GIVE ME CHILDREN. Pray to God as your father did.¹

footnotes: ¹ Pray to God as your father did when your mother could not conceive. Cf. Gen. 25:21. This is what Rachel meant by give me children. Rashi explains similarly.

AM I IN GOD’S STEAD. Am I in God’s place. It is possible that Jacob prayed on behalf of Rachel but the time for the acceptance of his prayer on her behalf had not yet arrived.

AND I ALSO MAY BE BUILDED UP. I have explained the word ve-ibbaneh (and I also may be builded up) in my comments on Sarah’s use of the same term.²

footnotes: ² See I.E.’s commentary on Gen. 16:2.

JUDGED ME. The second nun of dananni (judged me) has a dagesh to compensate for a missing suffixal nun.³). To make up for this missing nun a dagesh is placed in the suffix ni (Filwarg).

footnotes: ³ The suffix “me” is sometimes written with two nuns (nni

WRESTLINGS. Naftule (wrestlings) is a noun in the nifal.⁴ following a nifal paradigm. From this root we get the verb niftalti (I wrestled). The same is the case with the proper name Naphtali (Weiser). Krinsky and Cherez maintain that what I.E. means is that naphtali is an infinitive. Its meaning is I strove, as a man who, when wrestling⁵ thus means twistings of (Weiser). I.E. uses twistings in a specific sense, twisting while fighting. with another, twists (yiftol) in his effort to overpower his opponent in order to throw him to the ground.⁶ is twistings (wrestlings). The word tittappal (Thou dost deal tortuously) (II Sam. 22:27) is similar.⁷ (ikkesh) Thou dost deal tortuously (tittappal). In the latter verse tittappal (tortuously) is parallel to ikkesh (twisted). Hence tittappal implies crookedness or twisting. Tittappal is a variation of titpattal (Kimchi), and Ps. 18:27 which has the identical theme reads titpattal. Thus it seems that the root peh, tav, lamed and its variation tav, peh, lamed mean to twist (Weiser). The reason Rachel mentioned God, (naftule Elohim),⁸, wrestlings of God. is either that out of respect for the Lord she had given her handmaiden to her husband,⁹ (with mighty wrestlings) is to be rendered: Godly wrestlings. or that God helped her in her struggle.¹⁰ means wrestlings with God’s help.

footnotes: ⁴ It is a noun from the root peh, tav, lamed ⁵ Naftulai ⁶ The point is that Rachel did not actually wrestle with her sister. She strove with her with the determination of a person trying to overpower his opponent. However, the literal meaning of naftule ⁷ The point of the verse is that God deals with a person measure for measure, viz., With the pure Thou dost show thyself pure, And with the twisted ⁸ Naftule Elohim ⁹ Naftule Elohim ¹⁰ According to this interpretation naftule Elohim

FORTUNE IS COME. Bagad (fortune is come) is really two words¹¹ (spelled bet, alef) and gad (Weiser). Thus, bagad is spelled bet, gimel, doled. Hence the alef of ba has been dropped. with the alef missing. Similarly, bavel.¹². 38 and many of the printed editions. Some editions read ba-kol. The latter is incorrect (Filwarg, Weiser). See I.E.’s comments on Gen. 11:9. Also, bamah as is clearly explained in Ezekiel (20:29).

footnotes: ¹¹ It is a combination of two words ba ¹² This is the reading in Vat. Ebr

The meaning of Gad is a troop. Leah said this because she now had a “troop” of sons.¹³ thus means: a troop has come. Others say that gad means good fortune as in the Arabic; and that prepare a table for Fortune (gad) (Is. 65:11), with the latter meaning Jupiter,¹⁴, Fortune has come. is similar. Actually, however, gad in the latter verse refers to the troops of heaven.¹⁵ means a troop has come.

footnotes: ¹³ Bagad ¹⁴ Jupiter was believed to control men’s fortune. Cf. I.E.’s commentary on Is. 65:11. This proves that Gad means Fortune, and bagad ¹⁵ The stars and planets. Therefore, Is. 65:11 does not contradict I.E.’s interpretation that bagad

