Pgs. 148- 156

Ch. 47-50

SECTION XII.

VAYECHI.

 

AND Jakob lived in the land of Mizraim seventeen years. And the days of the years of the life of Jakob were a hundred and forty and seven years. And the days of Israel drew near to die. And he called to his son, to Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, put, I beseech thee, thine hand under my thigh, and deal with me in goodness and truth; nor bury me, I beseech thee, in Mizraim; but I will sleep with my fathers; and thou shalt carry me from Mizraim, and bury me in their sepulchre. And he said, I will do according to thy word. And he said, Swear to me; and he sware to him. And Israel worshipped upon the pillow[1] of the bed.

 

XLVIII. And it was after these words that it was said to Joseph, Behold, thy father is ill. And he took his two sons with him, Menashe and Ephraim. And it was shown to Jakob, and told (him,) Behold, thy son Joseph cometh to thee. And Israel was strengthened,[2] and he sat upon the bed. And Jakob said to Joseph, El Shadai revealed Himself to me in Luz, in the land of Kenaan, and blessed me; and He said to me, Behold, I will multiply thee, and make thee great, and will set thee for an assembly of tribes, and will give this land to thy sons after thee for an everlasting inheritance. And now thy two sons which were born to thee in the land of Mizraim, before my coming to thee into Mizraim, are mine; Ephraim and Menashe shall be as Reuben and Shimeon before me. And the children whom thou mayest beget after them, who shall be thine, after the name of their brethren they shall be called in their inheritance.[3] And I, in my coming from Padan, Rahel died by me in the land of Kenaan, in the way, while as yet there was a space of ground to come unto Ephrath. And I buried her there, by the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Israel saw the sons of Joseph, and said, Who are these? And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons whom the Lord hath given me here. And he said, Bring them now near to me, that I may bless them. But the eyes of Israel were heavy from age, and he could not discern. And he brought them near to him, and he kissed them, and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, I had not hoped[4] to see thy face, and, behold, the Lord hath showed me thy sons also. And Joseph led them from before him, and worshipped with his face on the earth. And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim in his right hand, on the left of Israel, and Menashe in his left hand, on the right of Israel, and brought them to him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger; and his left hand on the head of Menashe, using his hands designingly; (or, instructing his hands;) for Menashe was the first‑born. And he blessed Joseph, and said, The Lord, before whom my fathers Abraham and Izhak did serve; the Lord, who fed me from my coming[5] unto this day; the Angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the youths; and let my name be called upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Izhak; and as the fish of the sea may they multiply[6] among the children of men upon the earth! And Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim; and it was evil in his eyes. And he uplifted his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head, that it might rest on the head of Menashe. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first‑born: lay thy right hand on his head. But his father willed not, and said, I know, my son, I know: he also shall be for a people, and he also shall be great; yet his younger brother will be greater than he, and his sons shall have dominion among the nations. And he blessed them in that day, saying, By thee shall Israel bless, saying, The Lord set thee as Ephraim and as Menashe. And he set Ephraim before Menashe. And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; but the Word of the Lord will be your Helper, and restore you to the land of your fathers. And I will give thee one portion more than thy brethren, which I took from the band of the Amoraah by my prayer and by my deprecation.

 

XLIX. And Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather together, and I will show you what will befall you in the end of the days; assemble, and hearken, O sons of Jakob, and receive instruction from Israel your father. Reuben, thou art my first‑born, my strength, and the beginning of my power.[7] Thine should it have been taking to take the three portions,‑the birthright, the priesthood, and the kingdom: but because thou hast proceeded perversely,[8] behold, as water outpoured thou wilt not prosper, neither wilt thou receive the excellent portion; because thou wentest up to thy father's place of sleep: then, my son, didst thou become profane, when thou wentest up to my bed.

 

Shimeon and Levi are brothers; mighty men in the land of their sojourning, they did mightily.[9] My soul was not in their secret; into their company to come I would not have descended from mine honour. For in their anger they slew a slaughter, and in their wilfulness they razed the wall of their enemy. Accursed[10] was their anger, for it was strong, and their wrath, for it was relentless. I will divide them in Jakob, and I will scatter them in Israel.

