And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and she said to Jacob: "Give me children, or else I die."
verse value 4026
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 66 letters. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·Jacob" (אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹב֙, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 238: Rachel, Rachel. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·she·envied" (וַתְּקַנֵּ֥א), "of·her·sister" (בַּאֲחֹתָ֑הּ), "give·me" (הָֽבָה־לִּ֣י). The root רחל appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "sons" (root בן, 248x in Genesis); "bore" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'of·her·sister', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 7 words.
Onkelos
Rachel saw that she had not borne children to Jacob, and Rachel was envious of her sister. She said to Jacob: "Give me children, and if not, I am as one dead."
Rashi
ותקנא רחל באחתה RACHEL ENVIED HER SISTER — She was envious of her because of her good deeds, thinking, “Unless she were more righteous than I am she would not have been privileged to bear children (Genesis Rabbah 71:6).” הבה לי GIVE ME [CHILDREN ] — Did, then, your father act so towards your mother? Did he not pray on her behalf (Genesis Rabbah 71:6). מתה אנכי I AM A DEAD WOMAN — One may infer from this that he who is childless may be regarded as dead (Genesis Rabbah 71:6).
Ramban
GIVE ME CHILDREN. The commentators said that this means that Rachel asked Jacob to pray on her behalf. Or else I die — Rashi comments: “For one who is childless may be considered as dead.” This is a Midrash of our Rabbis. But I wonder. If so, why was Jacob angry with her? And why did he say, Am I in G-d’s stead? here. for G-d hearkens to the righteous. [I wonder concerning] that which Jacob said [to Rachel, as quoted in Rashi: here. “You say that I should do as did my father, who prayed on behalf of Rebekah, but I am not circumstanced as my father was. My] father had no children at all. I, however, have children. It is from you that He had withheld children and not from me.” Do not the righteous pray on behalf of others? There were Elijah and Elisha who prayed on behalf of strange women. It would appear that on account of Jacob’s answer, our Rabbis took him to task, saying in Bereshith Rabbah:10. “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob, ‘Is this the way to answer a woman who is oppressed by her barrenness? By your life! Your children are destined to stand before her son Joseph!’”In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, Rachel asked of Jacob that he give her children, but her intent was truly to say that he should pray on her behalf and continue indeed to pray until G-d would, in any case, grant her children, and if not, she would mortify herself because of grief. In her envy she spoke improperly, thinking that because Jacob loved her he would fast, put on sackcloth with ashes, and pray until she would have children, so that she should not die of her grief.
Ibn Ezra
"Give me children" — [she asked Jacob] that he would pray to Hashem, as your father had done.
Sforno
מתה אנכי, a figure of speech, meaning the same as הן אני עץ יבש, “here I am a dried out tree,” in Isaiah 56,3.
Or HaChaim
ותרא רחל כי לא ילדה, Rachel saw that she had not borne children, etc. The Torah adds the word ליעקב, for Jacob, since it was clear that Jacob was not the one who was sterile. The cause therefore had to lie with her. When the Torah describes Rachel as jealous of her sister, this indicates that had Leah not been her sister Rachel would have attributed the fact that she did not conceive to genetic differences between her and another wife of Jacob. She could not account for such genetic differences when her sister was involved, i.e. someone who was genetically similarly equipped (she thought). The word ליעקב may have an additional meaning here. Her major concern was the fact that she was unable to bear children for an outstandingly righteous man such as Jacob. Had Jacob not been clearly righteous, she would have attributed his bad luck to a character defect in her husband. Knowing that she herself was righteous she could not understand why the promise contained in Psalms 125,3 that "the scepter of the wicked will not be allotted to the fate of the righteous," would not apply to their union. Had Jacob not been so clearly a pious man she could have attributed their lack of success to a shortcoming in Jacob. As it was this was impossible. Therefore, she was jealous of her sister who had succeeded where she had failed.
Chizkuni
ותקנא רחל באחותה, “Rachel became jealous of her sister;” she had not become jealous until after Leah had given birth to her fourth son. The reason was that by doing so she had received more than her “fair” share of the 12 sons Yaakov was supposed to sire.
Tur HaArokh
הבה לי בנים, “get me children!” Rachel demanded that Yaakov pray on her behalf, failing which she would die She considered any woman who had no children as “dead.” Nachmanides expresses his amazement at such an interpretation as he cannot understand why this was something that would infuriate Yaakov, as the Torah reports in the next verse when he upbraids her by asking if he was in place of the G’d Who had denied her children. One even prays on behalf of people to whom one is not married, so why should he feel offended by her demand that he pray on behalf of his wife? As to the comment by the Midrash that Yaakov rejected the comparison with Yitzchok praying for Rivkah to have children as inappropriate, seeing that Yitzchok at the time did not have children, whereas he, Yaakov did have already four children, surely that is not a reason why he should not pray on behalf of his favorite wife!? According to the plain meaning of the text, Rachel demanded children from her husband. She threatened that if he refused to pray on her behalf she would kill herself. She would not lay a hand on herself, but she explained that she would simply die from frustration and shame, and would blame her death on her husband. Yaakov’s anger was aroused because she so misunderstood the power of prayer that she felt that the prayer of a צדיק automatically commits G’d to fulfill it. Yaakov thought that Rachel used the threat of her death as a ploy, something not unknown when women are denied having their way. At any rate, after telling Rachel that the matter was not really in his hands, seeing that G’d had granted him children but not from her, she decided to pray on her own behalf. This is what the Torah means in verse 22 that G’d “listened to her,” as a result of which she bore Joseph.
And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said: "Am I in God's stead, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
verse value 3076 — אֱלֹהִים֙ = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 47 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִים֙) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "from·you" (מִמֵּ֖ךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·was·incensed" (וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֥ף, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·was·incensed" (וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֥ף), "who·has·withheld" (אֲשֶׁר־מָנַ֥ע), "the·fruit·of·the·womb" (פְּרִי־בָֽטֶן). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis). First appearance of the root מנע ("who·has·withheld") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Rachel', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 7 words. Full calculation: וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֥ף [and·was·incensed] (305) + יַעֲקֹ֖ב [Jacob] (182) + בְּרָחֵ֑ל [Rachel] (240) + וַיֹּ֗אמֶר [and·said] (257) + הֲתַ֤חַת [in·place·of] (813) + אֱלֹהִים֙ [God] (86) + אָנֹ֔כִי [I] (81) + אֲשֶׁר־מָנַ֥ע [who·has·withheld] (661) + מִמֵּ֖ךְ [from·you] (100) + פְּרִי־בָֽטֶן [the·fruit·of·the·womb] (351) = 3076.
Onkelos
Jacob's anger flared against Rachel, and he said: "Is it not from before Hashem that you should seek? It is He who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb."
Rashi
התחת means AM I IN HIS STEAD? אשר מנע ממך WHO HATH WITHHELD FROM THEE —You say that I should do as my father did; but I am not circumstanced as my father was. My father had no children at all, I, however, have children. From you He has withheld children and not from me (Genesis Rabbah 71:7).
Ramban
AND JACOB’s ANGER WAS KINDLED. It is not in the power of the righteous that their prayer be heard and answered in any case, and because she spoke in the manner of yearning women who are loved, thus attempting to frighten him with her death, his anger was kindled. Therefore, he said to her that he is not in G-d’s stead that he should remember the barren ones by giving them children in any case, and he does not care about it since it is from her that children were withheld and not from him. He said this in order to admonish her and shame her. Now the righteous woman Rachel, seeing that she could not rely upon Jacob’s prayer, then went to pray on her own behalf to Him Who hears the cry of those in trouble. This is the sense of the verse, And G-d hearkened to her. Perhaps we can rectify Jacob’s retort in consonance with the opinion of our Rabbis [who related that Jacob said to Rachel, “It is from you that He has withheld children and not from me,”] for it is impossible to think that Jacob did not pray on behalf of his beloved wife who was barren, however his prayer was not accepted. Now Rachel came to him with a pretext saying that he should, in any case, give her children through his prayer for he is not of less stature than his father who did so. At this, his anger was kindled and he said to her that the matter is up to G-d and not to him, and that his father’s prayer was heard because he was a righteous man and was destined to have children, but here it is from her that He has withheld children. This is a correct interpretation.
Ibn Ezra
"Am I in place of God?" — as if to say: am I in Hashem's place? Yet it is possible that he did pray, but the time had not yet come for his prayer to be heard.
Sforno
ויחר, because she had said: הבה לי! This sounded as if Rachel’s having children was something within the power of her husband. His anger was on behalf of his Creator, G’d, Who had been insulted by Rachel’s words. He had to ignore his love and commiseration for Rachel’s plight seeing she had been guilty of such a fauz pas. אשר מנע ממך, Yaakov had detected clear physiological symptoms indicating that Rachel was incapable of conceiving.
Or HaChaim
ויחר אף יעקב, Jacob became agitated, etc. Jacob's agitation was due to her having uttered a curse, i.e. declaring that she would die. When the righteous utter a curse, even conditionally, this makes an indelible impression. We know from Bereshit Rabbah 74,9 that Rachel died prematurely because Jacob himself uttered a curse when he decreed death on the thief who stole Laban's Teraphim. This is why the Torah added the word ברחל, i.e. on her account. He was also upset because she demanded children, הבה לי בנים, instead of having asked her husband to pray on her behalf.
Rabbeinu Bahya
התחת אלוקים אנכי?, “am I in place of G’d?” According to the plain meaning of the text, Yaakov challenged Rachel who had assumed that the power of granting children resided within Yaakov. This was one of three keys which G’d does not normally entrust to any of His messengers. Our sages in Taanit 2 state: “Three keys have not been entrusted (on a regular basis) to G’d’s messengers. They are: ‘the key to life, the key to rain, and the key to resurrection of the dead.’” Yaakov was correct therefore when he told Rachel that her request should not be addressed to him. A kabbalistic approach: I have already indicated in my commentary on 28,13, that the letter ה in the word התחת need not be understood as introducing a question, but that the whole word is definitive. It is similar to Samuel I 2,27 הנגלה נגליתי, “I have indeed revealed Myself, etc.” Yaakov indicated to Rachel that his likeness (אנכי) was indeed engraved under the throne of G’d and it was this which enabled him to know that G’d Himself had prevented her from having a child. Upon hearing this Rachel overcame her natural reluctance and gave her maid-servant to Yaakov to sleep with in order to benefit from Bilhah’s potential to bear children. In the end she herself addressed G’d in prayer as we know from 30,22: “G’d remembered Rachel and G’d listened to her.”
Kli Yakar
“Am I in place of God?” Since Rachel said “you should have prayed for me,” Jacob replied to her, “Is this why you said Give me children? Do you think I am certain that God will accept my prayer? Perhaps sin will cause God to block my prayer with a cloud, for anyone whose prayer is accepted is like one who truly stands beneath God with nothing separating between him and God. But when one’s prayer is not heard, it is as if there is a dividing screen between him and God, as it is written You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through (Lamentations 3:44). This cloud is the dark physicality through which all disputes and afflictions occur, as it is written Your iniquities have separated between you and your God (Isaiah 59:2). Therefore he said who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb, because since He withheld it from you and not from me, surely God knows that you have some sin which caused the withholding of children from you, and that sin will undoubtedly block prayer from passing through. Immediately Rachel took it to heart to examine her deeds to find which sin caused this, and she found nothing except the trait of jealousy that was in her, as it is said Rachel was jealous of her sister. She thought this sin caused Jacob’s prayer to be ineffective, therefore she took it to heart to repent by going to the opposite extreme in the matter in which she had sinned — whereas at first she was jealous even of her sister, afterwards she did not become jealous even of her maidservant. Therefore she said that in the merit of bringing her rival into her home, I too will be built up through her.”
And she said: "Behold my maid Bilhah, go in to her; that she may bear upon my knees, and I also may be builded up through her."
verse value 2344
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 47 letters. The shortest word is "come" (בֹּ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "on·my·knees" (עַל־בִּרְכַּ֔י, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "my·maid" (אֲמָתִ֥י), "that·I·may·be·built·up" (וְאִבָּנֶ֥ה). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "to·her" (root אל, 242x in Genesis); "come" (root בוא, 213x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·her', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַתֹּ֕אמֶר [and·she·said] (647) + הִנֵּ֛ה [behold] (60) + אֲמָתִ֥י [my·maid] (451) + בִלְהָ֖ה [Bilhah] (42) + בֹּ֣א [come] (3) + אֵלֶ֑יהָ [to·her] (46) + וְתֵלֵד֙ [and·she·may·bear] (440) + עַל־בִּרְכַּ֔י [on·my·knees] (332) + וְאִבָּנֶ֥ה [that·I·may·be·built·up] (64) + גַם־אָנֹכִ֖י [also·I] (124) + מִמֶּֽנָּה [from·her] (135) = 2344.
Onkelos
She said: "Here is my maidservant Bilhah — come in to her, and she shall give birth, and I shall raise her child and be built up, I too, through her."
Rashi
על ברכי UPON MY KNEES — as the Targum takes it: she will bear children and I will rear them. ואבנה גם אנכי AND I ALSO MAY HAVE CHILDREN — What force has “also”? She said to him, “Your grandfather, Abraham, had children from Hagar and yet he girded up his loins (actively interceded) for Sarah and she afterwards was blessed with a child”. He replied, “But my grandmother brought an associate wife unto her house”. She retorted, “If that is what prevents me being blessed with children, הנה אמתי BEHOLD MY HANDMAID” etc. ואבנה נם אנכי AND I ALSO MAY HAVE CHILDREN through her as Sarah was built up through her handmaid (Genesis Rabbah 71:7).
Ibn Ezra
"And I will be built up" — this is explained in the words of Sarah [at Genesis 16:2].
Sforno
בוא אליה, this was Rachel’s answer to her husband’s accusation. She had not meant that it was within Yaakov’s power to make her pregnant, but she wanted to nurse a child by the next best method, that of becoming foster mother to her handmaid’s child. ואבנה גם אנכי ממנה, so that I will have a share in posterity just as has my sister through her children. ממנה, a recipe found in Megillah 13 for barren women to be jealous of other women who have no problem conceiving in order for their own organs to respond in a manner that helps them conceive.
Or HaChaim
ותאמר הנה אמתי, She said: "here is my bondwoman, etc." She was careful to say: "my bondwoman Bilhah," before mentioning that Jacob should sleep with her, instead of saying: "sleep with my bondwoman Bilhah," as Sarai had done at the time (Genesis 16,2). I have explained there that Rachel did not mean for Bilhah to be still called a bondwoman after she had slept with Jacob. She gave Bilhah to Jacob to become a wife to him; any sons of her should be free men. Leah acted similarly when giving her bondwoman Zilpah to sleep with Jacob. If we find that even Sarai did use the term "wife" in connection with Hagar (Genesis 16,3), she countermanded such an interpretation by saying that she should be a wife only vis-a-vis Abraham. She was to remain a slave-woman vis-a-vis herself. Compare my commentary there. If you were to point out that we find Bilhah described as a bondwoman even after she had slept with Jacob (30,7) and already bore him a second son, this simply means that she used to be Rachel's bondwoman. The Torah there was also interested in pointing out that the matriarchs attributed such righteousness to their husbands and it is certain that the Torah did not need to be afraid that someone would misunderstand having previously outlined what Rachel had in mind (compare what we have written in Genesis 37,2).
Tur HaArokh
הנה אמתי בלהה, בא אליה ואבנה גם אנכי, “here is my maidservant Bilhah, sleep with her and I too will be built through her (child).” Sarah, when suggesting that Avraham sleep with Hagar, had phrased it differently, saying “perhaps I will be built up though her.” (Genesis 16,7). Rachel appeared certain that Bilhah would have a son. The reason for her feeling certain that she would succeed was that Avraham had not yet been told by G’d that he would have a son by Sarah. Rachel, having revealed to her sister the secret code between her and Yaakov so that she would not be embarrassed under the wedding canopy, was certain that this merit would work in her favour now. Her preparedness to allow a competitor to sleep with her husband would, she was sure, produce in the desired result. Some commentators believe that Rachel’s certainty was based on the extra letter ה in Bilhah’s name, this being an allusion to offspring as per הא לכם זרע, or כי בי-ה ה' צור עולמו, this world having been created under the aegis of the letter ה. Rachel, רחל was the only of one of the matriarchs who did not have the letter ה in her name. She meant to make up for this deficiency by giving בלהה to her husband as her alter ego.
And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid as a wife; and Jacob went in to her.
verse value 2711
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 33 letters. The shortest word is "as·wife" (לְאִשָּׁ֑ה, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·gave·him" (וַתִּתֶּן־ל֛וֹ, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·gave·him" (וַתִּתֶּן־ל֛וֹ). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·her" (root אל, 242x in Genesis); "and·came" (root בוא, 213x in Genesis); "Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'as·wife', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַתִּתֶּן־ל֛וֹ [and·gave·him] (892) + אֶת־בִּלְהָ֥ה [Bilhah] (443) + שִׁפְחָתָ֖הּ [her·maid] (793) + לְאִשָּׁ֑ה [as·wife] (336) + וַיָּבֹ֥א [and·came] (19) + אֵלֶ֖יהָ [to·her] (46) + יַעֲקֹֽב [Jacob] (182) = 2711.
Onkelos
She gave him Bilhah her maidservant as a wife, and Jacob came in to her.
Chizkuni
את בלהה שפחתה לאשה, “her servantmaid Bilhah as wife.” This was similar to what Leah had received from her father when she had married. She also gave that servant maid to her husband Yaakov, as reported in 30,9. We know that Joseph in his early years kept company with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah who are described there as his father’s “wives.” (Genesis 37,2) This teaches that these women were not concubines, but regular wives with all the financial security that such a status guarantees the wife. None of the 12 “tribes” were born to women who were merely concubines. The only time when the expression “concubine” is used about them is when they are mentioned in comparison to Rachel and Leah, when the indiscretion of Reuven is alluded to by the Torah in both Genesis 35,22, and 49,4. Gad and Asher had already been born when that indiscretion took place.
Verse structure: 5 words, 19 letters. The shortest word is "son" (בֵּֽן, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·Jacob" (לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב, 5 letters). 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·bore" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis); "to·Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "son" (root בין, 146x in Genesis). Full calculation: וַתַּ֣הַר [and·conceived] (611) + בִּלְהָ֔ה [Bilhah] (42) + וַתֵּ֥לֶד [and·she·bore] (440) + לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב [to·Jacob] (212) + בֵּֽן [son] (52) = 1357.
Onkelos
Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Ramban
AND SHE BORE ‘L’YAAKOV’ (TO JACOB) A SON. In the case of all the handmaids Scripture mentions the phrase, to Jacob [in connection with the birth of their children], in order to relate that Jacob desired and acknowledged them and that they were not called by him “sons of the handmaids,” but “sons of Jacob,” just like the sons of the mistresses who traced their lineage to him. In the case of the fifth and sixth sons of Leah it also says, to Jacob, since due to her abundance of sons, Scripture deems it necessary to say that Jacob desired and befriended all of them. This is not mentioned in connection with the birth of the first [four sons of Leah because it is obvious that Jacob desired them].
Tur HaArokh
ותלד ליעקב בן, “She bore a son for Yaakov.” Nachmanides draws our attention to the fact that with all the births by the maidservants the Torah writes the formula: “she bore a son for Yaakov,” to indicate that Yaakov wanted these sons and acknowledged them as his, and that is why they are not referred to as “sons of the maid.” When the Torah speaks of “a fifth son and a sixth son” (verses 17 and 19) when Leah bore them, whereas no such ordinal numbers had been used in connection with her first 4 sons, and we could have expected these ordinal numbers to have been applied to the two sons Bilhah bore, the Torah wanted to emphasise how welcome these sons were not only to Leah but also to Yaakov. The repetition of “for Yaakov,” was more important seeing that Leah had already borne him four sons.
