Vayechi (Hebrew: וַיְחִי, "And he lived") is the twelfth and final weekly Torah portion of Genesis, covering Genesis 47:28–50:26. It tells of Jacob's final years in Egypt, his blessings of his sons and grandsons, his death, and the deaths of Joseph and the end of the Genesis narrative.
Jacob's Final Days
וַיְחִי יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה
"And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years." (Genesis 47:28)
Jacob lives in Egypt for 17 years, reaching age 147. The time of his death approaches. He calls Joseph and says: "If now I have found grace in your sight, put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray you, in Egypt" (Genesis 47:29). He asks to be buried with his fathers in the Cave of Machpelah. Joseph swears. Later, Joseph is told: "Behold, your father is sick" (Genesis 48:1). Joseph takes his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to Jacob. Jacob strengthens himself and sits up in bed. He says: "God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you... and I will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession'" (Genesis 48:3–4). He adopts Joseph's sons as his own: "Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine" (Genesis 48:5). Rachel's death is recalled.
Blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh
Jacob's eyes are dim from age. Joseph brings his sons near; Jacob kisses and embraces them. Joseph positions Manasseh (the elder) at Jacob's right hand and Ephraim (the younger) at his left. But Jacob crosses his hands, placing his right hand on Ephraim's head and his left on Manasseh's. Joseph tries to correct him: "Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand upon his head" (Genesis 48:18). Jacob refuses: "I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations" (Genesis 48:19). Jacob blesses them: "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth" (Genesis 48:15–16). He says: "In you shall Israel bless, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh'" (Genesis 48:20). Thus Ephraim is set before Manasseh.
Blessing of the Twelve Tribes
Jacob calls his sons and says: "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days" (Genesis 49:1). He blesses each son:
- Reuben: "Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father's bed" (Genesis 49:4) — referring to Reuben's sin with Bilhah.
- Simeon and Levi: "Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations... Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel" (Genesis 49:5–7) — referring to the massacre at Shechem.
- Judah: "Judah, you are he whom your brethren shall praise... The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" (Genesis 49:8–10). "He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes" (Genesis 49:11).
- Zebulun: "Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea" (Genesis 49:13).
- Issachar: "Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens" (Genesis 49:14).
- Dan: "Dan shall judge his people" (Genesis 49:16); "Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path" (Genesis 49:17).
- Gad: "A troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last" (Genesis 49:19).
- Asher: "Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties" (Genesis 49:20).
- Naphtali: "Naphtali is a hind let loose; he gives goodly words" (Genesis 49:21).
- Joseph: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall... The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills" (Genesis 49:22–26).
- Benjamin: "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil" (Genesis 49:27).
These are the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob charges them: "Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah" (Genesis 49:29).
Death and Burial of Jacob
When Jacob finishes commanding his sons, he gathers up his feet into the bed, yields up the ghost, and is gathered to his people (Genesis 49:33). Joseph falls upon his father's face and weeps and kisses him. He commands the physicians to embalm his father. The Egyptians mourn for him seventy days. Joseph asks Pharaoh's permission to bury his father in Canaan. Pharaoh agrees. Joseph goes up with a great company: his brothers, his father's house, the elders of Egypt, chariots, and horsemen. They mourn at the threshing floor of Atad (beyond the Jordan) for seven days; the Canaanites see the mourning and name the place Abel-mizraim ("mourning of Egypt"). The sons carry Jacob into Canaan and bury him in the Cave of Machpelah. Joseph and his brothers return to Egypt.
Brothers' Fear and Joseph's Reassurance
After Jacob's death, Joseph's brothers fear: "Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him" (Genesis 50:15). They send a message: "Your father did command before he died, saying, 'So shall you say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray you now, the trespass of your brethren, and their sin; for they did unto you evil'" (Genesis 50:16–17). Joseph weeps when they speak to him. His brothers fall down before him: "Behold, we are your servants" (Genesis 50:18). Joseph says: "Fear not; for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:19–20). He reassures them: "I will nourish you and your little ones" (Genesis 50:21). He comforts them and speaks kindly to them.
Death of Joseph
Joseph lives to see Ephraim's children of the third generation. He says to his brethren: "I die; and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Genesis 50:24). He makes them swear: "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from hence" (Genesis 50:25). Joseph dies at age 110 and is embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt. The Book of Genesis ends with the promise of return to the Promised Land.
Major themes
- Blessing and inheritance: Jacob's blessings of his sons and grandsons as the foundation of the twelve tribes.
- Divine providence: "God meant it unto good" — the overarching theme of Genesis.
- Reconciliation: Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers.
- Death and burial: Jacob's insistence on burial in the Cave of Machpelah.
- Promise of redemption: Joseph's charge to carry his bones to Canaan.
- Transition: The end of the patriarchal era; the beginning of Israel's sojourn in Egypt.
Rashi
Rashi explains that Jacob's eyes were dim because he wanted to bless Ephraim and Manasseh but could not see; he crossed his hands intentionally. On "Shiloh," Rashi identifies it with the Messiah, who will come from Judah. On Joseph's death, Rashi notes that Joseph's coffin was placed in the Nile until the Exodus, when Moses retrieved it.
Ramban
Ramban explains that Jacob's blessings were prophetic, describing the future of each tribe. On "God meant it unto good," Ramban emphasizes that human intentions and divine intentions can differ, with God's purpose prevailing.
Ibn Ezra
Ibn Ezra explains the blessings as poetic prophecies about the geographical and historical future of each tribe.
Midrashic interpretations
- Bereshit Rabbah 96:5: Jacob wanted to reveal the end of days but the Shekhinah departed from him.
- Bereshit Rabbah 97:6: Jacob crossed his hands because the Holy Spirit rested on him.
- Bereshit Rabbah 98:2: The "Shiloh" in Judah's blessing refers to the Messiah.
- Bereshit Rabbah 100:8: The Egyptians mourned Jacob for 70 days; the Israelites would later be punished for 70 years of exile.
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 40: Joseph's coffin was placed in the Nile; Moses retrieved it during the Exodus by a sign.
Haftarah
The haftarah (1 Kings 2:1–12) contains King David's final charge to Solomon: "Be strong and show yourself a man; and keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways" (1 Kings 2:2–3). This parallels Jacob's final blessings and charge to his sons, and connects to the theme of legacy and the continuation of the covenant.
References
- Genesis 47:28 – 50:26 (Masoretic Text)
- Rashi, Commentary on the Torah
- Ramban, Commentary on the Torah
- Ibn Ezra, Commentary on the Torah
- Bereshit Rabbah (Midrash)
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer
- The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (Nahum M. Sarna, 1989)
- Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (JPS, 2001)
- Sefaria.org, "Vayechi" (parasha)