 

Jehuda, thou art praise and not shame; thy brethren shall praise thee;[11] thy hand shall prevail against thine adversaries, thine enemies shall be dispersed; they will be turned backward before thee, and the sons of thy father will come before thee with salutations. The dominion shall be (thine) in the beginning, and in the end the kingdom shall be increased from the house of Jehuda, because from the judgment of death, my son, hast thou withdrawn.[12] He shall repose, and abide in strength as a lion, and as a lioness, there shall be no king that may cut him off. He who exerciseth dominion shall not pass away from the house of Jehuda, nor the saphra from his children's children for ever, until the Meshiha come, whose is the kingdom, and unto whom shall be the obedience of the nations (or, whom the peoples shall obey). Israel shall pass round about in his cities; the people shall build his temple, they will be righteous round about him, and be doers of the law through his doctrine. Of goodly purple will be his raiment, and his vesture of crimson wool with colours.[13] His mountains shall be red with his vineyards, and his hills be dropping with wine; his valleys shall be white with corn, and with flocks of sheep.

 

Zebulon will dwell nigh the haven of the sea; he will subdue provinces with ships, and will eat the good of the sea, and his boundary shall come unto Sidon.

 

Issakar,[14] rich in substance, will have his heritage between the boundaries; and he, seeing his portion that it is good, and the land that it is fruit‑bearing,[15] will subdue the provinces of the people, and disperse their inhabitants, and they who remain of them will become servants to him and bringers of tribute.

 

From the house of Dan will be chosen and will arise a man in whose days his people shall be delivered, and in whose years the tribes of Israel have rest together. A chosen man will arise from the house of Dan, the terror of whom shall fall upon the peoples; (a man) who will smite the Philistines’ with strength, as the serpent, the deadly serpent,[16] lurking[17] by the way, be will slay the mighty of the Philistines host, the horsemen with the foot; he will weaken (loosen) the horses and chariots, and throw their riders backward. For thy salvation have I waited, O Lord!

 

From the house of Gad will armed hosts go over the Jardena before their brethren to the battle ; and with much substance will they return unto their land.

 

The land of Asher will be good; and he shall be nourished with the dainties of kings.

 

In a good land will the lot of Naphtali be cast, and his inheritance be fruitful; over them will they give praise and benediction.[18]

 

Joseph is my son who shall increase, my son who shall be blessed, as a vine planted by a fountain of waters. Two tribes will come forth from his sons, and they shall receive a portion and inheritance. The mighty men, the men of division, were bitter against him; they afflicted him and sorely grieved him and his prophecy shall be fulfilled in them, because he was faithful to the law in secret, and set his confidence firmly. Therefore was gold laid upon his arm, and the kingdom was strengthened and confirmed. This was to him from the mighty God of Jacob, who by His Word pastureth the fathers and the children of the seed of Israel. The Word of the God of thy father shall be thy Helper, and the All‑Sufficient shall bless thee, with the blessings of the dew that descends from the heavens above, with the blessings that spring from the depths of the earth beneath, with the blessings of thy father and of thy mother. The blessing of thy father shall be added upon the blessing with which my fathers blessed me; which the princes who are of the world have desired: all of them shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the man who was separated from his brethren.

 

Benjamin: in his land will dwell the Shekina, and in his possession will the sanctuary be builded. In the morning and evening[19] will the priests offer the oblation, and at eventime divide the remaining portions of the residue of the sacred things.

 

All these the tribes of Israel are twelve; and this it is which their father spake to them, and blessed them; according to the blessing of each man, blessed he them. And he commanded them, and said to them, I am to be gathered unto my people; bury me with my fathers in the cavern which is in the field of Ephron the Hitaah; in the cavern which is in the double field over against Mamre, in the land of Kenaan, which field Abraham bought of Ephron the Hitaah for an inheritancesepulchre. There buried they Abraham and Sarah his wife; there buried they Izhak and Revekah his wife; and there buried I Leah. The field, and the cavern that is in it, purchased of the sons of Hitaah. And Jakob ceased to instruct his sons, and drew his feet together in the bed, and died, and was gathered unto his people.

