Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 49:23/אבן עזרא על בראשית מ״ט:כ״ג

אוימררוהו. אמר הנגיד שפי' שמו מררתו כמו מטרה ואחר כך יורו בעלי חצים וככה "השמיעו אל בבל רבים" (ירמי' נ, כט)

1HAVE DEALT BITTERLY WITH HIM. Rabbi Samuel Ha-Nagid explains this verse as meaning: they set his gall for a target (va-yemareruhu)¹⁵⁸ means gall, hence Rabbi Samuel Ha-Nagid’s interpretation. and then the archers shot at him (va-robbu).¹⁵⁹, as in Vat. Ebr. 38. The word rabbim (archers) in Call together the archers (rabbim) against Babylon, All them that bend the bow (Jer. 50:29) is similar to va-robbu in our verse. ¹⁶⁰ means archers. Va-robbu is its verbal form. The root of the word is resh, bet, bet. His archers compass me round about…He poureth out my gall upon the ground (Job 16:13) is similar to our verse.¹⁶¹

בוכטעם וימררוהו"יסבו עָלַי רַבָיו" (איוב טז יג) בסוף "ישפוך לארץ מְרֵרָתִי":

2AND HATED HIM. First they hated him and then they set up his gall as a target. We must thus explain va-yistemuhu to mean, and they had hated him.¹⁶² (and hated him) follows va-robbu (and they shot at him).

גוישטמוהו. מוקדם קודם וימררוהו כאילו אמר וכבד שטמוהו, וזה רמז על אחיו שמכרוהו:

3Logically, va-yistemuhu should come first, i.e., the sequence should be they hated him, they set his gall as a target, and they shot at thim. Hence va-yistemuhu should be taken as a pluperfect (Weiser). This¹⁶³ alludes to Joseph’s brothers who sold him into slavery.