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112-559: It is the shortest weekly Torah portion in the Book of Genesis (although not in the Torah). It is made up of 4,448 Hebrew letters, 1,158 Hebrew words, 85 verses , and 148 lines in a Torah scroll . Jews read it the twelfth Sabbath after Simchat Torah , generally in December or January. In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or עליות ‎, aliyot . In

224-416: A silluq (which means "stop"). Less formally, verse endings are usually also indicated by two vertical dots following the word with a silluq . The Masoretic Text also contains sections, or portions, called parashot or parashiyot . The end of a parashah is usually indicated by a space within a line (a "closed" section) or a new line beginning (an "open" section). The division of the text reflected in

336-502: A Midrash explained that Jacob wanted his bones to be carried away from Egypt, lest Jacob's descendants remain there, arguing that Egypt must be a holy land, or Jacob would not have been buried there. The Midrash taught that Jacob also wanted his family quickly to rejoin him in the Land of Israel, as Jacob trusted God to fulfill God's promise in Malachi 3:24, "He shall turn the heart of the fathers to

448-671: A Midrash taught that God promised Jacob in Genesis 28:13, "The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed," (and this implied) that if Jacob lay in the land, it would be his, but if not, it would not be his. Alternatively, reading Genesis 47:29, "Bury me not, I pray, in Egypt", the Midrash Tehillim explained that Psalm 26:9, "Gather not my soul with sinners," alludes to the Egyptians, with whom Jacob sought not to be buried. Similarly,

560-513: A famine upon the land and sent Joseph before the children of Israel. Von Rad likened the theology of Joseph's statement to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, "And as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good," to that of Proverbs 16:9, "A man's heart devises his way; but the Lord directs his steps"; Proverbs 19:21, "There are many devices in a man's heart; but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand"; Proverbs 20:24, "A man's goings are of

672-469: A great people, but his younger brother would be greater. Jacob blessed them, saying Israel would bless by invoking God to make one like Ephraim and as Manasseh. Jacob told Joseph that he was dying, but God would be with him and bring him back to the land of his fathers, and Jacob had given him a portion ( shechem ) above his brothers, which he took from the Amorites with his sword and bow. The third reading and

784-603: A modified ASV. Projects such as Icthus also exist which strip chapter and verse numbers from existing translations. The number of words can vary depending upon aspects such as whether the Hebrew alphabet in Psalm 119, the superscriptions listed in some of the Psalms, and the subscripts traditionally found at the end of the Pauline epistles, are included. Except where stated, the following apply to

896-408: A ravenous wolf that devours its prey. The editor summarises: "these are the twelve tribes ". And Jacob charged his sons to bury him with his fathers in the cave of Machpelah that Abraham bought and where they buried Abraham and Sarah , Isaac and Rebekah , and where he buried Leah . And then Jacob gathered his feet into his bed and died. Joseph kissed his father's face and wept. Joseph commanded

1008-512: A scholars' council. Abraham was an elder and a member of the scholars' council, as Genesis 24:1 says, "And Abraham was an elder well stricken in age." Eliezer , Abraham's servant, was an elder and a member of the scholars' council, as Genesis 24:2 says, "And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all he had," which Rabbi Eleazar explained to mean that he ruled over—and thus knew and had control of—the Torah of his master. Isaac

1120-722: A space or on a new line. The first open portion spans the first three readings. Ten further open portion divisions separate Jacob's blessings for his sons in the fifth and sixth readings. The final, twelfth open portion spans the concluding sixth and seventh readings. In the first reading, Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years, and lived to be 147 years old. When Jacob's death drew near, he called his son Joseph and asked him to put his hand under Jacob's thigh and swear not to bury him in Egypt, but to bury him with his father and grandfather. Joseph agreed, but Jacob insisted that he swear to, and so he did, and Jacob bowed. Later, when one told Joseph that his father

1232-555: A task. When Judah suddenly faced the non-Israelite world on its own, it needed a defining and motivating text. That text was the historical core of the Bible, composed in Jerusalem in the course of the seventh century BCE. And because Judah was the birthplace of ancient Israel's central scripture, it is hardly surprising that the biblical text repeatedly stresses Judah's special status from the very beginnings of Israel's history.... [In Genesis], it

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1344-547: A true system of chapter divisions. Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro is often given credit for first dividing the Latin Vulgate into chapters in the real sense, but it is the arrangement of his contemporary and fellow cardinal Stephen Langton who in 1205 created the chapter divisions which are used today. They were then inserted into Greek manuscripts of the New Testament in the 16th century. Robert Estienne (Robert Stephanus)

1456-516: Is Bilhah ), Gad and Asher (whose mother is Zilpah ), and Joseph and Benjamin (whose mother is Rachel ). Following his birth, Judah's next appearance is in Gen 37, when he and his brothers cast Joseph into a pit out of jealousy after Joseph approaches them, flaunting a coat of many colors , while they are working in the field. It is Judah who spots a caravan of Ishmaelites coming towards them on its way to Egypt and suggests that Joseph be sold to

1568-502: Is achievement, but man’s is denial.” The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources: Genesis 49:3–27, Deuteronomy 33:6–25, and Judges 5:14–18 present parallel listings of the Twelve Tribes , presenting contrasting characterizations of their relative strengths: Jacob's blessing of Reuben in Genesis 49:4, depriving Reuben of the blessing of the firstborn, because he went up on Jacob's bed and defiled it, recalls

