Vayeitzei 28:13 · unit 2

Parashas Vayeitzei · Passuk 28:13

The Complete Passuk

וְהִנֵּ֨ה יְהֹוָ֜ה נִצָּ֣ב עָלָיו֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ אֲנִ֣י יְהֹוָ֗ה אֱלֹהֵי֙ אַבְרָהָ֣ם אָבִ֔יךָ וֵאלֹהֵ֖י יִצְחָ֑ק הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ שֹׁכֵ֣ב עָלֶ֔יהָ לְךָ֥ אֶתְּנֶ֖נָּה וּלְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃

And behold Hashem was standing over him and said, “I am Hashem, the God of Avraham your father and the God of Yitzchak; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and to your offspring.”

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Chullin 91b.

TT lemma: אשר אתה שוכב עליה.

Sefaria — Chullin 91b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
מַאי רַבּוּתֵיהּ? אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: מְלַמֵּד שֶׁקָּפְלָהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְכָל אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהִנִּיחָהּ תַּחַת יַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ, כְּדֵי שֶׁתְּהֵא נוֹחָה לִכָּבֵשׁ לְבָנָיו.

English: What is the special force of this? Rabbi Yitzchak said: It teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, folded up the whole of Eretz Yisrael and placed it under our father Yaakov, so that it would be easy for his children to conquer.

On the daf / in context: The phrase “the land on which you are lying” is taken to mean that the entire land was miraculously concentrated under Yaakov’s body.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The wording implies a miraculous folding of the entire land under the sleeper.

What Is Learned

Hashem folded the whole of Eretz Yisrael beneath Yaakov so that the future conquest by his descendants would be assured.