same sequence. All those who understood Yaakov as referring to the sale of Joseph in this verse do not understand the sentence structure nor paid attention to the tone signs.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:10:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:10:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:10:1)

לא יסור שבט מיהודה - המלכות שניתן לו להשתחוות לו כל אחיו שנים עשר, לא תפסוק ממנו כל אותה הגדולה ולא מחוקק - ושררה מזרעו עד כי יבא - יהודה שילה - כלומר, עד כי יבא מלך יהודה הוא רחבעם בן שלמה שבא לחדש המלוכה בשילה שזהו קרוב לשכם, אבל אז יסורו עשרת השבטים ממנו וימליכו את ירבעם ולא נשאר לרחבעם בן שלמה רק יהודה ובנימין.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
לא יסור שבט מיהודה, the position of royalty which all his 12 brothers bestowed on him, i.e. that they all prostrate themselves before him, will not be removed from him until Shiloh. Yehudah, i.e. King Rechavam of Yehudah son of Solomon who wanted to confirm his ascendancy to the throne in Shilo, which is very close to Shechem. (Kings I 12) [In the event, his stupidity in listening to inexperienced irresponsible counselors lost him most of his kingdom so that he ruled only over Yehudah and Binyamin. Ed.]


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:10:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:10:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:10:2)

יקהת עמים - קבוצת האומות שהיו כפופים תחת שלמה אביו, כדכתיב: הוא רודה בכל עבר הנהר נתקבצו שם להמליך רחבעם, כדכתיב: וילך רחבעם שכמה כי שכם בא כל ישראל להמליך אותו ושכם אצל שילה, כדכתיב ביהושע: ויאסוף יהושע את כל ישראל שכמה וכל הפרשה. ולבסוף מפרש כל אלו הדברים היה לפני ה' בשילה. וגם בשופטים: הנה חג ה' בשילה במסלה העולה בית אל שכמה וגו'. וגם בירמיה: ויבאו אנשים משכם משילה ומשמרון. וקרקע חלקה היה בשכם סביב האלה אשר עם שכם הראויה להתקבץ שם בני אדם ולכבוד משכן אשר בשילה הסמוך שם. ויעקב עיקר הגדולה של יהודה שמדוד עד רחבעם פירש, אבל חוסר הגדולה לא רצה לפרש אלא מכללו של מקרא אתה מדקדק, שמשילה ואילך נתמעטה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ולו יקהת עמים, the mass of the people, who under the rule of his father Solomon, had been tightly controlled, as we know from Kings I 5,4 now assembled at Shechem to enthrone Rechavam as described in Chronicles II 10,1 where the people had all assembled in order to place him on his father’s throne. We know that Shechem was very close to Shiloh from Joshua 24,1 and the whole paragraph following. The description in what is reported in that paragraph sounds as if could all have taken place at Shiloh. [seeing that Joshua refers to the people listening to him “in the presence of the Lord”, i.e. at the Sanctuary which stood in Shiloh. Compare Joshua chapter 18,1 for similar wording referring directly to a presence of the people in Shiloh, in the presence of the Lord, i.e. the Tabernacle which had been erected there.” Ed.] Furthermore, in verse 26 of chapter 24 Joshua also concludes by stating that all of the exhortations in the chapter demanding from the people to remain loyal to G’d and His Torah had been addressed to them at the מקדש ה', G’d’s Sanctuary. All this supports the view that the precise location was Shiloh, whereas the region in which Shiloh was situated was Shechem, hence the reason both locations were mentioned. These two locations are linked in one sentence also in Judges 21,19 as well as in Jeremiah 41,5. There was open space at Shechem around the famous oak located near Shechem. At that location a mass rally could be held easily. The people would pay homage to the Sanctuary in Shiloh from that vantage point, as it was in their line of vision. This exegesis refutes the view of the heretics, especially that of the Christians, who claim that the שילה spelled here with a ה at the end and the city known as Shiloh spelled in Scripture as שלו as in Samuel 1,24 (where Elkanah would make his pilgrimages and where the Sanctuary stood) are not the same, the one in our verse referring to the Saviour, while the one in Samuel being a reference to the town. Yaakov, as opposed to the view of the Christians, did not elevate the position of Yehudah to that of being a Saviour beginning with that point in “time,” but he predicted that after the death of Solomon, the high point in Jewish history, a decline would set in as documented by the 10 tribes withdrawing their support of a king from the tribe of Yehudah.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:11:1)

אסרי לגפן עירה - עיר בן אתונות צריך לקשור לגפן אחת להטעינו מרוב ענבים.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
אסרי לגפן עירה, an עיר, young ass, needs to be tied to a single vine to load it with many grapes


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:11:2)

ולשורקה - אחת.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(2) TO A single CHOICE VINE. ...


