Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 49:26/אבן עזרא על בראשית מ״ט:כ״ו
אברכות אביך. אלה הברכות שברכתיך עצומים הם ויתחברו עם ברכות הורי שברכוני,
1THE BLESSINGS OF THY FATHER. These blessings which I have blessed you with are mighty and are added to the blessing with which my progenitors blessed me.183) plus the blessings with which my begetters blessed me (al birkat horai). Cherez explains that I.E. interprets al (beyond) as meaning im (with, plus).
בוהורי כמו יולדי, וכן ותהר את מרים (דה"א ד יז) "הורה גבר" (איוב נ ג):
2[PROGENITORS.] Horai is to be rendered my begetters.184 is heh, resh, heh which means to be pregnant or to conceive. However, inasmuch as horai is in the plural it must refer to both Jacob’s mother and father. We obviously cannot explain horai as meaning the ones who bore me. Rather it must be interpreted to mean the ones who begot me (Cherez). Va-tahar (and she gave birth to) in and she gave birth to (va-tahar) Miriam (I Chron. 4:17)185 does not means to conceive or be pregnant with, for Chronicles deals with births and not with pregnancies. Thus va-tahar in I Chron. 4:17 means she gave birth to. and horah (brought forth) in, A man-child is brought forth (horah) (Job 3:3)186 does not mean to conceive but to bring forth, for its parallel reads ivvaled (I was born). are similar.
גתאות. מגזרת "והתאויתם" (במדבר לד י) והטעם שתגבהנה הברכות:
3UNTO THE UTMOST BOUND. Ta’avat (utmost bound of) comes from the same root as ve-hitavvitem (and ye shall mark out your line) (Num. 34:10). The meaning of our verse is: these blessings will be as high as the line marked out by the everlasting hills.
דנזיר אחיו. מגזרת נזר והוא סמוך, כמו נדיב לב (שמות לה כב):
4THE PRINCE AMONG HIS BRETHREN. Nezir (prince of) comes from the same root as nezer (crown).187 (Nazirite).” This reading fits in very well with I.E.’s comparison of nezir to nediv, for nazir has the same vocalization as nadiv, both in the absolute and in the construct. Thus in the absolute we have nazir and nadiv and in the construct nezir and nediv. It is in the construct with echav (his brethren) and is therefore vocalized nezir. Compare, nediv lev (willing-hearted) (Ex. 35:22).