Jacob seems to have a special relationship with his mitoh, his bed:
And [Jacob/Israel] said, “Swear to me.” And [Joseph] swore to him. Then Israel bowed at the head of the bed. (Gen. 47:30) … When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. (Gen. 48:2) … When Jacob finished his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and, breathing his last, he was gathered to his people. (Gen. 49:33)
Isn’t this odd?
Perhaps it is not. Because the word for “bed” mitoh, share the same letters for “staff”, mateh.
Why? What does it mean?
Perhaps it teaches us about fatherhood. Jacob was a distinctive father. Jacob was the first father who not only clearly engaged with his children (from Simeon and Levi in Shechem to Joseph, to his decisions during the famine), but he invested in them, especially from his bed. Jacob was referred to as “One Man,” ish echad.” The first two times it is used as a stand-alone phrase, it is specifically referring to Jacob:
“We are all of us sons of one man” (Gen. 42:11)
… And they replied, “We your servants were twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan.” (Gen. 42:13)
It is a peculiar phrase, and it is repeated only a few places in the Torah – yet each time it seems to refer directly back to the archetypal “one man,” Jacob!
Each of the tribes corresponds to one of the sons of Jacob, the first “one man.” And the text seems to suggest that each tribe is meant to have been cast from that same mold – “one man from the bed/staff of his father.”
Those are the enrollments recorded by Moses and Aaron and by the chieftains of Israel, who were twelve in number, one man from the house of his father. (Lev. 25:41) … Those are the enrollments recorded by Moses and Aaron and by the chieftains of Israel, who were twelve in number, they were one man from the house of his father. (Num. 1:44) … Send for you men to tour the land of Canaan that I am giving to the sons of Israel, one man, one man for the bed/staff of his father, you shall send for all a chieftain among them. (Num. 13:2) … I approved of the plan, and so I selected from among you twelve participants, one man from each tribe. (Deut. 1:23)
See the connections between bed, staff, and authority… all going back to Jacob. Those who are the representatives of Jacob’s authority are each called a mateh, in a complete sense coming from Jacob’s bed. That is how Jacob is described as the “one man,” and his sons, in turn are meant to be reflections of their forefather. They were, after all, the children of Israel. And he invested in each of them especially on his deathbed, when he addressed them each in turn.
What might we learn from this? At the very least, might it teach us that the more a father invests in his sons (as Jacob did), the more that singular person can create a lasting legacy?