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12 [1] **As the shepherd saves**—I.e, he saves little.
[2] **the cartilage of an ear** Heb. בְּדַל. [from *Jonathan*]
[3] **so will the children of Israel... be saved** I.e, very few people.
[4] **in the corner of a bed or in the corner of a couch** Heb. בִּפְאַת מִטָּה וּבִדְמֶשֶׁק עֶרֶשׂ. *Jonathan* renders: with the strength of rule and trusting in Damascus. I say that the interpretation of the *Targum* is as follows: Since, in the days of Jehoahaz son of Jehu it is written. (II Kings 13:7) “For the king of Aram had destroyed them,” and Jeroboam his grandson saved them partially, as it is said. (ibid. 14:27) “And the Lord did not speak to eradicate the name of Israel from under the heavens, and He saved them through Jeroboam the son of Joash.” (ibid. verse 25) “He restored the boundary of Israel.” And that is the meaning of ‘in the corner of a bed.’ The corner of a house is the strongest part of the house. Therefore, he translates. ‘with the strength of rule’ of Jeroboam, and Amos prophesied in the days of Jeroboam. He further prophesied that they would eventually rely on the kings of Aram, and so they did in the days of Pekah son of Remaliah. This is the meaning of וּבִדְמֶשֶׁק עֶרֶשׂ, and their couch will be Damascus. Their rest and trust will be on Damascus. And our Sages said in *Seder Olam* (ch. 22) Rabbi Nehorai said in the name of Rabbi Joshua: These are the ten tribes, which relied on Hezekiah, and on Judah, and escaped with them.
[5] **in the corner of a bed**—This teaches us that only one eighth of them was left. And the rest of the couch -where was it? In Damascus, to fulfill what is stated: (below 5:27) “And I will exile you beyond Damascus.” And I heard in the name of Rabbi Menahem of blessed memory, that he explained. This is one eighth, since it is not stated. “the corner of;” but “in the corner of a bed,” in part of it, in one of the two ends of a corner. That is an eighth of the bed, for it has four corners, and two ends of each corner. [This is Rabbi Menahem’s explanation of *Seder Olam* ch. 22. This is probably Rabbi Menahem ben Helbo, the author of *Pithronim*.] Another explanation I found in the words of Rabbi Meir of blessed memory, as follows: **In the corner of a bed**—Because of the sin of Ahaziah son of Ahab, who sent to inquire “of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this illness” (I Kings 1:2). **and in Damascus is the couch**—Ben-hadad, king of Aram, sent to inquire of the God of Israel (ibid. ch. 8).
Version: The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/en/items/NNL_ALEPH990019164710205171/NLI
License: CC-BY