Literary Devices – Bereshit 49/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 49

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Wordplay

There are many examples of wordplay in Yaakov's blessings to his sons in Bereshit 49, especially in reference to the sons' names:

• Verse 1 opens, "וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב אֶל בָּנָיו ", and continues "וְאַגִּידָה לָכֶם אֵת אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא אֶתְכֶם בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים", with the verse using two words which look and sound indentical, yet have different meanings (to call and to happen).
• In verse 8, Yaakov plays off of Yehuda's name: יְהוּדָה אַתָּה יוֹדוּךָ .אַחֶיךָ יָדְךָ בְּעֹרֶף אֹיְבֶיךָ
• In verse 13, Zevulun is  blessed: זְבוּלֻן לְחוֹף יַמִּים יִשְׁכֹּן.  Though there is no alliteration, the word "יִשְׁכֹּן" (to dwell)  might be a play on the name "זְבוּלֻן" and related verb "זבל", which, according to many, might mean "to dwell" as well.
• Verse 16 plays with the name Dan and the verb "לדון", as Yaakov blesses: "דָּן יָדִין עַמּוֹ".
• The entire blessing to Gad in verse 19 is an extended play on sounds: "גָּד גְּדוּד יְגוּדֶנּוּ וְהוּא יָגֻד עָקֵב".

Parallelism

Parallelism refers to a structure in which adjacent phrases mirror each other. This is a common feature in Biblical poetry, and thus, virtually every verse of Yaakov’s blessings is structured in such a manner:

Examples

Several of many examples follow:

• הִקָּבְצוּ וְשִׁמְעוּ בְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב / וְשִׁמְעוּ אֶל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲבִיכֶם (verse 2)
• רְאוּבֵן בְּכֹרִי אַתָּה כֹּחִי וְרֵאשִׁית אוֹנִי / יֶתֶר שְׂאֵת וְיֶתֶר עָז (verse 3)
• כִּי בְאַפָּם הָרְגוּ אִישׁ / וּבִרְצֹנָם עִקְּרוּ שׁוֹר (verse 6)
• אָרוּר אַפָּם כִּי עָז / וְעֶבְרָתָם כִּי קָשָׁתָה (verse 7)
• אֹסְרִי לַגֶּפֶן עִירֹה וְלַשֹּׂרֵקָה בְּנִי אֲתֹנוֹ (verse 11)
• וַיַּרְא מְנֻחָה כִּי טוֹב וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ כִּי נָעֵמָה (verse 15)
• יְהִי דָן נָחָשׁ עֲלֵי דֶרֶךְ / שְׁפִיפֹן עֲלֵי אֹרַח (verse 17)

Articles

• For more information about the nature of Biblical parallelism, see Dr. Mayer I. Gruber’s article The Meaning of Biblical Parallelism: A Biblical Perspective and Dr. Adele Berlin’s Grammatical Aspects of Biblical Parallelism.¹

Symbolism

Yaakov makes use of many symbols in his blessings:

• Rushing water as a symbol of impetuousness (49:4) 
• A lion as a symbol of regal strength (49:9) 
• A donkey as a symbol of a hard worker (49:14) 
• A snake as a symbol of one who conducts a surprise attack (49:17) 
• A doe as a symbol of speed (49:21). Commentators debate to what this speed refers: quick growth of crops (Rashi), fast and agile warriors (Rashbam), or speedy messengers in wartime (Hizkuni).  
• A fruitful bough as a symbol of blessings, beauty, and success (49:22). The meaning of this phrase, and of Yosef’s whole blessing, is subject to much interpretation; see Yaakov's Blessing of Yosef for approaches to understanding the blessing. 
• A wolf as a symbol of stealthy strength (49:27)

Allusions

Several of Yaakov's blessings might contain allusions to earlier narratives:

• See Bereshit Rabbah and Rashi that Yaakov's words to Yehuda "מִטֶּרֶף בְּנִי עָלִיתָ " (Bereshit 49:9) should be translated: “From the prey of my son, you mounted” (or “rose up”),² containing a veiled reference to the sale of Yosef, who is declared dead with the words “טרף טרף”.‎³ 
• The blessing of Dan, who is compared to a snake (יְהִי דָן נָחָשׁ עֲלֵי דֶרֶךְ שְׁפִיפֹן עֲלֵי אֹרַח הַנֹּשֵׁךְ עִקְּבֵי סוּס וַיִּפֹּל רֹכְבוֹ אָחוֹר.), contains allusions to the curse of the snake in Parashat Bereshit (הוּא יְשׁוּפְךָ רֹאשׁ וְאַתָּה תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ עָקֵב).  This might hint to the ongoing, seemingly eternal enmity with foreign enemies, especially the Philistines, with which Dan’s fighters will have to contend: 
• In blessing Yosef, Yaakov says: "וַיִּשְׂטְמֻהוּ בַּעֲלֵי חִצִּים".  The concordance highlights that this root appears only twice more in Torah, once in reference to Esav's relationship to Yaakov and once in reference to the brother's relationship to Yosef.⁴  The allusion might suggest that our clause, too, refers to the animosity of brothers, and see Ibn Ezra who suggests that it refers to the sale of Yosef.  For various understandings of the verse, and Yosef's blessing as a whole, see Yaakov's Blessing of Yosef.

Relational Epithets

Tanakh is artful in identifying people in relation to each other.

Wives

 A poignant example of Tanakh's subtle use of relational epithets is is found in Yaakov’s statement in Bereshit 49:31: שָׁמָּה קָבְרוּ אֶת אַבְרָהָם וְאֵת שָׂרָה אִשְׁתּוֹ שָׁמָּה קָבְרוּ אֶת יִצְחָק וְאֵת רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּוֹ וְשָׁמָּה קָבַרְתִּי אֶת לֵאָה.‎⁵  In this verse, Leah is the only woman who is not identified as someone’s wife, perhaps reflecting the distance that persisted in the marriage of Yaakov and Leah throughout their lives, which was the cause of so much challenge and heartbreak.  

¹ Other resources (not available online) include: Dr. Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Poetry pp. 3-61, Dr. Adele Berlin’s The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, and Dr. James Kugel’s The Idea of Biblical Poetry: Parallelism and Its History.

² Cf. Ibn Ezra who understands the phrase to mean, "From prey, my son, you have gone up" or Radak: "due to [your abundant] prey, you will be elevated".

³ Interpreted this way, this phrase includes an allusion to Yehuda’s disgraced beginnings as well as the leadership he subsequently assumed so effectively.

⁴ See Bereshit 50:15, where the brothers fear that Yosef might bear them a grudge for their actions and punish them after Yaakov's death.

⁵ In English, the verse reads: There they buried Avraham and his wife, Sarah. There they buried Yitzchak and his wife, Rivka, and there I buried Leah.