HAPPY AM I. Be-oshri means, on account of my happiness.¹⁶ of be-oshri is the bet ha-sibbah (Weiser). Filwarg renders it: so that I may be called happy, the thought expressed by our verse being, this one was born so that the women may praise me by calling me happy (for the daughters will call me happy).

footnotes: ¹⁶ The bet

MANDRAKES. Onkelos renders dudaim yavruchin (Aramaic for mandrakes). They are similarly called in Arabic. Mandrakes give off a pleasant scent. Thus it is written, The mandrakes give forth fragrance (Cant. 7:14). The mandrakes are shaped like humans. They have the shape of a head and hands.¹⁷ I do not know how they can help a woman conceive since their nature is cold.¹⁸, Part I, Chap. 34.

footnotes: ¹⁷ The roots of the mandrakes have this shape (Nahmanides). ¹⁸ According to medieval medical theory there are four humors, hot, cold, moist and dry. The body was believed to function according to the balance of these four humors. The humor that was hot was thought to stimulate sexual activity and cold to depress it Cf. Maimonides, Guide To the Perplexed

FOR THY SON’S MANDRAKES. Tachet (for) is to be rendered: in place of and as a reward for.¹⁹ (for) is beneath. However, this translation does not fit here, hence I.E.’s comments: that tachet is here to be rendered in place of and as a reward for (thy son’s mandrakes).

footnotes: ¹⁹ The primary meaning of tachet

GOD HATH ENDOWED ME. The meaning of zevadani (hath endowed me) is: has given me a portion. The word zevadani is not found elsewhere in Scripture.²⁰

footnotes: ²⁰ Hence its meaning can only be ascertained from the context.

WILL DWELL WITH ME. Yizbeleni means will dwell with me;²¹ suffix at the end of a verse stands for oti. Hence yizbeleni should be translated: will dwell me, an impossible construction. Therefore I.E. points out that ni here does not have the meaning of oti (me) but immi (with me). Since the suffix ni means oti (me), it is usually combined only with a transitive verb, compare, zevadani (endowed me); hikkani (smite me), yahargeni (will kill me) and others (Weiser). i.e., his dwelling (zevulo) will always be with me. Compare, I have surely built Thee a house of habitation (bet zevul) (I Kings 8:13). Yetza’uni (are gone forth from me), in banai yetza’uni (my children are gone from me) (Jer. 10:20), and vi-yevo’uni (also come unto me) (Ps. 119:41) are similar. All of these are intransitive verbs with the pronominal suffix ni.

footnotes: ²¹ The ni

AND AFTERWARDS SHE BORE A DAUGHTER. Some say that Dinah was Zebulun’s twin.²²

footnotes: ²² The Bible omits “and she conceived” with regard to Dinah (Weiser). “And afterwards she bore a daughter” implies one birth (Kimchi).

GOD HATH TAKEN AWAY MY REPROACH. Asaf (taken away) is to be rendered cut off. Compare, And gladness and joy are taken away (ve-ne’esaf) (Is. 16:10). Others interpret what Rachel said as, God saw the insults which the women hurled at me because I was barren and by giving me a son He, as it were, gathered (asaf) and collected the insults.²³ means gathered rather than cut off. It is clear from Scripture that Jacob’s twelve children were born in seven years.²⁴ 2, “Jacob spent 20 years in Laban’s house. Seven before marrying the matriarchs, and seven after marrying them and six years after the birth of the eleven tribes and Dinah. We thus find that the tribes with the exception of Benjamin were born in seven years, each one every seven months.” That is, six months and some days (Weiser). The point is that Jacob had acquired eleven sons and Dinah by the time he had finished serving his 14 years for his wives (v. 25). The first seven years he had no wife (v. 20). Hence all his children, with the exception of Benjamin who was born after he had left Laban, were born during seven years. When the ancients numbered them they could only explain how this was possible by saying that each was born six months and some days after conception.²⁵, Chap. 36). The Seder Olam quoted above employs a round number (Cherez). However, this was not necessarily so. It is posssible that Leah gave her handmaiden to Jacob before Naphtali was born, that Rachel conceived before the birth of Zebulun,²⁶ and that we do not know when Dinah was born.

