NOTES ON PARSHAS VAYECHI

[NOTE: Spelling errors have been corrected as of 01:45 PM, Friday January 5th.]

VAYECHI = And he lived
12th. parsha in Bereishis (Genesis) psukim 47:28 - 50:26


1st Aliya: Yakov is already an old man at the beginning of this parsha, being one hundred and forty seven years of age. He calls Yosef and Yosef's sons to him, promising that the sons should each be a tribe. Yakov makes Yosef promise to bury him in Canaan.
Eerste alija: Jakov is reeds een oude man, daar hij aan het begin van deze parsja honderd en zevenenveertig jaren oud is. Hij laat Jozef en diens zonen tot zich komen, de zonen belovend dat zij ieder als stam gerekend zullen worden. Van Jozef eist hij dat na zijn dood hij in Kenaan begraven zal worden.

2nd Aliya: The blessing of Yosef's sons is described, as well as the crossing of the arms by Yakov, thus delivering the blessings other than Yosef had expected. The blessing of hamalach hagoel is also mentioned.
Tweede alija: De zegening van Jozef's zone word beschreven, alzook het kruisen van de armen door Jakov, do zo de twee jongens anders zegent dan hun vader had verwacht. Ook word hamalach hagoel aangehaald.


3rd Aliya: Yakov explains to Yosef that both sons will have different futures as tribes, and both tribes will be great in Israel.
Derde alija: Jakov legt aan Jozef uit hoe verschillend de twee zonen zullen zijn, doch beiden zullen in Israel groot zijn.


4th Aliya: Yakov calls all his sons to come, and describes their differentiation with a view towards different blessings.
Vierde alija: Jakov roept zijn zonen bijeen, en beschrijft hun verschillende eigenschappen teneinde hun op verschillende wijs te zegenen.

5th Aliya: The blessings to each and to all.
Vijfde alija: De zegening aan ieder, en aan allen.

6th Aliya: Yakov repeats the wish that he be buried in Canaan. After his death his body is treated as customary in Egypt, after which the levaya leaves for Canaan. Following these events it transpires that the brothers are concerned that Yosef harbours ill-will, but he reassures them.
Zesde alija: Jakov herhaalt de wens dat hij in Kenaan begraven zal worden. Wanneer hij sterft word zijn lichaam zoals gebruikelijk in Egypte behandeld, waarna de begravenis stoet naar Kenaan vertrekt. Daaropvolgend blijkt dat de broeders zich zorgen maken dat Jozef hun geen goed toejegent vanwege hun voorhene handelingen, maar hij stelt hun gerust.



7th Aliya: Yosef rules for another fifty-four years. He makes the brothers promise to take his remains with them when the Hebrews finally leave Egypt. Yosef dies aged one hundred and ten years.
Zevende alija: Nog vier en vijftig jaren regeert Jozef over Egypte. Hij laat de broeders beloven zijn lichaam mee te nemen wanneer de Hebreeuwen eindelijk Egypte zullen verlaten. Op honderd en tien jarige leeftijd sterft Jozef.


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THE DAYS OF YAKOV: YAKOV CALLS YOSEF AND HIS SONS TO HIM


Psook 47:28
"Vayechi Yaakov beeretz Mitzrayim sheva esre shana vayehi yemei-Yaakov shenei chayav sheva shanim vearbaim umeat shana"And so Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty seven years

Seventeen years - the same number of years that Yosef lived with his family before going down to Egypt.


Psook 47:29"Vayikrevu yemei-Yisrael lamut vayikra livno leYosef vayomer lo im-na matzati chen beeineicha sim-na yadcha tachat yerechi veasita imadi chesed veemet al-na tikbereni beMitzrayim"
And the day drew near that Israel had to die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him 'If now I have found favour in your sight, put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh, and be good and truthful to me - do not bury me in Egypt

Hand under thigh - swearing in the same manner as Eliezer, for not only is this a subservient pose, but one must swear holding (or seeming to hold) something pertaining to a commandment - Yosef's hand is near the 'place of the circumcision'.