And Rachel said: "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.
verse value 3120 — אֱלֹהִ֔ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 48 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֔ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. Verse gematria: 3120 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "son" (בֵּ֑ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·gave·me" (וַיִּתֶּן־לִ֖י, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "has·judged·me" (דָּנַ֣נִּי). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "his·name" (root שם, 180x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'son', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַתֹּ֤אמֶר [and·she·said] (647) + רָחֵל֙ [Rachel] (238) + דָּנַ֣נִּי [has·judged·me] (114) + אֱלֹהִ֔ים [God] (86) + וְגַם֙ [and·even] (49) + שָׁמַ֣ע [heard] (410) + בְּקֹלִ֔י [to·my·voice] (142) + וַיִּתֶּן־לִ֖י [and·gave·me] (506) + בֵּ֑ן [son] (52) + עַל־כֵּ֛ן [therefore] (170) + קָרְאָ֥ה [called] (306) + שְׁמ֖וֹ [his·name] (346) + דָּֽן [Dan] (54) = 3120.
Onkelos
Rachel said: "Hashem has judged me, and has also accepted my prayer and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.
Rashi
דנני אלהים GOD HATH PRONOUNCED JUDGMENT UPON ME — He judged me and found me guilty; he judged me again and found me guiltless (Genesis Rabbah 71:7).
Ibn Ezra
"Dannani" — the nun is dagesh'd, compensating for the missing suffixal nun [the added pronominal nun that drops out].
Sforno
דנני אלוקים, G’d was just and fair in not granting me children. וגם שמע בקולי, but even so He did accept my prayer. ויתן לי בן, someone who will look after me in my old age., seeing he has been born on my knees, i.e. will be raised by me. When Yaakov’s senior wives, Rachel and Leah made such statements, they thereby signaled their agreement to freeing their handmaids who had possessed slave status up until then. They did this by referring to the sons of the handmaids as בנים, children, rather than as עבדים, slaves. If their mothers had been slaves, the children would have to be viewed and treated as slaves. We have proof of this from Exodus 21,4 האשה וילדיה תהיה לאדוניה, “the woman and her children will belong to her master.” This is the reason why these matriarchs did no longer have the mothers of the handmaids’ sons perform menial tasks for them as they did before these women were given to Yaakov to have children with. This was quite different from when Avraham had said to Sarah that Hagar, mother of Ishmael was “in your hand, do to her what you like,” i.e. she continued in her status as slave. They are always listed as בני יעקב, and participate fully in the inheritance, as opposed to a slave who cannot inherit as anything given to him automatically belongs to his master. In the case of Ishmael, the Torah had made sure by saying כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע “for your (Avraham’s) seed will be perpetuated through Yitzchok, that we would understand that Ishmael was not Avraham’s heir. (21,12)
Chizkuni
דנני, “He has judged me;” she acknowledges that she had been appropriately punished for having been jealous of her sister. Nonetheless she had also then been rewarded. (Compare Bereshit Rabbah 71,7)
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויאמר רחל דנני אלוקים “Rachel said: ‘G’d has judged me, etc.’” When Bilhah, Rachel’s maid-servant, bore her first son Rachel said: “G’d has judged me.” It is most important for a person to be very circumspect in his words even his introductory words which could be subject to his correcting himself. Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 19,20) said that four people commenced their words with the word אף and they all perished. They were: the serpent who had seduced Chavah, the chief of the bakers (Genesis 46,16), the congregation which joined Korach in his rebellion (Numbers 16,14) and Haman (Esther 5,12). We know that Rachel died giving birth to Binyamin as the attribute of Justice had been arraigned against her. We must understand why she called this child Dan. She alluded in that name to the same attribute which Leah had alluded to when she called her first son Reuven. Seeing that the attribute of Justice always contains at least a portion of the attribute of Mercy, she added “G’d also listened to my voice.” When she called Bilhah’s second son Naftali, referring to her having “wrestled,” with her sister, that name corresponded to the same emotion which had prompted Leah to call her second son Shimon, as we explained earlier. Here too her approach to G’d i.e. to His attributes as represented by the emanations, was in ascending order just as had been her sister’s.
Kli Yakar
“Therefore she called his name Dan.” Everyone about whom “therefore” [al ken] is mentioned had a large population, except for the tribe of Levi because the Ark would diminish them. Know that the phrase “therefore” is only mentioned regarding Levi, Judah, and Dan, for in the multitude of people is the king’s glory. Judah is a lion cub, from him comes the majesty of kingship, and Dan shall judge his people — he will take vengeance for his people as one of the tribes of Israel, like King David, the chosen among the tribes. One who takes vengeance for his people also needs a large population. For this reason it says Dan is a lion cub (Deuteronomy 33:22), comparing him to David who was also likened to a lion cub. The tribe of Levi possessed both the crown of Torah and the crown of priesthood, as Moses received the Torah and Aaron the priesthood. All the more so it would have been fitting for the tribe of Levi to be numerous since from them came the servants of our God, and in the multitude of people is their glory, but the Ark diminished them. Some say that because they were close to the Ark, they separated from their wives and therefore did not multiply as much. Others question this, since they were few even before they were given the task of carrying the Ark. Therefore, some explain that this refers to Jacob’s coffin, but this explanation is unnecessary. For it was actually the Holy Ark that was the cause, because Levi was destined to carry the Holy Ark. Therefore Jacob said Levi should not carry his coffin because in the future he would carry the Holy Ark. Consequently, the Egyptians showed respect to the tribe of Levi because they saw that Jacob honored them, and therefore the Egyptians did not enslave them and they were not included in the lest they multiply decree, and thus were also not included in the so did they multiply blessing. The reason being that all who were included in the lest they multiply decree, whom the Egyptians sought to diminish through oppression and affliction, the Holy One needed to show them that all their wisdom could not stand against God’s will, and He made them multiply supernaturally. But the tribe of Levi, who were not subjected to Egyptian oppression and whom they did not seek to diminish, God did not need to multiply them against nature, therefore they were not as numerous. It appears that for this reason also the tribe of Levi were poor and had no inheritance in the land, for all who paid the debt of your descendants will be strangers… and they will oppress them were included in afterwards they will leave with great wealth — this is easy to understand.
And Rachel said: "With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali.
verse value 5182 — אֱלֹהִ֧ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 51 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֧ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "Rachel" (רָחֵ֗ל, 3 letters) and the longest is "yes·I·prevailed" (גַּם־יָכֹ֑לְתִּי, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "wrestlings·of" (נַפְתּוּלֵ֨י), "I·have·wrestled" (נִפְתַּ֛לְתִּי), "with·my·sister" (עִם־אֲחֹתִ֖י). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "his·name" (root שם, 180x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'yes·I·prevailed', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַתֹּ֣אמֶר [and·she·said] (647) + רָחֵ֗ל [Rachel] (238) + נַפְתּוּלֵ֨י [wrestlings·of] (576) + אֱלֹהִ֧ים [God] (86) + נִפְתַּ֛לְתִּי [I·have·wrestled] (970) + עִם־אֲחֹתִ֖י [with·my·sister] (529) + גַּם־יָכֹ֑לְתִּי [yes·I·prevailed] (513) + וַתִּקְרָ֥א [and·called] (707) + שְׁמ֖וֹ [his·name] (346) + נַפְתָּלִֽי [Naphtali] (570) = 5182.
Onkelos
Rachel said: "Hashem has accepted my petition, in my supplication, in my prayer — the desire that there would be for me a child like my sister was also given to me." She called his name Naphtali.
Rashi
נפתולי אלהים WRESTLINGS OF GOD — Menachem ben Seruk explains in his Machbereth (Dictionary) that the word נפתולי is of the same root as פתיל in (Numbers 19:15) “a covering (פתיל) closely bound upon it”, so that the words here mean: By bonds from God have I been joined to my sister (made equal to her) to merit the privilege of having children. I, however, explain it in the same sense as (Deuteronomy 32:5) “perverse and crooked (עקש ופתלתול)”. I have been persistent and have made many importunities and wrestlings with God that I may become like my sister. גם יכלתי AND I HAVE PREVAILED — He has yielded to my importunities. Onkelos translated it in the sense of prayer (תפלה), in this way: נפתולי אלהים נפתלתי means prayers that were pleasing to God I offered and I was accepted and was answered like my sister. נפתלתי means my prayer was accepted. There are many Midrashic explanations in the manner of Notaricon (i.e. making the letters of the word the initial letters of phrases having reference to the matter in question) (Genesis Rabbah 71:8).
Ibn Ezra
"Naftulei" — a noun from the nif'al pattern. Its meaning is like a man who wrestles with another and twists [himself] against him to overcome and bring him down; similarly, "titpalel" (2 Samuel 22:27). The meaning of "for the sake of God" [zekher elohim, in the phrase "naftulei God"] is: for the honor of Hashem I gave my maidservant; or, Hashem aided me in my wrestling.
Sforno
נפתלי אלוהים נפתלתי, the word נפתולי is a variant of the word פתיל as in צמיד פתיל, a tightly fitted lid (Numbers 19,15) Rachel meant that her cleaving to her husband was an attachment containing spiritual, religious dimensions, making the bond between them immeasurably stronger. עם אחותי, I did this jointly with my sister, both of us having liberated our respective handmaids in order to enable them to become mothers of the founding fathers of the Jewish people. This is what they meant when considering the sons of these former handmaids as בנים instead of as עבדים. Accordingly, Leah had already liberated her handmaid Zilpah before Bilhah had given birth to Naftali. How else could 8 of the 12 tribes have been born within 7 years of Yaakov’s getting married? 6 of these sons were Leah’s and 2 were Zilpah’s. Assuming each pregnancy lasted 9 months, and further assuming that none of these pregnancies occurred simultaneously, 8 times 9 months amounts to 72 months, i.e. 6 years. Unless Leah had given her handmaid to Yaakov before Naftali was born there would not have been enough time for Joseph to have been born at the end of the second 7 years of Yaakov’s service. At that time, after Joseph’s birth, Yaakov requested permission to go home to his parents.(3,26). The only alternative to our calculation would be that all the children were born after only 7 months pregnancy, and that none of the mothers observed even basic days of ritual impurity before again sleeping with their husbands. גם יכולתי, I have achieved what I had planned by giving my maidservant to Yaakov.
Chizkuni
נפתלתי עם אחותי, “I have struggled mightily with my sister;” first she had been judged by the attribute of Justice of G-d; as a result of realising her error, she had now become closer to her sister. This is reflected in history. Though Betzalel, from the tribe of Yehudah (son of Leah) became the primary architect of the Tabernacle in the desert, his second in command was Oholiov, from the tribe of Dan, i.e. from Rachel’s servant maid. She felt that in a measure she had also prevailed over her sister in her rivalry, as the permanent Temple in Solomon’s time would be constructed by a descendant of Naftali, from her family. (Compare Kings I7,1314: וישלח המלך שלמה ויקח את תירם בן אשה אלמנה הוא ממטה נפתלי, “King Solomon sent for Chirom and brought him down from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naftali, and his father had been a Tyrian, a coppersmith. He was endowed with skill, ability, and talent, for executing all work on bronze.” He came to King Solomon and executed all his work.”
Tur HaArokh
נפתולי אלוקים נפתלתי, “I have writhed repeatedly in prayer before G’d, etc.” (a prophetic pronouncement) I have become closer to G’d through him (Naftali) as Chirom of the tribe of Naftali did for the construction of Solomon’s Temple what Betzalel had done for the building of the Tabernacle in Moses’ time. (Kings I 5,24,32) Other commentators view Rachel’s struggles with G’d as concerning the inclusion of Bilhah’s sons in the 12 tribes, “the tribes of the Lord.”
When Leah saw that she had left off bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
verse value 4906 — לֵאָ֔ה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 48 letters. Notable word values: "Leah" (לֵאָ֔ה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "Zilpah" (אֶת־זִלְפָּ֣ה, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "stopped" (עָמְדָ֖ה). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·bearing" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis); "to·Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "that" (root כי, 167x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·bearing', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: וַתֵּ֣רֶא [and·saw] (607) + לֵאָ֔ה [Leah] (36) + כִּ֥י [that] (30) + עָמְדָ֖ה [stopped] (119) + מִלֶּ֑דֶת [from·bearing] (474) + וַתִּקַּח֙ [and·took] (514) + אֶת־זִלְפָּ֣ה [Zilpah] (523) + שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ [her·maid] (793) + וַתִּתֵּ֥ן [and·gave] (856) + אֹתָ֛הּ [her] (406) + לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב [to·Jacob] (212) + לְאִשָּֽׁה [as·wife] (336) = 4906.
Onkelos
Leah saw that she had ceased bearing, so she took Zilpah her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
Ramban
WHEN LEAH SAW THAT SHE HAD LEFT OFF BEARING SHE TOOK ZILPAH HER HANDMAID, etc. I do not know what motivated this deed of Leah and why she gave her handmaid to her husband for she was not barren that she should hope to have children through Zilpah, and it is not natural for women to increase the number of their husbands’ wives. We must, however, say that the matriarchs were prophetesses, who knew that Jacob was destined to establish twelve tribes, and Leah desired that the majority of his sons be from her or from her handmaid, who was in her power, so that her sister Rachel would not prevail over her with respect to the number of her sons. Therefore, she said, G-d hath given me my share, because I have given my handmaid to my husband. here. Jacob also came unto her on account of this, i.e., that he raise many sons for he knew it to be so, as our Rabbis have said. Jacob was also aware that he was destined to establish twelve tribes. It is possible that knowing that the Land had been given to their children, and realizing that Abraham and Isaac had not had many children, Jacob wanted to have many wives in order to increase his progeny so as to inherit the Land, for a fourth generation shall come hither again, and so Leah wanted to give him her handmaid so that he would not wed a stranger.
Tur HaArokh
ותרא לאה כי עמדה מלדת, “Leah became aware that she had stopped becoming pregnant, etc.” Nachmanides endeavours to justify Leah giving her servant maid Zilpah to Yaakov as a wife although she was not barren and had already born 4 sons for her husband. He suggests that Leah, as a prophetess, was aware that 12 sons would be born for Yaakov, and she wanted to be sure that the majority would be from her or her family. The reason that Yaakov agreed was that he, too, wanted to have more sons. It is possible that seeing that Yaakov knew that the land of Canaan had been given to Avraham, and both Avraham and Yitzchok had not produced many children, Yaakov wanted to make up for this by marrying a number of women. He knew that the fourth generation of Avraham’s descendants would return to the land of Canaan to take possession of it.
Verse structure: 6 words, 22 letters. Notable word values: "Leah" (לֵאָ֖ה) = 36, double chai. Verse gematria: 1650 is divisible by 50, the years to the Jubilee (yovel). The shortest word is "son" (בֵּֽן, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·Jacob" (לְיַעֲקֹ֥ב, 5 letters). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·bore" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis); "to·Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "son" (root בין, 146x in Genesis). Full calculation: וַתֵּ֗לֶד [and·she·bore] (440) + זִלְפָּ֛ה [Zilpah] (122) + שִׁפְחַ֥ת [the·maid·of] (788) + לֵאָ֖ה [Leah] (36) + לְיַעֲקֹ֥ב [to·Jacob] (212) + בֵּֽן [son] (52) = 1650.
Onkelos
Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, bore Jacob a son.
Rashi
ותלד זלפה AND ZILPAH BARE — In the case of all Jacob’s wives there is mention of their having been with child (i. e. Scripture states ותהר) except in the case of Zilpah. This was because she was the youngest of all and quite a child in age so that her being with child was not noticeable (Genesis Rabbah 71:9) Laban had given her to Leah in order to deceive Jacob — that he might not perceive that they were bringing Leah to him in marriage — for thus was the custom: to give the elder handmaid to the elder daughter, and the younger handmaid to the younger daughter.
And Leah said: "Fortune is come!" And she called his name Gad.
verse value 2154 — לֵאָ֖ה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 24 letters. Notable word values: "Leah" (לֵאָ֖ה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "came" (בָּ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·she·said" (וַתֹּ֥אמֶר, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 7: Gad, Gad. 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "came" (root בוא, 213x in Genesis); "and·called" (root קרא, 123x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Gad', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַתֹּ֥אמֶר [and·she·said] (647) + לֵאָ֖ה [Leah] (36) + בָּ֣א [came] (3) + גָ֑ד [Gad] (7) + וַתִּקְרָ֥א [and·called] (707) + אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ [his·name] (747) + גָּֽד [Gad] (7) = 2154.
Onkelos
Leah said: "Good fortune has come." And she called his name Gad.
Rashi
בא גד FOR MY HAPPINESS! — Good luck has come, as (Shabbat 67b) “Be lucky, my luck (גד גדי) and tire not”. Similar, also, is (Isaiah 45:11) “That prepare a table for fortune (גד)”. The Midrashic explanation is that he was born with the sign of the covenant upon him. It would then be like (Daniel 4:11) “cut down (גדו) the tree”. I do not know why it (בגד) is written as one word. Another comment on בגד is: why is it read as one word? It may be connected with the root בגד which denotes faithless as though Leah said to Jacob, “You proved faithless to me when you married my handmaid”, like a man who is faithless (בגד) to the wife of his youth).
Ibn Ezra
"Be-gad" — two words [be + gad], with the aleph missing, as likewise in "be-khol" and "be-mah," as is explained in Ezekiel. The meaning of "gad" is "troop" (Genesis 49:19), for she [Leah] has a troop of sons. Some say the meaning of gad is "good fortune," as it is in the Arabic tongue, as in "who set a table for Gad" (Isaiah 65:11) — he is the planet Jupiter. But the correct interpretation is that it refers to the heavenly hosts.
Sforno
בא גד, this one came coincidentally, for I had not planned to ring him into the world, seeing that I had stopped giving birth. The reason why the word is spelled as a single word with the letter א missing, is to indicate that the conception and pregnancy was not planned but occurred gratuitously. Her pregnancy had somehow become terminated after it had begun. We find a similar construction of the word בגד in Job 6,15: אחי בגדו כמו נחל, “my comrades are fickle like a wadi.”
Chizkuni
ותאמר לאה בגד, Leah said: “he betrayed,” i.e. this son is the result of my husband’s betrayal. [based on the word בגידה, “treachery. Ed.] Leah felt that although she had given Yaakov her servant maid to sleep with, he should not have accepted that offer. Did I not bear him four sons already? While it is true that he slept with Rachel’s servant maid also, this was understandable, as she had not born him any children. She called the son גד. [If I understand our author correctly, Leah was happy to be the “mother” of another son, but unhappy about how she had to come by him, i.e. vicariously. Ed.] She called the second son her servant maid had born, אשר, i.e. source of happiness, as by now she had reconciled herself to have given Yaakov her maidservant (This interpretation is close to the one offered in the midrash hagadol) The word: בגד, which is spelled as a single word instead of as two words: i.e. בא גד, but is read as one word. If we read this word as two words, the meaning is: בא גד, “a troop arrived,” i.e. my four sons have now been joined by another one that forms part of my little army.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ותאמר לאה בגד, “Leah said ‘in my good fortune;’” Rashi says that this reflected the fact that Gad was born without a foreskin. If we follow the reasoning behind this we may be able to account for the missing letter א in the word בגד which should really have been spelled באגד. He would have been the tenth male Jew to have been circumcised as he was preceded by Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, Dan and Naftali. He is counted as the tenth although he was born without a foreskin. Had his name been spelled with the letter א, its numerical value would have been 10. Seeing that actually he did not need to be circumcised, the Torah omitted the letter א of his name. If we nonetheless read the name as if it had been spelled wih the letter א included, this was to indicate that G’d guided Leah to make his name גד, meaning גדי, i.e. a fortunate person, a lucky person. Historically speaking, there is evidence that the tribe of Gad was very successful in war, something alluded to already in Yaakov’s blessing in Genesis 49,19 גד גדוד ידודנו והוא יגד עקוב, “Gad will recruit a regiment and not one of its members will be missing (Rashi).” From a more psychological point of view we may understand the name as reflecting a new insight of Leah who had previously stopped conceiving after bearing four sons in short order. The word גד is related to המשכה, “continuity.” When Leah realized what was happening she decided to draw once again upon the source which had previously enabled her to bear children and by means of her prayer גד גדי, i.e. that her good fortune be restored to her she waited for additional children. When Gad was born she named him thus as he represented a vicarious continuation of her former good fortune. A similar consideration prompted her to name Zilpah’s second son אשר, the meaning of which is similar to that of Gad and also contains an element of gratitude. She hoped that her gratitude for Asher would prompt G’d to allow her to have still more children. When she personally, bore Issachar, after the story with the Dudaim, she credited the emanation בינה with her success. We read in Chronicles I 11,32 that the members of the tribe of Issachar were extremely conversant with the requirements of whatever generation they lived in, i.e. they displayed more insight than any other tribe. [This is why a delegation of 200 men from that tribe was considered as equivalent in collective wisdom to many thousands of the other tribes. Ed.] We have a verse in Proverbs 23,19 ואשר בדרך לבך, “make your heart take the proper path,” which alludes to something similar. [In modern Hebrew the verb אשר means to confirm, to acknowledge, something similar to giving thanks. Ed.] As a reward for such an attitude G’d gave her also Zevulun, a name which corresponds to the central emanation known either as קו האמצעי, or as שבט, i.e. the emanation תפארת. [According to more recent names the emanations are known as, this emanation is best translated as “harmony,” a fitting description of קו האמצעי, the “middle line.” Ed.]