 

L. And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were completed to him; for so are completed the days of the embalmed; and the Mizraee mourned for him seventy days. And the days of his mourning passed: and Joseph spake with the house of Pharoh, saying, If now I have found favour in your eyes, speak, I pray, before Pharoh, saying My father adjured me, saying, Behold, I die; in my sepulchre which I have prepared for me in the land of Kenaan, there shalt thou bury me. And now let me go up, I pray, and I will bury my father and return. And Pharoh said, Go up and bury thy father, as he adjured thee. And Joseph went up to bury his father; and all the servants of Pharoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Mizraim, went up with him; and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and the house of his father: only the children, and the flocks, and the cattle, they left in the land of Goshen. And with him went up, also, chariots and horsemen;[20] and there was a very great host. And they came to the threshing‑floor[21] of Atad, which is beyond Jardena, and lamented there with lamentations great and very strong. And he made a mourning for his father seven days. And the inhabitants of the land of Kenaan saw the mourning at the threshing‑floor of Atad, and said, This is a mighty mourning of the Mizraee; therefore its name is called Abel Mizraim; which is beyond Jardena. And his sons did as he had commanded them. And his sons carried him into the land of Kenaan, and buried him in the cavern of the Double Field, which Abraham bought for an inheritancesepulchre of Ephron the Hitaah, before Mamre. And Joseph returned into Mizraim, he and his brethren, and all who went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. And the brethren of Joseph saw that their father was dead; and they said, Perhaps Joseph will retain enmity against us, and requiting will requite us all the evil which we did him. And they made visitation to Joseph, saying, Thy father commanded before his death, saying, Thus shall you speak to Joseph, I pray you to forgive the guilt of thy brethren and their sin wherewith they did evil against thee. And now forgive, I beseech thee, the guilt of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake with him. And his brethren came and fell before him, and said, Behold, we are thy servants. And Joseph said to them, Fear not, for I fear the Lord. When you thought evil against me, before the Lord it was intended for good, to be done, as at this day, for the preservation of much people. And now do not fear; I will sustain you and your children. And he consoled them, and spake consolation to their heart.

 

And Joseph dwelt in Mizraim, he and his father's house. And Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw of Ephraim three sons; also the sons of Makir, the son of Menashe, were born, whom Joseph brought up.

 

And Joseph said to his brethren, I die; but the Lord remembering will remember you, and bring you up from, this land to the land of which He sware to Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob. And Joseph adjured the sons of Israel, saying, The Lord remembering will remember you, and you shall carry my bones up from hence. And Joseph died, the son of a hundred and ten years, and they embalmed him, and laid him in an ark in Mizraim.

 

                                             END OF ONKELOS ON BERESHITH.

 

[1] Al rish harsa, 'upon the head of the bed."

[1] Sam. Vers. "strengthened himself."

[1] Sam. Vers. "in their divisions."

[1] Sam. Vers. "prayed."

[1] Sam. Vers. "from the house of my nativity."

[1] Sam. Vers. "be spread abroad."

[1] Sam. Vers. "the beginning of my time."

[1] Or, "proceeded deceitfully." Azalta lakabel appeka.

[1] Sam. Vers. "they accomplished the fraud of their covenant."

[1] Sam, Vers. "proud."

[1] Sam. Vers. "love thee."

[1] Or, "gone up."

[1] Or, "wool dyed bright with colours."

[1] Sam. Vers. 'Issakar, an ass sojourning, lying down between two burdens."

[1] Sam. Vers. "fat."

[1] Churman: "species serpentis as cujus morsum nulla est medicina." --Castel. Root, charem, "to devote to destruction."

[1] Sam. Vers. "erecting itself."

[1] Sam. Vers. "Naphatali is a hind sent forth, giving words of freedom."

[1] Pania. Conf. the Ethiopic in Castel, under panu, col. 3021.

[1] Sam. Vers. "footmen."

[1] :The house of barns,"