Literary Devices – Bereshit 50/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 50

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Key Words The various keywords of this chapter (father, ascent and land, on one hand, and embalming and mourning on the other) relate to both the national and personal spheres. This is a common, if subtle, motif in Tanakh, that national concerns and aspirations -- such as the return to the land of Israel -- are rooted in the personal experiences of individuals and their relationships to each other.

Father,  Ascent and Land

Tanakh Lab demonstrates that the words that appear with greatest frequency in this chapter are אב, עלה, ארץ. The terms appear in two contexts -- the returning of Yaakov to be buried in the land of Israel and the promise that the nation of Israel will eventually return as well. Thus Sefer Bereshit concludes by emphasizing the eternal link of the Patriarchs and their descendants to the Land. [ Interestingly, Tanakh Lab demonstrates that the Biblical chapter that has most in common linguistically with Bereshit 50 is Shemot 13, which describes the preparations for Bnei Yisrael’s ascent from Egypt. ]

 
 
Prof. Yonatan Grossman has pointed out that the root “pakad” (to take account) appears a total of ten times at four different junctures in the story of Yosef:
In Bereshit 39:4-5, in reference to Yosef’s appointment over Potiphar’s house (vayifkedehu/hifkid)
In Bereshit 40:4, when Yosef is given a position of authority in jail (vayifkod)
In Bereshit 41:33-34, when Yosef advises Pharaoh to appoint agents/pekidim over the land 
In Bereshit 50:24-25, when Yosef states that God will “pakod yifkod”/take account of Bnei Yisrael in the future  
A transition takes place from Yosef as the subject of the verb to other people as the subject of the verb to God as the subject of the verb.  Prof. Grossman points out that the narrative of Yosef centers on the notion of dual causality, that people make decisions and God’s plan emerges along the way.  Over the course of his story, Yosef moves from thinking of himself as the one who is meant to attain greatness to realizing that his role is to make way for God’s plan. 
 

On Mourning The words that appear with greatest frequency in Bereshit 50 relative to the rest of Bereshit and the rest of Tanakh are “חנט”  (embalming) and “אֵבֶל” (mourning) reflecting the specific connection of this chapter to the period and practices of mourning.