Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 49:10/אבן עזרא על בראשית מ״ט:י׳
אלא יסור שבט מיהודה. לא יסור שבט גדולה מיהודה עד שבא דוד שהוא תחלת מלכות יהודה, וכן היה הלא תראה כי דגל יהודה נוסע בראשונה, גם אמר השם יהודה יעלה בתחלה:
1THE SCEPTRE SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH. The sceptre of greatness shall not depart from Judah until David, who inaugurated the Kingdom of Judah, comes.66 The last part of the latter quote literally reads, until Shiloh cometh. I.E. interprets shiloh as referring to David, hence his interpretation: the scepter shall not depart from Judah…until David comes. Later in his commentary I.E. explains why Shiloh refers to David. And so it was. Observe that in Israel’s march toward the promised land, the standard of the tribe of Judah set forth in the first (Num. 10:14).67 God also said, Judah shall go up first (Jud. 1:1, 2).68 (Jud. 1:1, 2). I.E. reads, “Judah shall go up first.” Either I.E. quoted from memory and erred or he amplified the Biblical verse. According to Krinsky the reference is to Jud. 20:18. There we read, with regard to the war against Benjamin, that Israel asked of the Lord, “Who shall go up to fight Benjamin first?” Scripture tells us, And the Lord said: Judah first. According to Krinsky, I.E. combined Jud. 1:2 and 2:18.
בופי' מחוקק. סופר, שיחוק על הספר:
2[NOR THE RULER’S STAFF.] A scribe (mechokek) who will write (she-yachok) in a book.69 (ruler’s staff) as scribe. The root chet, kof, kof means to inscribe. Cf. Is. 30:8, And inscribe (chukkah) it in a book. Thus mechokek is an inscriber, i.e., a scribe.
גוטעם מבין רגליו. שכן דרך כל סופר להיות יושב בין רגלי הקצין:
3[FROM BETWEEN HIS FEET.] Scribes sit at the feet of the ruler.70
דשילה. יש אומרים כדרך המתרנם ארמית כטעם שלו, ויש אומרים, שהוא מגזרת "ובשליתה" (דבר' כח נז), ויש מי שהוציא מלשון קדמונינו ז"ל שליל, ויש מי שפי' אותו על עיר שילה, ויפרש "יבוא" כמו "ובא השמש" (ויקרא כב ז), או עד כי יבוא קץ שילה כי כן כתוב "ויטוש משכן שילה" (תהלים עח ס), ואחר כן ויבחר בדוד עבדו" (תהלים שם פ' ע), גם זה איננו רחוק, או יהיה שילה כמו בנו, והה"א תחת וי"ו כמו בתוך אהלה (בראשית ט כא) מגזרת לא תשלה אותי (מ"ב רכח) שפירושו לא תוליד:
4SHILOH. Some interpret Shiloh as Onkelos does. They say that it means “his.”71 (literally, until shiloh cometh) as until the Messiah, to whom is the kingdom (shiloh meaning shelo, his) cometh. I.E. says that it is possible to so interpret the verse but to apply it to David rather than to the Messiah (Filwarg). Others say that Shiloh comes from the same root as u-ve-shilyatah (and against her afterbirth) (Deut. 28:57).72 means the afterbirth, or placenta and, by extension, the child which was in the placenta. The meaning of ad ki yavo shiloh thus is: until the child comes, the reference being until David from the house of Judah comes (Filwarg). Krinsky and Weiser apply it to the Messiah. Filwarg’s interpretation seems to be correct in view of the fact that I.E. explicitly states that this verse applies to David. Others connect it to the Rabbinic term shalil (embryo).73 There is also a commentator who says that shiloh refers to the city Shilo. He would explain yavo to mean goeth down, as in and the sun goeth down (ba) (Eccles. 1:5).74 means until Shilo goeth down (is destroyed). Or he would maintain that our verse is abridged and should read as if written ad ki yavo ketz shilo (until the end of Shiloh comes).75 For it is written, And he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh (Ps. 78:60), and then, He chose David also His servant (Ps. 78:70). The latter interpretation is also not implausible. It is also possible that Shiloh means his son, with the heh taking the place of the vav,76 means his son, then the word should end in a vav rather than in a heh, as the vav with a cholem suffixed to a noun is the sign of the pronoun his. I.E. here accepts the interpretation that shiloh means his son. However, he connects it to the words tashleh rather than to shelil or shilyah as was done above (Filwarg). as in the word oholoh (his tent) (Gen. 9:21), and that the word shiloh comes from the same root as tashleh (give birth) in lo tashleh oti (don’t cause me to give birth) (II Kings 4:28).77
הומלת יקהת. כמו "ליקהת אם" (משלי ל יז) והיו"ד משרת לעתיד וטעמו שיסורו נוים למשמעתו וכן הי' עמים רבים תחת יד דוד ושלמה בנו, ואין טעם עד כי יבוא שילה שיסור דשבט ממנו בבוא שילה רק טעמו כמו לא יחסר לפלוני לחם עד שיגיע עת שיהיה לו שדות וכרמים רבות, וכמוהו "כי לא אעזבך עד אשר אם עשיתי את אשר דברתי לך" (בראשית כח טו) שישיבהו אל הארץ:
5[OBEDIENCE.] The word yikkehat (obedience of) is similar to the word li-kehat in to obey (li-kehat) his mother (Prov. 30:17).78 meaning obedience. The yod of yikkehat is a third person imperfect prefix.79 prefixed to a verb is the sign of the third person future. The meaning of ve-lo yikkehat ammim is that nations shall obey him. Jacob’s prophecy came true, for we find that many nations were subservient to David and his son Solomon. Our phrase (v. 10) does not mean that the sceptre shall depart from Judah when David comes.80 Our verse may be compared to someone saying, so and so will not lack bread until the time that he will have many vineyards and fields. For I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of, viz., returning you to the land of Canaan (Gen. 28:15), is identical.81