Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 49
Overview
This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.Blessing Children At End of Life
Tools
- Makbilot Bamikra points out that the narrative of Yaakov blessing his twelve children on his deathbed parallels the story of Yitzchak’s blessings to Yaakov and Esav before his death.
- Tanakh Lab1 demonstrates that the Biblical chapter most linguistically similar to Bereshit 49 is Devarim 33, which describes Moshe’s blessings to the tribes before his death. Compare the two chapters here.
Articles
- In ויחי יעקב - ויחי יוסף, Prof. Yonatan Grossman suggests when comparing the blessings given by Yitzchak and Yaakov to their children one notes a fundamental shift that reflects the change in the model of nationhood that has taken place. This is connected to the general transition of בני ישראל from family to nation at the end of Sefer Bereshit.
Reuven's Blessing and Laws of the Firstborn
Tools
- Tanakh Lab – Reuven’s blessing parallels the verse about the inheritance of a firstborn, child of a less loved wife, from Devarim 21:17. To compare the two verses in the Tanakh Lab, see here.
- Concordance – If one highlights the phrase "רֵאשִׁית אוֹנִי" in Bereshit 49:3, and chooses concordance from the drop-down, one see that the phrase appears in but three places, strengthening the parallel to Devarim 21:17.
The parallel may indicate that Yaakov wishes to emphasize that he recognizes Reuven's claim to firstborn status; it is solely because of Reuven’s sin with Bilhah that he will not receive the inheritance of the firstborn,2 not because he is the son of the hated wife .
Articles
- In Yaakov’s Blessings to His Sons, R. Yaakov Medan explores the meanings and allusions found within Yaakov's blessings to his sons including the allusion in Reuven's blessing to the law in Devarim mentioned above.
- See The Inversion of the Birth Order and the Title of the Firstborn, by Bradford A. Anderson, for an exploration of the stories of reversal of primogeniture in Bereshit. Through comparison of these parallel narratives, the author demonstrates that all firstborn sons in the Torah, including Reuven, retain the title of "בכור" even when they are seemingly supplanted by a later son.