Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 37:35/אבן עזרא על בראשית ל״ז:ל״ה
אויבך אותו אביו. קדמונינו דרשוהו על יצחק ובאמת כי לא מת יצחק עד שהיה יוסף בן כ"ט שנה וי"א כי הנבואה נסתלקה משניהם בעבור אבלם ועדותם דבר אלישע:
1AND HIS FATHER WEPT FOR HIM. Our sages interpreted this as referring to Isaac.52 84:19. According to the Midrash his father refers to Jacob’s father. Isaac was overcome with grief over Jacob’s trouble. The truth is that Isaac did not die until Joseph reached the age of twenty-nine.53 Some say that the prophetic spirit was removed from both Jacob and Isaac because of their mourning.54 They offer proof from Elisha.55), prophesied he said, But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him.
בוכל בנותיו. בתו ובת בנו,
2AND ALL HIS DAUGHTERS. His daughter and granddaughter.56
גומלת שאולה. כמו מטה, והטעם הקבר ופה טעה המתרגם לתועים שתרגם שאולה גיהנם, והנה כי לא שאול תודך (ישעי' לח יח), ואציעה שאול הנך (תהלים קלט ח) הפך "אם אסק שמים שם אתה" (שם) "ערום שאול נגדו" (איוב כו ו) ורבים אחרים:
3[TO THE GRAVE.] She’olah means down below, i.e., to the grave. Here the one who translated the Bible for those who err57 erred in translating she’olah as to hell.58 as inferno. However, see Rashi who writes, “The Midrashic interpretation of she’ol is gehenna.” Proof of his mistranslation is, For the nether-world (she’ol) cannot praise Thee…They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth (Is. 38:18).59 thus must mean pit. Also in Ps. 139:8, heaven is the antithesis of she’ol,60 is the opposite of heaven (sky); it refers to a place on the earth, i.e., the grave. viz., If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in the nether-world (she’ol) behold Thou art there. Similarly Job states, The nether-world (she’ol) is naked before Him (Job 26:6).61. Now she’ol is parallel to destruction (grave). Hence it, too, must mean grave. There are many other verses which prove that she’ol does not refer to hell.