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:11:3)

בני אתונו - כפל לשון, כדכתיב בשלמה: וישראל ויהודה רבים איש תחת גפנו ואיש תחת תאנתו כי משופעים ביין היו.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ולשרקה בני אתונו, a repetition for literary purposes, similar to expressions such as יהודה וישראל, when both words are references to the same people, or as the expression איש תחת גפנו ותחת תאנתו, “each man under his grape vine and under his fig tree” This expression which occurs frequently in the Book of Kings, etc., simply describes the economic affluence of the people, not that each man will own fig trees and grape vines.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:4
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:11:4)

כבס ביין לבושו - לאחר שבצרו הענבים ודורכים אותן בגיתות מתלכלכין בגדיהם בדריכות היינות, כדכתיב: מדוע אדום ללבושך ובגדיך כדורך בגת. וכתוב שם: וכל מלבושי אגאלתי. ואחר הדריכה שותים את היין ולכך הוא אומר: חכלילי עינים מיין - כדכתיב: למי חכלילות עינים למאחרים על היין.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
כבס ביין לבושו, after the grapes have been stamped on with the feet to squeeze out the juice and to store them in the wine-presses, the workers’ clothing has become stained in the process as described by Isaiah 63,2 מדוע אדום ללבושך ובגדיך כדורך בגת?, “Why is your clothing so red, your garments like his who treads grapes? The prophet continues there in verse 3: “I trod them down in My anger trampled them with My rage. Their lifeblood bespattered My garments and all My clothing was stained.” After completing the process described one can drink the wine. This is why Yaakov continued with חכללי עינים מיין ולבן שנים מחלב. Who are the ones whose eyes are darker than wine and whose teeth are whiter than milk- the answer is found in Proverbs 23,29-30 those who linger over wine and those who go in search of mixtures of wine.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:5
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:11:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:11:5)

סותה - לשון בגד.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
סותה, as in כסות, a kind of garment


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:12:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:12:1)

חכלילי - אדמות עינים קרוי כן.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
חכלילי, the redness of eyes is called thus.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:12:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:12:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:12:2)

ולבן שנים - משתיית חלב, כדכתיב: שתיתי ייני עם חלבי. וכן: בלא כסף ובלא מחיר יין וחלב.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ולבן-שנים, the result of drinking milk produces this whiteness of the teeth. We find a parallel expression in Song of Songs 5,1 שתיתי ייני עם חלבי, “I have drunk my wine with my milk.” Isaiah 55,1 describes a similar theme,בלא כסף ובלא מחיר יין וחלב, “(come buy). without money or any cost, wine and milk. “The word “ul-ven,” must be understood as if it had the vowels making it “ulavan.” When it is in a possessive mode, the grammar is quite in order so that it is ulven. In a similar possessive mode in Deuteronomy 32,14 we find “vachalev tzon,” describing “the chalav of sheep.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:12:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:12:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:12:3)

ולבן - כמו לבן. כשהוא דבוק יאמר וּלְבֶן. כמו: מן חלב וחלב צאן.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(3) UL'VEN (WHITENESS). Like "lavan" (white). When it is in the construct case, one says "ul'ven," as from "halav" (milk), we get (Deut. 32:14) "vahalev tzon" ("milk of flocks").


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:13:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:13:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:13:1)

לחוף ימים - שפת הים שהים חופף שם ומתחכך. ואם תאמר מה בצע, מאחר ששפת הים גבוהה מאד ואין יכולין לרדת שם לקנות סחורה, לכן הוא מפרש -

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
לחוף ימים, the beaches of the sea which was sort of rubbing the shore, חופף. If you were to ask what good this was seeing the shore was so high that one could not descend to the water to buy merchandise from the ships, Yaakov adds


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:13:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:13:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:13:2)

והוא לחוף אניות - במקום הנמל והשפה נמוכה ובאין האניות ובאין יושבי הארץ וקונים סחורה שבאניות.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
לחוף אניות, that he speaks of inlets where there are harbours at which ships can lie at anchor. There are no high cliffs there making making ships and their wares difficult to access. Yaakov’s reference to


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:13:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:13:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:13:3)

על צידן - שהוא מקום סחורה רבה, כדכתיב: סוחר צידון עובר ים מלאוך. ובישעיה כתיב: בושי צידון כי אמר ים מעוז הים וגו'. ולכן אמר משה: שמח זבולון בצאתך בים לסחורה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
צידון, a well known harbour, a center of trade and commerce, illustrates the nature of his blessing. In Isaiah 23,2 Tzidon and its traders are mentioned as having been a great trading center in the past that has been ruined by the Assyrians in the prophet’s time. This is also why Moses, when blessing the Jewish people before his death, (Deuteronomy 33,18) describes Tzidon in its heyday as a model for Zevulun, who will enjoy similar prosperity.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:14:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:14:1)

