The Saga of the Last Patriarch

Posted by Navah on Jan 11, 2025

After Yoseph was sold in slavery and spent many years first as a slave and then in a prison accused unjustly, he rose to power in Egypt to become only second to Pharoah; he became the viceroy of Egypt. And Yoseph changed. Away from home and family, he was no longer the favored son of his father, who was reporting his brothers. In his encounter with his brothers, who came down to Egypt to buy grain on account of the famine in the land of Kana’an, he learned that his brothers, who wanted first to kill him but then to sell him, were not the same brothers either. They too changed to become responsible men, especially his brother Shimon who suggested to kill him, and Yehudah who wanted to sell him for money, but it was Yehudah who offer himself as a slave in his brother’s place. They were not the brothers who had animosity toward the favored son of their father. They were not jealous toward Binyamin, the other son of Rachel, whom Yoseph favored in order to test them. But they all came together to protect Binyamin, when Yoseph threatened to take him as a slave in another test. Now that the brothers reconciled the past, they reunited in a foreign land, when Ya’akov and all his family, seventy souls, descended to Egypt in the second year of the famine. With the above in mind, we may now understand that this compels us to consider the question: The brothers indeed changed, but did their father change?

“Growth very often can come through suffering. We do not learn from pleasure; we do not grow from pleasure.” Rabbi Abraham Twerski, psychiatrist

In the following, we would like to posit a new reading of the story of Ya’akov, as we will have more to say upon this point presently, and suggest the studious reader find the answer while we will leave the question open. We now turn to the story of Ya’akov in Egypt.

And after these events, Yoseph was told that his father was sick. He took his two sons, Menasheh and Ephrayim, and went to his father. Upon their arrival the patriarch strengthened himself and sat up on his bed. And he said to Yoseph,

And now, your two sons, Ephrayim and Menashsheh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine – as Reuven and Shimon, they are mine. Your offspring whom you shall bring forth after them are yours and let them be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. (Gen 48:5-6)

These words themselves beg for an explanation. In the account of Ya’akov’s blessing, we see some strange moments. It is worth noting that the patriarch’s blessing surprisingly began not with his own sons, as the reader should expect, but with Ephrayim and Menasheh. He adopted Ephrayim and Menasheh as his own sons equal to his own sons, mentioning them by name, but then asked Yoseph who they were. We should recall that the blessing took place 17 years after Ya’akov moved to Egypt (Gen 47:28), yet he spoke as if he did not know who they were. When Israel saw Yoseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?” (Gen 48:8) and seemingly surprised to meet them, saying, “I had not thought to see your face. But see, Elohim has also shown me your seed! (Gen 48:11). At that time Ephrayim and Menasheh were young men, but it appears that they were sitting on their grandfather knees (v. 12). This seemingly odd scene suggests that the reason the patriarch did not recognize his grandsons was due to his poor vision, for verse 8 does not imply that Ya’akov doesn’t know who Ephrayim and Menasheh were, but only that he did not recognize them standing before him.

This statement in verses 5 and 6 needs explanation. The patriarch said that any sons Yoseph might beget after Menasheh and Ephrayim would be his (Yoseph’s), and they would be called after the name (Literally, “upon the name”) of their brothers. It is not clear in this wording whom of the brothers Ya’akov referred to, Menasheh and Ephrayim, the biological brothers of Yoseph’s future sons, or Reuven, Shimon, etc., Yoseph’s brothers. Either way, the patriarch stated that they would be entitled to inherit lands in their brothers’ portions. But through the adoption of Ephrayim and Menasheh, in fact, it was Yoseph who was blessed by having inherited a “double portion” as if he was the firstborn, a position vacated by his brother Reuven (See 1Ch 5:1-2). At any rate, Ephrayim and Menasheh were now equal to the other sons of Ya’akov through an adoption, when the patriarch bestowed his name upon them, saying, “let my name be named on them”; he gave them his name thus elevating them to the position of heirs legally entitled to an equal inheritance among his other sons.

