Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
The words "like unto fishes" were used by Jacob for the purpose of
intimating the manner of death awaiting the Ephraimites, the
descendants of Joseph. As fish are caught by their mouth, so the
Ephraimites were in later days to invite their doom by their peculiar
lisp. At the same time, Jacob's words contained the prophecy that
Joshua the son of the man Nun, the "fish," would lead Israel into the
Holy Land. And in his words lay still another prophecy, with reference
to the sixty thousand men children begot in the same night as Moses,
all cast into the river with him, and saved for the sake of his merits.
The number of boys thrown to the fishes in the river that night was
equal to the number of men in Israel upon the earth.[375]
Ephraim received a special and separate blessing from his grandfather.
Jacob said to him, "Ephraim, my son, thou art the head of the Academy,
and in the days to come my most excellent and celebrated descendants
will be called Ephrati after thee."[376]
Joseph received two gifts from his father. The first was Shechem, the
city that Jacob had defended, with sword and bow, against the
depredations of the Amorite kings when they tried to take revenge upon
his sons for the outrage committed there. And the second gift was the
garments made by God for Adam and passed from hand to hand, until they
came into the possession of Jacob. Shechem was his reward, because,
with his chastity, he stemmed the tide of immorality that burst loose
in Shechem first of all.[377] Besides, he had a prior claim upon the
city. Shechem, son of Hamor, the master of the city, had given it to
Dinah as a present, and the wife of Joseph, Asenath, being the daughter
of Dinah, the city belonged to him by right.[378]
Adam's clothes Jacob had received from Esau. He had not taken them from
his brother by force, but God had caused them to be given to him as a
reward for his good deeds. They had belonged to Nimrod. Once when the
mighty hunter caught Esau in his preserves, and forbade him to go on
the chase, they agreed to determine by combat what their privileges
were. Esau had taken counsel with Jacob, and he had advised him never
to fight with Nimrod while he was clothed in Adam's garments. The two
now wrestled with each other, and at the time Nimrod was not dressed in
Adam's clothes. The end was that he was slain by Esau. Thus the
garments worn by Adam fell into the hands of Esau, from him they passed
into Jacob's, and he bequeathed them to Joseph.[379]
Jacob also taught Joseph three signs whereby to distinguish the true
redeemer, who should deliver Israel from the bondage of Egypt. He would
proclaim the Ineffable Name, appoint elders, and use the word Pakod in
addressing the people.[380]
THE BLESSING OF THE TWELVE TRIBES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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