יששכר חמור גרם - לא כזבולון שהולך עם עוברי ימים לסחורה, אלא עובד אדמתו יהיה כחמור בעל אברים חזק מצוי.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
יששכר חמור גרם, he is not like Zevulun who engages in voyages with mariners to distant lands to engage in trade and commerce. He stays at home toiling his earth sharing the fate of his donkeys, his beasts of burden.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:14:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:14:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:14:2)

בין המשפתים - תחומי העיר לחרוש ולעבוד את האדמה, כדכתיב: על כל מים משלחי רגל השור והחמור לחרוש ולזרוע. וכן אמר משה: שמח זבולון בצאתך ויששכר באהלך.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
בין המשפתים at the outer edges of town, where the surrounding fields are under cultivation. We encounter the expression for tilling the soil as applying not only to oxen but also to donkeys in Isaiah 32,20 אשריכם זרעי על כל מים, משלחי רגל השור והחמור, “happy shall you be who sow by the waters, who send out oxen and donkeys to plough and spread the seed.” We find a similar contrast between these two tribes expressed in Moses‘ blessing in Deut. 33,18שמח זבולון בצאתך ויששכר באהליך “enjoy your departures (on voyages) Zevulun, and you, Issachar, enjoy your pursuing your vocation in your tents.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:15:1)

וירא - יששכר מנוחת האדמה

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
וירא יששכר, he realised that to stay home and toil the soil leisurely was preferable, i.e.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:15:2)

כי טוב - יותר מלצאת למרחקים.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(2) THAT IT WAS GOOD. Better than to venture out to great distances.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:15:3)

ואת הארץ כי נעמה - ומצלחת, כדכתיב: אל המנוחה ואל הנחלה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
מנוחה כי טוב ואת הארץ כי נעמה, and how such pursuits were very rewarding, (an expression also used in Deuteronomy 12,9 אל המנוחה ואל הנחלה)


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:4
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:15:4)

ויט שכמו לסבול - עול של מלכי ישראל.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ויט שכמו לסבול, he accepted the tax burdens etc , imposed by the kings of Israel


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:5
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:15:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:15:5)

ויהי למס עובד - לתת למלכים עישור תבואותיו, כדכתיב: ואת שדותיכם יעשור, זהו עיקר הפשט. ובשורת עושר הוא לשבט יששכר.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ויהי למס עובד, he dutifully gave part of his harvests to the King’s tax collectors, as predicted by the prophet Samuel when the people demanded to be ruled by a king (Samuel I 8,14-15). This is the plain meaning of the above verse. It contains a promise of material wealth to both tribes, though each tribe’s wealth originates from the pursuit of separate vocations..


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:16:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:16:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:16:1)

דן ידין עמו - המפרש על שמשון לא ידע בעומק פשוטו של מקרא כלל. וכי יעקב בא להתנבאות על אדם שנפל ביד פלשתים וינקרו את עיניו ומת עם פלשתים בענין רע?! חלילה חלילה. אך על שבטו של דן נתנבא שהוא מאסף לכל המחנות. וגם ביהושע כתיב: והמאסף הולך אחר הארון ולפי שהיה הולך כל הימים בין בימי משה בין בימי יהושע אחר כל הדגלים והיה צריך להלחם עם כל האומות הרודפים אחריהם לזנב כל הנחשלים אחריהם בדרך, ולהינקם מן האומות כי גיבורים היו. לכך אמר יעקב: דן ידין עמו - ינקום נקמת עמו

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
דן ידין עמו, those who explained this as a reference to Shimshon, one of the judges of Israel, have read the text only superficially. Did they really think that Yaakov, on his deathbed, would prophesy concerning a single specific individual who, moreover, fell into the hands of the Philistines and ended his life as their victim? Far be it from Yaakov to focus on such events at a time like this, even if he foresaw it! Yaakov relates to the tribe of Dan who is described as the rearguard of the Jewish armies in the desert both in Numbers 10,25 and in the Book of Joshua 6,9 where this tribe is described in identical terms. The fact that the rearguard is the most exposed section of the army which has to beat off any attacks from the rear, means that it needs extra protection by G’d. Yaakov says that he will enjoy success in avenging any unprovoked attacks on the Jewish people, i.e. their army. The words


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:16:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:16:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:16:2)

כאחד - כל

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(1) DAN SHALL GOVERN HIS PEOPLE. One who interprets this as about Shimshon does not know the depths of the plain sense of Scripture at all. Did Ya'akov really come to prophesy about a man who fell to the Philistines, and whose eyes they put out, and who died with the Philistines, in an unfortunate matter? Heaven absolutely forbid! He prophesied specifically for the tribe of Dan, which was the after-guard for all the tribes. And in Joshua (6:9) it is written, "and the rear guard marched behind the Ark." And because they went, throughout Moshe's and Yehoshua's times, after the other divisions, and they had to combat all the nations that pursued them to cut down all the stragglers in their rear on the road [see Deut. 25:18], and to take vengeance against the nations, because they were mighty. That is why Ya'akov said "Dan will effect justice for [yadin] his people -- he will take vengeance for his people. ...