1680-451: Is further enhanced through the downfall of his older brothers: Reuben, the eldest, cedes his birthright through sexual misconduct with Jacob's concubine Bilhah ( Gen. 35:22), and the bloody revenge taken by Simeon and Levi following the rape of Dinah ( Gen. chap. 34) disqualifies them as leaders. The eternal legacy of these events are foreshadowed in the deathbed blessing of Jacob ( Gen. 49:1-33), which has been attributed according to

1792-441: Is killed after he refuses to father children for his older brother's childless widow, and spills his seed instead . Although Tamar should have married Shelah, the remaining brother, Judah did not consent, and in response Tamar deceives Judah into having intercourse with her by pretending to be a prostitute . When Judah discovers that Tamar is pregnant he prepares to have her killed, but recants and confesses when he finds out that he

1904-483: Is not given (בַּת-שוּעַ, bat…šua, the daughter of … Shua). Archaeologist and scholar Israel Finkelstein argues that these and other pro-Judah narrative strands likely originated after the demise of the Kingdom of Israel in the eighth century BCE: "[I]t was only after the fall of Israel that Judah grew into a fully developed state with the necessary complement of professional priests and trained scribes able to undertake such

2016-466: Is often regarded as presenting a significant chronological issue, as the surrounding context appears to constrain the events of the passage to happening within 22 years, and the context together with the passage itself requires the birth of the grandson of Judah and of his son's wife, and the birth of that son to have happened within this time (to be consistent, this requires an average of less than 8 years gap per generation). According to textual scholars,

2128-716: Is sick'" (reporting sickness for the first time in the Torah). Similarly, the Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer reported that from the creation of the Heaven and earth until then, no person had ever become ill. Rather, they would remain fit until the time they were to die. Then, wherever they would happen to be, they would sneeze, and their souls would depart through their noses. But then Jacob prayed, seeking mercy from God, asking that God not take his soul until he had an opportunity to charge his sons and all his household. And then, as Genesis 48:1 reports, "And one told Joseph, ‘Behold, your father

2240-449: Is sick.'" Therefore, a person is duty bound to say "life!" after another sneezes. Interpreting Genesis 48:5–6, the Gemara examined the consequences of Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh. Rav Aḥa bar Jacob taught that a tribe that had an inheritance of land was called a "congregation," but a tribe that had no possession was not a "congregation." Thus, Rav Aḥa taught that the tribe of Levi

2352-526: Is the father ( Gen. 38:24-26). Tamar is the mother of twins, Perez (Peretz) and Zerah (Gen. 38:27-30). The former is the patrilinear ancestor of the messiah , according to the Book of Ruth (4:18-22). Meanwhile, Joseph rises to a position of power in Egypt. Twenty years after being betrayed, he meets his brothers again without them recognizing him. The youngest brother, Benjamin, had remained in Canaan with Jacob, so Joseph takes Simeon hostage and insists that

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2464-502: Is the longest verse and John 11:35 is the shortest. Sometimes a sentence spans more than one verse, as in the case of Ephesians 2:8 – 9 , and sometimes there is more than one sentence in a single verse, as in the case of Genesis 1:2 . The Jewish divisions of the Hebrew text differ at various points from those used by Christians . For instance, Jewish tradition regards the ascriptions to many Psalms as independent verses or as parts of

2576-544: The Gemara taught that Jews have a rule that a righteous person may not be buried near a wicked person. Reading Jacob's request in Genesis 47:30, "You shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying-place", the Jerusalem Talmud asked why Jacob went to such lengths, as Jacob would be Jacob wherever he was laid to rest. What would be lacking if he were buried elsewhere? Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish (Resh Lakish) explained in

2688-476: The Gospel of John than in the Gospel of Mark , even though the latter is the shorter text. In the manuscripts, the kephalaia with their numbers, their standard titles ( titloi ) and their page numbers would be listed at the beginning of each biblical book; in the book's main body, they would be marked only with arrow-shaped or asterisk-like symbols in the margin, not in the text itself. The titles usually referred to

2800-600: The Hebrew Bible ), as a result of their destruction of Shechem in revenge for the rape of Dinah ; Judah features heavily as a protagonist in accounts of this war. In these accounts Judah kills Jashub , king of Tappuah , in hand-to-hand combat, after first having deposed Jashub from his horse by throwing an extremely heavy stone (60 shekels in weight) at him from a large distance away (the Midrash Wayissau states 177⅓ cubits, while other sources have only 30 cubits );

2912-537: The King James Version of the Bible in its modern 66-book Protestant form including the New Testament and the protocanonical Old Testament, not the deuterocanonical books . (Prophecy) Judah (son of Jacob) Judah ( Hebrew : יְהוּדָה ‎ , Modern :   Yəhūda , Tiberian :   Yŭhūḏā ) was, according to the Book of Genesis , the fourth of the six sons of Jacob and Leah and

3024-580: The Masoretic Text of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ), Parashat Vayechi has 12 "open portion" ( פתוחה ‎, petuchah ) divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter פ ‎ ( peh )). Parashat Vayechi has no "closed portion" ( סתומה ‎, setumah ) divisions (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter ס ‎ ( samekh )) within those open portion divisions. Unlike other parashot, Parashat Vaychi does not begin after

3136-571: The Torah , this division reflects the triennial cycle of reading that was practiced by the Jews of the Land of Israel. During the East Roman (Byzantine) era, the church also introduced a concept roughly similar to chapter divisions, called kephalaia (singular kephalaion , literally meaning heading ). This system, which was in place no later than the 5th century, is not identical to the present chapters. Unlike