Tur HaArokh
ותאמר לאה בגד, “Leah said: ‘good fortune has come.’” Some commentators, in zeroing in on the name גד, point out that members of the tribe of Gad were the first ones to receive their ancestral portion of land in the land of Israel, as documented in Numbers 32,2 “the members of the tribes of Gad and Reuven came, etc.” Other commentators hold that that the word בגד means that Leah said: “now I know that my husband has betrayed me, seeing that he has taken my maid servant as a competing wife.” When Avraham took Hagar he had not had any children by Sarah. When Rachel gave her maid servant to Yaakov, she too had not born any children for him. But I have born my husband four children, so there was no reason for him to take her as a wife. If, nonetheless I have started being capable of having children again this must be my reward for allowing him to take my maid servant. When she bore another son she called him אשר to reinforce this feeling of joyous gratitude to G’d Who had blessed her with 6 sons.
And Leah said: "Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy." And she called his name Asher.
verse value 4206 — לֵאָ֔ה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 38 letters. Notable word values: "Leah" (לֵאָ֔ה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "will·call·me·fortunate" (אִשְּׁר֖וּנִי, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "in·my·happiness" (בְּאׇשְׁרִ֕י), "will·call·me·fortunate" (אִשְּׁר֖וּנִי). The root אשר appears 3 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "in·my·happiness" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis); "his·name" (root שם, 180x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'daughters', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַתֹּ֣אמֶר [and·she·said] (647) + לֵאָ֔ה [Leah] (36) + בְּאׇשְׁרִ֕י [in·my·happiness] (513) + כִּ֥י [that] (30) + אִשְּׁר֖וּנִי [will·call·me·fortunate] (567) + בָּנ֑וֹת [daughters] (458) + וַתִּקְרָ֥א [and·called] (707) + אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ [his·name] (747) + אָשֵֽׁר [Asher] (501) = 4206.
Onkelos
Leah said: "Praise has come to me, for thus will the women praise me." She called his name Asher.
Ibn Ezra
"Be-ashri" — on account of my good fortune.
Sforno
באשרי, this son is part of my bliss, my happiness, because he is also a son for me.
Targum Yonatan
And Leah said, Praise shall be mine: for the daughters of Israel will praise me, as his children will be praised before the Lord for the goodness of the fruit of his land; and she called his name Asher.
And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah: "Give me, I pray you, of your son's mandrakes."
verse value 3591
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 80 letters. The shortest word is "to·me" (לִ֔י, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·wheat·harvest" (קְצִיר־חִטִּ֗ים, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 67: to·Leah, to·Leah. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "the·wheat·harvest" (קְצִיר־חִטִּ֗ים), "mandrakes" (דֽוּדָאִים֙), "give·please" (תְּנִי־נָ֣א). The root דודי appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "your·son" (root בן, 248x in Genesis); "and·brought" (root בוא, 213x in Genesis). First appearance of the root דודי ("mandrakes") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'his·mother', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 7 words.
Onkelos
Reuben went out in the days of the wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and he brought them to Leah his mother. Rachel said to Leah: "Give me now some of your son's mandrakes."
Rashi
בימי קציר חטים IN THE DAYS OF WHEAT HARVEST — This is stated in praise of the tribes (שבטים a common term for Jacob’s twelve sons, the ancestors of the Tribes of Israel): it was harvest-time, yet he (Reuben) did not put forth his hand upon private property (literally, that which is stolen) by bringing home wheat or barley, but he brought home only ownerless things (such as were free for all to take) about which no one is particular (Genesis Rabbah 72:2). דודאים are violets: it is a plant. In Arabic it is called Jasmin.
Ramban
‘DUDA’IM.’ These are ‘sigli’ (violets). In Arabic it is called jasmin. So I found in Rashi’s commentary. But this is not so for the Arabic jasmin bears the same name in the words of our Rabbis, as they say in the chapter Bameh Tomnin:112“With What May They Cover Up” hot food, the fourth chapter in Tractate Shabbath. 50b. “Poppy pomace flavored with jasmin may be used [as a lotion on the Sabbath],” while they say sigli is an odorous herb concerning which they have said that on smelling it, one recites the blessing: “Blessed art Thou… who createst odorous plants.” However, their season is not in the days of the wheat, but perhaps Reuben found them there by chance. It is best to accept Onkelos’ opinion concerning the translation of duda’im, which he rendered as yavruchin (mandrakes). In Bereshith Rabbah 2:2. it is also explained similarly: “Rabbi Chiya the son of Rabbi Abba said, ‘Yavruchin,’” and these are yavruach in Arabic. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “Onkelos translated duda’im as ‘mandrakes,’ and so they are called in Arabic. They have a good odor. And it is so written: The mandrakes give forth fragrance. They resemble the human form as they have the shape of the human head and hands. Now some say that they are an aid to pregnancy, but I do not know it since their effect is to produce the cold fluid in the body.” These are Ibn Ezra’s words. The correct interpretation is that Rachel wanted the duda’im for delight and pleasure, for Rachel was visited with children through prayer, not by medicinal methods. And Reuben brought the branches of duda’im or the fruit, which resemble apples and have a good odor. The stem, however, which is shaped in the form of the human head and hands, he did not bring, and it is the stem which people say is an aid to pregnancy. And if the matter be true, it is by some peculiar effect, not by its natural quality. But I have not seen it thus in any of the medicinal books discussing mandrakes.
Ibn Ezra
"Dudaim" — the Targum renders it "yavruchin," and so they are called in Arabic. They have a pleasant fragrance, as it is written: "the dudaim give forth their fragrance" (Song of Songs 7:14). They are shaped like a human form, having the likeness of a head and hands. I do not know how they would benefit fertility, seeing that their nature is cold.
Sforno
וילך ראובן, when he saw that his mother was unhappy that she was no longer having children, וימצא דודאים, a pleasant smelling herb, the fragrance stimulating the human organs related to conceiving and giving birth. Our sages (Baba Kamma 82) said garlic has a similar effect on people and that this is the reason why one eats garlic on Friday nights when the husbands cohabit with their wives. The Dudaim appear to have been known as producing a similar effect. It is possible that the Dudaim had an even better effect in stimulating the feelings of love between a man and his wife. This idea is based on Song of Songs 7,13-14 שם אתן את דודי לך, הדודאים נתנו ריח, “there I will give my love to you, the mandrakes yield their fragrance.” Our verse would testify both to Reuven’s righteousness and his intelligence. especially considering that at that time he could hardly have been older than 4 or five years old.
Chizkuni
וימצא דודאים, “he found figs.” (Rash’bam).
Rabbeinu Bahya
וימצא דודאים בשדה, “he found dudaim in the field.” According to Nachmanides the shape of the root of this plant resembles the shape of a human head and hands and is therefore especially likely to evoke feelings of desire to become pregnant in the person who looks at or eats this plant. [a common translation for dudaim is either “jasmine” or “mandrakes.”] The fruit of the plant supposedly looks like an apple and gives off a very pleasant fragrance The effect of such a plant as a fertility inducing agent is questioned by early commentators seeing it induces cold and dryness, the very opposite of the process of fertilisation. If, so, the plant was used in order to invoke G’d’s powers as opposed to the powers of nature. If Rachel used the dudaim being aware of this she would have demonstrated that she would attribute any pregancy to the effectiveness of her prayer rather than to natural causes. According to Nachmanides’ sources Reuven had brought his mother only the fruit, not the root of the plant. He (a young child of maybe 5 or 6 years of age) had meant for his mother to amuse herself with the fragrance of the plant. Leah herself had intended to provide her and Yaakov’s nuptial bed with the sweet fragrance of that flower. This practice has been described in Proverbs 7,17. Nachmanides adds that he has not found anything about the effectiveness of this plant in medical texts he has seen.
Tur HaArokh
דודאים, “jasmines.” According to Ibn Ezra jasmines exude a pleasant fragrance and also possess the shape of a human being with head and hands like extrusions. Other commentators claim that these flowers are conducive to its owner conceiving. Ibn Ezra himself doubts this as in his estimation theses flowers are “cold,” i.e. do not stimulate sexual arousal. Nachmanides writes these jasmines were not intended to make her pregnant, but she wanted to enjoy their fragrance, being aware that Rachel had become pregnant as a result of her prayers and not as a result of inhaling the fragrance of jasmines. Reuven brought his mother the branches of the jasmine plants, not the roots which resemble human features. This may be why people say that these roots may somehow help a woman to get pregnant, although Nachmanides did not find reference to this in any medical text at his disposal.
And she said to her: "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? and would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said: "Therefore he shall lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."
verse value 5563
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 72 letters. The shortest word is "to·her" (לָ֗הּ, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·mandrakes·of" (אֶת־דּוּדָאֵ֖י, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 647: and·she·said, and·she·said. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "was·it·not·enough" (הַמְעַט֙), "your·taking" (קַחְתֵּ֣ךְ), "my·husband" (אֶת־אִישִׁ֔י). The root אמר appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "my·son" (root בן, 248x in Genesis); "my·husband" (root איש, 153x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'my·son', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 9 words.
Onkelos
She said to her: "Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband, and now you would also take my son's mandrakes?" Rachel said: "Therefore he shall lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."
Rashi
Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband and that thou wouldst do this in addition — TO TAKE MY SON’S MANDRAKES ALSO? It should therefore be translated in the Targum by ולמיטב, the infinitive like the Hebrew infinitive ולקחת “and to take.” לכן ישכב עמך הלילה THEREFORE SHALL HE BE WITH THEE TONIGHT —He should have stayed this night with me but I cede it to you in return for your son’s mandrakes. Because she thought lightly of companionship with so righteous a man she was not privileged to be buried together with him (Genesis Rabbah 72:3).
Ramban
IS IT A SMALL MATTER THAT THOU HAST TAKEN AWAY MY HUSBAND? The intent thereof is as follows: “Is it a small matter that you take my husband unto yourself as if you are his wife and I am the handmaid? Will you now also make yourself the mistress to take the mandrakes in whose odor I delight?”It is possible that Rachel wanted the mandrakes in honor of Jacob to perfume his couch. Leah had done in the customary way of women, just as it is written, I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Therefore, Leah said, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my husband from me that you now also take my son’s mandrakes to win him over with them? And some scholars say However, see R’dak. that duda’im are herbs, which act as a male aphrodisiac, the word being derived from the expression, the time of ‘dodim’ (love). Therefore Leah said, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my husband? as I have mentioned.
Ibn Ezra
"In exchange for your son's dudaim" — as a substitute and wages.
Sforno
Isn’t it enough that you took. You should not have agreed to become my co-wife in the first place, since the Torah disapproves of marrying sisters. Would you also take. Do you now wish to increase Yaakov’s love for you and his hatred for me? לכן ישכב עמך הלילה. In order that the effect of your sleeping with him will become effective before I can use the effect of the mandrakes. You will therefore not suffer any damage if you give me some of the mandrakes now. This is all the more so if, as our sages contend, these mandrakes were ownerless and had never belonged to anyone specifically. (Bereshit Rabbah,72,2)
Or HaChaim
המעט קחתך את אישי, "Is it not enough that you have taken my husband, etc.?" Leah's words must be understood according to those rabbis who hold that Jacob's bed was permanently in Rachel's tent. She therefore argued that whatever time Jacob spent with Rachel in excess of a fair division was at her expense. When she used the expression ולקחת, "you have taken," she meant that the chances of bearing children were directly related to the frequency with which husband and wife engage in marital relations, as our sages state on several occasions (compare Chulin 11 et al in an indirect proof). The incident with the jasmin is related here as it is considered an aphrodisiac and its fragrance facilitates conception (Zohar 1,157). Leah complained that Rachel wanted the jasmin of her son in addition to almost monopolising Jacob's nights. The reason that Jacob did not divide his time equally between his two wives was simply that he had no obligation to sleep with Leah except when the latter had ritually purified herself after her menstruation (based on Exodus 21,10). After all he had not married her on his own initiative, as distinct from Rachel whom he had wanted to wed in the first place. לכן ישכב עמך הלילה, "therefore he shall sleep with you tonight." It appears as if this depended exclusively on Rachel's wishes. Therefore she added: "in exchange for the jasmin of your son." Alternatively, this can be understood as an oath. There are matters which are acquired only by means of an oath, such as items that are intangible. (the fragrance of the jasmin). Compare my commentary on Genesis 25,33 when Esau sold his birthright.
Chizkuni
המעט קחתך את אישי, “not only have you usurped my position as the senior wife, seeing that I was married to him first, but...”
And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said: "You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.
verse value 5377 — לֵאָ֜ה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 79 letters. Notable word values: "Leah" (לֵאָ֜ה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֚י, 2 letters) and the longest is "from·the·field" (מִן־הַשָּׂדֶה֮, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "hired" (שָׂכֹ֣ר), "I·have·hired·you" (שְׂכַרְתִּ֔יךָ), "with·the·mandrakes·of" (בְּדוּדָאֵ֖י). The root בוא appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "my·son" (root בן, 248x in Genesis); "to·me" (root אל, 242x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'my·son', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 4 words.
Onkelos
Jacob came in from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said: "Come in to me, for I have indeed hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.
Rashi
שכר שכרתיך FOR SURELY I HAVE HIRED THEE — I have given Rachel the hire she demanded. בלילה הוא THAT NIGHT — With God’s help Isaachar was born (Niddah 31a, and cf. Genesis Rabbah 99).
Sforno
You will come to me. This will entail no injustice since Rochel agreed. Like Adam before the sin, the Patriarchs and Matriarchs related to reproduction as nothing other than a way to produce more servants for Hashem. וישכב עמה בלילה הוא, willingly, not reluctantly. He appreciated her urgent desire to have more children fathered by him.
Or HaChaim
ותצא לאה, Leah went out, etc. The reason Leah went to meet Jacob, something that was not considered good manners was that she was afraid Rachel might change her mind. If we accept the view that Rachel swore to her and therefore could not go back on her word we must justify Leah's behaviour as being based on the lack of precision of Rachel's promise. Rachel had not said that Jacob could sleep with Leah on that night. Leah did not want to be put off. By displaying eagerness to sleep with her husband she profited by becoming pregnant. Leah may also have walked towards her husband in order not to have to call him to her after Jacob had already entered Rachel's tent. This would have been an embarassment for her sister Rachel. It might have resulted in open jealousy. Leah's virtuous considerations therefore outweighed the unconventional manner of her behaviour. It is clear that G'd appreciated this as He rewarded her by letting her conceive; the Torah wrote: "G'd listened to Leah and she conceived." Look at my commentary on that verse שכר שכרתיך, "I have rented you, etc." This means: "I have paid a fee to someone for the pleasure of your company." The repetition of the word שכר indicates that she referred to two things, i.e. that Jacob stay with her for the night and that he should have marital relations with her. בלילה הוא, that night. This is simply a reference to the fact that Jacob fully agreed.
Chizkuni
וישכב עמה בלילה הוא, “he slept with her on that night.” [In order to be grammatically correct, the Torah should have written: בלילה ההוא. Our author points out that this is not a scribe’s error, but that we have a similar formulation in Genesis 32,23: ויקם לילה הוא, “he got up during that night,” where we also would have expected to find: בלילה ההוא. [Perhaps the missing letter is to indicate that in both instances Yaakov made the decision hastily. Ed.]
And God heeded Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.
verse value 2262 — אֱלֹהִ֖ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 35 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. Verse gematria: 2262 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "son" (בֵּ֥ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·heard" (וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע, 5 letters). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "and·she·bore" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis); "to·Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·Leah', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע [and·heard] (426) + אֱלֹהִ֖ים [God] (86) + אֶל־לֵאָ֑ה [to·Leah] (67) + וַתַּ֛הַר [and·conceived] (611) + וַתֵּ֥לֶד [and·she·bore] (440) + לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב [to·Jacob] (212) + בֵּ֥ן [son] (52) + חֲמִישִֽׁי [fifth] (368) = 2262.
Onkelos
Hashem accepted the prayer of Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
Rashi
וישמע אלהים אל לאה AND GOD HEARKENED UNTO LEAH —for she eagerly desired and sought means to increase the number of the tribes (Genesis Rabbah 72:5).
Sforno
וישמע אלוקים אל לאה, because she had used both natural means, and then, failing to succeed, relied on prayer. She herself is on record as confirming this when she said נתן אלוקים שכרי אשר נתתי שפחתי לאישי, “G’d has given me my reward for having offered my handmaid to my husband. Giving Zilpah to Yaakov was considered by her as a way of relying on natural means of having more children, seeing she had come to the conclusion that she could not have any more from her own womb.
Or HaChaim
וישמע אלוקים, G'd heard, etc. This means that Leah prayed to G'd first. It may also mean that G'd had understood the reasons for Leah's behaviour. She was motivated by her love for G'd and her desire to fulfil His commandments. If, in the process, she had committed an error of etiquette, G'd on His part did the same by allocating to her more than the four sons originally intended. The other two sons were in recognition of Leah's pure motives.
Targum Yonatan
And he lay with her that night. And the Lord heard the prayer of Leah, and she conceived, and bare to Jakob a fifth son.
And Leah said: "God has given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband." And she called his name Issachar.
verse value 6192 — לֵאָ֗ה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 50 letters. Notable word values: "Leah" (לֵאָ֗ה) = 36, double chai. Verse gematria: 6192 is divisible by 86, the value of Elohim. The shortest word is "Leah" (לֵאָ֗ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "which·I·gave" (אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "which·I·gave" (אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי), "to·my·husband" (לְאִישִׁ֑י). The root נתן appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "his·name" (root שם, 180x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·my·husband', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַתֹּ֣אמֶר [and·she·said] (647) + לֵאָ֗ה [Leah] (36) + נָתַ֤ן [gave] (500) + אֱלֹהִים֙ [God] (86) + שְׂכָרִ֔י [my·reward] (530) + אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי [which·I·gave] (1361) + שִׁפְחָתִ֖י [my·maid] (798) + לְאִישִׁ֑י [to·my·husband] (351) + וַתִּקְרָ֥א [and·called] (707) + שְׁמ֖וֹ [his·name] (346) + יִשָּׂשכָֽר [Issachar] (830) = 6192.
Onkelos
Leah said: "Hashem has given me my reward, because I gave my maidservant to my husband." She called his name Issachar.
Chizkuni
נתן אלוקים שכרי אשר נתתי שפחתי לאישי, “G-d gave me my reward for having given my maidservant to my husband.” She acknowledged G-d’s generosity, by having realised that if her sister had become a mother only vicariously by having given her servant maid to her husband, she had had good reason, as she had failed to personally provide him with children, and this was excusable; she, Leah having done so also was probably inexcusable; if nonetheless G-d had blessed her with having two more sons to raise, she considered this as a reward for her generosity in offering Yaakov her servant maid as a wife. In light of these considerations she named this son יששכר, “he who will be the symbol of a reward.” The name is written with two letters ש to draw our attention to what she meant.
Tur HaArokh
ותקרא שמו יששכר, “she named him Issachar.” Actually, she should have called him שכר, “reward.” Since she felt she had been rewarded for two actions, the handing over of her maid servant, as well as the handing over of her son’s jasmines, she indicated this by the second letter ש in the word שכר calling this son יששכר.
Rashbam
יששכר, a double reward, one for handing over the dudaim; the other, that I gave my handmaid to my husband to have children with.
Daat Zkenim
יששכר, this name (word) has two successive letters ש, one in order to express Leah’s gratitude to G–d for having been paid her reward, שכר, for having given Rachel her son’s mandrakes in order to help her to conceive more easily, and the second for allowing her an extra night with her husband, i.e. hiring him, שכר, so as to become pregnant from him again. (verse 16), [Normally, this arrangement is viewed with distaste by the Torah; but the Torah reported the whole sequence in order to show the reader that Leah’s intentions had not been to satisfy her libido, but to become the mother of another one of the twelve tribes making up the Jewish nation. Ed.] This is also the reason why when reading the Torah in public, the second letter ש is not read, i.e. cannot be heard by the audience. An alternate approach: the reason this letter in the name of יששכר here is not read aloud was that it was “stolen:” from Yissochor’s son יוב which was really ישוב, as we know from Numbers 46,24. When the latter had first been called יוב, he protested against this name so that the letter ש was added to his name by his father.
And Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob.
verse value 2041 — לֵאָ֔ה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 24 letters. Notable word values: "Leah" (לֵאָ֔ה) = 36, double chai. Verse gematria: 2041 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "still" (עוֹד֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "a·sixth·son" (בֵּן־שִׁשִּׁ֖י, 5 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "a·sixth·son" (בֵּן־שִׁשִּׁ֖י). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·bore" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis); "to·Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "a·sixth·son" (root בין, 146x in Genesis). Full calculation: וַתַּ֤הַר [and·conceived] (611) + עוֹד֙ [still] (80) + לֵאָ֔ה [Leah] (36) + וַתֵּ֥לֶד [and·she·bore] (440) + בֵּן־שִׁשִּׁ֖י [a·sixth·son] (662) + לְיַעֲקֹֽב [to·Jacob] (212) = 2041.
And Leah said: "God has endowed me with a good dowry; now will my husband honor me, because I have borne him six sons." And she called his name Zebulun.
verse value 4684 — לֵאָ֗ה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 72 letters. Notable word values: "Leah" (לֵאָ֗ה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·him" (ל֖וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "that·I·have·borne" (כִּֽי־יָלַ֥דְתִּי, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 36: Leah, to·him. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "has·endowed·me" (זְבָדַ֨נִי), "a·gift" (זֵ֣בֶד), "will·exalt·me" (יִזְבְּלֵ֣נִי). The root זבד appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "sons" (root בן, 248x in Genesis). First appearance of the root זבל ("will·exalt·me") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'sons', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 3 words.
Onkelos
Leah said: "Hashem has given me a goodly portion this time; my husband will dwell with me, for I have borne him six sons." She called his name Zebulun.
Rashi
זבד טוב A GOOD DOWRY — explain it as the Targum renders it: a good portion. יזבלני WILL RESIDE WITH ME — It has the same meaning as (1 Kings 8:13) “a house for dwelling (זבול)”. In old French herbergerie, a dwelling house. Leah meant: From now on his real home will be with me since I have as many children as all his other wives together.
Ramban
G-D HATH ‘Z’VADANI’ (ENDOWED) ME WITH A GOOD ‘ZEVED’ (DOWRY). The commentators have not found the source of this word in the Sacred Language. We could perhaps say that zeved is a composite word formed from zeh bad, just as is the word madua, [which is composed of the two words, mah dua, meaning “what is the opinion of this matter” or simply “why”] or the word bagad here. in its written form. [It is read, however, as two words: ba gad (good luck cometh.)] Since the vowel signs segol and patach interchange in many places, particularly in composite words, [the second segol in zeved could have come from the patach of bad: zeh bad]. So also in the word tzalmaveth, [which consists of the two words: tzeil maveth (the shade of death)], and the word biladai, [composed of bal ad (except unto, except unto me, or except me)]. And the second part (bad) of the word zeved comes from the word badim (branches), as in, ‘badei’ (staves) of accacia-wood; And it brought forth ‘badim’ (branches), and shot forth sprigs. The thick branches of a tree are called badim, and then the word was appropriated to mean “children,” as in, The first-born of death shall devour ‘badav’ (his sons); His ill-founded ‘badav’ (sons). See Rashi there, who explains the verse as follows: for most of Moab’s sons are illegitimate, etc. Therefore Leah said that this son whom G-d had given her would be a good son for he will cause her husband to reside in her shadow, as “he will now ‘yizbleini’ (dwell with me) in my shadow.” Similarly, I have surely built Thee a house ‘z’vul’ (of habitation), meaning “in order to abide in His shadow.” This was said in this fashion out of respect for the Supreme One, just as Solomon said, Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less this house that I have builded! Likewise, The sun and moon stand still ‘z’vulah’ (in their habitation), meaning “stand still in the place where they abide,” as it is said, In them [the heavens] hath He set a tent for the sun. Now Onkelos translated zeved tov as a good portion. I did not understand his reasoning until I saw in the Jerusalem Targum: The traditional Targumim (translations) of the Pentateuch are Onkelos, Yonathan, and Yerushalmi. The latter has not reached us in its entirety. “The word of G-d has outfitted me (zavad) with good provision.” [Zavad is written here with two vavim instead of the beth with which the word zeved is written in the Torah.] From this I learned that both Onkelos and the Jerusalem Targum considered the word zeved of the Torah, which is spelled with the letter beth, as if it were written with the letter vav, and they connected it to the Aramaic language which translates the Hebrew word tzeidah (provision) as zvadim (provisions). Leah thus said that G-d had made this son a good provision and a good portion for her because her husband, due to her many children, will now live mainly with her, and thus she will be supported together with him when it is well with him. The vav and the beth are used interchangeably in our language in many places, such as: ta’avah (desire) written with a vav, and ta’avah, written with a beth; geivi (My back) — [written with a vav] — I have given to the smiters, and, Upon ‘gabi’ (my back) — [written with a beth] — the plowers plowed. So also, ‘Lekitzvei’ (To the bottoms) — [written with a beth] — of the mountains I went down, is as if it were written, lekitzvei with a vav. Also, ‘Laparbor’ (For the precinct) — [written with a beth] — westward, four at the causeway, serves as the basis of the word parvor, written with a vav, as it is written, By the chamber of Nethan-melech the officer, which was ‘baparvorim’ (in the precincts), written with a vav, and the meaning of both forms, [whether written with a beth or vav] is the Court which is outside the wall. ‘Umigrash’ (And open land) round about the cities, is rendered by the Jerusalem Targum as, uparvor. And so did the Jonathan Targum translate migrashoth (open lands) as parvoraya. In the Mishnah we also find the vav and the beth interchange: “A tarvad (spoon)-full,” written with a vav, and in some editions it is written, tarbad, with a beth; “A board which has no levizbeiz (edges),” written with a beth, and in certain places they use the word lizbeiz, written with a beth, while in other places they use lizveiz written with a vav. Also, itztaba (a balcony), written with a beth, and itztava, written with a vav, and many other similar words. In the Jerusalem Talmud they also write avir (space) with a beth in place of the usual vav, as they were not particular about that.
Ibn Ezra
"God has endowed me" — the sense is "He has given me a portion," and this root has no other occurrence in Scripture. "He will honor me" [yizbeleni] — he will dwell with me; his dwelling will be with me always, as in "I have surely built You a house of dwelling" (1 Kings 8:13). Similar to it are "my children have gone out from me" (Jeremiah 10:20), meaning they went forth from me; and "let Your mercies come to me" (Psalms 119:41) — all of these are intransitive verbs.
Sforno
Elokim has given. Hashem gave her Yissachar in reward for her first effort in giving Yaakov her maidservant and He gave her Zevulun in reward for her second effort in trading the jasmine flowers for an additional night with him. A goodly portion. She was deserving of reward because her only intention was to increase Hashem’s honor.
Chizkuni
יזבלני אישי, “my husband will make a home with me.” The word is a composition of two words. Examples of similar constructions are found in Jeremiah 10,20: my sons will leave me; as well as in Genesis 49,19 גדוד יגודני, “troops will be called up from the tribe of Gad.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
ותקרא את שמו זבולון, “she called his name Zevulun.” As we mentioned already, she attributed her good fortune to the emanation תפארת, “harmony,” [the sixth of the emanations counting from the lowest מלכות upwards. Ed.] This is the reason that the terrestrial Holy Temple is sometimes referred to as זבול in the writings of our prophets. [We also have the expression זבול בית תפארתנו in a song sung on the Sabbath. Altogether, the emanation תפארת represents the highest rung of the spiritual ladders average Jews are capable of attaining during their lifetime. Ed.] When Leah commented about her accomplishment of having born six sons for Yaakov she may well have had such a thought in her mind.
Tur HaArokh
הפעם יזבלני אישי, “this time my husband will reside with me.” Seeing I have so many children my “tent” is no longer adequate for my needs. My husband now has to take me into his tent.
And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
verse value 2188
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 24 letters. The shortest word is "daughter" (בַּ֑ת, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·called" (וַתִּקְרָ֥א, 5 letters). 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "bore" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis); "her·name" (root שם, 180x in Genesis); "and·called" (root קרא, 123x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'daughter', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְאַחַ֖ר [after] (215) + יָ֣לְדָה [bore] (49) + בַּ֑ת [daughter] (402) + וַתִּקְרָ֥א [and·called] (707) + אֶת־שְׁמָ֖הּ [her·name] (746) + דִּינָֽה [Dinah] (69) = 2188.
Onkelos
Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
Rashi
דינה DINAH (Judgment) — Our Rabbis explained, that Leah set herself up as judge (דנה) against herself saying: “If this be a son, my sister Rachel cannot be even the equal of any of the handmaids”. She, therefore, offered prayer regarding it, and its sex was changed (Berakhot 60a).
Ibn Ezra
"And afterwards she bore a daughter" — some say that Dinah shared the same womb as Zebulun [i.e., was a twin].
Chizkuni
ואחר ילדה בת, “afterwards she gave birth to a daughter.” This is the only time that the mother has not first been described as becoming pregnant. Our author uses this as proof at Dinah was a twin sister of Zevulun. (This interpretation is quoted also by Ibn Ezra, B’chor shor, and David Kimchi.) An alternate exegesis: the reason why no mention has been made of a pregnancy here is that originally, this child was supposed to be another male. Leah prayed that it would become a female, as otherwiseseeing that Yaakov was destined to sire 12 sons, Rachel could not have given birth to two sons. The fetus which would have been Joseph thus became Dinah. (Compare Rashi, whose source is an opinion in the Talmud B’rachot, 60 a well as the Targum Yonathan ben Uzziel [older than the Talmud. Ed.])
Rabbeinu Bahya
ואחר ילדה בת, “and after that she gave birth to a daughter.” After Leah had born six sons she bore a daughter. The meaning of the word ואחר is “finally, her last birth.” The word ואחר occurs in the same context in Genesis 33,7 ואחר נגש יוסף, and at the end, Joseph approached. The six sons Leah bore corresponded to the six emanations and “extremities,” in the celestial regions which are matched by parallel phenomena in the terrestrial regions bearing the seal of G’d’s name. She bore the daughter last as the שכינה is comprised of the six extremities, representing the attribute of Justice. Leah alluded to this when she called her daughter דינה, a clear reference to the attribute of Justice, מדת הדין. The name דינה contains the two middle letters of the name א-ד-נ-י, the “pronoun” of the attribute of Justice combined with two letters of the attribute of Mercy י-ה She was the product בת, of מי זהב a combination of water=חסד and זהב=גבורה. (Rabbi Chavell quotes a book called האזרח בישראל as his source for this insight. Ed.) One may also reason that she did not have any special deep kabbalistic thoughts when she named her daughter. When she had given birth to Zevulun, her sixth son, she did not want to “descend” and bear a son belonging to a “lower” emanation as she was in no need to receive input from those emanations having already succeeded to receive input from the relatively highest emanation תפארת. According to Berachot 60 Leah had been pregnant with a male fetus. She prayed to G’d to let her have a daughter. Our sages felt that Joseph would have been born as a son of Leah if not for Leah’s prayer. She did not now want to give birth to a child under a lower aegis than the one Zevulun had been born under. As a result of Leah’s attitude, her daughter Dinah eventually suffered rape at the hands of Shechem. According to a more direct approach, Leah prayed on behalf of Rachel her sister seeing that if she had born another male child only one single son would have remained for Rachel and this would have shamed Rachel in the eyes of the maid-servants each of whom had already given birth to two sons each. According to this approach Leah had to have prayed within the first forty days of her pregnancy as we have learned in Berachot 60 that after that amount of time such a prayer would attempt to change facts, something forbidden. When Leah called her daughter דינה, (her judgment), this reflected the fact that her prayer had been accepted, that G’d had judged Rachel fit to have a son or sons of her own.
Tur HaArokh
ואחר ילדה בת, “after that she bore a daughter.” In this instance the Torah fails to mention that Leah was pregnant prior to giving birth. The Midrash explains the real pregnancy producing Dinah (should have?) commenced with Rachel who was supposed to give birth to Dinah. However, Leah her sister prayed, asking that Rachel should not become embarrassed by producing fewer sons than either of the maid servants. As a result of this prayer, the embryo in Leah’s womb at that time was changed to being a female and was born as a girl. [The Talmud Berachot 60 attributes the prayer to Leah who was pregnant, but does not mention the transfer of an embryo to her womb. According to the version in the Bereshit Rabbah 72,6 before me, the embryo was not transferred, but its sex was changed, something which the Midrash claims is possible even at a much later stage, such as the woman being already on the birth stool. Rachel had prayed for one more son, G’d fulfilling her prayer later when Binyamin was born. There is no reason to believe that Rachel was pregnant at the time Yaakov left Lavan, as she could hardly have claimed to be menstruating when her father searched her tent for the teraphim in Genesis 31,35 if she had been pregnant. The Talmud warns that a miracle such as occurred here, should not be used as a precedent for praying for male or female children, after the pregnancy has been in effect for 40 days. Ed.]
And God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her, and opened her womb.
verse value 2684 — אֱלֹהִ֖ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 40 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "to·her" (אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙, 4 letters) and the longest is "her·womb" (אֶת־רַחְמָֽהּ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 86: God, God. The root אלה appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "to·her" (root אל, 242x in Genesis); "and·heard" (root שמע, 63x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Rachel', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 5 words. 5 of the verse's 8 words begin with the letter א. Full calculation: וַיִּזְכֹּ֥ר [and·remembered] (243) + אֱלֹהִ֖ים [God] (86) + אֶת־רָחֵ֑ל [Rachel] (639) + וַיִּשְׁמַ֤ע [and·heard] (426) + אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙ [to·her] (46) + אֱלֹהִ֔ים [God] (86) + וַיִּפְתַּ֖ח [and·opened] (504) + אֶת־רַחְמָֽהּ [her·womb] (654) = 2684.
Onkelos
The remembrance of Rachel came before Hashem, and Hashem accepted her prayer and gave her conception.
Rashi
ויזכר אלהים את רחל AND GOD REMEMBERED RACHEL — He remembered it to her as a merit that she had transmitted the secret signs to her sister and that she was greatly troubled lest she should fall to Esau’s lot if Jacob were to divorce her because she was childless. Indeed, this had entered Esau’s mind when he heard that she was childless (Genesis Rabbah 73:4). The poet refers to this in his Composition (for the First Day of the New Year) “When the Ruddy One (Esau) perceived that she did not travail with child, he hoped to take her for himself and she became terrified”.
Sforno
Elokim remembered Rochel. He remembered the efforts she made to produce offspring for Yaakov by giving him her maidservant and acquiring the jasmine flowers. And Elokim perceived (literally, “heard”). After she made the two efforts mentioned above, she then prayed to Him and He heard her prayers.
Or HaChaim
ויזכר אלוקים את רחל, G'd remembered Rachel, etc. We hear from this verse that although Rachel's plight was on G'd's mind, she also needed to pray in order to conceive and give birth. This is why the Torah added: "G'd heard." This verse also informs us that G'd remembers His pious ones even before they cry out to Him. This is why the Torah first mentions the fact that G'd remembered Rachel.
Chizkuni
ויזכור אלוקים את רחל, G-d attribute of Justiceremembered Rachel. Blessed the righteous who posses the power to turn the attribute of Justice into the attribute of Mercy. (Based on Bereshit Rabbah 72,3 which adds that whenever the expression אלוקים is used in the Torah it refers to G-d’s attribute of Justice)
And she conceived, and bore a son, and said: "God has taken away my reproach."
verse value 3076 — אֱלֹהִ֖ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 30 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "son" (בֵּ֑ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "my·disgrace" (אֶת־חֶרְפָּתִֽי, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "taken·away" (אָסַ֥ף), "my·disgrace" (אֶת־חֶרְפָּתִֽי). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "and·she·bore" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'son', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַתַּ֖הַר [and·conceived] (611) + וַתֵּ֣לֶד [and·she·bore] (440) + בֵּ֑ן [son] (52) + וַתֹּ֕אמֶר [and·she·said] (647) + אָסַ֥ף [taken·away] (141) + אֱלֹהִ֖ים [God] (86) + אֶת־חֶרְפָּתִֽי [my·disgrace] (1099) = 3076.
Onkelos
She conceived and bore a son, and she said: "Hashem has gathered away my reproach."
Rashi
אסף [GOD] HATH TAKEN AWAY [MY DISGRACE] — He has laid it up somewhere where it cannot be seen. Similar examples are (Isaiah 4:1) “Take thou away (אסוף) our reproach”; (Exodus 9:19) “and shall not have been taken away (יאסף) into the house “; (Joel 4:13) “withdraw (אספו) their shining”; (Isaiah 60:20) “neither shall thy moon withdraw itself (יאסף) — meaning shall not hide itself. חרפתי DISGRACE — because I had become an object of reproach as I was barren for people said about me that I would fall to the lot of Esau, the wicked. A Midrashic explanation is (Genesis Rabbah 73:5): So long as a woman has no child she has no-one to blame for her faults; when, however, she has a child, she puts it on him. “Who broke this vessel?” “Your son!” “Who ate those figs?” “Your son!”
Ramban
G-D ‘OSAPH’ (HATH TAKEN AWAY) MY DISGRACE. I.e., “He has laid it up somewhere where it cannot be seen.” Similar examples are: And it shall not ‘yei’aseph’ (have been taken away) into the house; And the stars ‘asphu’ (withdraw) their shining; Neither shall thy moon ‘yei’aseph’ (withdraw itself), meaning it shall not hide itself. This is the language of Rashi. But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that asaph has the same meaning as “vanish,” as in, ‘Vene’esaph’ (And vanish) will joy and gladness. The correct opinion is that of Onkelos, who made them all expressions of gathering and assembling, as is their plain sense, derived from the verses: ‘Vaya’asphu’ (And they gathered) the quails; But ‘me’asphav’ (they who have garnered it) shall eat it. Death is called asiphah because the dying person is gathered to his dead ancestors. And it shall not ‘yei’aseph’ into the house means to be gathered to his household. And the stars ‘asphu’ their shining means that they will gather the light within them and not give forth their light outside, or that they will be gathered into their tent, which is in the firmament of the heaven. e., to be discussed further in the streets.
Ibn Ezra
"God has gathered away my reproach" — the sense is "cut off," as in "gladness and joy are gathered away" (Isaiah 16:10). Others say that Hashem saw the reproaches with which women had been reproaching me for being barren, and it is as if those reproaches were gathered and collected before Hashem [and He removed them]. Now, twelve sons were born to Jacob in seven years; and when the early authorities reckoned them, they found that the births amount to six months and some additional days [in total]. It is possible that Leah gave her maidservant to Jacob before Naphtali was born, and also that Rachel conceived before Zebulun was born; as for Dinah, we do not know when she was born.
Sforno
את חרפתי, that G’d had consistently accepted my sister’s prayers while seemingly ignoring mine.
