When Joseph and his two sons left Jacob, his brethren, envious of the
bountiful blessings bestowed upon the three, said, "The whole world
loveth a favorite of fortune, and our father hath blessed Joseph thus
because he is a ruler of men." Then spoke Jacob: "They that seek the
Lord shall not want any good thing. I have blessings enough for
all."[381]
Jacob summoned his sons from the land of Egypt, and bade them come to
him at Raamses, first, however, commanding them to make themselves
clean, that the blessing he was about to bestow might attach itself to
them. Another one of his commands was that they were to establish an
Academy, by the members of which they were to be governed.
When his sons were brought into his presence by the angels, Jacob
spoke, saying, "Take heed that no dissensions spring up among you, for
union is the first condition of Israel's redemption," and he was on the
point of revealing the great secret to them concerning the end of time,
but while they were standing around the golden bed whereon their father
lay, the Shekinah visited him for a moment and departed as quickly, and
with her departed also all trace of the knowledge of the great mystery
from the mind of Jacob.[382] He had the same experience as his own
father Isaac, who also had loss of memory inflicted upon him by God, to
prevent him from revealing the secret at the end of time to Esau, when
he summoned him to receive his blessing.
The accident made Jacob apprehensive that his sons were not pious
enough to be considered worthy of the revelation concerning the
Messianic era, and he said to them, "Ishmael and the sons of Keturah
were the blemished among the issue of my grandfather Abraham; my father
Isaac begot a blemished issue in Esau, and I fear now that among you,
too, there is one that harbors the intention to serve idols." The
twelve men spake, and said: "Hear, O Israel, our father, the Eternal
our God is the One Only God. As thy heart is one and united in
avouching the Holy One, blessed be He, to be thy God, so also are our
hearts one and united in avouching Him." Whereto Jacob responded,
"Praised be the Name of the glory of His majesty forever and
ever!"[383] And although the whole mystery of the Messianic time was
not communicated to the sons of Jacob, yet the blessing of each
contained some reference to the events of the future.
These were the words addressed by Jacob to his oldest son: "Reuben,
thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength! Thy
portion should have been three crowns. Thou shouldst have had the
double heritage of thy primogeniture, and the priestly dignity, and the
royal power. But by reason of thy sin, the birthright is conferred upon
Joseph, kingship upon Judah, and the priesthood upon Levi. My son, I
know no healing remedy for thee, but the man Moses, who will ascend to
God, he will make thee whole, and God will forgive thy sin.[384] I
bless thee—may thy descendants be heroes in the Torah and heroes in
war.[385] Though thou must lose thy birthright, yet wilt thou be the
first to enter into possession of thy allotment in the Holy Land, and
in thy territory shall be the first of the cities of refuge, and always
shall thy name stand first in the list of the families of the tribes.
Yea, thou shalt also be the first whose heritage will be seized by the
enemy, and the first to be carried away into the lands of exile."[386]
After Reuben had had his "ears pulled" thus, he retired, and Jacob
called his sons Simon and Levi to his side, and he addressed them in
these words: "Brethren ye were of Dinah, but not of Joseph, whom you
sold into slavery. The weapons of violence wherewith ye smote Shechem
were stolen weapons, for it was not seemly for you to draw the sword.
That was Esau's portion. To him was it said, By thy sword shalt thou
live. Into the council of the tribe of Simon my soul will not come when
they foregather at Shittim to do vicious deeds, and my glory will not
be united unto the assembly of Korah, the descendants of Levi. In their
anger Simon and Levi slew the prince of Shechem, and in their self-will
they sold Joseph the bull into slavery. Accursed was the city of
Shechem when they entered to destroy it. If they remain united, no
ruler will be able to stand up before them, no war will prosper against
them. Therefore will I divide and scatter their possession among the
possessions of the other tribes. The descendants of Simon will many of
them be poor men, who will wander from tribe to tribe and beg for
bread, and also Levi's tribe will gather its tithes and gifts from all
the others."
The words of Jacob, "I will divide them in Jacob," spoken of Simon and
Levi, were fulfilled on Simon in particular. When twenty-four thousand
of Simon fell at Shittim, the widows they left behind married husbands
of all the other tribes. Nevertheless Jacob did not dismiss Simon and
Levi without blessing them; the tribe of Simon was to bring forth the
teachers and the beadles needed by all Israel, and Levi, the scholars
that would expound the Torah and render decisions according to its
teachings.[387]
When the remaining sons of Jacob heard the rebukes dealt out by their
father to these three, they feared to hear like reproaches, and they
tried to slip away from his presence. Especially Judah was alarmed,
that his father might taunt him with his trespass touching Tamar. But
Jacob spoke thus to him: "Judah, thou dost deserve thy name. Thy mother
called thee Jehudah, because she gave praise to God at thy birth, and
so shall thy brethren praise thee, and they all will call themselves by
thy name. And as thou didst confess thy sin openly, so also thy
descendants, Achan, David, and Manasseh, will make public avowal of
their sins, and the Lord will hear their prayer. Thy hands will send
darts after the fleeing foe, and thy father's sons shall pay thee
respect. Thou hast the impudence of a dog and the bravery of a lion.
Thou didst save Joseph from death, and Tamar and her two sons from the
flames. No people and no kingdom will be able to stand up against thee.