3248-586: The covenant of circumcision that Joseph would take Jacob up to the burial-place of his fathers in the Cave of Machpelah. Rabbi Eliezer explained that before the giving of the Torah, the ancients used to swear by the covenant of circumcision, as Jacob said in Genesis 47:29, "Put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh." And Rabbi Eliezer taught that Joseph kept the oath and did as he swore, as Genesis 50:7 reports. A Midrash asked why Jacob told Joseph in Genesis 47:29, "Bury me not, I pray, in Egypt." The Midrash suggested that it

3360-471: The documentary hypothesis to the pro-Judah Yahwist source. In Jacob's blessing, Reuben has "not the excellency" to lead "because thou went up to thy father's bed, then defiled [it]"; meanwhile, Simeon and Levi are condemned as "cruel" and "weapons of violence [are] their kinship." ( Gen. 49.:3-7.) On the other hand, Judah is praised as "a lion's whelp" whose brothers "shall bow down before thee", and "the sceptre shall not depart from Judah" (Genesis 49:10),

3472-511: The midrashic Book of Jasher , but 1000 men according to the Testament of Judah ). According to some classical sources, Jacob suspected that Judah had killed Joseph, especially, according to the Midrash Tanhuma , when Judah was the one who had brought the blood stained coat to Jacob. Since rabbinical sources held Judah to have been the leader of his brothers, these sources also hold that

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3584-607: The parashot is usually thematic. Unlike chapters, the parashot are not numbered, but some of them have special titles. In early manuscripts (most importantly in Tiberian Masoretic manuscripts, such as the Aleppo codex ), an "open" section may also be represented by a blank line, and a "closed" section by a new line that is slightly indented (the preceding line may also not be full). These latter conventions are no longer used in Torah scrolls and printed Hebrew Bibles. In this system,

3696-472: The paratext of the Bible . Since the early 13th century, most copies and editions of the Bible have presented all but the shortest of the scriptural books with divisions into chapters , generally a page or so in length. Since the mid-16th century, editors have further subdivided each chapter into verses – each consisting of a few short lines or of one or more sentences. In the King James Version (KJV) Esther 8:9

3808-460: The strongest of his brothers in which rabbinical literature portray him as having had extraordinary physical strength, able to shout for over 400 parasangs , able to crush iron into dust by his mouth, and with hair that stiffened so much, when he became angry, that it pierced his clothes. Classical rabbinical sources also allude to a war between the Canaanites and Judah's family (not mentioned in

3920-408: The "extra attention" for Judah in chapter 38, "sets him up for his major role as the brothers' spokesman in Genesis 44". Other than Joseph (and perhaps Benjamin ), Judah receives the most favorable treatment in Genesis among Jacob's sons, which according to biblical historians is a reflection on the historical primacy that the tribe of Judah possessed throughout much of Israel's history, including as

4032-430: The 9th-century Tours manuscript Paris Bibliothèque Nationale MS Lat. 3, the so-called Bible of Rorigo. Cardinal archbishop Stephen Langton and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro developed different schemas for systematic division of the Bible in the early 13th century. It is the system of Archbishop Langton on which the modern chapter divisions are based. While chapter divisions have become nearly universal, editions of

4144-535: The Bible (2007) from the International Bible Society ( Biblica ), Adam Lewis Greene's five-volume Bibliotheca (2014), and the six-volume ESV Reader's Bible (2016) from Crossway Books . Since at least 916 the Tanakh has contained an extensive system of multiple levels of section, paragraph, and phrasal divisions that were indicated in Masoretic vocalization and cantillation markings . One of

4256-721: The Bible have sometimes been published without them. Such editions, which typically use thematic or literary criteria to divide the biblical books instead, include John Locke's Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul (1707), Alexander Campbell's The Sacred Writings (1826), Daniel Berkeley Updike's fourteen-volume The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha, Richard Moulton's The Modern Reader's Bible (1907), Ernest Sutherland Bates's The Bible Designed to Be Read as Living Literature (1936), The Books of

4368-428: The Bible, in which a woman seduces a male relative under false pretenses in order to become pregnant. Each case involves a direct ancestor of King David . The text of the Torah argues that the name of Judah , meaning to thank or admit , refers to Leah's intent to thank Hashem , on account of having achieved four children, and derived from odeh , meaning I will give thanks . In classical rabbinical literature ,

4480-526: The Greek New Testament, which was also used in his 1553 publication of the Bible in French. Estienne's system of division was widely adopted, and it is this system which is found in almost all modern Bibles. Estienne produced a 1555 Vulgate that is the first Bible to include the verse numbers integrated into the text. Before this work, they were printed in the margins. The first English New Testament to use

4592-474: The Hebrew Bible notes several different kinds of subdivisions within the biblical books: Most important are the verses, or passukim ( MH spelling; now pronounced pesukim by all speakers). According to Talmudic tradition, the division of the text into verses is of ancient origin. In Masoretic versions of the Bible, the end of a verse, or sof passuk , is indicated by a small mark in its final word called

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4704-550: The Hebrew words open ( p atuach ) and closed ( s atum ), and are, themselves, open in shape (פ) and closed (ס). The earliest known copies of the Book of Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls used parashot divisions, although they differ slightly from the Masoretic divisions. The Hebrew Bible was also divided into some larger sections. In Israel, the Torah (its first five books) were divided into 154 sections so that they could be read through aloud in weekly worship over

4816-596: The Ishmaelites rather than killed. ( Gen. 37:26-28, "What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? ... Let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh.") Judah marries Aliyath, the daughter of Shuah , a Canaanite . Genesis chapter 38 Judah and his wife have three children, Er , Onan , and Shelah . Er marries Tamar , but God kills him because he was wicked in His sight ( Gen. 38:7). Tamar becomes Onan's wife in accordance with custom , but he too