Chizkuni
אסף אלוקים את חרפתי, “G-d has removed my shame.” Rachel referred to her becoming the victim of the same penalty as people guilty of karet, leaving behind no biological issue. The expression אסף occurs in a similar context in Isaiah 16,10: נאספה שמחה וגיל, “rejoicing and gladness are gone;”
Rabbeinu Bahya
אסף אלוקים את חרפתי, “G’d has removed my disgrace.” Apparently people had goaded her for not having children of her own. לאמור יוסף ה' לי בן אחר, saying: ”may the Lord grant me another son.” The name she gave her son reflected her prayer. When she said: “another son (sing),” instead of “more sons (pl),” this shows that she was aware that there existed a prophecy that Yaakov would have twelve sons. Since Joseph was the eleventh son it would not have been appropriate to ask for more. Rachel used two expressions in connection with the naming of her son. She spoke about תוספת, “an addition,” as well as about אסיפה, “the gathering in of something, removing something from a place it had been previously.” When she referred to the visible, the obvious, the revealed act of G’d, she used the term “an addition.” When she referred to the more concealed elements of G’d’s hand in history she used the term אסיפה, saying: אסף אלוקים את חרפתי, “G’d has gathered in, i.e. made my shame “invisible.” This was an allusion to Joseph being symbolic of the קו האמצעי, the middle emanation תפארת, the emanation which draws to itself all the other “extremities,” the emanations which are more peripheral in G’d’s scheme of things. [In order to make this easier to visualise the reader is referred to a diagram of the emanations at the end of this book, based on page eight in the book of my late cousin Rabbi Elie Munk, “Ascent to Harmony.” Ed.] It is envisaged that the two emanations נצח, הוד are “below” the emanation תפארת, whereas the two emanations חסד, דין are above it. The emanation תפארת which also intersects between כתר and יסוד is the centre of intersecting lines between נצח-דין, and הוד-חסד respectively. The two sons of Joseph, Menashe and Ephrayim, symbolize נצח והוד, whereas Binyamin, Rachel’s other son whose name already reflects the emanation חסד, i.e. the attribute of Mercy she called בן אוני, “emanation of my strength.” She referred to the higher emanation דין she had encountered most of her life. In short, Joseph represented the repository of the emanations below him whereas Binyamin was the repository of forces represented by emanations above him.
And she called his name Joseph, saying: "Hashem add to me another son."
verse value 2358 — יְהֹוָ֛ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 32 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֛ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 2358 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "to·me" (לִ֖י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·called" (וַתִּקְרָ֧א, 5 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "may·add" (יֹסֵ֧ף). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "saying" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "his·name" (root שם, 180x in Genesis); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 165x in Genesis). First appearance of the root יוסף ("Joseph") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'saying', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַתִּקְרָ֧א [and·called] (707) + אֶת־שְׁמ֛וֹ [his·name] (747) + יוֹסֵ֖ף [Joseph] (156) + לֵאמֹ֑ר [saying] (271) + יֹסֵ֧ף [may·add] (150) + יְהֹוָ֛ה [Hashem] (26) + לִ֖י [to·me] (40) + בֵּ֥ן [son] (52) + אַחֵֽר [another] (209) = 2358.
Onkelos
She called his name Joseph, saying: "May Hashem add to me another son."
Rashi
יסף ה' לי בן אחר THE ETERNAL WILL ADD TO ME ANOTHER SON — She knew prophetically that Jacob would rear only twelve tribes. She therefore prayed: “May it be God’s will that the tribe which he is yet destined to rear may issue from me”. For this reason she prayed only for one other son (Genesis Rabbah 72:6).
Sforno
יוסף ה' לי בן אחר. On account of having given my handmaid to my husband a second time. G’d has granted my sister also another son on account of that.
Rashbam
ותקרא את שמו יוסף. An allusion to G’d having removed her shame, אסף את חרפתי. If this is correct, she should have called him אסף; why did she add the letter י? This is because she had prayed for another son, saying יוסף ה' לי בו אחר. We find therefore that the name she gave this child symbolises two thoughts of its mother both of which she had already articulated.
And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban: "Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country.
verse value 2972
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 58 letters. The shortest word is "Rachel" (רָחֵ֖ל, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·my·place" (אֶל־מְקוֹמִ֖י, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "to·my·place" (אֶל־מְקוֹמִ֖י), "and·to·my·land" (וּלְאַרְצִֽי). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "as" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Joseph', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: וַיְהִ֕י [and·it·was] (31) + כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר [as] (521) + יָלְדָ֥ה [bore] (49) + רָחֵ֖ל [Rachel] (238) + אֶת־יוֹסֵ֑ף [Joseph] (557) + וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + יַעֲקֹב֙ [Jacob] (182) + אֶל־לָבָ֔ן [to·Laban] (113) + שַׁלְּחֵ֙נִי֙ [send·me] (398) + וְאֵ֣לְכָ֔ה [and·let·me·go] (62) + אֶל־מְקוֹמִ֖י [to·my·place] (227) + וּלְאַרְצִֽי [and·to·my·land] (337) = 2972.
Onkelos
After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban: "Send me away, that I may go to my place and to my land."
Rashi
כאשר ילדה רחל את יוסף WHEN RACHEL HAD BORN JOSEPH — after the birth of him who was to become Esau’s adversary (Genesis Rabbah 73:7) — as it is said (Obadiah 1:18) “And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame and the house of Esau for stubble“. Fire (Jacob) that has no flame (Joseph) has no effect at a distance. Therefore, when Joseph was born Jacob put his trust in the Holy One, blessed be He, and wished to return home (Obadiah 1:18).
Sforno
שלחני ואלכה, even though Yaakov did not own any livestock at that time, seeing he had crossed the Yabbok with only his walking staff, he did have enough provisions and cash for himself and his extensive family. Had he not possessed these, it would have been irresponsible in the highest degree to undertake this kind of a journey relying on G’d’s miracles to sustain him. Furthermore, it is inconceivable that Lavan a wealthy and respected individual in his town, would consent to let Yaakov take his wives and children, Lavan’s own family, on a journey in which they would face death from starvation. Lavan’s objection to Yaakov’s departing at this time was based on self-interest. He pleaded with him, seeing he knew that his wealth had been due to Yaakov’s presence and he did not want to lose the source of his financial success.
Chizkuni
ויהי כאשר רחל ילדה יוסף, “it occurred as soon as Rachel had born Joseph,” i.e. when Yaakov’s second term of indenture to Lavan had been completed; now all the 12 sons that were to become the twelve tribes of Israel had been born. [according to Ibn Ezra, who considers Dinah as one of those 12. Ed] Rachel’s giving birth completed this circle, she who had been described as barren in 29,31 finally having overcome her handicap. Yaakov therefore now approached Lavan by announcing that he planned to go home to his parents. A different interpretation: the words “ויאמר שלחני,” Yaakov had not asked Lavan for permission to leave previously because he was afraid that as long as Rachel was still barren, Lavan would suspect him of treating her with disdain on account of this. Now that she too had born him a son, he felt confident that Lavan would permit him to leave. We have found the following text in the book called seder olam: “eleven of the tribes, plus Dinah were born during the seven years of Yaakov serving his second term of seven years. Each one of these was born after a pregnancy of only seven months by his respective mother. The 84 months of these seven years are made up of the mothers being actively pregnant for six months each, and allowing for one week of ritual impurity separating each birth from the next.” [Clearly this is a mystic approach which saw in these 84 months a single preordained sequence, and the mothers all being perceived as if they were only one mother. Ed.] The text in seder olam interprets a statement in the Talmud Rosh hashanah 11 in this sense. [The Talmud there discusses the viability of a fetus that was born after less than 36 weeks’ pregnancy. Ed.]
Kli Yakar
And it came to pass, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, etc. The reason why Jacob only requested Please send me away after Joseph was born was because Jacob was uncertain whether 12 tribes would descend from him or not, as explained in Genesis Rabbah 68:11: Jacob said, If the stones join together with each other, I know that I will establish 12 tribes, etc. From this we can deduce that he was uncertain whether 12 tribes would descend from him. And when Rachel prophetically said May God add to me another son and didn’t ask for many children, this implies that the spirit of God spoke through her, indicating that exactly 12 tribes would come from Jacob, no more. Therefore, Jacob then said Please send me away, because at that point he was confident that Esau would not be able to kill him, since Benjamin had not yet been born, and Rachel was not even pregnant with him yet — as Jacob stayed in Sukkot for a considerable time, approximately two years, before Benjamin was born. Because Jacob was confident that Esau would have no power over him, he therefore said Please send me away at this time, knowing with certainty that nothing would be done to him since all 12 tribes had not yet emerged from him. And our Sages said (Bereishit Rabbah 73:7): When Esau’s adversary was born, namely Joseph, as it is said (Obadiah 1:18), The house of Jacob shall be fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble, etc. Although this verse refers to the future, perhaps Jacob knew through Divine inspiration that Esau would ultimately fall by Joseph’s hand. And even though he [Jacob] did not see this directly, his spiritual intuition perceived it. Therefore, Esau’s heart would surely falter upon seeing Joseph, and consequently, he could not prevail over Jacob. Furthermore, Joseph was his adversary because Esau’s only claim against Jacob was that he took the birthright from him. In the future, Joseph would respond to him: Just as the birthright was taken from Reuben due to his defiling his father’s bed and was given to Joseph, so too it was justly taken from Esau, who would seduce married women from their husbands, and given to Jacob. And the receiving of the blessings was dependent on the birthright, as explained above in Parashat Toldot (25:31). Another reason: before Rachel gave birth, Jacob was ashamed to go to his father, lest it be said that he took a beautiful wife merely for lustful purposes. For this reason, Rachel said, God has taken away my reproach, because physical intimacy not for the purpose of procreation is a disgrace to us.
Tur HaArokh
ויהי כאשר ילדה רחל את יוסף, “it was as soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, etc.” Yaakov felt certain that now Lavan would permit him to leave, as there was no further reason for him to fear that Yaakov would divorce Rachel seeing that he had a child by her; it is also possible that before this even Rachel might not have been willing to leave her father’s house and town. She herself might have been afraid that Yaakov would divorce her if she failed to bear him any children.
And Laban said to him: "If now I have found favor in your eyes—I have observed the signs, and Hashem has blessed me for your sake."
verse value 2416 — יְהֹוָ֖ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 50 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "favor" (חֵ֖ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·has·blessed·me" (וַיְבָרְכֵ֥נִי, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "I·have·divined" (נִחַ֕שְׁתִּי), "and·has·blessed·me" (וַיְבָרְכֵ֥נִי). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "to·him" (root אל, 242x in Genesis); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 165x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·your·eyes', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + אֵלָיו֙ [to·him] (47) + לָבָ֔ן [Laban] (82) + אִם־נָ֛א [if·please] (92) + מָצָ֥אתִי [I·have·found] (541) + חֵ֖ן [favor] (58) + בְּעֵינֶ֑יךָ [in·your·eyes] (162) + נִחַ֕שְׁתִּי [I·have·divined] (768) + וַיְבָרְכֵ֥נִי [and·has·blessed·me] (298) + יְהֹוָ֖ה [Hashem] (26) + בִּגְלָלֶֽךָ [on·your·account] (85) = 2416.
Onkelos
Laban said to him: "If now I have found favor before you — I have made trial of it, and Hashem has blessed me for your sake."
Rashi
נחשתי I HAVE DIVINED — He was a diviner. “I have discovered by my art of divination that through you a blessing has come to me. When you first came here I had no sons” — for it is said (29:6) “And, behold, Rachel his daughter is coming with the flock”: is it possible if he had sons that he would have let his daughter go among the shepherds? — now, however, he had sons, as it is said (31:1) “And he heard the words of Laban’s sons”.
Ramban
‘NICHASHTI’ I HAVE OBSERVED THE SIGNS AND THE ETERNAL HATH BLESSED ME FOR THY SAKE. That is, “on account of you and your merit for you are a righteous man.” The word nichashti means “I have tested,” and every form of nichesh connotes testing. And some say that Laban was a diviner with teraphim. Jacob, however, said, And the Eternal hath blessed thee ‘leragli’ (since my coming), here. but, in a humble manner, he did not want to say “for my sake.” Thus, he said leragli, meaning that “from the time I set my foot in your house, you have been blessed.”
Ibn Ezra
"I have divined" — the same as "I have tested," for he was accustomed to going to consult omens, and he had teraphim.
Sforno
אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך, if you love me at all, as would be appropriate for people of the same flesh and blood. It is not proper for you to abandon me at this stage. Why would he term Yaakov’s leaving for his own home as abandoning Lavan? נחשתי, I am absolutely convinced that my good fortune during the last 14 years commenced with your arrival at my doorstep. As the Talmud Berachot 42 puts it:תכף לתלמיד חכם ברכה, attaching oneself to a Torah scholar and playing host to him results in the host receiving Divine blessings. [the Talmud quotes our verse as its source. Ed.] Ad-noy has blessed you with my coming. Lavan attributed his prosperity to Yaakov’s fortune whereas Yaakov insisted it was due to his effort. But one way or another, it was true that Hashem had blessed Lavan with his coming.
Chizkuni
נחשתי, “I have learned by divination;” Lavan owned household idols. Seeing that this was so, he consulted with sorcerers. נחשתי ויברכני, “I consulted with them and have found that I have been blessed since your having come to me.” Rashi explains this as follows: until you came here I have only had daughters. This is why he had to send out his daughters to tend his flocks. Surely, if he had had sons he would not have sent out daughters to tend the flocks. One could understand the line: כי רועה היא in 29,9 to mean: “instead of them;” the boys. Maybe his sons were too young to be sent out tending sheep.
Tur HaArokh
נחשתי ויברכני, “I have myself come to feel that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” The expression נחש usually implies that the knowledge one has acquired is empirical, the result of experimentation. Lavan had made all kinds of experiments to determine to what he owed his good fortune during the 14 years that Yaakov had been with him. Another explanation is that he used his “teraphim,” his oracles, to determine this, and even those indicated that Lavan’s new found wealth was due to Yaakov’s presence. It is interesting that later on in verse 30 Yaakov does not attribute Lavan’s wealth to his presence but to לרגלי, from the day I came, i.e. not because of anything I did. Yaakov was a model of modesty.
And he said: "Appoint me your wages, and I will give it."
verse value 1526
Insights
Verse structure: 5 words, 21 letters. The shortest word is "upon·me" (עָלַ֖י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·said" (וַיֹּאמַ֑ר, 5 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "name" (נׇקְבָ֧ה). 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "and·I·will·pay" (root נתן, 150x in Genesis); "upon·me" (root על, 90x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·said', dividing the verse into phrases of 1 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּאמַ֑ר [and·said] (257) + נׇקְבָ֧ה [name] (157) + שְׂכָרְךָ֛ [your·wages] (540) + עָלַ֖י [upon·me] (110) + וְאֶתֵּֽנָה [and·I·will·pay] (462) = 1526.
Onkelos
He said: "Specify your wages to me and I will give them."
Rashi
נקבה— Explain it as the Targum renders it: state plainly thy wage.
Ibn Ezra
"Specify" [nokevah] — an imperative form, on the pattern of "remember me, O my God, for good" (Nehemiah 5:19). Its meaning is "state" or "designate," and likewise: "whom the mouth of Hashem shall designate" (Isaiah 62:2). The dagesh in the kuf is because the nun is absorbed into it, as in "whom his heart moves him" (Exodus 25:2).
Chizkuni
ויאמר נקבה שכרך, “he said: tell me what you wish to receive as compensation for tending my flocks?” This line refers to when Lavan had told Yaakov that he realised that Yaakov’s presence had been especially beneficial for him. He was interested in keeping Yaakov near him as he had been such a source of blessing for him. The repetition of the word ויאמר in two successive verses is not especially unusual.
And he said to him: "You know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.
verse value 4151
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 43 letters. The shortest word is "you" (אַתָּ֣ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·which·was" (וְאֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־הָיָ֥ה, 9 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·which·was" (וְאֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־הָיָ֥ה), "your·livestock" (מִקְנְךָ֖). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "which" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis); "and·which·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'I·served·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֣אמֶר [and·said] (257) + אֵלָ֔יו [to·him] (47) + אַתָּ֣ה [you] (406) + יָדַ֔עְתָּ [you·know] (484) + אֵ֖ת אֲשֶׁ֣ר [which] (902) + עֲבַדְתִּ֑יךָ [I·served·you] (506) + וְאֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־הָיָ֥ה [and·which·was] (928) + מִקְנְךָ֖ [your·livestock] (210) + אִתִּֽי [with·me] (411) = 4151.
Onkelos
He said to him: "You know how I have served you and how your livestock have fared with me."
Rashi
ואת אשר היה מקנך אתי AND WHAT THY CATTLE HATH BECOME WITH ME — You know the number of your few cattle that were entrusted to me at first — how small their number was.
Ramban
AND HOW THY CATTLE HAVE FARED WITH ME. “You know the number of your few cattle that were entrusted to me at first.” These are Rashi’s words. That is to say, “You know how few your cattle were when they were entrusted to me.” But according to Rashi’s interpretation, it would have been more proper had he said, “and your cattle which were with me:” you know for it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it hath increased abundantly. here. Or, we shall explain: “Thou knowest how I have served thee since I have done it with all my strength, and thou knowest how thy cattle have fared with me, for a long time has passed since then, and thou knowest for it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it hath increased abundantly, in an unnatural way. It is only The blessing of the Eternal [that] maketh rich, which came from the time I set foot in your house.” This is the correct interpretation.
Sforno
אתה ידעת את אשר עבדתיך, do not attribute your sudden wealth to the power of your teraphim, i.e. to influences connected with your horoscope, but attribute it to the faithful manner in which I tended your flocks, and to my expertise as well as my dedication in maximising the potential connected with the craft of being an expert shepherd. ואת אשר היה מקנך אתי, the herds had contained defective animals, maimed ones, etc.; I cured those using my expert knowledge in raising sheep, and cattle.
Chizkuni
את אשר עבדתיך, “I have served you for the hand of a woman in marriage, not for “wages.”
For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and Hashem has blessed you wherever I turned. And now when shall I provide for my own house also?"
verse value 4349 — יְהֹוָ֛ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 64 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֛ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֡י, 2 letters) and the longest is "which·was" (אֲשֶׁר־הָיָ֨ה, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "at·my·foot" (לְרַגְלִ֑י), "for·my·household" (לְבֵיתִֽי). 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "that" (root כי, 167x in Genesis); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 165x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'at·my·foot', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 5 words.
Onkelos
"For the little you had before me has grown greatly, and Hashem has blessed you for my sake; and now, when shall I also provide for my own household?"
Rashi
לרגלי SINCE MY COMING — The word is the same as עם רגלי “with my coming” (lit, with my foot)— on account of my coming has the blessing come to you (Genesis Rabbah 73:8). Similar is (Exodus 11:8) “And all the people that come with thee (ברגלך)”, and (Judges 8:5) “and the people that are ברגלי” — ie. that are coming with me. גם אנכי לביתי WHEN SHALL I PROVIDE FOR MINE OWN HOUSE ALSO? — לביתי means for the needs of my household. At present my sons alone provide for my needs, but I, also, ought to work together with them, to assist them. This is the force of the word גם also.
Ramban
WHEN SHALL I PROVIDE ‘GAM’ (ALSO) FOR MINE OWN HOUSE? “At present, my sons alone provide for my needs, but I also ought to work together with them and assist them.” This is the force of the word gam (also). These are Rashi’s words. But we do not find that Jacob had his own sheep, nor do we find mentioned anywhere that his young children — the oldest of whom was six years or less — tended them. It was possible that before Jacob came, Laban had children younger than Rachel We must say that these sons were born to him after Jacob came. and now they were fit to tend the flock. [However, Jacob’s children were still very young.] Perhaps Jacob referred to his wives and servants, who he said did his work for him. But all this is not correct. The meaning of, When shall I provide also for mine house? is: “When shall I provide for my house just as I have also done for your house.” Similarly, And he loved also Rachel from Leah, means “And he loved Rachel also more than he loved Leah.” And similarly, Also thee I would have slain, means “Also I would have slain thee.” And there are many other such verses.
Ibn Ezra
"At my foot" — by reason of my [presence]; for it is the way of people to say "so-and-so has a lucky foot." The meaning is: you were blessed from the moment I came into your house. The heh of "me'umah" is an additional letter, and it is sometimes found omitted.
Sforno
ויברך ה' אותך לרגלי, still, when you said that the Lord blessed you during my presence here, this is true beyond a doubt; When will I also do. When will I have the opportunity to bring blessing to my own house the way you have brought it to yours through my presence מתי אעשה גם אנכי when will it be my turn to do something blessed by the Lord for my own household? The kind of wages paid to shepherds are not adequate to enable me to accumulate some wealth for my family as you have succeeded in doing for your family.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי מעט אשר היה לך לפני ויפרוץ לרוב ויברך ה' אותך לרגלי, ”for the little that you owned before I came has expanded into a multitude as G’d has blessed you with my coming.” Yaakov simply told Lavan that from the moment he set foot in his house G’d had showered Lavan with His blessing. Even Lavan himself acknowledged this when he said: in verse 27 נחשתי ויברכני ה' בגללך, “I have been divinely inspired to realise that G’d has blessed me on your account.” According to Bereshit Rabbah 73,8, originally Lavan had handed Yaakov only 70 animals to tend and these had increased by that time to 600.000. Another opinion claims that Lavan’s flocks now amounted to 1,2 million sheep. The number 70 is arrived at by comparing the expression מעט “a few,” in this verse with Deut 26,5 where the meaning of the word is a reference to the 70 people who descended to Egypt with Yaakov at the time the Israelites had left the land of Canaan (Genesis 46,8). מתי אעשה גם אנכי לביתי, “when will I also do something for my own family?” Up until now all my efforts were concentrated on enriching you. The time has come to do something to enrich myself. This was the meaning of (verse 31) “I will guard your sheep against payment.”