Psook 47:30"Veshachavti im-avotai unesatani miMitzrayim ukevartani bikvuratam vayomar anochi ese chidvarecha"But when I sleep with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their tomb - ' And he said: 'I will do as you have told me'

Sleep - which references the day of resurrection, though also a poetic descriptus of death.


Psook 47:31
"Vayomer hishava li vayishava lo vayishtachu Yisrael al-rosh hamita"And he said: 'Swear to me' And he swore to him. And Israel bowed down upon the head of the bed.

Bowed down upon the head of the bed - which is towards the Shechinah.



ADOPTION OF YOSEF'S SONS

Psook 48:3
"Vayomer Yaakov el-Yosef El Shadai nira-elai beLuz beeretz Kenaan vayevarech oti"
And Jacob said to Joseph: 'El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
Psook 48:4"Vayomer elai hinni mafrecha vehirbiticha unetaticha likhal amim venatati et-haaretz hazot lezaracha achareicha achuzat olam"
And said to me: Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a community of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession

This land to your offspring - a lineage to hold as sanctified inherited treasure, a sacred heirloom. I will give - a future transaction, one which is open-ended and ongoing. It is still being given. It is by assuming their task as caretaker of the land that it becomes theirs, it is their mitzvah when they acknowledge it as a mitzvah.


Psook 48:5"Veata shenei-vaneicha hanoladim lecha beeretz Mitzrayim ad-boi eleicha Mitzraima li-hem Efrayim uMenashe kiRuven veShimon yihyu-li"
And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine, Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine

Your two sons ( ) are mine - meaning that he acknowledges them as being fully entitled in the inheritance, countering the impact of their mother's people (an Egyptian priestly house), and co-opts them fully into the clan, despite the foreigness which obscures them.
They are now not merely scenery, but full actors in a way that negates any word to the contrary, despite their shadowy maternal lineage. They are mine, as my own sons, as the subsequent blessing will make clear.

But note that many commentators insist that these two are the grandchildren of Dinah, whose daughter was whisked to Egypt to be adopted by a eunuch priest and then married to her uncle Yosef.


Psook 48:7
"Vaani bevoi miPadan meta alai Rachel beeretz Kenaan baderech beod kivrat-eretz lavo Efrata vaekbereha sham bederech Efrat hiv Beit-lachem"
And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me in the land of Canaan on the road, a while before coming to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem'

Rachel died on me - as Yakov was returning to the land. She is buried by the roadside.


Psook 48:8
"Vayar Yisrael et-benei Yosef vayomer mi-ele"
And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said: 'Who are these?'

Who are these? From which we might read that he had not seen them before, as Yosef was over all of Egypt, and Yakov and the brothers were settled as herdsmen in Goshen. But also, "who are these that should be blessed?", meaning that he wishes Yosef to formally state that they are his sons. It is not that he disputes their worth, as can be seen from both the preceding and what follows, but that he expects Yosef to speak in the manner of testimony.


Psook 48:12
"Vayotze Yosef otam meim birkav vayishtachu leapav artza"
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and prostrated himself with his face to the earth

And he prostrated - A gesture of respect. But why did he do so? Here Yosef, who is mighty in Egypt, shows himself still humble to Yakov, against whom he willnot and cannot presume upon his status as viceroy. It will be remembered that he gave much to Benyamin at the time when Benyamin was his father's representation among the brothers. But note also that the Beraisos say that the Shechinah was at the head of his father's bed, and thus he prostrates himself fittingly.



SWITCHING HANDS AND DIFFERENTIATED BLESSINGS

Psook 48:13
"Vayikach Yosef et-sheneihem et-Efrayim bimino mismol Yisrael veet-Menashe vismolo mimin Yisrael vayagesh elav"
And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right, and brought them near to him

In order to guide his father's hands.


Psook 48:14
"Vayishlach Yisrael et-yemino vayashet al-rosh Efrayim vehu hatzair veet-semolo al-rosh Menashe sikel et-yadav ki Menashe habechor"
And Israel stretched out his right hand, and held it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly, for Manasseh was the first-born

Yakov deliberately countermoves - the order of sons runs counter to his own past, should he by upholding it (the correct order) now seem to prove Esav rightfully the inheritor? Not so. And this is nothing compared to the scene he makes when blessing all of the brothers, as we shall see.