4928-571: The J writer dovetailed the Joseph and Judah traditions. Derek Kidner points out that the insertion of chapter 38 "creates suspense for the reader", but Robert Alter goes further and suggests it is a result of the "brilliant splicing of sources by a literary artist". He notes that the same verb identify will play "a crucial thematic role in the dénouement of the Joseph story when he confronts his brothers in Egypt, he recognizing them, they failing to recognize him". Similarly, J. P. Fokkelman notes that

5040-412: The Joseph narrative is closely related to earlier Egyptian wisdom writings. Von Rad likened the theology of Joseph's statement to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “And as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive,” to that of Amenemope , who said, “That which men propose is one thing; what God does is another,” and “God’s life

5152-820: The Lord; how then can man look to his way?"; and Proverbs 21:30–31, "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. The horse is prepared against the day of battle; but victory is of the Lord." The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud : Reading Genesis 47:28, "Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years," the Midrash HaGadol asked whether he lived only seventeen years. The Midrash explained that Jacob spent these years in prosperity, happiness, and peace, so that one might say that only then did he really live. But before this, in Genesis 47:9, Jacob said, "The days of

5264-424: The account of the deaths of Er and Onan to "reflect the dying out of two clans of Judah bearing their names, or at least of their failure to maintain a separate existence". However, this view was "trenchantly criticized" by Thomas L. Thompson . Along with the account of Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19:30–38), and Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 3:7–8), Tamar and Judah is one of three instances of " sperm stealing " in

5376-443: The accounts say that Judah was able to achieve this even though he was himself under attack, from arrows which Jashub was shooting at him with both hands. The accounts go on to state that while Judah was trying to remove Jashub's armour from his corpse, nine assistants of Jashub fell upon him in combat, but after Judah killed one, he scared away the others; nevertheless, Judah killed several members of Jashub's army (42 men according to

5488-699: The air, then grinding it to dust with his feet once it had landed. These rabbinical sources argue that Judah had Naphtali enumerate the districts of Egypt , and after finding out that there were 12 (historically, there were actually 20 in Lower Egypt and 22 in Upper Egypt ), he decided to destroy three himself and have his brothers destroy one of the remaining districts each; the threat of destroying Egypt was, according to these sources, what really motivated Joseph to reveal himself to his brothers. Before his death, Judah told his children about his bravery and heroism in

5600-455: The bed's head," and the Midrash read Leah (as the first who bore Jacob children) to be the head of Jacob's bed. Interpreting Genesis 48:1, the Gemara taught that until the time of Jacob, there was no illness (as one lived one's allotted years in health and then died suddenly). Then Jacob came and prayed, and illness came into being, as Genesis 48:1 reports, "And one told Joseph, ‘Behold, your father

5712-436: The beginning when the ruler approaches Jesus and one titled of the woman with the flow of blood where the woman enters the picture – well before the ruler's daughter is healed and the storyline of the previous kephalaion is thus properly concluded). Thus the kephalaia marks are rather more like a system of bookmarks or links into a continuous text, helping a reader to quickly find one of several well-known episodes, than like

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5824-414: The brother who marries his dead brother's wife and their children thereafter were to inherit from the dead brother. The Gemara noted that in Genesis 48:7, Jacob exclaimed about Rachel's death as a loss to him , supporting the proposition stated by a Baraita that the death of a woman is felt by none so much as by her husband. Rabbi Ḥama the son of Rabbi Ḥanina taught that our ancestors were never without

5936-524: The brothers return with Benjamin. Judah offers himself to Jacob as surety for Benjamin's safety, and manages to persuade Jacob to let them take Benjamin to Egypt . When the brothers return, Joseph tests them by demanding the enslavement of Benjamin . Judah pleads for Benjamin's life, and Joseph reveals his true identity. Before he dies, Jacob blesses Judah as his lead heir, stating that his other sons "shall bow down before you" and that he shall hold "the ruler's staff." Literary critics have focused on

6048-414: The chapter and verse divisions in the numbered form familiar to modern readers. In antiquity Hebrew texts were divided into paragraphs ( parashot ) that were identified by two letters of the Hebrew alphabet . Peh (פ‎) indicated an "open" paragraph that began on a new line, while Samekh (ס‎) indicated a "closed" paragraph that began on the same line after a small space. These two letters begin

6160-511: The chapter and verse numbers have become indispensable as technical references for both Bible study and theological discussion among everyone from scholars to laypeople. Several modern publications of the Bible have eliminated numbering of chapters and verses. Biblica published such a version of the NIV in 2007 and 2011. In 2014, Crossway published the ESV Reader's Bible and Bibliotheca published

6272-453: The children of Israel swear to carry his bones to that land. So Joseph died, and they embalmed him, and put him in a coffin in Egypt. The seventh reading, the twelfth open portion, the parashah, and the Book of Genesis all end here. Jews who read the Torah according to the triennial cycle of Torah reading read the parashah according to the following schedule: The parashah has parallels in these ancient sources: Gerhard von Rad argued that

6384-482: The children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." Alternatively, a Midrash taught that Jacob feared that when God afflicted the Egyptians with the Plagues, they would surround Jacob's sepulcher and beseech him to intercede for them. If he did intercede, he would be helping God's enemies. If he did not, he would cause God's Name to be profaned by the Egyptians, who would call Jacob's God inefficacious. Alternatively,