And then seemingly out of place, Ya’akov went to explain why he buried Yoseph’s mother and favorite wife, Rachel, on the way to Beyt Lechem, and not in the family cave in Machpelah, where his forefathers and foremothers were buried, and where he buried his unfavorite wife Leah. For it is quite impossible to suppose that Ya’akov did not desire to bury his favorite wife in the family cave. In his words,

And I, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Kana’an on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is Beyt Lechem. (Gen 48:7)

What Ya’akov said in different words was that Yoseph’s mother died suddenly giving birth to Binyamin and he was not able to bury her in the family cave. But why was there the necessity for this statement soon after the adoption of Yoseph’s sons? Ya’akov told this to Yoseph to prepare him for what he was about to request from him later. He requested to be buried in the family cave, where Abraham and Sarah were buried, Yitschak and Rivkah, and where he buried Leah, his wife and mother of Yoseph’s brothers. So, Ya’akov requested that Yoseph do for him what he did not do for his mother. At the end of his life, Ya’akov felt that he owed Yoseph some explanation for why he did not bury Yoseph’s mother in the family cave. Or perhaps, he wanted to justify himself that he was not at fault or in negligence, but that the circumstances had forced him to act the way he acted, namely, it was impossible for him to carry his mother’s body to the cave. He therefore had to bury her on the way without delay before her body could see quick decaying in order to provide her the most dignified manner of burial.

Meanwhile, Ya’akov proceeded to blessing Yoseph’s sons, Ephrayim and Menasheh. After Ya’akov first adopted them, he wanted to bless them. Yoseph brought them from between his knees: Ephrayim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Menasheh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, for Menasheh was the first-born. He arranged them in what he considered the appropriate order according to their birth. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephrayim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Menasheh’s head (Gen 48:12-14). This too needs explanation. The scene was like this. Ya’akov wanted to bless them by putting Ephrayim and Menasheh between his knees: Ephrayim on his right side and Menasheh on his left side. But Yoseph removed them from his knees and bowed low with his face to the ground. He placed Ephrayim on his left side and Menasheh on his right side. Yoseph thus reversed the order his father placed them. In order to bless the way he wanted, Ya’akov crossed his hands and put his right hand on the youngest, Ephrayim, and his left hand on Menasheh and began the blessing. When Yoseph saw this, he thought it wrong, so he moved his father’s hands the other way around, saying, “Not so, my father, for this one is the first-born, put your right hand on his head”. But Ya’akov refused and blessed the lads to “spawn [like fish] into abundance in the midst of the earth”, but as for the individual blessings he said,

I know, my son, I know. He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great. And yet, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall be the completeness of the nations. (Gen 48:19)

Now since Menasheh was the firstborn he was meant for the blessing and should have been placed at Ya’akov’s right hand. So, instead of crossing his hands, Ya’akov should have asked that the brothers switch their positions, But Ya’akov did not do that. For he did not want to embarrass the firstborn by demoting him in such a way. And he blessed them on that day, saying,

In you Israel shall bless, saying, “Elohim make you as Ephrayim and as Menasheh!” (Gen 48:20)

By having mentioned Ephrayim first, Ya’akov gave him precedence over Menasheh in all tribal counting. He put Ephrayim before Menasheh and thus blessed Yoseph with a double portion, for a blessing given to the sons is also a blessing for their father. The symbolic meaning of this act is clear, and from it the meaning of the whole blessing is not difficult to perceive. The tribes of Israel remain twelve despite the adoption of the sons of Yoseph, as it will become evident in the final will of the patriarch.

Grammar notes: The Hebrew word for “to bless” is בָּרַךְ barak. Barak literally means to kneel or to bend the knee in homage, hence the idea of giving honor to another. Its literal meaning can be found in Gen 48:12 where Ya’akov blessed Yoseph’s sons Menasheh and Ephrayim and adopted them. From that moment on they became his sons and equal to the other sons of Ya’akov. But in Gen 48:12, we see that barak does not mean only to kneel, but also to put someone on one’s knee. And we should also recall Num 6:24-26 when the Eternal said to Israel how the priests were to bless the people, “The Eternal shall bless you” and further, “I Myself shall bless them”, which means He puts His adopted people on His knees. We now return to the text.