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:16:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:16:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:16:3)

שבטי ישראל - היה נוקם נקמתם ומשמרם מרודפיהם, כמו: כי ידין ה' את עמו וגו'. ודם עבדיו יקום ונקם ישיב לצריו. וכמו: ידין בגוים מלא גויות מחץ ראש על ארץ רבה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
כאחד שבטי ישראל, describe this tribe’s warding off such attacks, similar to what Moses said in Deuteronomy 32,36 כי ידון ה' עמו, or in Deut. 32,43 דם עבדיו יקום ונקם ישיב לצריו. “He will avenge the blood of His people, for He will wreak vengeance on his foes.” David expresses similar feelings in Psalms 110,6 when he says:ידיו בגויים מחץ גוויות מחץ ראשו על ארץ רבה, ”He works judgment on the nations, heaping up bodies, crushing heads far and wide.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:17:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:17:1)

יהי - שבטו של.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(1) LET the tribe of --


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:17:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:17:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:17:2)

דן נחש עלי דרך - להרוג את האומות.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
יהי, may the domain of Dan act like a snake barring the way, i.e. may he be the one killing nations hostile to the Jewish people


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:17:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:17:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:17:3)

ויפול רוכבו - האויבים נופלים לפניו.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ויפול רוכבו אחור, may his enemies fall before him (off their horses.)


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:18:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:18:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:18:1)

לישועתך - דן

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
לישועתך


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:18:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:18:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:18:2)

קויתי ה' - שיושיע אותך וישגבך על האומות.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
לישועתך קויתי ה', I pray to the Lord that He may save you and elevate you over the gentile nations.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:19:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:19:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:19:1)

גד גדוד - גדוד ישראל יגודו אחריו, כשיהיו הולכים למלחמת יהושע, וכדכתיב: חלוצים תעברו לפני אחיכם ובשוב גד מן המלחמה ישובו של גד אחר עקיבן של ישראל, שכן דרך כשיוצאין למלחמה יוצאין תחלה ובחזרתן הם אחרונים לשמור את השבטים מן המלחמה, פן ירדפו האויבים אחריהם.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
גד גדוד, the troops of the entire nation of Israel will follow Gad who is the vanguard in the wars of conquest as we know from Deuteronomy 3,18 where Moses charged them with this task. On the return from battle, this tribe, instead of being in the vanguard, will be the rearguard, again the most exposed to enemy action. They will thus form a buffer for the Jewish armies at all times.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:20:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:20:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:20:1)

מאשר שמנה לחמו - כי מאשר היו מביאין שמן זית ומטגנים מאכלם בשמן. וכן אמר משה: ברוך מבנים אשר. יברכוהו ישראל ויהי רצוי להם לפי שטובל בשמן רגלו.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
מאשר שמנה לחמו, a reference to the olive oil pressed from olives grown on his territory, oil used to fry, bake, etc., and generally to improve the taste of the food consumed by the nation. Moses paraphrases Yaakov’s blessing when he says in Deuteronomy 33,24 טובל בשמן רגלו, “that he will dip his foot in oil.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:20:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:20:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:20:2)

והוא יתן מעדני מלך - מס של שמן היו גובין ממנו מלכי ישראל למשוח בו לעדן את בשרם, כדאמרינן במנחות: אנפיקונון שמן זית שלא הביא שליש. ולמה סכין אותו? שמשיר את השער ומעדן את הבשר. כמו: היתה לי עדנה בשר חלק.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
והוא יתן מעדני מלך, the kings of Israel were in the habit of taxing this tribe by requiring them to hand over part of their oil harvest. Instead of using this oil in preparing food, they used it to anoint their bodies, as a skin lotion. The purpose of this was depilatory, to remove hair from the skin where it was not wanted. This function of oil is described in Menachot 86 as effective when the olives had not yet ripened beyond a third of their eventual size. Not only would this preparation remove hair at the root, but it would also improve the texture of the skin surrounding such hair. When Sarah, in Genesis 18,12 refers to her experiencing once again עדנה, this is the same word, and she referred to a youthful appearance of her skin.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:21:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:21:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:21:1)

אילה שלוחה - גבורים קלים כאילות, כדכתיב: וכצבאים על ההרים למהר.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
אילה שלוחה, his soldiers were as fleet-footed as gazelles. In Chronicles I 12,9 this is described as Naftali being כצבאים על ההרים למהר , “as speedy as the deer on the mountains.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:21:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:21:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:21:2)

