Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 27:40/אבן עזרא על בראשית כ״ז:מ׳
אוהיה כאשר תריד. כמו תרדה והם ב' שרשים, וי"א כמו "אריד בשיחי" (תהלים נה ג), והטעם כאשר תריד לשם ירחמך:
1AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS WHEN THOU SHALT BREAK LOOSE. Tarid (thou shalt break loose) has the same meaning as tirdeh (thou shalt rule) (Lev. 25:43). However, tarid and tirdeh have different roots.56 is resh, vav, dalet. The root of tirdeh is resh, dalet, heh. According to this interpretation tarid means thou shalt rule, and the meaning of And it shall come to pass when thou shalt rule is, when the time that thou shalt rule shall come (Weiser). Others say that tarid is similar to arid (I cry out) in I cry out (arid) in my complaint (Ps. 55:3). According to this interpretation the meaning of our clause is: and it shall come to pass when thou shalt cry out, then God will pity you.57 means thou shalt cry out.
בופרקת. מגזרת מפרק הרים (מ"א יט יא), ומהם "מפרקתו" (ש"א ד' יח), ויש בברכות אלו כמה שאלות קשות, אם הברכה היתה נבואה, איך לא ידע את מי יברך, והשיבו נבוני הדור כי השם אמר לו כשבא יעקב, ברך את זה, ואילו היה כן היה אומר יצחק לעשו השם צוני, ועוד למה בירך לעשו בעבור שבכה, ואחרים אמרו כי לא היה יצחק נביא, וברכתו לא נתקיימה, גם אלה טעו כי הנה הכתוב אמר "וירא אליו ד'" (בראשית כו ב וכד), גם אמר דוד "ובנביאי אל תרעו" (דה"א טז כב), ואחרים אמרו מה תועלת יש בדברים אחרי שהיתה מחשבתו על עשו, והנה הדבר היה בספק אצלו, כי כן אמר "הקול קול יעקב" (בראשית כז כב) ובירך מי שיהיה מהם, כי בניו הי' שניהם, וי"א איך אמר השם "ורב יעבוד צעיר" (בראשית כה כג), ג"כ אמר יצחק "ואת אחיך תעבוד" והגאון דחה זו השאלה בקנה רצוץ, בעבור שמצא "וילך אל ארץ מפני יעקב אחיו" (בראשית לו ו) והנה שכח "וישתחו ארצה שבע פעמים" (בראשית לג ג), והנכון בעיני שברכת הנביא כעין תפלה היא, והשם שמע תפלתו, כי עיקר זאת הברכה על זרעם, וישנים שלא הקיצו משנת האולת יחשבו, כי אנחנו בגלות אדום, ולא כן הדבר רק אדום היה תחת יד יהודה, וכן כתוב "ויפשע אדום מתחת יד יהודה" (מ"ב ה כב) גם יואב הכרית כל זכר באדום (מ"א יא טז), ובעבור שהי' תחת יד יהודה שמחו ביום אידינו והי' אומרים לבבליים "ערו ערו עד היסוד בה" (תהלים קלז ז), ויותר היה קשה על ישראל החרפה שהיה אדום מחרף אותם מרעתם, וכן טעם שישי ושמחי בת אדום" (איכה ד כא), ג"כ "אל תשמח לבני יהודה" (עובדיה א, יב), גם בימי הורקנס הזקן שמם שומרי ירושלים, והכניסם בברית מילה, גם בימי אגריפס כאשר נלכדה ירושלים באו גדודי אדום לעזור ליהודה, ואומה שהגלתנו היא מזרע כתים וכן אמר המתרגם "וצים מיד כתים" (במדבר כד כד), והיא מלכות יון בעצמה כאשר פי' בס' דניאל והי' אנשים מתי מספר שהאמינו באמונה חדשה, וכאשר האמינו בימי קוסטנטין שחדש כל הדת ולא הי' בעולם שישמרו התורה החדשה חוץ מאדומיים, ג"כ יקראו היום אנשי מצרים ושבא וארץ עילם ישמעאלים, ואין בהם מי שהוא מזרע ישמאלים כי אם מתי מעט:
2THAT THOU SHALT SHAKE HIS YOKE. U-farakto (that thou shalt shake) comes from the same root as mefarek (rent) in rent (mefarek) the mountains58. It means to break apart, to rend. Hence u-farakta (that thou shake) means that thou shalt break. (I Kings 19:11). The word mafrakto (his neck) (I Sam. 4:18) is derived from the same stem.59 is derived from the verb meaning to break, i.e., for it is easily broken (Rabbi Solomon Ha-Kohen). These blessings present a number of great difficulties. If the blessings were prophecies how is it possible for Isaac not to know whom he was blessing? The wise men of our generation respond to this problem by explaining that when Jacob entered the room, God told him, “Bless this one.”60 However, if this was the case Isaac would have told Esau, “God commanded me to bless Jacob.”61 (v. 35). Furthermore, if God told Isaac to bless Jacob, why did Isaac bless Esau because he cried?62 Others say that Isaac was no prophet and his blessings did not come to pass.63 However, they are also mistaken. Scripture explicitly tells us, And the Lord appeared unto him (Isaac) (Gen. 26:2, 24).64 Moreover, King David in referring to the patriarchs says, And do My prophets no harm (I Chron. 