6496-456: The continuation of the reading, Jacob called Judah a lion 's whelp and told him that he would dominate his enemies, his brothers would bow before him, and his descendants would rule as long as men came to Shiloh . Binding his foal to the vine, he would wash his garments in wine, and his teeth would be white with milk. The fourth open portion ends here. In the continuation of the reading, Jacob foretold that Zebulun 's descendants would dwell at

6608-445: The continuation of the reading, Jacob called Joseph a fruitful vine by a fountain whose branches ran over the wall, archers shot at him, but his bow remained firm; Jacob blessed him with blessings of heaven above and the deep below, blessings of the breasts and womb, and mighty blessings on the head of the prince among his brethren. The fifth reading and the eleventh open portion end here. In the long sixth reading, Jacob called Benjamin

6720-486: The course of three years. In Babylonia, it was divided into 53 or 54 sections ( Parashat ha-Shavua ) so it could be read through in one year. The New Testament was divided into topical sections known as kephalaia by the fourth century. Eusebius of Caesarea divided the gospels into parts that he listed in tables or canons . Neither of these systems corresponds with modern chapter divisions. (See fuller discussions below.) Chapter divisions, with titles, are also found in

6832-537: The elders of Israel." Rabbi Joḥanan deduced from Genesis 48:15–16 that sustenance is more difficult to achieve than redemption. Rabbi Joḥanan noted that in Genesis 48:16 a mere angel sufficed to bring about redemption, whereas Genesis 48:16 reported that God provided sustenance. Rabbi Jose son of Rabbi Ḥanina deduced from Genesis 48:16 that the descendants of Joseph did not have to fear the evil eye . In Genesis 48:16, Jacob blessed Joseph's descendants to grow like fishes. Rabbi Jose son of Rabbi Ḥanina interpreted that just

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6944-400: The evil that they had done, and they sent Joseph a message that Jacob had commanded him to forgive them. When the brothers spoke to Joseph, he wept, and his brothers fell down before him and declared that they were his bondmen. Joseph told them not to fear, for he was not God, and even though they had intended him evil, God meant it for good, to save many people. The sixth reading ends here. In

7056-416: The eye cannot see fish in the sea that are covered by water, so the evil eye would have no power to reach Joseph's descendants. Interpreting Genesis 48:21, Rabbi Jose's nephew taught that as he was dying, Jacob gave his sons three signs by which his descendants might recognize the true redeemer: (1) he would come using, as Jacob did, the word "I" ( אָנֹכִי ‎, anoki ), (2) he would appoint elders for

7168-459: The first Hebrew Bible concordance around 1440. The first person to divide New Testament chapters into verses was the Italian Dominican biblical scholar Santes Pagnino (1470–1541), but his system was never widely adopted. His verse divisions in the New Testament were far longer than those known today. The Parisian printer Robert Estienne created another numbering in his 1551 edition of

7280-450: The first event or the first theological point of the section only, and some kephalaia are manifestly incomplete if one stops reading at the point where the next kephalaion begins (for example, the combined accounts of the miracles of the Daughter of Jairus and of the healing of the woman with a haemorrhage gets two marked kephalaia , one titled of the daughter of the synagogue ruler at

7392-634: The first open portion end here. In the fourth reading, Jacob gathered his sons and asked them to listen to what would befall them in time. Jacob called Reuben his firstborn, his might, and the first-fruits of his strength; unstable as water, he would not have the best because he defiled his father's bed. The second open portion ends here. In the continuation of the reading, Jacob called Simeon and Levi brothers in violence, prayed that his soul not come into their council—for in their anger they slew men and beasts—and cursed their descendants to be scattered throughout Israel. The third open portion ends here. In

7504-697: The founder of the Tribe of Judah of the Israelites . By extension, he is indirectly the eponym of the Kingdom of Judah , the land of Judea , and the word Jew . According to the narrative in Genesis, Judah alongside Tamar is a patrilineal ancestor of the Davidic line . The Tribe of Judah features prominently in Deuteronomistic history , which most scholars agree was reduced to written form, although subject to exilic and post-exilic alterations and emendations, during

7616-528: The land of Egypt seventeen years," the Midrash HaGadol explained that these correspond to the 17 years that Joseph lived in his father’s home. Thus, for the 17 years that Jacob sustained Joseph, Joseph in turn sustained Jacob for the same period, measure for measure. Rabbi Joḥanan taught that trouble follows whenever Scripture employs the word וַיֵּשֶׁב ‎, vayeishev , meaning "and he settled." Thus "Israel settled" in Genesis 47:27 presaged trouble in

7728-556: The land, not in any other respect. The Gemara challenged Rava's interpretation, noting that Numbers 2:18–21 mentions Ephraim and Manasseh separately as tribes in connection with their assembling around the camp by their banners. The Gemara replied to its own challenge by positing that their campings were like their possessions, in order to show respect to their banners. The Gemara persisted in arguing that Ephraim and Manasseh were treated separately by noting that they were also separated with regard to their princes. The Gemara responded that this

7840-406: The latter a clear reference to the aspirations of the united monarchy . Hebraist Gary Rendsburg argues that the original Biblical audience would have noticed the parallels between Judah and Tamar on the one hand and David and Bathsheba on the other. In particular, Rendsburg notes the similarity between Bathsheba (בַּת-שֱבַע, bat-šɛbaʿ, ‘Bathsheba) and Judah's wife the daughter of Shua', whose name