הנותן אמרי שפר - בשובם מן המלחמה ממהרים מתוך קלותם לבשר בשורות משופרות של נצחון המלחמה, וכדכתיב: זבולון עם חרף נפשו למות, ונפתלי על מרומי שדה, כדרך הצבאים הרצים על מרומי הרים.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
הנותן אמרי שפר. When they would return from battle, they would be the bearers of happy tidings, being the first to announce the victory won by the Jewish armies. The word שפר, is a derivative of שופר, the ram’s horn; they would announce the good news by means of the appropriate blasts of the shofar. We have some proof of this in Judges 5,18 where Devorah in her victory song speaks of זבלון עם חרף נפשו למות, ונפתלי על מרומי שדה, “Zevulun is a people that mocked at death, and Naftali-on the open heights.” [they were the only two tribes that heeded Barak’s and Devorah’s call to do battle against Siserah, the commander of the Canaanite armies of King Yavin whose army was equipped with 900 armoured vehicles. Ed.]


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:22:1)

בן פורת יוסף בן פורת עלי עין - הרי פסוק זה דוגמת לחצאים בראש המקרא, אלא שמזכיר במי הוא מדבר וחוזר וכופל חצי ראש המקרא ומסיים דבורו, כמו: נשאו נהרות ה' נשאו נהרות קולם. כי הנה אויביך ה' כי הנה אויביך יאבדו. עד מתי רשעים ה' עד מתי רשעים יעלוזו. הבל הבלים אמר קהלת הבל הבלים הכל הבל. ימינך ה' נאדרי בכח ימינך ה' תרעץ אויב.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
בן פורת יוסף בן פורת עלי עין, the first half of this verse is not to be understood until we have read the second half. The only reason it is written in this manner is in order to help us identify immediately who is the subject in our verse. We have a similar verse in Exodus 15,6 where in the first half of the verse G’d’s attribute of employing His right hand is extolled before we are tolled how this is manifest, i.e. by the manner in which He destroyed the enemy. A very familiar similar construction occurs in Psalms 93,3 a psalm we recite each Friday night, when the psalmist speaks of נשאו נהרות ה' נשאו נהרות קולם, and only afterwards we are told that the rivers raise their voices in response toכי הנה אויביך ה', כי הנה אויביך יאבדו. The verse means: ”The river raise ther “voices” (sounds), O Lord, the oceans sound their thunder and their pounding.” All of this is in response to verse 10 in the previous psalm where G’d’s enemies are described as perishing.” In fact the psalmist in 94,3 asks almost despairingly: “how long are the wicked going to be allowed to carry on successfully before the Just can rejoice when they observe their downfall?” Here too, the words בן פורת יוסף describe an attribute, referring to the tall and handsome person Joseph, before telling us that all the maidens of Egypt were craning their necks to catch a glimpse of him, each one trying to admire his features, trying to do so from a suitable vantage point. He, whose exterior had appealed to the wife of Potiphar at the time, now became a household word in Egypt so that all the women allowed out of their houses tried to catch a glimpse of him. [I paraphrased the author’s words in this paragraph. Ed.] Joseph’s handsome appearance had already inflamed the libido of Potiphar’s wife,


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:22:2)

אף כאן: בן פורת יוסף - בן הפורה וגדל יוסף. ועל מה הוא גדל?

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(2) So here, BEN PORAT YOSEF: "A son who is fruitful and grows is Yosef." And over what does he grow?


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:22:3)

בן פורת עלי עין - גדל ורבה על עין להסתכל למעלה מן העין, בקומתו וביופיו. בנות מצרים.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(3) BEN PORAT ALEI AYIN. HE IS FRUITFUL OVER THE EYE. He grows and increases above the eye, [so that one needs] to look above eye level, [to see] his stature and his beauty. COLTS [BANOT; GIRLS] of Egypt.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:4
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:22:4)

צעדה - כל אחת ואחת.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(4) WILD [TZA'ADAH; WALKS]. Each of them.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:5
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:22:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:22:5)

עלי שור - לשון ראייה. כפל לשון של עלי עין. כמו: ומגבעות אשורנו, שהיו בנות מצרים צועדות והולכות לראותו כמו אשת פוטיפר וחברותיה. ומתוך כך -

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(5) ON A HILLSIDE. [ALEI SHOR]. An expression of seeing, a parallel construction with "alei ayin," as in (Num. 23:9) "[I see them from the mountain tops;] gaze on them from the heights," for the Egyptian girls would march and walk to see him, as did Potiphar's wife and her friends, and as a result --


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:23:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:23:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:23:1)

וימררוהו ורובו - מתוך שנתנה אשת פוטיפר עיניה בו השליכוהו בבית האסורים.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
וימררוהו ורבו, they threw him into jail,