Psook 48:15
"Vayevarech et-Yosef vayomar haElohim asher hithalchu avotai lefanav Avraham veYitzchak haElohim haroe oti meodi ad-hayom haze"
And he blessed Joseph, and said: 'The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

And he blessed Yosef - before moving on to blessing Yosef's sons, to indicate that they are one in Yosef. As we shall see regarding tribal status later.


Psook 48:16
"Hamalach Hagoel oti mikol-ra yevarech et-hanearim veyikare vahem shemi veshem avotai Avraham veYitzchak veyidgu larov bekerev haaretz"
(And) the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in amid the land'

Note: Ha malach, ha goel - the angel, the redeemer. Two separate functions.

And let my name be named in them - because even though they are the result of Yosef living 'over all Egypt', and despite their mother's being of suspect antecedence, they are also members of the clan - full members, not courtesy adoptees. Two portions by themselves, not merely heir to Yosef's portion, and thus by this act safeguarded from any dispute over their rights because of their foreigness. Even if Asnat, their mother, was the daughter of Dinah by the Shechemite rapist, her upbringing in Egypt and illegitimate parentage would cast a shadow over her childrens' rights. But if Asnat is the true daughter of Potifera, then her Egyptianness and connection to idolatrous priests is equally a matter of concern.

This shows a disregard for normal procedure and standard practise; though such disregard in the past has ill-served Yakov (as in his relations with his brother Esav, his marriage to Leah and Rachel, and his favouritism of Yosef and then Benyamin), Yakov's stubborn contrarian insistence here further supports Efraim and Menashe as far as rights within the clan.
And the names of my fathers - excluding Terach and Nachor, for there is no merit attached to those names.


Psook 48:20"Vayevarachem bayom hahu lemor becha yevarech Yisrael lemor yesimcha Elohim keEfrayim vechiMnashe vayasem et-Efrayim lifnei Menashe"
And he blessed them on that day, saying: 'By you shall Israel bless, saying: God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh' And he set Ephraim in front of Manasseh

Note that this is the same format for blessing the sons of the family on shabbes nacht.


Psook 48:21"Vayomer Yisrael el-Yosef hine anochi met vehaya Elohim imachem veheshiv etchem el-eretz avoteichem"
And Israel said to Joseph: 'Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers

Will ( ) bring you back - By which is meant that each tribe (including the two born in Egypt) will be brought back to the land.


Psook 48:22
"Vaani natati lecha shechem achad al-acheicha asher lakachti miyad haEmori becharbi uvekashti"
Moreover I have given to you one portion more than to your brothers, from that which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow'

Va-ani natati lecha shechem achad al-acheicha - and I have given you a shoulder (shechem) more than your brothers. This refers obliquely to psukim 47:29 - 30 "please do not bury me in Egypt - and I will lie with my fathers in the Meuras ha machpelah. The meaning of the verse is twofold: Yosef has been moved up to the rank of firstborn, getting the traditional double portion, but Yosef as such is also responsible for returning Yakov's remains to the land, and re-affirming the linkage with the Eretz Kadosh, as Shechem was where his father's tent had stood when last Yosef lived in the land.

Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow - Shimon and Levi, as just one example of strife, had fought against Shechem. And it can be taken for granted that conflict between settled locals and a band of Gypsies was an inevitable occurence. So, while the text does not actually say that Yakov fought the natives, what is meant is both specifically the incident with Shimon and Levi, and more generally the firm defense of clan rights though much outnumbered in the land.