Tur HaArokh
מתי אעשה גם אנכי לביתי, “when will I also be able to do something for my family?” According to Rashi he meant that up to now only his children had supported him with their work, whereas, i.e, their father had been fully occupied in providing wealth for his father-in-law. According to Nachmanides there is no evidence that Yaakov owned any flocks which his sons could have tended. Besides, Reuven, his oldest son was only 6 years old at this time, so that his efforts could not have amounted to much. Therefore, what Yaakov meant was: ”when can I start doing for my family what I have been doing for your family?”
And he said: "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said: "You shall not give me aught; if you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it.
verse value 4631
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 65 letters. The shortest word is "what" (מָ֣ה, 2 letters) and the longest is "if·you·will·do·for·me" (אִם־תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־לִּי֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 257: and·said, and·said. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "do·not·give·me" (לֹא־תִתֶּן־לִ֣י), "if·you·will·do·for·me" (אִם־תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־לִּי֙), "I·will·return" (אָשׁ֛וּבָה). The root אמר appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "if·you·will·do·for·me" (root עשה, 152x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'shall·I·give·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 11 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֖אמֶר [and·said] (257) + מָ֣ה [what] (45) + אֶתֶּן־לָ֑ךְ [shall·I·give·you] (501) + וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + יַעֲקֹב֙ [Jacob] (182) + לֹא־תִתֶּן־לִ֣י [do·not·give·me] (921) + מְא֔וּמָה [anything] (92) + אִם־תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־לִּי֙ [if·you·will·do·for·me] (856) + הַדָּבָ֣ר [thing] (211) + הַזֶּ֔ה [this] (17) + אָשׁ֛וּבָה [I·will·return] (314) + אֶרְעֶ֥ה [I·will·pasture] (276) + צֹֽאנְךָ֖ [your·flock] (161) + אֶשְׁמֹֽר [I·will·keep] (541) = 4631.
Onkelos
He said: "What shall I give you?" Jacob said: "Give me nothing; if you will do this one thing for me, I will return, I will tend your flock, and I will keep watch."
Sforno
?מה אתן לך, so that you will achieve what you hope to achieve? לא תתן לי מאומה, if the Lord will see fit to bless me, He will certainly not deny you what you are entitled to. Our sages have a rule that a person cannot negatively influence what his fellow human is entitled to. (Yuma 38)
Chizkuni
?ויאמר מה אתן לך, He said: “what shall I give you for the work you have performed for me?” ויאמר יעקב לא תתן לי מאומה, Yaakov said: “you do not have to give me anything;” he referred to the last seven years; he had worked for the hand of Rachel in marriage. She was his now. However, he added, “if you wish me to stay with you longer and to continue to look after your flocks, do the following for me and I will agree and continue to tend your flocks;”
Rashbam
לא תתן לי מאומה, of all the sheep and goats you have now, seeing that I have served you for your two daughters during the period you acquired them. However, from the flocks which I will tend for you from this day on, you will give me the ones which will be born spotted or speckled, after you have first removed all those that are spotted and speckled now, and given them to your sons to look after. I want you to completely separate them from the flocks I look after. Those animals which will be born with the skin pattern I have selected, genetically not related to former generations of your animals with the same skin pattern, will be my wages.
I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every dark one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and of such shall be my hire.
verse value 3439 — וְהָיָ֖ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 69 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְהָיָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "removing" (הָסֵ֨ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·every·dark-colored·sheep" (וְכׇל־שֶׂה־חוּם֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 52: and·spotted, and·spotted. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "let·me·pass" (אֶֽעֱבֹ֨ר), "through·all·your·flock" (בְּכׇל־צֹֽאנְךָ֜), "removing" (הָסֵ֨ר). The root נקד appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·shall·be" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "from·there" (root שם, 180x in Genesis); "every·animal" (root כל, 127x in Genesis). First appearance of the root נקד ("speckled") in Genesis. First appearance of the root טלא ("and·spotted") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'among·the·goats', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 2 words.
Onkelos
"Let me pass through all your flock today; remove from there every speckled and spotted lamb, and every dark-colored lamb among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats — that shall be my wage."
Rashi
נקוד SPECKLED — marked with small specks like dots old French pointure; English points. וטלוא AND SPOTTED — The word has the same meaning as טלאים “patches” — wide spots. חום BROWN — dark, somewhat reddish, old French rouge. In the language of the Mishna (Bava Batra 5:6): “If he sells it as reddish-dark coloured (שחמתית) and it is found to be white”—a statement made in reference to grain. והיה שכרי AND THEY SHALL BE MY HIRE — those which from now on will be born speckled and spotted among the goats and the brownish ones amongst the sheep shall belong to me. Those that are at present such set them apart and place them in charge of your sons, so that you may not be able to say to me about those that will be born in the future spotted and speckled and brownish. “These were there originally”. And a further reason why these should be set apart is, in order that you may not be able to say to me, “Because of the male animals that are speckled and spotted the females will give birth from now onwards to offspring of their own kind” (i.e., speckled etc.).
Ramban
SPECKLED AND SPOTTED. This means speckled or spotted. And every ‘chum’ among the sheep — commentators have explained chum as meaning “black,” since blackness comes from heat (cham). But this does not appear to me to be correct since most sheep are black, particularly in the eastern countries where it is warm, and if so, all sheep would then belong to Jacob. The correct interpretation is the rendition of Onkelos, namely, that chum is reddish or brownish, called rouge in Old French, and so did Rashi explain it. Chum would then be from the root; the light of ‘hachamah’ (the sun), since it is like the sun which is somewhat red. AND OF SUCH SHALL BE MY HIRE. Rashi comments: “Those which from now on will be born speckled and spotted among the goats, and the brownish ones amongst the sheep shall belong to me.” And so also is the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra. The meaning of the expression, every one among the flock speckled and spotted, is that it refers to the he-goats; and the spotted and speckled among the goats refers to the she-goats, just as Scripture said, And he removed that day the he-goats … and all the she-goats. here. And the meaning of the expression, every one that had white in it, here. is that it refers to those mentioned, [namely, the spotted and the speckled among the he-goats and the she-goats], and all the brownish among the sheep. here. [Thus, according to Rashi and Ibn Ezra, Jacob’s hire was to be all spotted and speckled he-goats and she-goats that will henceforth be born, and also the reddish ones among the sheep, but not the spotted and speckled among the sheep.]In my opinion, all the spotted and speckled among the sheep, as well as all brownish ones, were to be Jacob’s hire since he did not make among his sticks any with a brownish color, in which case he caused himself the loss of his hire from among the sheep, which are the best of the flock. Similarly, in his dream, he was shown the rams which went up on the flocks were ringstraked, speckled, there being no brownish ones among them. And the meaning of the verse before us is: removing from there every one of the flock speckled and spotted and all brownish ones among the sheep, and removing the spotted and the speckled among the goats, and they shall be my hire, namely, the three colors among the sheep — speckled, spotted, and brownish — and two among the goats — spotted and speckled. And he further said, So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, that everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and all brownish among the sheep, that shall be accounted stolen with me. here.
Ibn Ezra
"Ring-streaked" [akudim] — on the leg; the meaning is a marking that rings the leg. "Spotted" [nekudim] — having [many] spots. "Dappled" [berudim] — from the root for "hail" [barad], having white markings. The word "talu'a" is a general term, derived from "worn-out and patched" (Joshua 9:5), meaning: marked. The phrase "every spotted and patched" refers to [male] goats, as it is written: "a sheep of the flock or a sheep of the goats" (Deuteronomy 14:4). And since talu'a is the general term, its meaning is: every he-goat that is spotted and dappled. "Every brown sheep" — this is the dark coloring. It may be called thus because of heat [hom], since dark coloring is warmer than white. "Patched and spotted among the goats" — ring-streaked, dappled, and spotted.
Sforno
הסר משם כל שה, the young ones, not the adult ones; so that some of them would give birth to young ones with the same skin patterns as the younger ones and will be part of my share.
Or HaChaim
הסר משם, "Remove from there, etc." It is evident from Laban's words that Jacob would own only the speckled and spotted sheep and goats as well as the brown ones amongst the sheep; the ankle-striped ones would not be part of his share. From the following verse it appears, however, that Laban also took the ankle-striped ones for himself. Why did he do this? It appears that according to the agreement Jacob made he did not want Laban to take the ankle-striped animals. If Laban were to take those Jacob would also have to separate them from the white sheep and he, Jacob, would not be left with white animals which could respond to the stratagem he employed later when the animals were in heat. All his efforts would then have been in vain. It had not occurred to Jacob to deceive Laban in any way whatsoever. He thought that the sight of ankle-striped ones would cause the flocks to become heated and to cause also the speckled and spotted animals to give birth. When you read verse 40 you will find confirmation of what I have said. Crafty Laban was aware of all these implications and took every type, i.e. the עקוד, נקוד וטלוא. In addition he removed every animal that had some white on its pelt. In this way Jacob's potential wages were reduced to almost nothing. This is why Jacob had to resort to the stratagem with the rods; he therefore also took some of the ankle-striped ones for himself. When Laban removed the mother animals he had thereby proved that he considered them as basically Jacob's (the new generation). Proverbs 5,22: "he will be caught in the ropes of his sin" is applicable to what Laban tried to do in this paragraph.
Chizkuni
כל שה נקוד וטלוא, “every lamb whose skin pattern is characterised by being either dappled or blotched, etc., he referred not to fully grown animals but to the ones under one year old. Neither did he single out the animals whose skin had a pattern known as עקודים; any animals that would be borne henceforth and whose skin reflected the patterns described by Yaakov would be his. Lavan commenced immediately with his treachery by removing any animals which according to accepted standards were likely to either sire or give birth to young ones having the skin patterns that Yaakov had stipulated as becoming his. This treachery forced Yaakov to devise a different means to encourage the remaining animals under his care to produce some young that reflected the skin patterns he had chosen. חום בכבשים, brown skin patterns among the sheep; this is emphasised as he did not do so with the goats, as the majority of them displayed such brown skin blotches.
Rabbeinu Bahya
אעבור בכל צאנך היום הסר משם כל שה נקוד וטלוא... והיה שכרי. “Let me pass through your whole flock today. Remove from there every spotted or speckled lamb, every brownish lamb... that will be my wage.” Any lambs which would be born amongst Lavan’s flocks from this day on which displayed these skin patterns although they did not have paternal or maternal animals with that skin pattern would be Yaakov’s. The other lambs would be Lavan’s. Yaakov added that if Lavan would be able to find amongst the flocks Yaakov would segregate any with skin patterns other than agreed upon between them, he would be guilty as having stolen them. Lavan replied: “yes, let it be as you have said.” From the above we learn that Lavan kept the goats which were predominantly black. This is why he said in verse 35 ”everyone that contains some white.” He meant that as long as the predominant colour was black such goats were his. He applied a similar yardstick to sheep who had some brown in it. If the predominant colour of the sheep, כבשים, was black but they had some brown in it they would be Lavan’s. Seeing that Yaakov separated the spotted and the speckled amongst the he-goats not including the dotted ones, whereas amongst the she-goats he separated the dotted and speckled ones, it was necessary for the Torah to mention: “every animal with some white in its skin pattern.”
Tur HaArokh
אעבור בכל צאנך היום הסר משם כל שה נקוד וטלוא, “I will go through all your flocks today. Remove from these every dappled or blotched lamb, etc.” The word וטלוא means או טלוא, “or blotched,” not that the same sheep displays both dappled and blotched skin patterns. The males are the subject of discussion here. וטלוא ונקוד בעיזים, “or the blotched or dappled among the kids.” These are the female goats. This is spelled out again when in verse 35 Lavan carries out the suggestion Yaakov had made. וכל שה חום בכבשים, “and all the brown sheep.” Lavan set aside (for himself) all the male sheep which had any brown coloured spots on their pelts, and all the female sheep which had any white spots on their skins. Lavan gave those animals to his sons to tend, and henceforth any of the remaining flocks that would give birth to animals with such markings would be Yaakov’s wages. [He thought that he had made certain there would be only a minute number of such births, seeing that the animals that were likely to provide such genetic input had already been removed. Ed.] I find it difficult to understand to what end sheep are suddenly introduced in a context that dealt with different kinds of skin patterns of goats, both of males and females of the species.(verse 35) We would have expected the Torah to write: sequentially, התישים והעזים, just as the Torah describes this when writing את התישים העקודים... ואת כל העיזים וכו'. Nachmanides writes that the males of the goats were generally dappled and blotched, whereas the male sheep were generally brown. He proceeds to explain our verses as follows: [starting with verse 32. Ed] “remove from there all the lambs that are dappled or blotched, and from the sheep also the brown ones place with the dappled and blotched ones, so that my wages will consist of animals born having these markings on their skin. He wanted the same to apply to the dappled and blotched goats.” He did not mention male goats at all, just as he had not mentioned the male sheep separately. Nachmanides quotes as proof that his interpretation is correct that when Yaakov peeled off some bark from the staves near the water troughs so that they resembled the desired skin patterns, no mention is made of the colour “brown” at all. (compare verses 37-38). If Yaakov had among his flocks of prime sheep only brown ones, i.e. the choicest animals of the flocks, it would follow that he made no attempt at all to increase the number of brown patterned lambs that would be born and would be part of his wages. We must also note that in Yaakov’s dream (31,10) which he relates to his wives, not a word is mentioned about any brown-coloured animals. From the animals and their behaviour which appeared in Yaakov’s, dream it is evident that his wages, or rather the wages that he and Lavan had agreed upon, had been the עקודים, נקודים, and ברודים, not the brown ones. If he had mentioned brown ones in verse 33 it was because among the brown sheep or goats for that matter, these never reproduced in a variety of skin colours other that their original brown. If he had attempted to increase the number of animals with illegal machinations, why did he not try to increase the number of brown sheep that would be born? He did not do so because only brown sheep reproduce brown skinned lambs.
So shall my righteousness testify for me hereafter, when you come to examine my hire that is before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and dark among the sheep, that if found with me shall be counted stolen."
verse value 4633
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 79 letters. The shortest word is "all" (כֹּ֣ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "which·not" (אֲשֶׁר־אֵינֶ֩נּוּ֩, 8 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·shall·testify·for·me" (וְעָֽנְתָה־בִּ֤י), "my·honesty" (צִדְקָתִי֙), "to·come" (מָחָ֔ר). 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "when·you·come" (root בוא, 213x in Genesis); "before·you" (root פנים, 133x in Genesis); "he" (root הוא, 133x in Genesis). First appearance of the root גנב ("stolen") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'before·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 10 words.
Onkelos
"My righteousness will testify for me in the days to come, when you come to examine my wages before you: whatever is not speckled and spotted among the goats and dark-colored among the sheep will be considered stolen from me."
Rashi
'וענתה בי וגו AND MY RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL ANSWER FOR ME etc. — Should you suspect me of taking any animals that are yours my righteousness will answer for me, — for my righteousness will come and bear witness before thee as to my hire that you will find in my herd only speckled and spotted ones. Whatever, however, you find amongst them (amongst the animals) that is not speckled or spotted or brownish it will be certain that I have stolen it from your flocks and that it is in my possession by way of theft.
Ibn Ezra
"My righteousness will testify for me... before you" — it will serve as witness, when you come and see my wages, namely the separate flock I will have set apart for myself. If you do not find the he-goats and she-goats ring-streaked, spotted, and dappled, and the sheep dark-colored, then [consider] it stolen — it is with me [i.e., I have stolen it]. You will have removed from the flock all that is ring-streaked, spotted, and dappled among the goats and all that is brown among the sheep. "Whatever is not spotted and patched" — [meaning] spotted, dappled, and ring-streaked. "Among the goats" — both males and females.
Sforno
My righteousness … when it comes before you. Or, “When my righteousness shall go to show my wage, it will testify before you” — i.e., Hashem will reveal what Yaakov deserves for his faithful service by altering the coloration of the lambs.
Chizkuni
וענתה בי צדקתי, an abbreviated verse; the meaning is: “my truthfulness will be demonstrated on the following day i.e. in the future, (when these animals will produce young) when you have a chance to check on what I have selected as the basis for my wages. ביום, the letter ב does not have the vowel patach, as Yaakov cannot predict the exact day when this will be proven several months later.
And Laban said: "Behold, would it might be according to your word."
verse value 701 — ל֖וּ = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 20 letters. Notable word values: "would·that" (ל֖וּ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "behold" (הֵ֑ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·said" (וַיֹּ֥אמֶר, 5 letters). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "let·there·be" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "as·your·word" (root דבר, 133x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'behold', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֥אמֶר [and·said] (257) + לָבָ֖ן [Laban] (82) + הֵ֑ן [behold] (55) + ל֖וּ [would·that] (36) + יְהִ֥י [let·there·be] (25) + כִדְבָרֶֽךָ [as·your·word] (246) = 701.
Onkelos
Laban said: "If only it would be so — let it be according to your word."
Rashi
הן WELL! — an expression denoting agreement with a statement. לו יהי כדברך I WOULD IT MIGHT BE ACCORDING TO THY WORD — Would that you will remain satisfied with this!
Ibn Ezra
"And Laban said: Hen" — this means "behold," for the heh is an additional letter, as in "ha-eleh" (Genesis 15:1) and "ha-el" (Genesis 19:25).
Sforno
לו יהי כדברך, so that you will be satisfied with the results of your own proposal. [Lavan assumed that Yaakov had shot himself in the leg with his proposal. Ed.]
And he removed that day the he-goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the dark ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
verse value 5127
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 88 letters. The shortest word is "all" (כֹּ֤ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·all·the·she-goats" (וְאֵ֤ת כׇּל־הָֽעִזִּים֙, 10 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "the·he-goats" (אֶת־הַתְּיָשִׁ֜ים), "the·streaked" (הָֽעֲקֻדִּ֣ים), "and·the·spotted" (וְהַטְּלֻאִ֗ים). The root טלא appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·gave" (root נתן, 150x in Genesis); "that" (root הוא, 133x in Genesis); "and·all·the·she-goats" (root כל, 127x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'among·the·lambs', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 2 words.
Onkelos
He removed on that day the striped and spotted he-goats and all the speckled and spotted she-goats, every one that had white on it, and all that was dark-colored among the sheep, and he placed them in the charge of his sons.
Rashi
ויסר AND HE REMOVED i.e., Laban removed ביום ההוא ON THAT DAY את התישים i.e. THE HE-GOATS. כל אשר לבן בו EVERY ONE THAT HAD WHITE IN IT — all that had a white spot. ויתן AND HE i.e. Laban, GAVE THEM ביד בניו INTO THE HAND OF HIS SONS.
Ramban
AND HE REMOVED THAT DAY THE HE-GOATS. The meaning thereof is that Scripture relates that Jacob had said in a general way, removing from there … the spotted and the speckled among the goats, here. [which, according to Ramban’s opinion explained above, refers only to the she-goats], but Laban was afraid of the influence of the male seed, and so he removed the he-goats that were even ringstraked, having a little white on their feet at the spot where they are bound, and he removed from the sheep every one that had white in it together with all the brownish ones. Now if every one that had white in it means that he removed from among the he-goats and she-goats all that had any white color in them, whether ringstraked or grizzled, in that case, and all brownish among the sheep is in addition to the colors mentioned [for, as we have seen, Ramban is of the opinion that Jacob’s hire from the sheep was from all three colors]. The reason why they added the brownish color to the hire from the sheep is that it is not in their nature to be born with the same colors as he-goats and she-goats, and it is not in the nature of goats to be brownish.