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:23:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:23:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:23:2)

ורבו - כפל לשון של חצים שבפסוק כמו: יסבו עליו רביו. חציו. ולכן הוא נדגש, אבל מגזירת מריבה יאמר אשר רבו בני ישראל, כמו: מן קם קמו, מן שב שבו, כך יאמר מן הרב רב עם ישראל רבו.ומדמה הפסוק לשון הרע של פוטיפר לחצים, כדכתיב: חץ שחוט לשונם מרמה דבר. וידרכו את לשונם קשתם שקר.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ורובו, and they harassed him. The thought is repeated to lend it emphasis, as is the reference to the בעלי חצים, his enemies. We find the expression רביו and חציו used in Job 16,13 as almost interchangeable. The dagesh in the letter צ of the word חצים confirms that the whole word is used for emphasis, reinforcing the thought already expressed in the word ורבו which also has such a dagesh. If the word ורבו were derived from the root מריבה, quarrel, it would not have a dagesh¸ just as קמו from קום, or שבו from שוב do not have a dagesh. The word רב in the sense in which it is used here also occurs in Judges 11,25 as emphasised by means of repetition, i.e. הרב רב, when Yiphtach refers to the extreme hostility to the Jewish people displayed by the Moabites. There was no need for the dagesh on that occasion as the word has already been repeated to show the emphasis Yiphtach had in mind. The Torah, i.e. Yaakov, calls the evil fabrication that the wife of Potiphar used to indict Joseph חצים, arrows, a word used in the same sense by Jeremiah 9,7 when he says (of his own people, alas) חץ שחוט לשונם, מרמה דבר, בפיו שלום את רעהו ידבר וגו': “Their tongue is a sharpened arrow, they use their mouths to deceive; one speaks of his fellow peacefully, while laying an ambush for him, etc.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:23:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:23:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:23:3)

ורבו - מגזרת רבב. כמו סבו מן סבב, צהלי ורוני מן רנן.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ורבו, from the root רבב, similar to the relationship between סבו and סבב, or רוני from רנן (compare Isaiah 12,6) צהלי ורוני יושבת ציון, “Oh shout for joy you who dwell in Zion.” The word רוני is a repetition of the thought expressed in the word צהלי, designed to reinforce that thought.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:23:4
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:23:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:23:4)

רבו - שיטרוט בלע"ז.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(4) AND SHOT AT HIM [VAROBU]. _____ in the vernacular.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:1)

ותשב באיתן קשתו - הקשת החזק שקורין אלבלטרא מושיבין אותו על עץ איתן וחזק שקורין פורקא והמושך בקשת ההוא אם הוא אדם חזק מאד, מושך את חבל הקשת בזרועיו ונכפפין זרועיו עד גופו ויורה החץ למרחוק. ואם הוא חלש אינו יכול למשוך החבל. וכן פירוש המקראות מצרים ירו בו חצים ונתנוהו בבית הסוהר, וענו בכבל רגלו - והוא יצא ומלך עליהם כי קשת שלו היה חזק ואיתן משלהם ואסרם, כדכתיב: לאסור שריו בנפשו.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ותשב באיתן קשתו, there is a certain heavy and strong bow called arbalatra which is seated on a strong wooden frame called purka, and which, if the archer pulls with all his might bringing his arms all the way back to his body, enables him to shoot the arrow over a longer distance. A weak individual cannot operate such a bow. We have to understand the verse as describing a scenario describing Egyptians shooting their arrows of hate at Joseph until he was imprisoned, bound hand and foot. Nonetheless, the same Joseph afterwards emerged and became king over his former tormentors. This was because his קשת, bow, was stronger than that of his adversaries. He proceeded to imprison his enemies, as we know from Psalms 105,22 לאסור שריו בנפשו “to imprison (discipline) those who had previously demonstrated their hostility against him.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:2)

ויפוזו זרועי ידיו - נכפפו זרועיו במושכו חבל הקשת וזרק חיציו עליהם, כי איש חזק היה למשוך איתן הקשת שקורין פורקא. וכן מצינו זרוע אצל דריכת קשת, כדכתיב: ונחתה קשת נחושה זרועתי והוא לשון דריכת קשת. וכן: כי חציך נחתו בי. ותנחת עלי ידיך.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ויפוזו זרועי ידיו, he contracted his arms quickly remaining steadfast when he pulled the string of the bow and flung his arrows against them seeing that he was a powerfully built man, able to pull the bow all the way back. We do find the word זרוע used in connection with archery in Psalms 18,35 ונחתה קשת-נחושה זרועותי, “my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” The wording describes the tensing of a bow. A similar expression occurs in Psalms 38,3 כי חציך נחתו בי ותנחת עלי ידך, “for Your arrows have struck me; Your blows have fallen upon me.” [the reference is to G’d’s “arrows.” Ed.]