Rulers shall not cease from the house of Judah, nor teachers of the law
from his posterity, until his descendant Messiah come, and the
obedience of all peoples be unto him. How glorious is Messiah of the
House of Judah! His loins girded, he will go out to do battle with his
enemies. No king and no ruler will prevail against him. The mountains
will be dyed red with their blood, and the garments of Messiah will be
like the garments of him that presseth wine. The eyes of Messiah will
be clearer than pure wine, for they will never behold unchastity and
bloodshed; and his teeth will be whiter than milk, for never will they
bite aught that is taken by violence."[388]
Though Issachar was the older, Zebulon came next to be blessed, as a
reward for the sacrifice he had made for his brother's sake, for when
Issachar chose the study of the Torah as his vocation, Zebulon decided
to devote himself to business and support his brother with the profits
of his trade, that he might give himself up to the law
undisturbed.[389] His blessing was that he would conquer the seacoast
as far as Zidon.[390]
"Issachar," said Jacob, "will take upon himself the burden of the study
of the Torah, and all the other tribes will come to him and ask him to
decide their doubts on legal questions, and his descendants will be the
members of the Sanhedrin and the scholars that will occupy themselves
with fixing the calendar." Jacob blessed Issachar also with the
blessing, that the fruits of his land should be exceedingly large, and
this brought a heavenly as well as an earthly profit in its train, for
when the heathen to whom the fruits were sold marvelled thereat, the
Jewish merchants explained that their extraordinary size was due to the
merits of the tribe of Issachar, whom God rewarded for their devotion
to the Torah, and thus many of the heathen were induced to convert to
Judaism.[391]
In blessing Dan, Jacob's thoughts were occupied chiefly with his
descendant Samson, who, like unto God, without any manner of
assistance, conferred victory upon his people. Jacob even believed the
strong, heroic man to be the Messiah, but when Samson's death was
revealed to him, he exclaimed, "I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord, for
Thy help is unto all eternity, while Samson's help is only for a
time.[392] The redemption" continued Jacob, "will not be accomplished
by Samson the Danite, but by Elijah the Gadite, who will appear at the
end of time."[393]
Asher's blessing was the beauty of his women, who would be sought in
marriage by kings and high priests.[394]
In Naphtali's land all fruits would ripen quickly, and they would be
brought as presents to kings, and gain royal favor for the givers. This
blessing was fulfilled in the plain of Gennesaret.[395] At the same
time Naphtali's blessing was a prophecy concerning his descendant
Deborah, who was like a hind let loose against Sisera to conquer him,
and she gave goodly words in her song of Israel's victory.[396]
Naphtali himself deserved the description applied to Deborah, for he
was swift as a hart to do the will of God, and he was a fleet messenger
unto his father and the tribes. They sent him whithersoever they would,
and he executed their errands with dispatch.[397] He served the
brethren of Joseph as herald, to announce unto Jacob the glad tidings,
"Joseph is yet alive," and when the stricken father saw him approach,
he said, "Lo, here cometh Naphtali the lovable, who proclaimeth
peace."[398]
Joseph's blessing exceeded the blessing of all his brethren. Jacob
spoke: "O son whom I bred up, Joseph, whom I raised, and who wast
strong to resist the enticements of sin, thou didst conquer all the
magicians and the wise men of Egypt by thy wisdom and thy pious deeds.
The daughters of princes cast their jewels before thee, to draw thine
eyes upon them when thou didst pass through the land of Egypt, but thou
didst not look their way, and therefore wast thou made the father of
two tribes. The magicians and the wise men of Egypt sought to defame
thee before Pharaoh and slander thee, but thou didst set thy hope in
the Almighty. Therefore may He who appeared unto me as El Shaddai bless
thee and grant thee fertile soil and much cattle. May the blessing thy
father giveth thee now, and the blessing that his fathers Abraham and
Isaac gave him, and that called forth the envy of the great of the
world, Ishmael, Esau, and the sons of Keturah—may all these blessings
be a crown upon the head of Joseph, and a chain upon the neck of him
that was the ruler of Egypt, and yet diminished not the honor due to
his brethren."[399]
The slander of which Jacob spoke referred to what Potiphar had said of
Joseph before Pharaoh. He had complained, saying, "Why didst thou
appoint my slave, whom I did buy for twenty pieces of silver, to be
ruler over the Egyptians?" Joseph had then taken up his own defense,
saying: "When thou didst buy me as a slave, thou didst commit a capital
crime. Only a descendant of Canaan may be sold as a slave, and I am a
descendant of Shem, and a prince besides. If thou wilt convince thyself
of the truth of my words, do but compare me with the likeness of my
mother Sarah that Pharaoh had made of her!" They brought Sarah's
likeness, and, verily, it appeared that Joseph resembled his
ancestress, and all were convinced of his noble lineage.[400]
The blessing that Jacob bestowed upon Benjamin contains the prophecy
that his tribe would provide Israel with his first ruler and his last
ruler, and so it was, for Saul and Esther both belonged to the tribe of
Benjamin. Likewise Benjamin's heritage in the Holy Land harbors two
extremes: Jericho ripens its fruits earlier than any other region in
Palestine, while Beth-el ripens them latest. In Benjamin's blessing,
Jacob referred also to the service in the Temple, because the Holy
Place was situated in the territory of Benjamin. And when Jacob called
his youngest son a wolf that ravineth, he was thinking of the judge
Ehud, the great scholar, a Benjamite, who conquered Eglon king of Moab,
and also he had in mind the Benjamites that captured their wives by
cunning and force.[401]
Again, if he called Benjamin a wolf, Judah a lion, and Joseph a bull,
he wanted to point to the three kingdoms known as wolf, lion, and bull,
the doom of which was and will be sealed by the descendants of his
three sons: Babylon, the kingdom of the lion, fell through the hands of
Daniel of the tribe of Judah; Media, the wolf, found its master in the
Benjamite Mordecai; and the bull Joseph will subdue the horned beast,
the kingdom of wickedness, before the Messianic time.[402]