footnotes: ²³ According to this interpretation asaf ²⁴ Cf. Seder Olam ²⁵ Scripture tells us that Jacob’s children were born in sequence; Reuben, Simon, Levi, etc. Since Jacob had twelve children in seven years, he had to have had a child every seven months since there are 84 months in seven years and 84 divided by 12 is 7. The reason I.E. says that Jacob’s sons were born six months and some days following conception is to allow for the days of “uncleanliness” following childbirth during which Jacob abstained from intercourse with those wives who conceived twice in one year (cf. Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer ²⁶ Zilpah could have conceived Gad while Bilhah was pregnant with Naphtali, and Rachel could have conceived before Zebulun was born. The fact that Scripture tells us that Leah gave Zilpah to Jacob after Naphtali was born does not mean that that was the sequence of events. Cf. Cherez and Weiser. The point is there is no reason to assume that Jacob’s children were born seven months apart.

FOR WHOM I HAVE SERVED THEE. This refers to my wives, not my children.²⁷ can conceivably apply to my children, hence I.E.’s comment. It is similar to and shed the blood of war in peace (I Kings 2:5).²⁸

footnotes: ²⁷ The verse reads, Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee. For whom I have served thee ²⁸ See notes to I.E.’s comments on Gen. 20:17.

I HAVE OBSERVED THE SIGNS. Nichashti (I have observed the signs) means I have divined,²⁹ for Laban was an enchanter and had teraphim.³⁰

footnotes: ²⁹ So according to Weiser. ³⁰ Instruments of sorcery. Cf. Gen. 31:34.

APPOINT. Nokvah (appoint) is an imperative.³¹ is an elongated form. It follows the paradigm of zokhrah (remember) in Remember (zokhrah) me, O my God, for good (Neh. 13:31). The meaning of nokvah (appoint) is, clearly state, as we see from Which the mouth of the Lord shall mark out³² (yikkovennu) (Is. 62:2). The dagesh of yikkovennu (shall mark out) compensates for the missing nun.³³ and yikkovennu have the same root, nun, kof, bet and mean the same, viz., clearly state. We find the same with the word yiddevennu (make them willing) in whose heart maketh him willing (yiddevennu) (Ex. 25:2).³⁴ has a dagesh in the dalet to make up for the missing nun. Thus yikkovennu and yiddevenu are similar. Both have a nun as a first root letter and the nun drops out in the imperfect and is replaced by a dagesh.

footnotes: ³¹ The usual imperative form is nekov. Nokvah ³² Or clearly state. ³³ Thus nokvah ³⁴ Yiddevennu

WITHERSOEVER I TURNED. Le-ragli (withersoever I turned) is to be rendered: because of my foot.³⁵ literally means my foot. The lamed prefixed to it is a causal lamed, in Hebrew, lamed ha-sibbah (Weiser). It is the custom of people to say so and so has a good foot.³⁶ What Jacob was saying was: you have been blessed ever since I came to your house. The heh of me’umah (aught in v. 31) is superfluous.³⁷ The word is also found spelled without the heh.³⁸ in Job 31:7.

footnotes: ³⁵ Ragli ³⁶ So and so brings good fortune (Weiser). ³⁷ Hence it is penultimately accented. ³⁸ Mum

STREAKED.³⁹ are found in Gen. 31:10. I.E. inserted it here because he wanted to clarify the type of marks that the Bible refers to before proceeding to comment on the account of Jacob’s hire. The streak was on the animal’s foot. Akuddim (streaked) refers to a cord-like mark that bound the foot⁴⁰ means to bind. Akuddim is a mark resembling a cord going around the foot of the animal at the place where it is normally bound. This is what I.E. means by “a mark that bound the foot.”

footnotes: ³⁹ The words upon which I.E. comments, i.e., akuddim, nekuddim, beruddim ⁴⁰ The root ayin, kof, dalet

SPECKLED. Nekuddim means speckled.

GRIZZLED. Beruddim (grizzled) comes from the same root as barad (hail). It means having white spots.⁴¹

footnotes: ⁴¹ Like hail.

