Genesis 49:23

And all the magicians of Mizraim were bitter and angry against him, and brought accusations against him before Pharoh, expecting to bring him down from his honour They spake against him with the slanderous tongue which is severe as arrows.

וימררוהו ורבו, they threw him into jail,

ורובו, and they harassed him. The thought is repeated to lend it emphasis, as is the reference to the בעלי חצים, his enemies. We find the expression רביו and חציו used in Job 16,13 as almost interchangeable. The dagesh in the letter צ of the word חצים confirms that the whole word is used for emphasis, reinforcing the thought already expressed in the word ורבו which also has such a dagesh. If the word ורבו were derived from the root מריבה, quarrel, it would not have a dagesh¸ just as קמו from קום, or שבו from שוב do not have a dagesh. The word רב in the sense in which it is used here also occurs in Judges 11,25 as emphasised by means of repetition, i.e. הרב רב, when Yiphtach refers to the extreme hostility to the Jewish people displayed by the Moabites. There was no need for the dagesh on that occasion as the word has already been repeated to show the emphasis Yiphtach had in mind. The Torah, i.e. Yaakov, calls the evil fabrication that the wife of Potiphar used to indict Joseph חצים, arrows, a word used in the same sense by Jeremiah 9,7 when he says (of his own people, alas) חץ שחוט לשונם, מרמה דבר, בפיו שלום את רעהו ידבר וגו': “Their tongue is a sharpened arrow, they use their mouths to deceive; one speaks of his fellow peacefully, while laying an ambush for him, etc.”

ורבו, from the root רבב, similar to the relationship between סבו and סבב, or רוני from רנן (compare Isaiah 12,6) צהלי ורוני יושבת ציון, “Oh shout for joy you who dwell in Zion.” The word רוני is a repetition of the thought expressed in the word צהלי, designed to reinforce that thought.

49,23. וישטמוהו בעלי חצים, The expression בעלי חצים means: “the slanderers.” The word חץ, usually meaning “arrow,” is used as a simile for slander in Jeremiah 9,7חץ שחוט לשונם, “their tongues are like a sharp arrow.” One of these slanderers was the chief of the cup bearers when he referred to Joseph as נער עברי עבד, three words which are each a derogatory term. (41,12). Also some of Pharaoh’s servants are included in the list of those who slandered Joseph. They are reported as commenting with disdain that “Pharaoh has appointed a slave who had been sold for 20 pieces of silver as our ruler.” (Sotah 36).

וימררו ורובו, if Yaakov spoke of the past in this verse we must understand his remarks as pertaining to Potiphar and his wife, as well as to the members of his household, but not to Joseph’s brothers. It is quite impossible to conceive of our patriarch Yaakov speaking of the brothers’ shame at the same as he was blessing them. Even though Yaakov had spoken of Reuven’s having disgraced himself, Yaakov had to do this in order to justify why he had deprived him of the privileges of the birthright. The same reasoning applies to his having recalled Shimon and Levi’s acts of violence, for which Yaakov made appropriate precautions for the future by dividing them up so that they could not pose a threat again.

וימררוהו, they embittered his life throwing him into jail for at least two years, as we know from Psalms 105,18 ענו בכבל רגלו ברזל באה נפשו, “his feet were subjected to fetters, an iron collar was put on his neck.”

ורבו, they shot arrows at him. The root of the verb רבו is of the type in which two root letters appear רבב repeated. Yaakov repeats the thought expressed by the word וימררוהו, also a root with a double consonant. The word רומו in Job 24,24 is a parallel construction to our word here.

וישטמהו בעלי חצים, they hated him for no cause, slandering him to his employer. Yaakov summarises all these wicked words with the word חצים, arrows. We find the word חץ used in the same sense in Psalms 120,4 חצי גבור שנונים עם גחלי רתמים, “a warrior’s sharp arrows with hot coals, etc.” [the previous verse speaks of the deceitful tongue, so that this verse is a simile for such deceitful tongues. Ed.]