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:3)

ויפוזו - נכפפו. כמו: ויהי דוד מפזז ומכרכר. פיזוז בידים. כירכור ברגלים. ויפוזו מן פזז. כמו: יסובו מן סבב.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ויפוזו, leaping in a wild dance, as in Samuel II 6,16. Here the expression is applied to Joseph’s hand, arms. In Samuel the word כרכר describes parallel motions with the legs. The image conveyed by the word is that of twirling one’s limbs.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:4
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:4)

מידי אביר יעקב - ע"י הקב"ה בא לו זה הניצחון והממשלה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
מידי אביר יעקב, Joseph’s victory was due to the assistance of G’d, the One Who proved Himself as the Mighty one to Yaakov, Who grants dominion to kings and princes. The expression אביר יעקב is a duplicate of what follows i.e. רועה אבן ישראל. We find the expression אביר also in connection with King Sha-ul in Samuel I 21,8 i.e. “Doeg the Edomite, Shaul’s chief herdsman, אביר הרועים. The reason why the shepherds are called אבירים is because their cattle, the oxen, are called אבירים both in Psalms 68,31 and 22,13....


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:5
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:5)

אביר יעקב - כפל לשון של.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(5) THE MIGHTY ONE OF YA'AKOV. A parallel phrase to -- ...


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:6
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:6)

רועה אבן ישראל - וכן: אביר הרועים אשר לשאול וגם הרועים קרואים אבירים, על שהבקר והשוורים קרואים אבירים, כדכתיב: עדת אבירים בעגלי עמים. וכן: סבבוני פרים רבים אבירי בשן כתרוני.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(6) "THE SHEPHERD, THE ROCK OF ISRAEL" Similarly (I Sam. 21:8) "Saul's chief herdsman" (abir haro'im). And also, shepherds are called "abirim," because the cattle and oxen are called "abirim," as it is written (Ps. 68:31), "the company of bulls [abirim] with the calves of the peoples," and similarly (Ps. 22:13), "Many bulls [parim] surround me, mighty ones [abirei] of Bashan encircle me." ...


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:7
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:7)

מידי אביר יעקב - מי גרם לך זאת? הקב"ה שהוא אביר יעקב, האלהים הרועה אותי עד היום הזה. שע"י גדולתך זן אותי במצרים.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
מידי אביר יעקב, Yaakov is reminding Joseph of who it was that is responsible for his exalted position in the world, none other than the רועה אבן ישראל, the Shepherd Who has provided generously for the entire family of Israel.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:8
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:8)

משם - הקב"ה גרם להיות.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(8) THERE the Holy One, blessed be He, caused [you, Yosef] to be --


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:9
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:24:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:24:9)

רועה אבן ישראל - משפחת ישראל שכלכל יוסף את אביו ואת אחיו. אבן לשון אב ומשפחה. נו"ן יתירה כמו נו"ן של שגעון ועורון. ומ"ם של ריקם. ותהי הכנם.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
אבן, Yaakov uses the word as meaning אב, “father, provider.” The letter נון at the end is extraneous, just as it is extraneous in such words as שגעון and עוררן in Deuteronomy 28,28, and just as the letter ם at the end of such words as ריקם in Genesis 31,42 and ותהי הכנם in Exodus 8,13 is superfluous.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:25:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:25:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:25:1)

מאל אביך - בא לך כל זה. והוא יעזרך.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
מאל אביך, all your bounty originates with the G’d of your father, and it is He Who


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:25:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:25:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:25:2)

ברכות תהום - שהתהום עולה ומשקה את הארץ.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
יעזרך, will assist you. ברכות תהום, refers to the subterranean sources of irrigation rising and watering the crops that are in need of such irrigation.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:25:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:25:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:25:3)

ברכות שדים - שלא יהא השדים צומקים ולא ימותו הילדים מחוסר חלב.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ברכות שדים, that the breasts will not be dry and the babies will not die due to insufficient milk supply.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:25:4
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:25:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:25:4)

ורחם - ואף בתוך הרחם לא ימותו העוברים, ולעניין הקללה כתיב למפרע: תן להם רחם משכיל ואפילו כשיגדלו יהיו השדים צומקים. ולא זו אף זו.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ורחם. Also while inside the mother’s womb the fetus would not die prematurely. When the Bible speaks of curses, it uses the same wording in reverse. (compare Hoseah 9,14) תן להם רחם משכיל, “give them a womb that miscarries and shriveled breasts! Even if the fetus survived the pregnancy, make the infant die from lack of milk supply!”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:26:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:26:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:26:1)

ברכות אביך גברו על ברכות הורי - ברכות אביך יעקב שבירכני הקב"ה, כדכתיב: והנה ה' נצב עליו וגו' גברו על ברכות הרים, כדכתיב שם: ופרצת ימה וקדמה וגו' נחלה טובה ובלא מצרים, מעולה מכל הרי עולם.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ברכות אביך גברו על ברכות הורי, the blessings of your father Yaakov who has been blessed by G’d on the occasion of the dream with the ladder (Genesis 28,13), are more comprehensive than the blessings my own parents had received at the time. G’d blessed me with unlimited boundaries “you will branch out to the east, the west, etc.”