[SPOTTED.] Talu is a general term for all type of spots.⁴² It comes from the same root as u-metulla’ot (and clouted) in and worn shoes and clouted (u-metulla’ot) upon their feet (Josh. 9:5).⁴³. The meaning of u-metulla’ot is marked.⁴⁴ is a general term for spotted. The term seh (v. 32), refers to he-goats.⁴⁵ refers to he-goats because the sheep were not speckled and spotted but were chum (dark) and the she-goats are mentioned in the final part of the verse. Hence seh must refer to he-goats (Cherez). It is similarly written the sheep (seh kevasim) and the goat (seh izim) (Deut. 14:4).⁴⁶ can thus apply to both goats and sheep. In the first part of our verse it applies to he-goats. Now since talu (spotted) is a general term for all type of spots, the meaning of every speckled and spotted (talu) one is: every he-goat speckled, streaked and grizzled.⁴⁷ means speckled and talu includes the other types of spots, i.e., a mark around the ankle, akuddim (streaked), and hail like spots, beruddim.

footnotes: ⁴² At various places in the body (Weiser). ⁴³ Its root is tet, lamed, alef ⁴⁴ The patches (clouts) marked the shoes. We thus see that talu ⁴⁵ According to I.E. this clause should be translated: removing from thence every speckled and spotted he-goat. I.E. explains that seh ⁴⁶ The term seh ⁴⁷ I.E. explains that nakod

AND EVERY DARK ONE AMONG THE SHEEP. Chum means black. It is possible that chum means black because it is affected by heat (chom), for a black object gets hotter than a white object.⁴⁸

footnotes: ⁴⁸ What I.E. probably means is that black objects absorb heat from the sun more than do white objects. This shows that heat causes blackness.

AND THE SPOTTED AND SPECKLED AMONG THE GOATS. Streaked, grizzled and speckled.

EVERY ONE THAT IS NOT SPECKLED AND SPOTTED AMONG THE GOATS. Speckled, grizzled and streaked.

AMONG THE GOATS. He and she-goats.⁴⁹

footnotes: ⁴⁹ Since goats stand in contradistinction to sheep in our verse, it refers to all goats, both male and female.

AND HE REMOVED THAT DAY THE HE-GOATS THAT WERE STREAKED AND SPOTTED. Spotted (telu’im) means speckled and grizzled.

[AND ALL THE SHE-GOATS THAT WERE SPECKLED AND SPOTTED.] The interpretation of telu’ot (spotted) is streaked and grizzled.⁵⁰ (spotted) refers to the other types of marks. This is what Scripture means by everyone that had white in it.⁵¹

footnotes: ⁵⁰ Speckled is mentioned in the verse; hence telu’ot ⁵¹ The verse should be read as follows: speckled and spotted, that is, every one that had white in it (Weiser). The spots were white. “Every one that had white in it” explains speckled and spotted (Weiser).

AND ALL THE DARK ONES AMONG THE SHEEP. The black sheep. Chum (dark, black) is an adjective similar to a pa’ul. It follows the paradigm of sug (dissembler) in The dissembler (sug) in heart (Prov. 14:14).⁵² because only transitive verbs come in the pa’ul. Chum is intransitive. Nevertheless, it is similar to pa’ul in that it is an adjective. The same is true of sug (Cherez). Weiser translates: It is an adjective in the pu’al, following the paradigm of sug; that is, it is an ayin, vav in the pu’al. A great grammarian explained the word haser (removing)⁵³ can be either an infinitive or an imperative. The grammarian explained it as an infinitive because of the difficulty of coordinating I will pass with the imperative remove. in removing (haser) from thence (v. 32) as an infinitive, meaning to remove. The meaning of the aforementioned verse according to this scholar is: I will pass through all thy flock today to remove from thence every…and that which I remove will be my hire.⁵⁴ He further explained And gave them into the hands of his sons (v. 35) as referring to Jacob’s sons.⁵⁵; and his sons refers to Jacob’s sons. However, he said that he set three days journey betwixt himself and Jacob (v. 36) pertains to Laban.⁵⁶ This comment is wrong in view of the fact that Jacob had no son older than Reuben, and he was not yet seven years old.⁵⁷ This is the way our passage is to be explained: haser (v. 32) is, as its form indicates, an imperative meaning “remove” and the meaning of and of such shall be my hire (v. 32) is: such as these which you now remove will in the future be my hire.⁵⁸