We should note here that at this moment, the love and respect between Ephrayim and Menasheh was challenged, when Ya’akov reversed hands and blessed the younger brother to become greater than the older, and even more, his posterity was to become the fulness of the nations. This blessing indeed began to fulfill from the period of the Judges, when the tribe of Ephrayim so increased in power that it took the lead of the northern tribes and became the head of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. But even at that moment, even though Ya’akov showed preference of the younger over the older, there was no discord or jealousy between the brothers. Certainly, everything we knew in the Torah up to this point between Yoseph and the brothers would have led us to expect strife to follow between Ephrayim and Menasheh. And yet, we see that there was no animosity between them.

And Israel said to Yoseph,

See, I am dying, but Elohim shall be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. And I, I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. (Gen 48:21-22)

The wording “one portion” is capable of two mutually excluding interpretations. The Hebrew word for “portion” is שֶׁכֶם shechem. Shechem literally means “shoulder” or more properly neck, and figuratively a tract of land, hence a portion of land. A portion of land is called shechem because a shoulder is a part of the body. Alternatively, Ya’akov could have meant the city of Shechem, which his sons Shimon and Levi devastated. If so, then Ya’akov appeared to have given Yoseph the city of Shechem as an extra portion (shechem) beyond what his brothers received. But we wonder about it! How could Ya’akov make such a claim when he was entirely against the slaughter in Shechem and told his sons, Shimon and Levi, in no uncertain terms, that what they did was evil and dangerous for the family? This forces the reader to search for a different translation and interpretation. For if indeed Ya’akov was offering Yoseph the city of Shechem, the syntax of the verse is difficult—what is “one [city of] Shechem”? Was there another city called Shechem? If so, then the phrasing is awkward and not grammatical: “I have given to you one Shechem above your brothers”, instead of, “I am giving you the city of Shechem? But did Ya’akov conquer the city of Shechem at all? In our opinion, based on the plain reading of the text, it is possible that the explanation of the verse is that Ya’akov gave an extra portion of land to his favorite son Yoseph, not the city of Shechem. And this is the correct and clear explanation of the verse in its simplicity.

Ya’akov was directly responsible for fueling jealousy between his sons, commencing with giving Yoseph a distinguishable garment that made him unique among them. On account of this error in judgment, Yoseph was sold in Egypt, and the whole family descended there only to become enslaved later. Now in his final will, he gave him even more: one portion of the land above his brothers. Ya’akov thus declared Yoseph to be his firstborn, who inherited a double portion as a firstborn should (Deu 21:18). Ya’akov accomplished this by adopting Ephrayim and Menasheh as his own sons, giving him a double inheritance through his sons and replacing his firstborn Reuven.

And Ya’akov called his sons and said,

Gather together, so that I declare to you what is to befall you in the last days: (Gen 49:1)

And beginning with the sons of the least favorite wife, Leah, then with the sons of the handmaids, and finally the sons of Rachel, Ya’akov gave his blessings. He blessed all twelve sons, each one the blessing appropriate to what would befall him and his tribe in the future, saying, “in the last days”. Although the blessings refer to the last days, they seem relevant to the immediate context of Genesis. The narrator of the story has not given us the details of his blessing. Yet, seeing that Ya’akov said הימים, “the years”, but literally “the days”, it is clear that he spoke of the years his sons already knew. He thus must have referred to the four hundred years the Eternal had already decreed in His Covenant with Avraham the period his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land, and part of this time even slaves. It is interesting to note here that the narrator did not consider Menasheh and Ephrayim separate tribes of Israel even after their adoption but saw fit to name their father, Yoseph, as a tribe as it was originally.

Now, a careful reading of the blessings to the twelve sons will show that Ya’akov remained unaware of what had happened to his son Yoseph. He was unaware of the conversation between Yoseph and his sons in Egypt, when they confessed their sins against Yoseph, and he forgave them. Neither did Yoseph, nor did any of the brothers reveal to their father the truth of the disappearance of his favorite son. Had Ya’akov known, he would have cursed their sin, for he cursed the sins of Reuven, Shimon, and Levi for much less. When Rachel died, Ya’akov moved his bed to the tent of Bilhah, her handmaid. For Leah this was unbearable and insensitive in her face. For Reuven, it was bad enough that his father preferred Rachel to his mother, but even worse that his father should prefer a servant to his mother. Reuven went up on his father’s bed and defile it; he defiled Bilhah. Torah uses euphemism, for Bilhah was Ya’akov’s wife. As for Shimon and Levi, Ya’akov considered the slaying of the men of Shechem, for the sin of rape committed by their prince Shechem, as having been cruel and dangerous for the family. But the two brothers remained unrepentant for what they had done to the city.