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:26:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:26:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:26:2)

עד תאות - עד סוף.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
(2) TO THE UTMOST BOUNDS [AD TA'AVAT]. To the end --


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:26:3
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:26:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:26:3)

גבעות עולם - לשון והתאויתם. תתאו לבא חמת. וברכות משה מוכיחין על פסוק זה. כי הורי לשון כפל של גבעות עולם, דכתיב שם: ומראש הררי קדם וממגד גבעות עולם, ואותן ברכות תהיינה לראש יוסף.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
עד תאות גבעות עולם, as far as the furthest hills of the world. The expression תאוה occurs in connection with the Israelites’ demand for a meat diet in the desert, in preference to or in addition to the manna. (Numbers 34,10) The term is also used to describe far off places such as לבא חמת in Numbers 34,8. Accordingly, the expression הורי may be a duplication of the expressionגבעות עולם , used here as well as elsewhere to underline a point the Torah makes. A similar duplication occurs in Deuteronomy 33,15 of the expression מראש הררי קדם and the expression ממגד גבעות עולם in Moses’ blessing “with the best from the ancient mountains, and the bounty of hills immemorial.” Both Yaakov and Moses employ practically the same wording in describing the vastness of Joseph’s blessing....


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:26:4
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:26:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:26:4)

נזיר אחיו - מלך על אחיו.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
נזיר אחיו, the king over his brothers, the one wearing the crown, נזר.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:27:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:27:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:27:1)

בנימין זאב יטרף - על שאול שהיה מלך ראשון נתנבא שפשט בכל סביבותיו בכל האומות וכתב שם: בכל אשר יפנה ירשיע. שחבל בכל האומות. וגם בנימין היה עם מלכי יהודה הצדיקים אשר גברו על האומות, כדכתיב באסא וביהושפט וביחזקיהו.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
בנימין זאב יטרף, Yaakov prophesies concerning the first crowned Jewish King, Sha-ul, member of the tribe of Binyamin. He would successfully deal with the enemies surrounding Israel as documented in Samuel I 14,47בכל אשר יפנה ירשיע, “wherever he turned he defeated them.” The tribe of Binyamin also remained loyal to the dynasty of David when the ten tribes split under Jerobam. When King Assa conducted wars against surrounding enemy states, Binyamin supported him. The same held true under the reign of the kings Yehoshaphat and Chizkiyah, both Kings of the Davidic dynasty.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:27:2
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:27:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:27:2)

ולערב יחלק שלל - שכן מנהגו של זאב. זאב ערבות ישדדם. כזאבי עקב לא גרמו לבקר.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ולערב יחלק שלל. It is customary for wolves (who raid in packs) to wait with distributing their spoils until evening. Jeremiah 5,6 and Tzefaniah 3,3 confirm this.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:28:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:28:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:28:1)

אשר כברכתו - העתיד לבא כמו שאמור למעלה: אשר יקרא אתכם באחרית הימים.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
אשר כברכתו, of what would be their fate in the future, as already mentioned with the words אשר יקרה אתכם “which will happen to you,” in verse 1 of our chapter.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:30:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:30:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:30:1)

לאחוזת קבר - ולא יוכלו לערער מלקוברני.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
לאחוזת קבר, they will not be able to challenge my right to be buried there.


###### Rashbam on Genesis 49:33:1
[Rashbam on Genesis 49:33:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashbam%20on%20Genesis/r/49:33:1)

ויאסוף רגליו - הכניסן במיטתו כי עד עתה היה יושב, כדכתיב: וישב על המטה. ויוצא אותם יוסף מעם ברכיו. להגיד כח חזקתו של יעקב, שנתן הקב"ה בו כח עד עת גויעה.

**Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash:**
ויאסוף רגליו, he drew his legs back into the bed, seeing that all the while he had pronounced the blessings he had been sitting on the edge of the bed as we know from 48,2 וישב על המטה, “he sat up on the bed.” Also while blessing Joseph’s sons he had remained sitting upright, as we know from 48,12 where Joseph is described as pulling back his sons from between Yaakov’s knees. G’d‘s fondness for Yaakov is emphasised by the Torah when it reports that Yaakov possessed this strength until he had completed the last words of his blessings and his instructions.