footnotes: ⁵² I.E. calls it similar to pa’ul ⁵³ Haser ⁵⁴ This is the meaning of: and of such shall be my hire. ⁵⁵ Since according to this interpretation Jacob did the removing, he is the subject of verse 35 which reads: And he removed ⁵⁶ This is obvious. ⁵⁷ The events described in our passage took place after the close of Jacob’s 14 years of service to Laban. Reuben, his oldest, was then not yet seven years old. How, then, could Jacob give the sheep to his small children to keep? ⁵⁸ Verse 32 does not tell us that Jacob removed the sheep and kept them as his hire and then gave them to his children to keep (v. 35). Rather, it tells us that Jacob told Laban, “Remove the spotted…sheep and goats from your flock and keep them. However, in the future such as these shall be my hire.” Verse 35 tells us that Laban removed them and gave them to his (Laban’s sons) to keep.

SO SHALL MY RIGHTEOUSNESS WITNESS AGAINST ME. My righteousness shall testify for me before thee,⁵⁹ with so shall my righteousness witness against me, rather than with my hire, which precedes it (Krinsky, Cherez). when you come and look over my hire, viz., the flock that I have separated for myself. If you find among the latter a he and she-goat that is not streaked, speckled and grizzled or a sheep that is not black, then it shall be counted stolen. Behold you have already removed from the flock all goats streaked, speckled and grizzled and all black sheep.⁶⁰

footnotes: ⁵⁹ I.E. connects before thee ⁶⁰ Hence all such animals found with me must be mine.

AND LABAN SAID: BEHOLD. Hen (behold) is identical in meaning to hinneh, the heh being superfluous.⁶¹. It is similar in this regard to ha-eleh (these) and ha-el (these).⁶² and ha-eleh mean the same, the heh being superfluous.

footnotes: ⁶¹ I.E. makes this comment because the usual term for behold in Scripture is hinneh ⁶² See I.E.’s comment on Gen. 19:8. Both ha-el

AND HE REMOVED. Laban removed.⁶³ refers to Jacob.

footnotes: ⁶³ I.E. makes this point because according to the grammarian quoted above, And he removed

AND HE SET. Here, too, Scripture speaks of Laban.⁶⁴ refers to Jacob and And he set refers to Laban. Hence I.E. points out that both refer to Laban.

footnotes: ⁶⁴ According to the grammarian quoted above, And he removed

RODS OF. Makkal (rods of) is vocalized with a pattach because it is in the construct.

POPLAR…ALMOND…AND PLANE TREE. Livneh (poplar), luz (almond) and armon (plane tree) are names of trees. However, lach (fresh) is an adjective.⁶⁵. Conceivably lach could be taken to be the name of a tree. Hence I.E. points out that lach is an adjective modifying livneh, i.e., fresh Saadiah Gaon says that luz means almond since that is its meaning in Arabic, and Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic belong to the same family.

footnotes: ⁶⁵ Scripture reads, livneh lach, ve-luz ve-armon

MAKING THE WHITE APPEAR. He peeled the bark. Compare, The Lord hath made bare (chasaf) His holy arm (Is. 52:10).⁶⁶ means to lay bare. Hence machsof ha-lavan means he laid bare the white (Weiser). He did this by peeling the bark. I.E. makes this point because the root chet, sin, peh can also mean to strip. Hence machsof ha-laven might be translated, stripping off the white.

footnotes: ⁶⁶ We thus see that the root chet, sin, peh

PEELED. The word pitzel (peeled) means he made small cuts.⁶⁷ is found in Scripture only in verses 37 and 38. According to I.E. it does not exactly mean to peel. See S.D. Luzzato’s commentary on this verse.

footnotes: ⁶⁷ The verb pitzel

IN THE GUTTERS. Pools containing water for the sheep to drink from.⁶⁸ (gutters) as being synonymous with shikatot ha-mayim (watering troughs) (Weiser).

footnotes: ⁶⁸ I.E. apparently interpreted rehatim

AND THEY CONCEIVED. Va-yechamnah (and they conceived) is a combination of masculine and feminine forms.⁶⁹. The yod is a masculine prefix. Hence va-yechamnah combines the masculine (the yod) with the feminine. We find the same in the word va-yisharnah (and took…the straight way) in And the kine took the straightway (va-yisharnah) (I Sam. 6:12).⁷⁰. See note 69. The feminine should have been used since kine is feminine.