Ya’akov had made Yoseph take an oath not to bury him in Egypt but in the land of Kana’an, in the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 47:30), where his ancestors were buried, where he buried Leah (Gen 49:31), not in Beyt Lechem where he buried his favorite wife, Rachel. Did Ya’akov change as his sons changed, or he wished to be buried in the family cave because his ancestors were buried there? For the sake of emphasis and further explanation and to best understand what the Torah has in mind, we should summarize what we have learned so far in the patriarch’s saga here and in previous articles in the series. With that being said, we would like to raise a difficulty in the following. Seeing that we are at this point of the study, we cannot escape the conclusion that follows. Yet, the reader’s mind may thus settle when he/she reads this, for there are details which are capable of being derived from the generalization we mentioned.

“Better a sinful person who knows that he has sinned, than a righteous person who knows that he is righteous.” The Seer of Lublin, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz

Ya’akov favored Rachel more than his other wife Leah, even though Leah gave him more children than all his wives combined, while Rachel gave him only two sons. Indeed, he wanted to marry only Rachel, for she was his love at first sight, but since he was tricked by his uncle to marry Leah first, he was bound by marriage to love them both equally. But Ya’akov loved Rachel more.

Ya’akov favored the sons of the beloved Rachel more than the sons of all his wives. And he favored Yoseph the first born of Rachel more than all his sons. Ya’akov even made him a peculiar garment and gave him an extra portion of the land as an inheritance. He tolerated Yoseph’s report against his brothers instead of rebuking him. This favoritism and unfair treatment Yoseph on account of his mother’s favored position among his wives led to the brothers’ animosity toward Yoseph and strife in the family. The lives of Ya’akov and Yoseph were destined to interconnect. Ya’akov lived 130 years, and Yoseph lived 130 years. But the most important part of Ya’akov’s life was thirty-four years: Yoseph lived the first seventeen years of his life under the care of his father, and in his old age, his father lived the last seventeen years of his life under the care of Yoseph.

Ya’akov favored the sons of Yoseph more than all his grandsons. He adopted only them to become equal to his biological sons and form their own tribes in Israel. Yet he favored Ephrayim over Menasheh, Yoseph’s firstborn son, for seemingly no reason. Menasheh had done nothing wrong to forfeit the due blessing of the firstborn, as Reuven did when he went into Bilhah’s bed. Despite the shown favoritism in the blessings, Menasheh had no jealousy toward his younger brother, nor did Reuven. As we explained above, in his final will the patriarch considered Yoseph as one tribe, as our teacher Mosheh did in Deuteronomy 33, wherein he did not mention Ephrayim and Menasheh as separate tribes but Yoseph as a single tribe. How then the patriarch’s adoption of Yoseph’s sons is to be understood? The reason may be that in this way Torah accepts the theoretical possibility of increasing the number of the tribes of Israel but takes no position on it in the account of Genesis 48. The Book of Deuteronomy makes explicit what is implicit in Genesis 48, thus this issue is finalized in the last book of Torah. Mosheh did not make a vague statement in his last address to the nation.

So, why did Ya’akov then adopt Ephrayim and Menasheh to be equal in rank to the other sons and blessed them to form their own tribes? If we reflect, we will conclude that he adopted them because of his love toward Yoseph on account of his mother. Love that crossed the boundary of favoritism.

If our line of reasoning is correct and the above is accepted, then, the obvious question is forced upon us: Ya’akov’s sons did change, but did the patriarch change as well? The Torah made it its task to elaborate on the question raised and present it to the studious reader. With this the saga of the last of the three patriarchs ends.

The Saga of the Last Patriarch

The Saga of the Last Patriarch

Categories

Recent Posts

Translate

Archives