Ibn Ezra
"And he removed on that day the ring-streaked and patched he-goats" — where "patched" [ha-telu'ot] means the spotted and dappled. "The spotted and patched she-goats" — meaning the ring-streaked and dappled; this is the sense of "all in which there is white." "And every brown sheep" — a dark-colored lamb. It is an adjective in the pa'ul form, on the pattern of "the wayward of heart" (Proverbs 14:14). As for the word "haser misham" [set apart from there] — in the view of a great grammarian, it is an infinitive meaning "to remove from there, and these shall be my wages." The interpretation of "and he placed them in the hand of his sons" means Jacob's sons. And the meaning of "and he placed a distance of three days' journey" would apply to Laban. But this interpretation is not correct, for Jacob had no son older than Reuben, and moreover he did not yet have seven years. Rather, the plain meaning of the passage is: "haser misham" is an imperative, meaning: remove from there. The sense is: those shall be my wages — those that you will remove. And "he removed on that day" — it was Laban who removed them.
Sforno
ויסר ביום ההוא את התישים, after Lavan had agreed to Yaakov’s proposal he removed not only the females with such skin patterns as Yaakov had mentioned, etc., but also the males both young an mature ones. [His objective was to make it almost impossible for Yaakov to prosper by relying on genetic factors. Ed.]
Tur HaArokh
ויסר ביום ההוא את התישים, “On that day Lavan removed the he-goats (of special skin patterns).” Nachmanides writes that Yaakov had been imprecise and had spoken only about טלוא ונקוד בעזים, the dappled and blotched she goats, whereas Lavan was aware that the male genetics are paramount in determining the skin pattern of the young; this is why by removing the male goats he hoped to effectively prevent goats being born which bore the skin markings which would have made them Yaakov’s. Lavan had even removed the עתודים, animals with just a little white around their ankles. (According to many commentators what is described here as חום, brown, refers to generalized spotting of a brownish colour, the basic colour of sheep being white). According to the way we explained matters this is all logical, as Yaakov also did mention the male animals since it is written הסר משם כל שה וגו', “remove from there every lamb, etc.” The word כל included the males, the billy-goats. Alternately, one may explain that the words כל אשר לבן בו in verse 35, refer back to the goats from which he had separated all those that had any white stripes or spots. The meaning of the words וכל חום בכבשים in the same line, would mean “every sheep displaying the skin pattern mentioned earlier,” i.e. נקוד וטלוא, referring to brownish dapples and blotches.
And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob. And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
verse value 4176
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 49 letters. Verse gematria: 4176 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "a·journey·of" (דֶּ֚רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·remaining" (הַנּוֹתָרֹֽת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 68: between·himself, and·between. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "between·himself" (בֵּינ֖וֹ), "the·remaining" (הַנּוֹתָרֹֽת). The root בין appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "between·himself" (root בין, 146x in Genesis); "the·flock·of" (root צאן, 61x in Genesis). First appearance of the root יתר ("the·remaining") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Jacob', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֗שֶׂם [and·put] (356) + דֶּ֚רֶךְ [a·journey·of] (224) + שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת [three] (1030) + יָמִ֔ים [days] (100) + בֵּינ֖וֹ [between·himself] (68) + וּבֵ֣ין [and·between] (68) + יַעֲקֹ֑ב [Jacob] (182) + וְיַעֲקֹ֗ב [and·Jacob] (188) + רֹעֶ֛ה [was·tending] (275) + אֶת־צֹ֥אן [the·flock·of] (542) + לָבָ֖ן [Laban] (82) + הַנּוֹתָרֹֽת [the·remaining] (1061) = 4176.
Onkelos
He set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob tended the remainder of Laban's flocks.
Rashi
הנותרות [THE FLOCK OF LABAN] THAT WAS LEFT — The defective animals amongst them, the sickly and the barren, which were nothing but the leavings — these he (Laban) handed over to him (Genesis Rabbah 73:9).
Ibn Ezra
"And he set" — this also refers to Laban.
Rashbam
ובין יעקב, Lavan’s flocks which Yaakov tended were 3 days distant from the spotted and speckled ones which Lavan had first removed from the original flocks.
And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of the almond and of the plane-tree; and peeled white streaks in them, making the white appear which was in the rods.
verse value 4122
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 66 letters. Verse gematria: 4122 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "fresh" (לַ֖ח, 2 letters) and the longest is "on·the·rods" (עַל־הַמַּקְלֽוֹת, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 87: poplar, the·white. 10 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "rod·of" (מַקַּ֥ל), "poplar" (לִבְנֶ֛ה), "fresh" (לַ֖ח). The root מקל appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis); "the·white" (root בן, 248x in Genesis); "Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis). First appearance of the root מקל ("rod·of") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·plane', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 8 words.
Onkelos
Jacob took himself fresh rods of white poplar, almond, and plane tree, and peeled white stripes on them, laying bare the white that was on the rods.
Rashi
מקל לבנה STICKS OF לבנה — a tree that is called לבנה — just as you say (Hosea 4:13) “Under oaks and poplars (ולבנה)” I think it is what is called in old French tremble; English trembling-poplar, which is white. לח FRESH — He took it when it was moist. לוז ALMOND — He also took rods of לוז, a tree upon which small nuts growold French coudre; English hazel. וערמון is old French chastenier, English chestnut. פצלות STREAKS — many peelings so that he gave it the appearence of being striped. מחשוף הלבן MAKING BARE THE WHITE — there was thus an uncovering of the white part of the rod: when he peeled it the white in it became uncovered and visible in the places where it was peeled.
Ramban
AND JACOB TOOK HIM STICKS OF POPLAR. As soon as they agreed that his hire would be these colors it was permissible for Jacob to do whatever he could to cause them to give birth in this manner. Perhaps Jacob had made a condition that he may do with them whatever he wants since Laban did not know of the ramifications of this measure, nor did Laban’s shepherds sense anything when they saw the sticks in the gutters once a year during the days of Nisan. For When the flocks were feeble here. in the days of Tishri, he did not put them in, otherwise not a hoof would have remained for Laban. Now some commentators say that the first year [Jacob did not make use of these sticks, but] there were born to him many speckled and spotted ones by virtue of G-d’s blessing which the angel showed him. And then he put the sticks in front of those which were his so that they should give birth in their form. This would prevent Laban from saying that their offspring was stolen by Jacob, [as he would have claimed had they given birth to other colored offspring]. This is the meaning of whensoever the stronger flocks became heated, here. referring to those that had been born to Jacob by way of G-d’s blessing; but when the flocks of Laban were feeble, he put them not in; so that the feebler were Laban’s, for they did not give birth to speckled ones, and the stronger were all Jacob’s, here. including their offspring, for they gave birth to speckled ones.
Ibn Ezra
"Makal" — with a patah under the kuf, because it is in the construct state. "Fresh poplar, hazel, and chestnut" — these are trees, and "lach" [fresh/moist] is the adjective. The Gaon [Saadia] said that "luz" means almonds, because they are so called in Arabic, since the two languages — Hebrew and Arabic — together with Aramaic are of the same family. "Exposing the white" — he stripped the bark, as in "Hashem has bared" (Isaiah 52:10).
Chizkuni
מקל, “rod;” the letter ק has the vowel patach under it (instead of tzeyreh). This is not unusual for the construct mode; we find it also in the word מעשר, Leviticus 27,32, as well as in the word מספד in Jeremiah 6,26 which has the vowel patach under the letter.פ לבנה לח, “moist aspen wood;” the wood of this tree is white only when exposed after peeling the bark and still moist. This distinguishes it from the luz and armon trees the wood of which are white regardless of moist or dry. This is why they are described as לבנה, “white.” ולוז, and almond trees. We know this from the Talmud Bechorot 8, where the time needed for a hen to lay an egg after copulating is given as 21 days, identical to the development of the almond in the almond tree after pollination. It is not to be confused with the hazelnut tree which produces small nuts, and which requires more than 21 days between pollination and blossoming. ויפצל, “he peeled;” this word does not appear elsewhere in the Bible. In the Talmud it means to split something into separate parts by peeling or skimming. Examples are enclosures where female sheep or goats are prevented from escaping so that the males introduced will copulate promptly and impregnate them. This is the meaning of the phrase: והיו הקשורים ליעקב, “and the ones that had been tied up would belong to Yaakov.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
מקל לבנה, “poplar rods;” fresh, moist rods from the cedars of Lebanon as explained by Rashi. ולוז וערמון, “and hazel and chestnut.” According to some commentators these were rods from almond trees and from chestnut trees. ויפצל בהן פצלות לבנות, “and he peeled white streaks in them.” He peeled them in such a way that part of the rods remained with a dark peel whereas he peeled off other parts so that the colour pattern that emerged on these rods resembled the spotted and speckled patterns which he wanted the young animals to have which would be his wages. He placed all these rods near the watering troughs so that the animals had to look at them prior to drinking. When he wanted the sheep to bear young lambs with spotted skin patterns he placed the rods which were peeled in such patterns near the watering troughs. When he was desirous of the goats giving birth to speckled young he would place rods which had one pattern on the top and another pattern at the bottom in order to achieve the respective skin pattern he was interested in. When he wanted brown coloured sheep to be born he simply did not place any peeled rods at all near the watering trough but relied on the sheep responding to the natural brown colour of the bark on the rods in question. The entire procedure was comprised of a combination of Yaakov’s knowledge of how nature works, plus an element of divine interference, i.e. a miracle. If you were to argue that what happened was totally natural, consider for a moment how it was possible that amongst all these thousands of goats and sheep not a single one was born which had skin patterns reflecting that of its parent animal. This alone was proof that some supernatural force was at work here. Yaakov himself acknowledged this when he said (31,9) ”G’d took away your father’s livestock and gave them to me.” He attributed his success to miraculous assistance by G’d.
Tur HaArokh
ויקח לו יעקב מקל לבנה,”Yaakov took for his use an aspen stick, etc.” Some people are amazed at why Yaakov the righteous person could resort to such a device. Nachmanides counters that seeing that they had made an agreement that the animals born with such skin patterns would be his wages, Yaakov was well within his rights to do everything to ensure that as many animals showing such skin patterns would be born. Perhaps Yaakov had even conditioned his acceptance on his being allowed to do what he could to encourage the birth of animals with the skin patterns that were to remain his. Seeing that Lavan did not have the expertise in genetics which Yaakov possessed, [or the angel taught him in the dream, Ed.] he did not object to such a request. The other shepherds did not become aware of Yaakov’s stratagem as he used it only twice each year in the spring and fall when the animals are in heat. If Yaakov had used the stratagem every time before the animals were at the troughs, Lavan would not have had any lambs born to him at all. Some commentators say that in the first year many lambs were born to the flocks by the grace of G’d, the angel having revealed to him that by the use of the aspen sticks whose bark was peeled in the right way, the sheep while in heat would exercise their imagination and their young would reflect this in their skin pattern. Yaakov made no use of this information until the second year, so as to avoid being accused of having stolen some of Lavan’s sheep. Once he had sheep with such skin patterns of his own, he was no longer suspect.
And he set the rods which he had peeled over against the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink; and they conceived when they came to drink.
verse value 7161
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 73 letters. The shortest word is "which" (אֲשֶׁ֣ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·rods" (אֶת־הַמַּקְלוֹת֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 1136: to·drink, to·drink. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·set·up" (וַיַּצֵּ֗ג), "had·peeled" (פִּצֵּ֔ל), "in·the·troughs·of" (בְּשִֽׁקְת֣וֹת). The root אשר appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis); "came" (root בוא, 213x in Genesis); "the·flock" (root צאן, 61x in Genesis). First appearance of the root יצג ("and·set·up") in Genesis. First appearance of the root יחם ("and·they·came·into·heat") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·waters', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 9 words.
Onkelos
He set the rods that he had peeled upright in the troughs — the water-drinking places — where the flocks came to drink, opposite the flock; and the flock would be in heat when they came to drink.
Rashi
ויצג AND HE SET — In the Targum it is rendered by ודעיץ which signifies in the Aramaic language sticking in and inserting. It occurs many times in the Talmud: (Shabbat 50b) “if he stuck it in (דצה) and pulled it out”; (Chullin 93b) “he stuck (דץ) something into it”, where דצה is the same as דעצה, being really a contracted form of it. ברהטים IN THE GUTTERS — in the currents (מרוצות) of water running in the trenches made in the ground to water the sheep there (רהט is the Aramaic of רוץ). אשר תבאנה WHERE THE FLOCKS COME TO DRINK etc. — In the currents whither the sheep come to drink, there did he set the rods in front of the sheep. ויחמנה AND THEY CONCEIVED — The female animal saw the rods, it was startled at the sight of them and recoiled; its mate then pairing with it, it afterwards gave birth to young marked similar to the rods (Genesis Rabbah 73:10).
Ibn Ezra
"He peeled" — the meaning is: he made small incisions. "In the gutters" — the place where the water collects for the flock to drink. "And they conceived" [vayyechamna] — here masculine and feminine forms are joined together, as in "and the cows went straight" (1 Samuel 6:12).
Sforno
לנכח הצאן, he positioned the staves before the line of vision of the sheep in order to make them look when this work was performed, and this experience would be anchored in their imagination at the time they conceived and were pregnant. Visual impressions formed during such periods are of lasting value and usually produce some effect in the young animals born as a result of that pregnancy.
Chizkuni
ויחמנה, “they grew heated;” the construction of this word is a combination of two conjugations. It is similar in this respect to Samuel I 6,12: וישרנה הפרות, “the cows went straight, and to ארבע מלכיות מגוי יעמודנה, “four kingdoms will arise out of a nation,” and in Daniel 8,2, and in ותקרבו העצמות עצם אל עצם, “the bones came together,” in Ezekiel 37,7.
Rabbeinu Bahya
.ויחמנה... ויחמו, “the females, or males respectively would become stimulated.” What happened was that on the one hand the animals were drawn to the watering troughs, whereas on the other hand they were afraid of the unusual looking rods they had to encounter in order get to the water. These conflicting emotions animated them so that they backtracked. (Compare Bereshit Rabbah 73,10 quoted by Rashi). The male would immediately mate with the retreating female and the sheep would give birth to young ones of the skin pattern they had seen at the troughs. The words לנכח הצאן refer to the rods which had been placed facing the sheep at the time these were in heat. Sheep normally give birth to lambs twice a year as their pregnancy lasts for five months. Our sages in Rosh Hashana 8 state “small cattle become pregnant in Adar and give birth in Av.” The ones that were born first are referred to as מקושרות, reflecting that at the time they have young ones for the first time during that year they are strong and kick so that they need to be bound when birthing. During their second birthing in the same year they have become weakened so that they are called עטופים, “covered.” At that time of year they are not too aware of what goes on and they do not react to the phenomena of the rods.” The result was that those second birthings yielded normal skin patterns, the ones that would accrue to Lavan. [According to our author nothing would accrue to Lavan. I confess I have not understood why. Ed.] Know that when Yaakov resorted to the stratagem of peeling different kinds of rods to expose different kinds of colour patterns he did not do so on his own initiative but an angel had instructed him to do so. This is what he himself told his wives in 31,12, quoting what the angel had told him: “it once happened at the mating time that I raised my eyes and saw in a dream ‘and behold the he-goats mounting the flocks were ringed, speckled and checkered, and an angel of G’d said to me in a dream Yaakov! etc.’... for I have seen all that Lavan is doing to you.” Once Yaakov had seen that he enjoyed heavenly support, he proceeded with his own ingenuity knowing that G’d would assist him so as to neutralise Lavan’s constant attempts to swindle him and to do him out of what was rightfully his. Yaakov might have relied on G’d’s help exclusively; he did not do so and resorted to the stratagem with the rods for two reasons: One reason was in order to conceal the fact that he enjoyed heavenly assists. He did not want the evil eye to interfere with his success. You will find a similar consideration at work when Elisha told his disciple Gechazi (Kings II 4,29) on the mission to resurrect the son of the Shunamite that he should not speak unnecessarily with people whom he would encounter on the way. Gechazi ignored these instructions and even boasted about what he was about to do. The result was that he failed and the boy did not respond to his attempts to awaken him. Do not question how it is possible that the power of the evil eye is so great that it can even interfere with miracles! We find that the birth of Yaakov’s children was influenced by the power of the evil eye. Leah had made a single comment in that she thanked the Lord for allowing her to have born a fourth son, i.e. more than the three sons out of twelve which she could expect to bear by right, and as a result of this comment she became subject to the power of the evil eye. Immediately after she had made this comment we read ותעמוד מלדת “she stopped giving birth.” The mere fact that she had said herself that she had received more than she was entitled to exposed her to the envy of others. Furthermore, we find in connection with the tribe of Joseph who had been favoured by miraculous increases in numbers due to the special blessing of their patriarch Yaakov who had said בן פורת יוסף בן פורת עלי עין, that Joseph’s descendants would prove especially fruitful. When these people told Joshua (Joshua 17,14) that G’d had made them inordinately numerous and the land allocated to them was inadequate for their needs, Joshua answered them that they would be best of to move to a wooded region. Our sages in Sotah 36 comment on this that Joshua (who was also of the tribe of Ephrayim) meant that they should hide in the forests so as not to arouse other people’s evil eye, envy. Furthermore, you will agree that there never was a greater miracle than occurred at the revelation at Mount Sinai, and we find that even on that occasion the evil eye was very much in evidence. In searching for a reason why the first set of Tablets were smashed, Tanchuma Ki Tissa 31 claims that it was because they were given to the Jewish people in public, [I am sure this refers to the text, and not the actual Tablets as the former was announced at the revelation. Ed.] an area where the evil eye is rampant. This is why the second set of Tablets was given in secret, i.e. Moses was told that (Exodus 34,3) ואיש לא יעלה עמך וגם איש אל ירא בכל ההר, “no one is to go up the mountain with you, nor is anyone to be seen at the mountain.” When the second Tablets were given the evil eye as not present, hence they were not smashed [even though the Jews repeatedly served idols after they had lived in the land of Israel for a while. Ed.] Yaakov therefore had good reason not to arouse the envy of Lavan and his sons. The second reason Yaakov let it appear as if his success was merely nature at work was in order to attract the miracle. This was not the only time in Jewish history that a clever ruse had to be used in order to encourage a miracle to occur on behalf of the very people who employed the ruse. Before the second onslaught on the town of Ai where the Jewish people had suffered an amazing defeat (due to the presence of Achan, etc.) G’d told Joshua to prepare an ambush against that town (Joshua 8,2). Seeing that all of the campaigns waged by Joshua to conquer the land of Canaan were actually fought by G’d Himself, why was there a need to set an ambush? G’d commanded this in order to have a reason to work a miracle on behalf of the people. [People who sit with their hands in their laps waiting for G’d to do their work for them do not rate miracles. Ed.] The very words spoken to Yaakov by the angel in his dream where he encouraged him to raise his eyes and see how the males mounting the females all had rings in their skin patterns, alerted Yaakov to the need for him to do something similar in order to attract divine assistance. (We have a similar situation in Hoseah 1,2 where the prophet is commanded to take for a wife a known harlot.) This was very strange indeed as according to Torah law one must not even look at such activities! (Compare Avodah Zarah 20 where even looking at birds and animals is forbidden at the time such animals are mating.) How then could the angel ask Yaakov to watch these animals mate? Actually, it was because of this dream that Yaakov was encouraged to take measures which would ward off the evil eye. He did not mean to deceive Lavan but to protect himself against Lavan so that the latter would not swindle him. We must all learn from the utilization Yaakov made of natural means of achieving certain desirable results, that when man and woman engage in marital relations, they too should imagine holy concepts in order for the children they hope to produce from their union to resemble the holy thoughts they entertained at that time. Our sages are on record (Shavuot 18) that at the time of marital intercourse a person should sanctify himself as a result of which he will have male children. What is the nature of this “sanctifying oneself?” He should have pure thoughts and most certainly not fantasize about another woman at the time he sleeps with his wife (Nedarim 20). This whole theory that imagination influences the quality and appearance of the child born if one has certain thoughts at the time one has marital relations is an incontrovertible theory. It is clear that if even animals which are not equipped with the brainpower and the ability to have holy thoughts influence the appearance of their offspring by such external stimuli as provided by Yaakov, then it is easily within the power of a human being to accomplish no less by concentrating on the right thoughts at such times.