7952-608: The little ones and the flocks and herds behind in the land of Goshen . At the threshing-floor of Atad, beyond the Jordan River , they mourned for his father seven days, and the Canaanites remarked at how grievous the mourning was for the Egyptians, and thus the place was named Abel-mizraim . Jacob's sons carried out his command and buried him in the cave of Machpelah, and the funeral party returned to Egypt. With Jacob's death, Joseph's brothers grew concerned that Joseph would repay them for

8064-419: The loss of Joseph, deposed and excommunicated Judah, as the brothers held Judah entirely responsible, since they would have brought Joseph home if Judah had asked them to do so. Divine punishment, according to such classical sources, was also inflicted on Judah in punishment; the death of Er and Onan, and of his wife, are portrayed in by such classical rabbis as being acts of divine retribution. When Benjamin

8176-546: The midrashic book of Jasher , expand on this by describing Judah's plea as much more extensive than given in the Torah, and more vehement. The classical rabbinical literature argues that Judah reacted violently to the threat against Benjamin, shouting so loudly that Hushim , who was then in Canaan, was able to hear Judah ask him to travel to Egypt , to help Judah destroy it; some sources have Judah angrily picking up an extremely heavy stone (400 shekels in weight), throwing it into

8288-545: The modern chapters, which tend to be of roughly similar length, the distance from one kephalaion mark to the next varied greatly in length both within a book and from one book to the next. For example, the Sermon on the Mount , comprising three chapters in the modern system, has but one kephalaion mark, while the single modern chapter 8 of the Gospel of Matthew has several, one per miracle. Moreover, there were far fewer kephalaia in

8400-474: The most frequent of these was a special type of punctuation, the sof passuq , symbol for a period or sentence break, resembling the colon (:) of English and Latin orthography. With the advent of the printing press and the translation of the Hebrew Bible into English, versifications were made that correspond predominantly with the existing Hebrew sentence breaks, with a few isolated exceptions. Most attribute these to Rabbi Isaac Nathan ben Kalonymus 's work for

8512-459: The name is interpreted as a combination of Yahweh and a dalet (the letter d ); in Gematria , the dalet has the numerical value 4 , which these rabbinical sources argue refers to Judah being Jacob's fourth son. Since Leah was matriarch, Jewish scholars think the text's authors believed the tribe was part of the original Israelite confederation; however, it is worthy of note that the tribe of Judah

8624-570: The name of Bar Kappara that Israel is the land whose dead will be resurrected first in the Messianic era . Karna deduced from Genesis 47:30 that Jacob sought burial in Israel to ensure his resurrection. Karna reasoned that Jacob knew that he was an entirely righteous man, and that the dead outside Israel will also be resurrected, so Jacob must have troubled his sons to carry him to Canaan because he feared that he might be unworthy to travel through tunnels to

8736-457: The one rule differentiating "open" and "closed" sections is that "open" sections must always start at the beginning of a new line, while "closed" sections never start at the beginning of a new line. Another division of the biblical books found in the Masoretic Text is the division into sedarim . This division is not thematic, but is almost entirely based upon the quantity of text. For

8848-487: The other nine brothers blamed him to be responsible for this deception, even if it was not Judah himself who brought the coat to Jacob. Even if Judah had been trying to save Joseph, the classical rabbinical sources still regard him negatively for it; these sources argue that, as the leader of the brothers, Judah should have made more effort and carried Joseph home to Jacob on his (Judah's) own shoulders. These sources argue that Judah's brothers, after witnessing Jacob's grief at

8960-459: The other. Rav Judah said in the name of Samuel that Genesis 48:5, where grandchildren are equated with children, serves to remind the reader that cursing a husband's parents in the presence of the husband's children is just as bad as cursing them in the husband's presence. Rabbah said that an example of such a curse would be where a woman told her husband's son, "May a lion devour your grandfather." Rav Papa cited Genesis 48:5 to demonstrate that

9072-524: The people, and (3) he would say to the people, "God will remember you," (as Joseph did in Genesis 50:24). Rabbi Ḥunia omitted the word "I" ( אָנֹכִי ‎, anoki ) and substituted God's special secret name (the Shem HaMephorash ). Chapters and verses of the Bible Chapter and verse divisions did not appear in the original texts of Jewish or Christian bibles; such divisions form part of

9184-445: The physicians to embalm Jacob, and they did so over the next 40 days, and the Egyptians wept for Jacob 70 days. Thereafter, Joseph asked Pharaoh 's courtiers to tell Pharaoh that Jacob had made Joseph swear to bury him in the land of Canaan and ask that he might go up, bury his father, and return. Pharaoh consented, and Joseph went up with all Pharaoh's court, Egypt's elders, chariots , horsemen, and all Joseph's relatives, leaving only

9296-549: The reason for the abrupt interruption this passage causes to the surrounding narrative, and the chronological anomaly it seems to present, is that it derives from the Jahwist source, while the immediately surrounding narrative is from the Elohist . Local Muslim and Samaritan traditions placed the tomb of Judah ( Nabi Huda ibn Sayyidna Ya'qub , "the prophet Judah, son of our lord Jacob") at al-Yahudiya , present-day Yehud . Today, it

9408-496: The reign of the Judahist reformer Josiah from 641 to 609 BCE. The Hebrew name for Judah, Yehuda (יהודה), literally "thanksgiving" or "praise," is the noun form of the root Y-D-H (ידה), "to thank" or "to praise." His birth is recorded at Gen. 29:35; upon his birth, Leah exclaims, "This time I will praise the LORD / YHWH ," with the Hebrew word for "I will praise," odeh (אודה) sharing