footnotes: ⁶⁹ The feminine form third person plural is va-techamnah ⁷⁰ The correct feminine form is va-tisharnah

AND THE FLOCKS CONCEIVED. Va-yechemu means: and they conceived.⁷¹, meaning to be hot, that is, hot with sexual desire and by extension to conceive. This word is irregularly vocalized because of the chet which is a guttural. It should have been vocalized as va-yeshevu (and they sat down) in And they sat down (va-yeshevu) to eat bread (Gen. 37:25).⁷² is yod, chet, mem. Being a peh yod it should follow that paradigm. Thus the yod should be vocalized with a tzere as the yod of va-yeshev. However, since the chet is a guttural and is vocalized with a chataf segol, the yad is vocalized with a segol (Cherez). Don’t be surprised at Scripture’s use of the masculine⁷³. Females conceive, hence Scripture should have stated va-techamna hatzon rather than va-yechemu hatzon. when referring to female sheep. Hebrew is strict in differentiating between the masculine and feminine forms only in the singular and not in the plural.

footnotes: ⁷¹ It comes from the root yod, chet, mem ⁷² According to I.E. the root of va-yechemu ⁷³ Va-yechemu

AT THE SIGHT OF THE RODS. El ha-maklot should be rendered at the sight of the rod. Many are amazed at what is reported in our verse⁷⁴ and say that it can only be described as an out of the ordinary phenomenon. Really, what Scripture describes is indeed one of the wonders of nature. However, it is a natural law. Even a woman who is created in the image of the angels affects her fetus by what she looks at while she is pregnant.⁷⁵

footnotes: ⁷⁴ That the sheep’s fetuses were influenced by what the sheep looked at. ⁷⁵ I.E. believed that it is a law that applies to all females. Hence what is described in our verse is not a supernatural phenomenon.

AND SPOTTED. Grizzled. This is so because telu’im (spotted) is a general term for all types of spots.⁷⁶ is a general term for speckled, streaked and grizzled, and speckled and streaked are specifically mentioned in our verse, telu’im can only refer to grizzled (Krinsky). The Bible sometimes uses a general term for the particular (Weiser).

footnotes: ⁷⁶ Since telu’im

AND JACOB SEPARATED THE LAMBS. Jacob also did one more thing.⁷⁷ He separated the lambs and chose the streaked and the dark ones and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and dark ones so that they would produce similar offspring. This resulted in his having his own droves⁷⁸ which he did not put unto Laban’s flock. Others say that Jacob separated the lambs from his own flock and that and put his own droves apart should have preceded and Jacob separated the lambs.⁷⁹ (in the flock of Laban) is, he did this to all of Laban’s flock. See Filwarg and Cherez.

footnotes: ⁷⁷ In addition to peeling the sticks and having the goats face them while coupling. ⁷⁸ Cherez. ⁷⁹ The verse should be read as if written: And (Jacob) put his own droves apart and put them not unto Laban’s flock, and Jacob separated the lambs (from his own droves) and set the faces of the flocks (of Laban) toward the streaked and all the dark (of Jacob’s flock), he did this to all the flocks of Laban. It should be noted that according to this interpretation the meaning of be-tzon lavan

WHENSOEVER THE STRONGER OF THE FLOCK DID CONCEIVE. In the month of Nisan,⁸⁰ so that all those born would be strong and healthy.⁸¹

footnotes: ⁸⁰ Those born in the month of Nisan (Krinsky, Weiser). ⁸¹ The sun is strong then and the sheep born in this month are healthier.

BUT WHEN THE FLOCK WERE FEEBLE. In the month of Tishri.⁸² Jacob did this so that Laban would not know that he was employing the sticks to produce spotted goats.⁸³

footnotes: ⁸² Born in Tishri. ⁸³ Had Jacob not done this, all the sheep would have been black and all the goats spotted and Laban would have known that something was wrong. Thus Jacob had to produce sheep for Laban. He did so when the offspring would be of inferior quality.

FEEBLE. Atufim means feeble; compare, Their soul fainted (titattaf) in them (Ps. 107:5).