Revavah. Joseph and his Multitudes
Contents
1. Israel and Joseph Promised to Increase and Multiply Exceedingly
2. The Midrash Mekhilta
3. The Chatam Sofer
4. A hundred thousands or a thousand thousands?
5. Juxtaposition "eleph" (thousand) compared to what?
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1. Israel and Joseph Promised to Increase and multiply Exceedingly
We are continuing from our articles.
Hundreds of Millions!-1
Part 1. The Great Present Numbers of Joseph Predicted!
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/biblical-proof/blessings/millionsa.html
Biblical Promises of Vast Increase
The Israelites were to number vast numbers of people. They were to be as the dust of the earth (Numbers 23:10), as sand of the sea (Genesis 22:17, 32:12, Isaiah 10:22, Hosea 1:10), and as stars of the heavens (Genesis 15:5, 22:17) for multitude.
The Tribes of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) especially was to be blessed in this way more than the others:
Jacob blessed Joseph, "The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of JOSEPH, and on the crown of him that was separated from his brethren" (Genesis 49:6).
See:
"Genealogy of the Blessings"
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/biblical-proof/genb.html
We recalled the Blessing of Moses to Israel:
Deuteronomy 1: 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, just as He has promised you!
In Hebrew the word beginning the above promise "increase" is "yosef" being in Grammar verbally the future singular first person of "SFH" or "ASF" both connoting increase. This verb is "yosef." It is spelt and pronounced EXACTLY THE SAME as the name "YOSEF" i.e. Joseph. This could well indicate that it applies especially to the Tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Deuteronomy 33: 17... They are the ten thousands of Ephraim within the thousands of Manasseh.
"The Ten Thousands of Ephraim" is a translation from the Hebrew "revavot." We explained that some consider the singular of this word "revavah" to be a poetical form of the word "revoe" meaning ten thousands. Other however says it means much more.
cf.
1- Samuel 18:
7 So the women sang as they danced, and said: Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands [Hebrew: "Revavotav" i.e. his "revavot" from the root "revavah"].
We also explained above in the previous article how "revavah" connotes unlimited increase and expansion and that numerically it is a grade above "reboe" (ten thousand) and therefore a hundred thousand or a thousand thousand.
The term "revavah" was found in the blessing to Rebecca.
Rebecca was blessed that she should be "the mother of thousands of millions" (Genesis 24:60, Hebrew "alfei revavah") as shown in the KJV translation. The authors of the KJV were scholars and familiar with Rabbinical sources or they drew on previous works influenced by Jewish savants.
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2. The Midrash Mekhilta
One source helping to explain the term "revavah" is the Mekhilta which is a very early Midrash often attributed (e.g. by Maimonides) to Rabbi Ishmael who was an early Sage of the Talmud.What interests us at the moment is the meaning given to the word "REVAVAH." Rabbi Nehorai in the Mekhilta (Midrash Mekilta Shmot 13;18 "ve-chamushim" as explained by the Hatam Sofer) opines that it means a multiplication of at least five hundred times a thousand if not much more!
The expression referred to by the Mekhilta is:
Ezekiel (KJV) 16:
7 I have caused thee to multiply (In Hebrew, "REVAVAH") as the bud of the field...
Compare other English Translations of these words:
NASB:
"I made you numerous like plants of the field.
ASV
I made you increase like sprouting grain in the field.
NAS1977
I made you numerous like plants of the field.
Jubilee Bible 2000
In ten thousands, as the grass of the field.
YLT
A myriad -- as the shoot of the field I have made thee.
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3. The Chatam Sofer
Rabbi Moshe ("Ha-Chatam") Sofer (1762-1839) was one of the leading Orthodox Rabbis of European Jewry in the early 1800s. Many of the leading Rabbis in succeeding generations were strongly influenced by him. In our time he is still often quoted and considered to have been a leading authority in legal Torah matters. The Chatam Softer said that "Revavah" meant at least a million.
"HaChatam") Sofer (Torah Moshe, Devorim, p. 10) says:
# "Revavah" has been said to mean "Reboe (ten thousand) many times over... The Mekhilta says more than 500... a multiplying factor is needed that is a thousand fold... this is what is meant by "increase you a thousand-fold more than you are" (Deuteronomy 1:11). #
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4. A hundred thousands or a thousand thousands?
Taking the above all together we may therefore re-write the translation of "revavah" and its plural "revavot" as a hundred thousands or a (depending on the context) thousand thousands i.e. a million.
We therefore have:
Deuteronomy 33: 17... They are the millions of Ephraim together with the thousands of Manasseh.
Important Note:
The numbers given above are possibilities. This is what is PROPHESIED FOR ISRAELITES IN THE FUTURE! it may in part have been fulfilled already since a great and numerous population was one of the Prophesies by which the Ten Tribes can be identified. Nevertheless, fulfilment in its real sense may only come about in the Times of the Messiah!
Present world population 7, 725, 467, 371
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
Nations dominated by Israel ca. 500,000,000 = 1/15 = 6% Many of whom (possibly most) are not Israelites, but who knםws?
Mark Williams pointed out that since when Moses promised the Israelites a thousand-fold increase they numbered 600,000 warriors between the ages of 20 to 60 then the real number to be multiplied a thousand fold was several million! That may well be the case in the Messianic Era. On the other hand it seems customary to take Biblical Numbers as given for the warriors and extrapolate from them for the later populations as a whole. For instance when the State of Israel became independent in 1948 the total number of Jews in the region was a little more than 600,000 and had only recently reached that figure. Many saw a parallel between this figure and the 600,000 who had come out of Egypt in the Exodus. This was despite the fact that the real number in the Exodus was several million.
According to the suggestions of the Chatam Sofer (quoted above) the number of Israelites is destined to reach 1,000, 000, 000 but that does not mean it already has done so.
Rebecca was blessed to become the mother of "alfei revavah" i.e. of "thousands of thousands of thousands." (Genesis 24:60). Israel was promised to be increased a thousand fold more than they already were (Deuteronomy 1:11). The Hebrew verb used here is "Yosef" indicating that the main increase may come through the Tribes of "Yosef" ("Joseph" in Hebrew) i.e. of Ephraim and Manasseh. Joseph had been promised an extra application of the Promised Blessings (Genesis 49:6).
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5. Juxtaposition "eleph" (thousand) compared to what?
Psalm 91:
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand [Hebrew, "revavah"] at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
1-Samuel 18:7 Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands [Hebrew: "Revavotav" i.e. his "revavot" from the root "revavah"].
Deuteronomy 33: 17... They are the millions [Hebrew: "revavot," plural of "revavah"] of Ephraim and [or "together with"] the thousands of Manasseh.
In all these examples the side that has "revavah" is predominant but shares with, and expounds upon, that of the thousands.
In the case of Ephraim and Manasseh, the order is different from other cases. It begins with the Revava and goes onto the thousands.
In other words the Revavah remains but is channelled through the thousands.
This corresponds with our understanding that in the USA descendants of Ephraim may be numerically superior but it is Manasseh that sets the tone.