Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah
Ramban on Genesis 33:13/רמב"ן על בראשית ל״ג:י״ג
אוָמֵתוּ כָּל הַצֹּאן דֶּרֶךְ חֶמְלָה, שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ לוֹמַר "וּמֵתוּ כֻּלָּם", אֲבָל לֹא יֹאמַר כֵּן עַל הַיְלָדִים, וְגַם לֹא רָצָה לוֹמַר "וָמֵתוּ" סְתָם עַל הַבָּקָר וְעַל הַצֹּאן, כִּי יַחְמֹל עַל הַיְלָדִים שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיוּ בַּמַּשְׁמָע, וְלֹא רָצָה לְהַאֲרִיךְ "וָמֵתוּ כָּל הַצֹּאן וְהַבָּקָר". אוֹ יִהְיֶה פֵּרוּשׁוֹ כִּי הַיְלָדִים רַכִּים, וְיִעֲפוּ נְעָרִים וְיִיגָעוּ וְלֹא יִרְצוּ לָלֶכֶת, וְהַצֹּאן וְהַבָּקָר עָלוֹת, וְאִם יִדְחָקוּם יָמוּתוּ הַצֹּאן שֶׁהֵם בְּהֵמָה דַּקָּה, כִּי הַבָּקָר לֹא יָמוּת אֲבָל יַזִּיק לָהֶם:
1AND ALL THE FLOCKS WILL DIE. Jacob said this in a compassionate manner for he should have said, “And they will all die,” but he would not express himself this way about the children. Neither did he wish to say, “and they will die,” with reference to the herds and the flocks, because he had compassion on the children lest they be included by implication. He also did not want to be verbose and say, “and all the flocks and herds will die.” It may be that the explanation of the verse is that “the children are tender — even the youths shall faint and be weary92 — and they will not want to go, and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to me, and if they will be overdriven the flocks will die, as they are small cattle, but the herds [signifying larger cattle] will not die although they will be harmed.”