My sword and my bow - Shimon and Levi at Shechem, when they avenged the disgrace of their sister. And was this not justified? But note that Chamor the father of Shechem was a Hivvite… where does this mention of Amorite come from? Probably from a conflation of sound - from Hhamor to Ha-Emori (what I have transcribed as 'CH' and here as 'Hh' is actually 'H' - a breathy sound). The definite article subsuming the first consonant of the name, as may be reflected in speech. This would appropriately epithetize the men of that city, as they were among the worst of Canaanite nations, and thus stand in for all of a bad lot.
Concerning which, Amorite and 'emor' (to speak) have similarities, as fits those whose crimes are compounded by their mouths, which is what happened when Chamor told Yakov that Shechem wished to marry the girl, and told his men that they would by a strategem seize the wealth of Yakov and his family in addition to having committed rape.

Sword and bow - Wisdom and discernement; words of Torah and the sound judgement that their use requires.



BLESSING OF THE TWELVE BROTHERS, AND THE PROMISE THAT THEY BURY YAKOV IN CANAAN
Psook 49:1
"Vayikra Yaakov el-banav vayomer heasfu veagida lachem et asher-yikra etchem beacharit hayamim"And Jacob called to his sons, and said: 'Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall happen you in the end of days

That I may tell you what will happen to you in the end of days - here said as eloquent hyperbole, as Yakov tells them how their tribes will end up after they to have died, before proceding with a collective blessing. The mention of 'the end of days' (be acharit ha yamim) has confounded literalists who fail to conceive of the fathers being flowery.

Note: Bereishis rabbah, the Talmud, and Rashi all hold that at that point the Shechinah left Yakov, as a result of which he departed from his notes. Perhaps it is worth bearing in mind that the Torah gives a framework on which these three can hang their statements, but it does not exist because of them - it is independant of their writings, which neither add nor subtract.

If the brothers were concerned about their descendants returning to the land, what Yakov tells them makes clear that their tribes will dwell in the Eretz Kadosh after sojourning in Egypt. A reassurance, but more for those who come after, at a time when a Pharaoh who knows not Yosef arises.

The 'end of days' is that period after the immediate era and the era which immediately follows it, with an era separating it further; their days, their childrens' days, and the days of their childrens children (which last term is an abstraction).


Psook 49:2"Hikavtzu veshimu benei Yaakov veshimu el-Yisrael avichem"
Assemble yourselves, and hear, oh sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father
Psook 49:3"Reuven bechori ata kochi vereshit oni yeter seet veyeter az"
Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the first fruit of my vigor, greater of dignity, and greater of power

Reuben, my vigor - from when Yakov sweated for Laban.


Psook 49:4"pachaz kamayim al-totar ki alita mishkevei avicha az chilalta yetzui ala"
Rushing as water, you lack excellence, because you mounted your father's bed, then desecrated it - he went up to my couch

Mounted your father's bed - As referenced in psook 35:22 (when he 'lay with Bilhah'). A forbidden thing, like incest, like adultery. But in that this is mentioned with scant further remark in that section, and no consequence to Bilhah is referenced, and it is furthermore said "and Israel heard (of it)", it can be inferred that this is an allegation given voice by rivalry within the family, neither proven consumated nor proven false - it is suspect, as much as the accusation that Yosef tried to disgrace Potifar's wife, and probably hyperbole, as used by Yakov here..

Rashi, of course, offers a more fanciful and disturbing explanation, believing that at times the Shechinah was present over the bed of Yakov - and if that was so, why was Yakov so often fearful, and circumspect in so much? Yakov is not given to a surfeit of confidence or prescience, though for effect and point he is here represented otherwise, it being the scene of the end of his days. The difference between the various images of Yakov paint a better picture of him, and give a tension to the tale.


Psook 49:5
"Shimon veLevi achim kelei chamas mecheroteihem"
Simeon and Levi are brethren, weapons of violence their kinship

Weapons of violence - also translatable as stolen tools, as weapons whose planned use would be unjust, and who by their excess (of which Shechem is the example) prove it better that they should not be thus enabled or made capable.


Psook 49:6"Besodam al-tavo nafshi bikhalam al-techad kevodi ki veapam hargu ish uvirtzonam ikru-shor"Let me not come into their council, nor to their assembly my glory be united, for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they hamstrung the ox.

