SEV Biblia, Chapter 26:5
Entonces hablarás y dirás delante del SEÑOR tu Dios: Mi padre, el Siro, pereciendo de hambre descendió a Egipto y peregrinó allá con pocos hombres, y allí creció en gente grande, fuerte y numerosa;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 26:5
Verse 5. A Syrian ready to perish was my father] This passage has been variously understood, both by the ancient versions and by modern commentators. The Vulgate renders it thus: Syrus persequebatur patrem meum, "A Syrian persecuted my father." The Septuagint thus: surian apebalen o pathr mou, "My father abandoned Syria." The Targum thus: aba ty adbwal a[b hamra bl Laban arammaah bea leobada yath abba, "Laban the Syrian endeavoured to destroy my father." The Syriac: "My father was led out of Syria into Egypt." The Arabic: "Surely, Laban the Syrian had almost destroyed my father." The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel: "Our father Jacob went at first into Syria of Mesopotamia, and Laban sought to destroy him." Father Houbigant dissents from all, and renders the original thus: Fames urgebat patrem meum, qui in AEgyptum descendit, "Famine oppressed my father, who went down into Egypt." This interpretation Houbigant gives the text, by taking the y yod from the word ymra arammi, which signifies an Aramite or Syrian, and joining it to dbay yeabud, the future for the perfect, which is common enough in Hebrew, and which may signify constrained; and seeking for the meaning of µra aram in the Arabic arama, which signifies famine, dearth, &c., he thus makes out his version, and this version he defends at large in his notes. It is pretty evident, from the text, that by a Syrian we are to understand Jacob, so called from his long residence in Syria with his father-in-law Laban. And his being ready to perish may signify the hard usage and severe labour he had in Laban's service, by which, as his health was much impaired, so his life might have often been in imminent danger.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 5. And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God , etc.] Speak with a loud voice, lifting up the voice, as Jarchi interprets it; or “answer” f471 , to the question the priest will ask, saying, what is this thou hast brought? as Aben Ezra remarks; and this being said in the tabernacle, and before the priest of the Lord, and as in the presence of the Lord, is represented as said before him, which is as follows: a Syrian ready to perish [was] my father ; meaning Jacob, who though born in Canaan, his mother was a Syrian, and his grandfather Abraham was of Chaldea, a part of Syria; and Jacob married two wives in Syria, and all his children were born there but Benjamin, and where he lived twenty years; and sometimes persons are denominated, as from the place of their birth, so from the place of their dwelling, as Christ was called a Nazarene from Nazareth, where he dwelt, though he was born at Bethlehem, ( Matthew 2:23); and Jether, though an Israelite, as Aben Ezra observes, is called an Ishmaelite, perhaps because he dwelt some time among that people, ( 1 Chronicles 2:17). Now Jacob might be said to be ready to perish when he fled for his life from his brother Esau, and was poor and penniless when he came to Laban; so the last mentioned writer interprets this phrase; to which may be added, that when in his service he was exposed to cold and heat, and had his wages frequently changed, and afterwards, when obliged to flee from Laban, was pursued by him with an intention to do him mischief, had not the Lord prevented him. The reason of this part of the confession was to show that it was not owing to the greatness of their ancestors from whence they sprung, whose condition was mean, but to the gift of God, and his goodness, that they enjoyed the land of Canaan. So every sensible soul, when he brings his sacrifice of praise to God for his mercies, especially spiritual ones, frankly acknowledges his lost perishing condition by nature, of which he is sensible; and that in order to magnify the riches of the grace of God in his salvation, to endear Christ as a Saviour the more, and to keep humble, and make thankful: and he went down into Egypt ; not directly, but some years after his former afflicted circumstances; so the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, “after these things he went down into Egypt;” after he had been in perishing circumstances in Syria, and when he was sore pressed with famine in Canaan: and sojourned there with a few ; with seventy souls, as Jarchi: and became there a great nation, mighty and populous ; insomuch that the king of Egypt was jealous of them, lest through their strength and numbers they should get away from them, when any favourable incident happened; they being when they came out from thence six hundred thousand men able to bear arms, besides women and children.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-11 - When God has made good his promises to us, he expects we should own it to the honour of his faithfulness. And our creature comforts are doubl sweet, when we see them flowing from the fountain of the promise. The person who offered his first-fruits, must remember and own the mea origin of that nation, of which he was a member. A Syrian ready to perish was my father. Jacob is here called a Syrian. Their nation in its infancy sojourned in Egypt as strangers, they served there a slaves. They were a poor, despised, oppressed people in Egypt; an though become rich and great, had no reason to be proud, secure, or forgetful of God. He must thankfully acknowledge God's great goodnes to Israel. The comfort we have in our own enjoyments, should lead us to be thankful for our share in public peace and plenty; and with presen mercies we should bless the Lord for the former mercies we remember and the further mercies we expect and hope for. He must offer his basket of first-fruits. Whatever good thing God gives us, it is his will that we make the most comfortable use we can of it, tracing the streams to the Fountain of all consolation.
Original Hebrew
וענית 6030 ואמרת 559 לפני 6440 יהוה 3068 אלהיך 430 ארמי 761 אבד 6 אבי 1 וירד 3381 מצרימה 4714 ויגר 1481 שׁם 8033 במתי 4462 מעט 4592 ויהי 1961 שׁם 8033 לגוי 1471 גדול 1419 עצום 6099 ורב׃ 7227