9520-575: The relationship between the Judah story in chapter 38, and the Joseph story in chapters 37 and 39. Victor Hamilton notes some "intentional literary parallels" between the chapters, such as the exhortation to "identify" (38:25-26 and 37:32-33). J. A. Emerton , Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge , regards the connections as evidence for including chapter 38 in the J corpus , and suggests that

9632-401: The report of Genesis 35:22 that Reuben lay with Bilhah , Jacob's concubine, and Jacob heard of it. When Joseph in Genesis 50:20 told his brothers that they meant evil against him, but God meant it for good to save the lives of many people, he echoed his explanation in Genesis 45:5 that God sent him to Egypt before his brothers to preserve life. Similarly, Psalm 105:16–17 reports that God called

9744-465: The report of Genesis 47:29 that Israel's death drew near. Reading the words of Genesis 47:29, "and he called his son Joseph," a Midrash asked why Jacob did not call Reuben or Judah, as Reuben was the firstborn and Judah was king. Yet Jacob disregarded them and called Joseph, because Joseph had the means of fulfilling Jacob's wishes. Rabbi Eliezer taught that in the hour of Jacob's death, he called to his son Joseph, and adjured him to swear to Jacob by

9856-442: The same root as Yehuda . Alternatively, Edward Lipiński connected Hebrew yĕhūdā with Arabic whd / wahda "cleft, ravine". Judah is the fourth son of the patriarch Jacob and his first wife, Leah : his full brothers are Reuben , Simeon and Levi (all older), and Issachar and Zebulun (younger), and he has one full sister, Dinah . Through his father, he also has six half-brothers: Dan and Naphtali (whose mother

9968-477: The seventh open portion end here. In the fifth reading, Jacob foretold that raiders would raid Gad , but he would raid on their heels. The eighth open portion ends here. In the continuation of the reading, Jacob foretold that Asher 's bread would be the richest, and he would yield royal dainties. The ninth open portion ends here. As the reading continues, Jacob called Naphtali a hind let loose, and he would give good words. The tenth open portion ends here. In

10080-429: The seventh reading, Joseph spoke kindly to them, comforted them, and committed to sustain them and their little ones. Joseph lived 110 years, saw Ephraim's children of the third generation, and grandchildren of Manasseh were born on Joseph's knees. Joseph told his brothers that he was dying, but God would surely remember them and bring them out of Egypt to the land that God had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joseph made

10192-524: The shore near Sidon , and would work the ships. The fifth open portion ends here. As the reading continues, Jacob called Issachar a large-boned donkey couching between the sheep-folds, he bowed his shoulder to work, and his descendants would dwell in a pleasant land. The sixth open portion ends here. In the continuation of the reading, Jacob called Dan a serpent in the road that bites the horse's heels, and he would judge his people. Jacob interjected that he longed for God's salvation. The fourth reading and

10304-445: The site of resurrection in Israel. Similarly, Rabbi Ḥanina explained that the same reason prompted Joseph to seek burial in Israel in Genesis 50:25. Rav Judah cited Genesis 47:30 to support the proposition that gravediggers must remove surrounding earth when they rebury a body. Rav Judah interpreted the verse to mean "carry with me [earth] of Egypt." Rabbi Elazar read Genesis 47:31 to report that Jacob bowed to Joseph because Joseph

10416-425: The source of the Davidic line . Although Judah is only the fourth son of Leah , he is expressly depicted in Genesis as assuming a leadership role among the 10 eldest brothers, including speaking up against killing Joseph, negotiating with his father regarding Joseph's demand that Benjamin be brought down to Egypt, and pleading with Joseph after the latter secrets the silver cup into Benjamin's bag. Judah's position

10528-521: The subsequent verses, whereas established Christian practice treats each Psalm ascription as independent and unnumbered, resulting in 116 more verses in Jewish versions than in the Christian texts. Some chapter divisions also occur in different places, e.g. Hebrew Bibles have 1 Chronicles 5:27–41 where Christian translations have 1 Chronicles 6:1–15 . Early manuscripts of the biblical texts did not contain

10640-542: The verse divisions was a 1557 translation by William Whittingham (c. 1524–1579). The first Bible in English to use both chapters and verses was the Geneva Bible published shortly afterwards by Sir Rowland Hill in 1560. These verse divisions soon gained acceptance as a standard way to notate verses, and have since been used in nearly all English Bibles and the vast majority of those in other languages. The Masoretic Text of

10752-461: The wars against the kings of Canaan and the family of Esau, also confessed his shortcomings caused by wine that led him astray in his relationship with Bathshua and Tamar. Judah admonished his sons not to love gold, and not to look upon the beauty of women, for through these things, the sons of Judah will fall into misery. In his last words, he reminded them to observe the whole law of the Lord. According to Classical rabbinical literature , Judah

10864-746: The way to Ephrath , near Bethlehem . Jacob saw Joseph's sons and asked who they were, and Joseph told him that they were the sons whom God had given him in Egypt, so Jacob asked Joseph to bring them near so that he might bless them. The first reading ends here. In the second reading, Jacob's sight had dimmed with age, so Joseph brought his sons near, and Jacob kissed them and embraced them. Jacob told Joseph that he had not thought to see his face, and now God had let him see his children, as well. Joseph took them from between his knees, bowed deeply, and brought them to Jacob, with Ephraim in his right hand toward Jacob's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Jacob's right hand. But Jacob laid his right hand on Ephraim,