Because their plots are frightful in effect and excessive. They exterminated Shechem, from which we learn that if eloquent rhetoric is taken as truth, violence or offense may result instead of sober common sense. The modern Edomite proves this abundantly.
Hamstrung an ox - Which shows their cruelty, though this is refers not to an animal but to Yosef. Literalism is no help here.


Psook 49:7
"Arur apam ki az veevratam ki kashata achalkem beYaakov vaafitzem beYisrael"Accursed is their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel, I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel

Scatter them in Israel - not having shares in the inheritance of equal kind or measure, and hence incapable of colluding.

Accursed is their anger - their anger is maledicted, not they themselves. Yakov is not cursing his sons, merely describing.


Psook 49:8"Yehuda ata yoducha acheicha yadcha beoref oiveicha yishtachavu lecha benei avicha"Judah, your brothers shall praise you, your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies, your father's sons shall bow down to you

Your brothers shall praise you - because of Benyamin.


Psook 49:10
"Lo-yasur shevet miHuda umechokek mibein raglav ad ki-yavo Shilo velo yikhat amim"
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, till Shiloh come, and to him shall be the obedience of peoples.

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah - the moral qualities of leadership belong to this tribe by virtue of Yehudah standing up for all of them when facing the Egyptian viceroy - it was his actions that preserved Benyamin to them, and they to their father.
And this too is an open-ended statement, which holds until the ketz.

Shiloh - a place where there was a tabernacle, but also meaning the anointed one, the redeemer.


Psook 49:13
"Zevulun lechof yamim yishkon vehu lechof oniyot veyarchato al-Tzidon"
Zebulun shall dwell at the sea shore, and he shall be a port for ships, and his flank shall be at Sidon

Even to the whole coast, which is a locus that a nomadic people would not normally be overly familiar with. It is odd that there is so narrow a vocabulary for seafood in Hebrew - this indicates that Zebulun shall be maritime traders rather than coastal fishermen.


Psook 49:14"Yisashochar chamor garem rovetz bein hamishpetayim"
Issachar is a big-boned ass, crouching down among the sheep-folds

Rashi and the Beraisos go nuts here, in desperate stretches to read good into the text. Hoary antiquity hallows their interpretation, but unless the tribes return from beyond the Sambation, what they say here is in any case largely moot.


Psook 49:16
"Dan yadin amo keachad shivtei Yisrael"
Dan shall judge his people, as one (of) the tribes of Israel

Dan shall judge - as the name advertises (dan / din). What Yakov says next illustrates how unsettling the progress of justice can be.

Psook 49:17"Yehi-dan nachash alei-derech shefifon alei-orach hanoshech ikvei-sus vayipol rochvo achor"Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, that bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward


Psook 49:19"Gad gedud yegudenu vehu yagud akev"
Gad, a troop shall troop unto him, but he shall yet troop upon their track

Dan and Gad - Justice and force of arms, affecting righteousness for Israel.


Psook 49:22"Ben porat Yosef ben porat alei-ayin banot tzaada alei-shur"A fruitful vine is Joseph, a fruitful vine by a spring, its branches spreading across the wall

As the vineyard of Hashem, mentioned in Yesayah 5:7 "for the vineyard of Hashem, Lord of Hosts, is the house of Israel".
Branches spreading across the wall - others shall benefit also from the virtues of Yosef.


Psook 49:24
"Vateshev beeitan kashto vayafozu zeroei yadav midei avir Yaakov misham roe even Yisrael"But his bow stayed firm, and the arms of his hands were made gleaming, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from there, from the shepherd, the stone of Israel,

Yosef epitomizes that which reflects glory on Israel, like an archer bright with gleaming bands around his arm, standing erect. And in the same way, as we have seen, all brothers, some brothers, and even one brother may stand in for Israel, wich is both collective and singular, and Israel also represents the one, the many, and all of them - the superlatives applied to Yosef express in the particular what is blessed upon all in general.