16:22). Others ask, what efficacy could there be in Isaac’s blessings since he thought that he was blessing Esau? The truth of the matter is that Isaac was in doubt as to who was really before him. Indeed, he said, The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau (v. 22). What Isaac did was bless the one in his presence without regard to whether it was Esau or Jacob, the reason being that both were his sons. Some ask, how could God say (Gen. 25:23) And the elder shall serve the younger? Similarly how could Isaac say, and thou shalt serve thy brother (v. 40)?65 Saadiah Gaon superficially answers this question by pointing to Scripture’s statement, And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts…and went unto a land away from his brother Jacob (Gen. 36:6).66 However, the Gaon seems to have forgotten that the Bible relates, and (Jacob) bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother (Esau) (Gen. 33:3).67 It appears to me that the prophet’s68 blessing was akin to a prayer, and God accepted his prayer,69 for Isaac’s prayer was mainly concerned with the offspring of Jacob and Esau.70 Those who have as yet not awakened from their foolish sleep think that we are in the exile of the Edomites (Esau).71 However, this is not so. Edom (Esau) was subject to Judah.72 Scripture thus states, In his (Jehoram’s) days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah (II Kings 8:20).73 We are also told that Joab74 cut off every male in Edom (I Kings 11:16). It is because of their subjugation to Judah that they rejoiced on the day of Judah’s calamity75 and told the Babylonians, Raze it, raze it even to the foundations thereof (Ps. 137:7). The taunts of the Edomites on the day of Jerusalem’s fall was harder for the Judeans to bear than the afflictions visited upon them by the Babylonians. This is also the meaning of Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom (Lam. 4:21),76. and Neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction (Obad. 1:12). Also, Hyrcanus the elder77 made the Edomites (Esau’s descendants) guard Jerusalem and had them circumcised. Also, in the days of Agrippa78 when Jerusalem was taken,79 troops of Edomites80 came to Judah’s aid.81 The Romans82. who exiled us are from the seed of Kittim. Onkelos similarly explains Kittim to mean Rome in But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim (Num. 24:24).83 The Kittim are the very kingdom of the Greeks as I have explained in my commentary on the Book of Daniel.84 [At first85 there were only a few people who believed in the man that was made into a god. The Romans accepted the belief in this man in the days of Constantine who introduced this new religion to the Romans upon the advice of an Edomite priest and placed upon his flag an image of this man. At that time there was no one in the world aside from a small group of Edomites who followed the new religion.86. 38. It was removed by the censor and does not appear in the Mikra’ot Gedolot edition. Some of the printed editions read; “At first there were only a few people who believed in the new religion. When the Romans accepted the new religion in the days of Constantine who adopted it as the state religion there was no one in the world who kept the new religion except for the Edomites.” ] Similarly the contemporary inhabitants of Egypt, Sheba87 and the land of Elam88 are called Ishmaelites even though only a tiny minority of the people living there are true decendants of the Ishmaelites.89