Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 49:18/אבן עזרא על בראשית מ״ט:י״ח
אוטעם לישועתך קויתי ד'. בעבור שהוא נושך עקבי סוס יפחד מרוכב הסוס שלא ישוף ראשו בחרבו, על כן אמר הנביא לישועתך קויתי ד', והכ"ף לנוכח דן, ופי' קויתי השם להיות ישועתך, או בא שם תחת שם הפעל, והטעם להושיעך, וכן "נרננה בישועתך" (תהלים כ, ו) אם הכ"ף לנכח דוד או המשיח בנו, ויאמר הנגיד כי תחסר מלת "ויאמר", וכן ראוי להיותו ויאמר לישועתך קויתי ד', ור' יצחק אמר כאשר ראה הנביא בנו דן בדמות נחש בדדך הנבואה, מיד פחד יעקב ואמר הושיעני ד':
1[I WAIT FOR THY SALVATION, O LORD.] When the serpent bites the horse’s heel, it is afraid that the rider will smash its head with his sword. Hence the prophet prayed, I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.115), he is not out of danger. The rider can still kill him. Hence Jacob prayed that God be with Dan so that when he struck his enemy he would escape safely. The “thy” of Thy salvation refers to Dan.116 of li-shu’atekha (for thy salvation) does not refer to God but to Dan. I.E. interprets thus because he believes our verse to be a prayer to God on behalf of Dan. The meaning of our verse is: I trust to God for thy salvation. It is also possible that Scripture employs a noun (salvation) in place of an infinitive.117 (for thy salvation) as if written le-hoshi’akha. The latter is a verb, the former a noun. Our verse should thus be rendered: I trust that God will save thee. Thy salvation in We will shout for joy in thy salvation (Ps. 20:6) is similar.118 does not refer to God. The aforementioned is the case whether the “thy” of thy salvation (Ps. 20:6) refers to King David or to the anointed, his son.119 suffixed to yeshu’ah (salvation or victory) does not refer to God. The same holds true in our verse (Filwarg, Cherez). Vat. Ebr. 38 reads, “Thy salvation (thy victory) is similar in that “thy” refers either to David or to the anointed his son.” Rabbi Samuel Ha-Nagid says that the word va-yomer has been omitted from our clause and it should be read as if written: and he will say (va-yomer), I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.120 is Dan, i.e., Dan after biting the horse’s heel will say, I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord (Filwarg). According to this interpretation “thy” in Thy salvation refers to God. Rabbi Isaac121 explains our verse as follows: when the prophet Jacob prophetically saw his son Dan in the form of a serpent, he was overtaken by fright and exclaimed, “Save me, O Lord.”122. According to this interpretation also, “thy” in Thy salvation refers to God. The reason for Jacob’s fright was explained by I.E. at the beginning of his comment.