Psook 49:25"MeEl avicha veyazereka veet Shadai vivaracheka birchot shamayim meal birchot tehom rovetzet tachat birchot shadayim varacham"
Even by the God of your father, who shall help you, and by El Shaddai, who shall bless you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep, crouching beneath, blessings of the breasts and the womb

Sforno points out here that both direct and indirect blessings are mentioned, which shows both a gradation and a hierarchy. But also: Yosef was born in the land, of the favourite wife of his father's chosing, whereas Yosef's sons were born in Egypt of a woman given to him as a cooptative mark of Pharaonic grace while he was beyond his family. Therefore both the God of your father as in the land, AND by the all powerful aspect of God outside the land.


Psook 49:27"Binyamin zeev yitraf baboker yochal ad velaerev yechalek shalal"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf - in the morning he devours prey, and at dusk he divides the spoils'

In reference to the tale of the Levite, his concubine, and the men from the tribe of Benyamin. Which in short speaks of dismemberment, tribal warfare and slaughter, and the rape of foreigners. A very disturbing tale, yet a very entertaining disturbance to tell about.

But Benyamin is also the sword arm, from whence Saul.


Psook 49:28
"Kol-ele Shivtei Yisrael sheneim asar vezot asher-diber lahem avihem vayevarech otam ish asher kevirchato berach otam"
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them, and he blessed them, each according to his blessing he blessed them

What their father said to them, and he blessed them - two verbs, two different actions. Remonstrative prophetics followed by, and matched with, the blessings appropriate to them, and a collective blessing upon the twelve.

All these are the twelve - because Menashe and Efraim are Yosef, only in portion are they separate.

Each according to his blessing - as appropriate for each one individually, the reason for which was shown in the telling of their natures that preceded the blessing.


Psook 49:29"Vayetzav otam vayomer alehem ani neesaf el-ami kivru oti el-avotai el-hameara asher bisde Efron haChiti"
And he charged them, and said to them: 'I shall be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

And he charged them - lest they otherwise overlook the tie to the land and the specific place, the responsibility for which is part of their inheritance, and part of the obligation of that inheritance.


Psook 49:30"Bamara asher bisde haMachpela asher-al-penei Mamre beeretz Kenaan asher kana avraham et-hasade meet Efron haChiti laachuzat-kaver"
in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burying ground

Note: Kever is the same as kubur in Arabic, meaning tomb or grave.



YAKOV DIES

Psook 49:33"Vayechal Yaakov letzauot et-banav vayeesof raglav el-hamita vayigva vayeasef el-amav"When Jacob finished of charging his sons, hedrew up his feet into the bed, and perished, and was gathered to his people

Gathered to his people - a poetic descriptus, but also a reference to the day of resurrection.



YAKOV IS BURIED

Psook 50:3"Vayimleu-lo arbaim yom ki ken yimleu yemei hachanutim vayivku oto Mitzrayim shivim yom"And forty days were completed for him, for so are the days of embalming done - And the Egyptians lamented him for seventy days.

Seventy days - a full month more. But seventy days also means a multitude of days.
The Egyptians grieved for him as one does for a relative, because of what his son had done for them.


Psook 50:4"Vayaavru yemei vechito vayedaber Yosef el-beit Paro lemor im-na matzati chen beeineichem dabru-na beaznei Faro lemor"
And when the days of mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh's household, saying: 'If now I have found favour in your eyes, speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying:
Psook 50:5"Avi hishbiani lemor hine anochi met bekivri asher kariti li beeretz Kenaan shama tikbereni veata eele-na veekbera et-avi veashuva"
My father made me swear, saying: see, I die - in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me'. Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father, after which I shall return'.
Psook 50:6"Vayomer Paro ale ukevor et-avicha kaasher hishbiecha"
And Pharaoh said: 'Go up, and bury your father as he made you swear'

And Pharaoh said - Because if one attends assiduously to his father's wishes in such a matter, it is like doing so for Pharaoh, who is in loco parentis to all within the kingdom, and it is for the good order that he do so, wherefore the king has an interest in ordering that it be done. And note here that one who enables another to do a good deed gains merit from both the deed and the enabling.