And the flocks conceived at the sight of the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.
verse value 1988
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 42 letters. The shortest word is "the·flock" (הַצֹּ֖אן, 4 letters) and the longest is "by·the·rods" (אֶל־הַמַּקְל֑וֹת, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 146: the·flock, the·flock. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·mated" (וַיֶּחֱמ֥וּ), "by·the·rods" (אֶל־הַמַּקְל֑וֹת), "and·they·bore" (וַתֵּלַ֣דְןָ). The root צאן appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·they·bore" (root ילד, 193x in Genesis); "the·flock" (root צאן, 61x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'by·the·rods', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיֶּחֱמ֥וּ [and·mated] (70) + הַצֹּ֖אן [the·flock] (146) + אֶל־הַמַּקְל֑וֹת [by·the·rods] (612) + וַתֵּלַ֣דְןָ [and·they·bore] (490) + הַצֹּ֔אן [the·flock] (146) + עֲקֻדִּ֥ים [streaked] (224) + נְקֻדִּ֖ים [speckled] (204) + וּטְלֻאִֽים [and·spotted] (96) = 1988.
Onkelos
The flock mated facing the rods, and the flock produced striped, speckled, and spotted offspring.
Rashi
אל המקלות means at the sight of the rods. עקודים RING-STRAKED — the word is connected with the root עקד “to bind” — differently coloured at that place where they are bound, viz., the ankles of the forelegs and hindlegs.
Ibn Ezra
"And they conceived" [vayyechamu] — they became pregnant. This word appears in an unusual vocalization on account of the guttural letter; it ought by rights to be like "and they sat down to eat bread" (Genesis 37:25). Do not be puzzled that the text uses masculine language for the flock, for it is the rule of the language to distinguish between masculine and feminine in the singular, but in the plural no such distinction is made. "Toward the rods" — [the preposition means] from the rods. Many wonder and say this is miraculous. It is true that it belongs among the wonders of nature — and so is the rule, even with the woman who was created in the image of the angels. "Patched" [u-telu'im] — these are the dappled, for talu'a is the general term.
Chizkuni
ויחמו הצאן, “the flocks grew heated;” the Torah did not mind in this case to use the singular mode when speaking of numerous animals; we know of other examples of a similar construction such as Judges 21,21: אם יצאו בנות שילה, “as soon as the daughters of Shiloh will come forth,” where the masculine mode is applied to the girls of Shiloh. אל המקלות, “in response to the sticks;” the word אל does not mean to approach physically;” similar to Genesis 41,57: לשבור אל יוסף, “to buy grain from Joseph,” where it also has not been used in a physical sense. Another interpretation: “on account of the sticks.” This would be similar to Yaakov saying in Genesis 37,35: כי ארד אל בני שאולה, “for I will join my son on the way down to hades” (a grave in the nether regions of the earth). ותלדנה הצאן עקודים, “the flocks gave birth to young with striped birth patterns on the skins of their feet.” From then on Yaakov did not again bother to erect the sticks near the troughs, but he simply separated the animals that had displayed the skin patterns in accordance with his agreement Lavan from the brownskinned ones that were Lavan’s.
And Jacob separated the lambs—he also set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark in the flock of Laban—and put his own droves apart, and put them not to Laban's flock.
verse value 4374
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 74 letters. Verse gematria: 4374 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "face" (פְּנֵ֨י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·the·sheep" (וְהַכְּשָׂבִים֮, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 82: Laban, Laban. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·the·sheep" (וְהַכְּשָׂבִים֮), "separated" (הִפְרִ֣יד), "to·streaked" (אֶל־עָקֹ֛ד). The root צאן appears 3 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "and·gave" (root נתן, 150x in Genesis); "face" (root פנים, 133x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Laban', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 7 words.
Onkelos
Jacob separated the lambs and set at the head of the flock everything striped and everything dark-colored in Laban's flock; he set his own droves apart and did not mingle them with Laban's flock.
Rashi
והכשבים הפריד יעקב AND JACOB PARTED THE LAMBS — Those sheep that were thus born spotted on the ankles and speckled he separated and set apart by themselves, thus forming them into a separate flock. He led that spotted flock in front of ordinary sheep so that the faces of the sheep that followed behind them were gazing at them. This is what Scripture means in saying, “He set the faces of the flocks towards the spotted” — that the faces of the sheep were directed towards the spotted animals and towards all that were brownish which he found amongst Laban’s sheep (i. e., amongst the sickly sheep which Laban had left him; cf. Genesis 5:36). וישת לו עדרים means he formed them into a separate flock as I have already explained.
Ramban
AND JACOB SEPARATED THE LAMBS. Rashi comments: “Those sheep that were thus born spotted on the ankles and speckled, he separated and set apart by themselves, thus forming them into a separate flock. The spotted flock he led in front of the ordinary sheep so that the faces of the sheep that followed behind them were gazing at them. This is what Scripture means in saying, And he set the faces of the flocks towards the spotted; the faces of the sheep were directed towards the spotted animals and towards all that were brownish which were found amongst Laban’s sheep. And he put his own droves by themselves, and set them not with Laban’s flocks, as I have already explained.” This is the Rabbi’s [Rashi’s] language. But his words here are not correct. For why did Jacob separate the spotted lambs so that there did not remain in Laban’s flock any speckled or brownish ones, neither in the sheep nor in the goats? And if those that he separated were the ringstraked, speckled and spotted which the sheep had given birth to and which belonged to him, and it was from them that he made this spotted flock, why did he separate only the lambs and did not take also the he-goats and she-goats which were born spotted and make from all of them this spotted flock which he led before the sheep? Moreover, Scripture makes no mention of the fact that brownish ones were born. And again, according to the opinion of the Rabbi [Rashi], there were no ringstraked and spotted among the lambs for these were not his hire. Only the brownish were, and for the brownish he had made no sticks. But the explanation of the verse is that Jacob separated the lambs from the goats and made from them a separate flock. Now he had a flock of brownish lambs and a flock of spotted and speckled goats. He then had the faces of all the flocks — of the lambs and of the goats — directed towards the ringstraked and towards all the brownish which were in the flock of Laban, since he put the ringstraked before the goats and all the brownish before the lambs, this being in accordance with the opinion of the earlier Rabbis, [Rashi and Ibn Ezra, as explained above], or, according to [Ramban’s] opinion, the ringstraked and all the brownish before the lamb. For the purpose of the separation of the lambs from the goats was on account of the brownish which were his hire from the lambs alone. The correct interpretation appears to me to be that Scripture is saying, Jacob separated [only] the lambs and set the faces of the flocks, which refer to the above mentioned lambs, to the ringstraked and all the brownish in the flock of Laban, and he put his own droves of the ringstraked and the brownish by themselves, and he set them not with Laban’s flocks, for these, [the ringstraked and the brownish], were his hire. And the meaning of the expression, in the flock of Laban, is that he did so with all of Laban’s flocks but not that they belonged to Laban since the ringstraked among the lambs were Jacob’s. Now do not ask why Scripture at first says “lambs” and then says “the faces of the flocks” rather than “the faces of the lambs”, for it is normal for Scripture to express itself this way. In this section there is a similar case in connection with the mountain of Gilead. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountain of Gilead. “The mountain” mentioned at the beginning of the verse is the “mountain of Gilead” mentioned at the end. And the reason Jacob did this with the lambs more than with the goats is that there were no brownish ones among the sticks he put up. It is possible that he knew that because of their heaviness, it is natural for lambs to require many signs to arouse them — more than the light-weight he-goats require.
Ibn Ezra
"And Jacob separated the sheep" — he did yet another thing: he separated the sheep and chose from them every ring-streaked and every brown one, and directed the face of the flock toward them so that they would give birth accordingly. Thus he had flocks for himself alone and did not put them together with Laban's flock. Some say that "and he set up flocks for himself" is stated out of sequence, [meaning] that he had already separated the sheep from his own flocks.
Sforno
אל עקוד וכל חום בצאן לבן, this was after Lavan had already reneged and changed the rules of the contract by allocating to Yaakov newly born lambs with different skin patterns than had been agreed to originally.
Or HaChaim
פני הצאן אל עקוד, the flocks facing the ankle-striped, etc. Perhaps the reason that only the ankle-striped ones are mentioned here is that the sheep would react more rapidly at the sight of that colour pattern than towards the striped or speckled ones. וישת לו עדרים, he set aside droves for himself. This was designed so that these flocks should never look at any other varieties than the ones with the skin pattern Jacob had chosen. In this way they would automatically give birth to young ones of that same skin pattern. If that were not so Jacob would have to give to Laban all those young sheep or goats which were not speckled or striped.
Chizkuni
ולא שתם על צאו לבן, and he did not keep them near the flocks that belonged to Lavan. He did not want Lavan to be able to say that he had mixed them among Lavan’s flocks in order that Lavan’s sheep would produce young looking like those of Yaakov. The construction: על צאן לבן, must be understood as similar to Leviticus 25,31: על שדה הארץ יחשב, “shall be considered as open country.”
Tur HaArokh
והכבשים הפריד יעקב, “Yaakov had already separated the sheep, etc.” According to Rashi this means that he set aside as his own flocks all those that had been born with the skin patterns agreed upon as his wages. He made separate herds of them and made them walk in front of the mature flocks in a manner that caused them to face those flocks. This is the meaning of the line ויתן פני הצאן אל עקוד וכל חום בצאן לבן, “he made them face all the ankle-striped and the brown ones among the sheep.” The problem with this commentary, writes Nachmanides, is that it does not explain why he had separated the sheep only and not the goats, both male and female, so that they too would reproduce young ones of the desired skin pattern. Why did he not make a separate herd of the goats also? Furthermore, seeing that according to Rashi’s opinion the sheep do not produce the skin pattern called עקוד as we surmise by the fact that Yaakov was not given such as part of his wages, as opposed to brown (speckled) ones, there was no point in his peeling aspen sticks when these sheep came to the water troughs. It therefore made perfect sense that Yaakov kept the sheep completely apart from the goats. He had a flock of goats, both male and female, which were נקוד וטלוא; these he made walk in front of the senior generation of sheep. All this makes sense according to those who hold that any נקוד וטלוא among the sheep would not belong to Yaakov in any event. According to Rashi’s own opinion that all the skin patterns mentioned applied to both goats and sheep, the reason he separated the herds of sheep from those of the goats was that among the goats there were not (as yet) any which showed brown patches of skin.
And it came to pass, whenever the stronger of the flock did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods;
verse value 4146 — וְהָיָ֗ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 63 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְהָיָ֗ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "and·put" (וְשָׂ֨ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·rods" (אֶת־הַמַּקְל֛וֹת, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 146: the·flock, the·flock. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "when·in·heat" (בְּכׇל־יַחֵם֮), "the·sturdy" (הַמְקֻשָּׁרוֹת֒), "that·they·might·mate" (לְיַחְמֵ֖נָּה). The root יחם appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·shall·be" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "in·the·sight·of" (root עין, 79x in Genesis). First appearance of the root קשר ("the·sturdy") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·the·troughs', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 2 words. Full calculation: וְהָיָ֗ה [and·it·shall·be] (26) + בְּכׇל־יַחֵם֮ [when·in·heat] (110) + הַצֹּ֣אן [the·flock] (146) + הַמְקֻשָּׁרוֹת֒ [the·sturdy] (1051) + וְשָׂ֨ם [and·put] (346) + יַעֲקֹ֧ב [Jacob] (182) + אֶת־הַמַּקְל֛וֹת [the·rods] (982) + לְעֵינֵ֥י [in·the·sight·of] (170) + הַצֹּ֖אן [the·flock] (146) + בָּרְהָטִ֑ים [in·the·troughs] (266) + לְיַחְמֵ֖נָּה [that·they·might·mate] (143) + בַּמַּקְלֽוֹת [by·the·rods] (578) = 4146.
Onkelos
Whenever the early-bearing flock was in heat, Jacob would place the rods before the eyes of the flock in the troughs, so that they would conceive facing the rods.
Rashi
המקשרות THE STRONGER—Explain it as the Targum renders it: הבכירות the early-bearing sheep; but I have no evidence in the Scripture (i.e. I have no other example of the use of this word) to prove that this is its meaning. Menachem classifies it under the same root as (2 Samuel 15:31) “Ahitophel is among the conspirators (בקשרים)”, and as (2 Samuel 15:12) “And the conspiracy (הקשר) was strong” — so that the meaning would be those sheep that banded themselves together (mated) in order to accelerate their pregnancy (i.e. in order that they might become בכירות, early-bearing sheep).
Ramban
THE FLOCKS ‘HAMEKUSHAROTH.’ The correct interpretation of this expression appears to me to be that they are the flocks in which the males follow the females at all times, never leaving them due to their abundant desire, as in the expression, Seeing that his soul is ‘keshurah’ (bound up) with the lad’s soul. This is also found in the language of our Sages: “a swine karuch (clinging) to a ewe;” “clinging to her.” And the offspring born at that time are called hakeshurim after the name of their father. But many authorities say that keshurim are “the strong ones” whose limbs are firmly attached to each other with a strong tie, as this is the basis of health, while atuphim here. are “the weak ones” whose soul ‘tithataph’ (fainted) in them, and who have no desire, as in the expression, ‘ha’atuphim’ (that faint) for hunger. Onkelos translated hamekusharoth as the early-bearing sheep, and atuphim as the late-bearing ones, for such is the fact: [the early-bearing sheep are the stronger ones, and the late-bearing ones are weaker].
Ibn Ezra
"The vigorous of the flock" — in the days of Nisan [spring], and all that they bore were strong and healthy.
Or HaChaim
והיה בכל יחם הצאן, it would be that every time the flocks were in heat, etc. We must understand why Jacob did all this. Granted that originally when he placed those partially peeled rods he was forced to resort to this stratagem out of a feeling of self-preservation, this was no longer the case after he established his own flocks. His continuing to resort to these stratagems would appear to have resulted in his acquiring more than half the total profit whereas under normal circumstances the shepherd is supposed to take one third of the profits as we have explained on 29,15 on the verse הכי אחי אתה. Perhaps the flocks described as המקושרות did not give birth only to ankle-striped lambs etc.; in that event Jacob would not have benefited excessively. He probably did not benefit to the extent of two thirds, the amount permissible when dealing with growing animals. Perhaps Jacob only tried to reimburse himself for what Laban had already robbed him of.
Tur HaArokh
המקושרות, “the early-bearing ones,” some commentators understand the word as “the strong ones.” They believe that it refers to those whose limbs were firmly attached to each other. Such firm attachment between the various limbs is considered a sign of good health. By contrast, the עטופים (verse 42) are the ones whose health was more precarious. They were the weak ones. The word occurs in this context in Lamentations 2,19 העטופים ברעב, “the ones weakened by famine.” Nachmanides writes that הקשורים are the male animals which follow the females very close on their heels and never stay far away from them as they are usually in heat. A parallel expression in the Torah would be ונפשו קשורה בנפשו, the manner in which Yehudah describes the spiritual bond between his father and Binyamin. (Genesis 44,30). Ibn Ezra explains that in the month of Nissan, all the young lambs born to the sheep were strong and healthy, to wit מקושרות. Seeing they are so healthy and strong, they have a strong sex drive, always staying close behind the females. On the other hand, the ones born in fall, in Tishrey, are by nature weak, and Yaakov was not particularly interested in them, hence he did not bother with the aspen sticks at that time of year. At least, he refrained from doing so in order to minimize the chance of Lavan learning of his stratagem.
but when the flock were feeble, he put them not in; so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
verse value 1944 — וְהָיָ֤ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 43 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְהָיָ֤ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 1944 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·when·were·feeble" (וּבְהַעֲטִ֥יף, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·when·were·feeble" (וּבְהַעֲטִ֥יף), "would·place" (יָשִׂ֑ים), "the·feeble" (הָעֲטֻפִים֙). The root עטף appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·shall·be" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "to·Jacob" (root יעקב, 180x in Genesis); "not" (root לא, 127x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'would·place', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 5 words. Full calculation: וּבְהַעֲטִ֥יף [and·when·were·feeble] (182) + הַצֹּ֖אן [the·flock] (146) + לֹ֣א [not] (31) + יָשִׂ֑ים [would·place] (360) + וְהָיָ֤ה [and·it·shall·be] (26) + הָעֲטֻפִים֙ [the·feeble] (214) + לְלָבָ֔ן [to·Laban] (112) + וְהַקְּשֻׁרִ֖ים [and·the·sturdy] (661) + לְיַעֲקֹֽב [to·Jacob] (212) = 1944.
Onkelos
But when the flock was late-bearing, he would not place them; so the late-bearing ones went to Laban and the early-bearing ones to Jacob.
Rashi
ובהעטיף WHEN THE FLOCKS WERE FEEBLE — the word has the meaning of “being late”, as the Targum renders it בלקישות the late-bearing ones (cf. מלקוש the “latter” rain). Menachem classifies it under the same root as (Isaiah 3:22) “the aprons and the mantelets (המעטפות)”, so that it has the meaning of wrapping oneself in a garment, and the word denotes those animals that are well wrapped up in their skin and fur so that they do not desire to be warmed by the males.
Ibn Ezra
"And when the flock were feeble" [u-ve-ha'atif] — these were in the days of Tishri [autumn]. Jacob did this so that Laban would not notice the matter of the rods. "The feeble" [ha-atufim] — those that have no strength, as in "their soul fainted within them" (Psalms 107:5).
Sforno
ובהעטיף הצאן לא ישים, in order that Lavan should not think that the results which so clearly favoured Yaakov could have been achieved only through deceitful activities on his part.
Tur HaArokh
ובהעטיף הצאן לא ישים, והיה העטופים ללבן. “When the ewes and she-goats were late he would not place the aspen sticks in their path to the troughs.” This was because at that time they did not give birth to lambs or kids with the desired skin pattern. As a result, all the blotched ones would belong to Yaakov, being strong animals born in spring. Some commentators understand that the fact that these skin patterns appeared was not even due to Yaakov’s stratagem, but was a divine assistance Yaakov experienced, a minor miracle. This explains why Lavan did not check regularly on what Yaakov was up to, as he had been unaware of what had been happening. He did not even view the use of the aspen sticks as responsible for the fact that the young sheep and goats born under Yaakov’s supervision mostly had the skin patterns favouring him. Most miracles are not of the type of splitting the sea, or water turning into blood, but they are “additives” to initiatives undertaken by man. [According to that view, had Yaakov not used this stratagem the miracle could not have occurred, just as if the woman whose oil the prophet Elisha increased manifold could not have experienced this miracle if her jar had been totally empty of oil. Ed.] (compare Kings II 4,1-6) This commentary, is not valid in our situation, as without question the stratagem used by Yaakov can be successfully applied by other shepherds whom G’d does not favour with miraculous intervention.
Rashbam
ובהעטיף, during the interval between giving birth for the first time and the ability to conceive again had begun, Yaakov did not bother using the stratagem of the peeled sticks when the sheep would be watered.
And the man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maid-servants and men-servants, and camels and asses.
verse value 2973
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 52 letters. The shortest word is "very" (מְאֹ֣ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·had" (וַֽיְהִי־לוֹ֙, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 45: very, very. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "many" (רַבּ֔וֹת), "and·female·slaves" (וּשְׁפָחוֹת֙). The root מאד appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·had" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "the·man" (root איש, 153x in Genesis); "and·male·slaves" (root עבד, 109x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'very', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 7 words. Full calculation: וַיִּפְרֹ֥ץ [and·prospered] (386) + הָאִ֖ישׁ [the·man] (316) + מְאֹ֣ד [very] (45) + מְאֹ֑ד [very] (45) + וַֽיְהִי־לוֹ֙ [and·had] (67) + צֹ֣אן [flock] (141) + רַבּ֔וֹת [many] (608) + וּשְׁפָחוֹת֙ [and·female·slaves] (800) + וַעֲבָדִ֔ים [and·male·slaves] (132) + וּגְמַלִּ֖ים [and·camels] (129) + וַחֲמֹרִֽים [and·donkeys] (304) = 2973.
Onkelos
The man grew exceedingly prosperous, and he had large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.
Rashi
צאן רבות MANY SHEEP — sheep that multiplied and were fruitful more than other sheep (Genesis Rabbah 73:11). ושפחות ועבדים AND HANDMAIDS, AND MEN-SERVANTS — he used to sell his sheep at a high price and he bought for himself all these (Tanchuma Yashan 1:7:24).
Sforno
ויפרץ האיש, he surpassed all the boundaries of what is considered possible in amassing a tremendous fortune in a short time all through shepherding flocks of sheep and goats.
Onkelos
Rashi
Ramban
Ibn Ezra
Sforno
Or HaChaim
Chizkuni
Tur HaArokh