10976-450: The word " noladim ," meaning "born," applies to lives already in being, not just to children to be born in the future, as " nolad " appears to refer in 1 Kings 13:2. A Baraita used Genesis 48:6 to illustrate the effect of the law of levirate marriage , where a brother marries his dead brother's wife and raises a child in the dead brother's name. Just as in Genesis 48:6 Ephraim and Manasseh were to inherit from Jacob, so in levirate marriage

11088-506: The years of my sojournings are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life." Thus, Job 8:7 applies to Jacob when it says, "Though your beginning was small, yet your end should greatly increase." For the wicked enjoy happiness at first, but finally suffer endless sorrow, while the righteous experience suffering at first, but endless joy in the end, as Isaiah 35:10 promises, "Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads." Reading Genesis 47:28, "Jacob lived in

11200-412: The younger, and his left hand on Manasseh, the firstborn, and prayed that God bless the lads, let Jacob's name be named in them, and let them grow into a multitude. The second reading ends here. In the third reading, it displeased Joseph that Jacob laid his right hand on Ephraim, and he lifted Jacob's right hand to move it to Manasseh the firstborn, but Jacob refused, saying that Manasseh would also become

11312-491: Was Judah, among all of Jacob's sons, whose destiny was to rule over all the other tribes in Israel." Emerton notes that it is "widely agreed" that the story of Judah and Tamar "reflects a period after the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan". He also suggests the possibility that it contains " aetiological motifs concerned with the eponymous ancestors of the clans of Judah". Emerton notes that Dillman and Noth considered

11424-579: Was an elder and a member of the scholars' council, as Genesis 27:1 says: "And it came to pass when Isaac was an elder." Jacob was an elder and a member of the scholars' council, as Genesis 48:10 says, "Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age." In Egypt they had the scholars' council, as Exodus 3:16 says, "Go and gather the elders of Israel together." And in the Wilderness, they had the scholars' council, as in Numbers 11:16, God directed Moses to "Gather . . . 70 men of

11536-518: Was because Egypt would eventually be smitten with vermin (in the Plagues of Egypt ), which would swarm about Jacob's body. Alternatively, the Midrash suggested that it was so that Egyptians should not make Jacob an object of idolatrous worship . For just as idolaters will be punished, so will their idols too be punished, as Exodus 12:12 says, "And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments." Reading Genesis 47:29, "Bury me not, I pray, in Egypt",

11648-483: Was being carried during the Exodus , until Moses interceded with God, by arguing that Judah's confession (in regard to cohabiting with Tamar) had led to Reuben confessing his own incest. Apparently, Judah learned a lesson from his experience with Tamar that he must be responsible for those around him and this eventually prepares him for his future reconciliatory encounter with Joseph. Genesis Rabbah , and particularly

11760-399: Was born on 15 Sivan (early June); classical sources differ on the date of death, with the Book of Jubilees advocating a death at age 119, 18 years before Levi , but the midrashic Book of Jasher advocating a death at the age of 129. The marriage of Judah and births of his children are described in a passage widely regarded as an abrupt change to the surrounding narrative. The passage

11872-511: Was done in order to show honor to the princes and to avoid having to choose the prince of one tribe to rule over the other. 1 Kings 8:65 indicates that Solomon celebrated seven days of dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem , and Moses celebrated twelve days of dedication of the Tabernacle instead of seven in order to show honor to the princes and to avoid having to choose the prince of one tribe over

11984-459: Was held in bondage following the accusation of stealing Joseph's cup, Judah offered himself among his brethren as a bondman in replace of him, but Joseph was strict that the punishment is only applied to the one who was guilty, not to the innocent ones. According to classical rabbinical literature, because Judah had proposed that he should take any blame forever , this ultimately led to his bones being rolled around his coffin without cease, while it

12096-514: Was in power. The Gemara read Jacob's action to illustrate a saying then popular: "When the fox has its hour, bow down to it." That is, even though one would ordinarily expect the lion to be the king of beasts, when the fox has its turn to rule, one should bow to it as well. The Gemara thus viewed Joseph as the fox, to whom, in his day, even the senior Jacob bowed down. A Midrash read Genesis 47:31 to teach that Jacob gave thanks for Leah, for Genesis 47:31 says, "And Israel bowed down [in thanksgiving] for

12208-506: Was not called a "congregation." The Gemara questioned Rav Aḥa's teaching, asking whether there would then be fewer than 12 tribes. Abaye replied quoting Jacob's words in Genesis 48:5: "Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine." But Rava interpreted the words "They shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance" in Genesis 48:6 to show that Ephraim and Manasseh were thereafter regarded as comparable to other tribes only in regard to their inheritance of

12320-530: Was not purely Israelite, but contained a large admixture of non-Israelites, with a number of Kenizzite groups, the Jerahmeelites , and the Kenites , merging into the tribe at various points. Classical rabbinical sources refer to the passage "... a ruler came from Judah", from 1 Chronicles 5:2 , to imply that Judah was the leader of his brothers, terming him the king . This passage also describes Judah as

12432-411: Was sick, Joseph took his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to see him. Jacob sat up and told Joseph that God appeared to him at Luz , blessed him, and told him that God would multiply his descendants and give them that land forever. Jacob adopted Joseph's sons as his own and granted them inheritance with his own sons. Jacob recalled how when he came from Paddan , Rachel died on the way, and he buried her on

12544-447: Was the first to number the verses within each chapter, his verse numbers entering printed editions in 1551 (New Testament) and 1553 (Hebrew Bible). The division of the Bible into chapters and verses has received criticism from some traditionalists and modern scholars. Critics state that the text is often divided in an incoherent way, or at inappropriate rhetorical points, and that it encourages citing passages out of context. Nevertheless,

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