Psook 50:7
"Vayaal Yosef likbor et-aviv vayaalu ito kol-avdei Faro ziknei veito vechol ziknei eretz-Mitzrayim"
And Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Psook 50:8"Vechol beit Yosef veechav uveit aviv rak tapam vetzonam uvekaram azvu beeretz Goshen"and all of the households of Joseph and his brothers, and his father's house, only their children and their flocks and their herds, did they leave in the land of Goshen
Psook 50:9
"Vayaal imo gam-rechev gam-parashim vayehi hamachane kaved meod"
And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very impressive company
Psook 50:10"Vayavou ad-Goren HaAtad asher beever haYarden vayispedu-sham misped gadol vechaved meod vayaas leaviv evel shivat yamim"
And they came to the threshing-ground of Atad, which is across the Jordan, and there they eulogized with very great and impressive lamentation, and he mourned for his father seven days

Goren ha-atad - the bracken (atad) threshing ground (goren), a place name. But threshing grounds have a ritual connotation, being community connected and like altars. They are powerful locii.


Psook 50:11"Vayar yoshev haaretz haKenaani et-haevel beGoren haAtad vayomru evel-kaved ze leMitzrayim al-ken kara shema Avel Mitzrayim asher beever haYarden"
When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the threshing-ground of Atad, they said: 'This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians', so the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is across the Jordan




YOSEF'S BROTHERS SEEK REASSURANCE - THEY WORRY THAT THEIR PAST TREATMENT OF YOSEF STILL RANKLES
Psook 50:16"Vayetzauu el-Yosef lemor avicha tziva lifnei moto lemor"
And they sent a message to Joseph, saying: 'your father commanded before he died, saying:
Psook 50:17"Ko-tomru leYosef ana sa na pesha acheicha vechatatam ki-raa gemalucha veata sa na lefesha avdei elohei avicha vayevke Yosef bedabram elav"So shall you say to Joseph: Please forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you. And now, we pray you, forgive the transgressions of these servants of the God of your father'. And Joseph wept when they spoke to him

This command from Yakov is not mentioned earlier in the text, but it can be inferred, as Yakov blessed all of them together and spoke of their differentiation, by which is implied that all must continue to be as brothers. But the brothers have reason to be worried, as the glue which held the family together was the generation that passed, and they would not gladly end up as distant from each other as the siblings of previous generations.


Psook 50:18"Vayelchu gam-echav vayiplu lefanav vayomru hinenu lecha laavadim"
And his brothers also went and prostrated themselves before him, and they said: 'Behold, we are your bondmen'
Psook 50:19
"Vayomer alehem Yosef al-tirau ki hatachat Elohim ani"
And Joseph said to them: 'do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?

Am I in the place of God? By which Yosef implies that the compact is not with him, but with the God of their fathers Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yakov, as was reitterated earlier, because it is by the hand of Hashem that they shall go up out of Egypt.


Psook 50:20"Veatem chashavtem alai raa Elohim chashava letova lemaan asho kayom haze lehachayot am-rav"
Although you meant evil against me, God meant it for good, to accomplish what it is this day, that a great population be kept alive
Psook 50:21"Veata al-tirau anochi achalkel etchem veet-tapchem vayenachem otam vayedaber al-libam"Now therefore do not fear, I will sustain you, and your children' And he comforted them, and spoke to their hearts.




YOSEF DIES

Psook 50:24
"Vayomer Yosef el-echav anochi met ve Elohim pakod yifkod etchem veheela etchem min-haaretz hazot el-haaretz asher nishba leAvraham leYitzchak uleYaakov"And Joseph said to his brothers: 'I die, but God will indeed remember you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob'
Psook 50:25"Vayashba Yosef et-benei Yisrael lemor pakod yifkod Elohim etchem vehaalitem et-atzmotai mize"
And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying: 'God will surely remember you, and that you will bring my bones up from this place.
Psook 50:26"Vayamat Yosef ben-mea vaeser shanim vayachantu oto vayisem baaron beMitzrayim"So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years. And they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt

Psukim 50:24 - 26 serve as a reminder of their relation with Hashem, and their bond to the land, that they get up and go when the time comes, and that they have a task in so doing.