Why did Yaakov use the double expression, "Heitev Eitiv"?
Rashi: "Heitev" - on his merit; "Eitiv" - on the merit of his fathers.
Ha'amek Davar: The good You will do for me will help also for others. Just like sand on the shore protects its 'mother,' i.e. the land (from the sea), so Yaakov's seed should protect their mothers.
Earlier (28:14), Hashem promised Yaakov that his children would be like 'the dust of the earth,' but not like 'the sand by the sea-shore'!
Rashi: Nevertheless, He promised Yaakov that He would not forsake him until He had fulfilled with him what He had promised Avraham about him; 1 and to Avraham He said "... like the stars of the heaven and the sand by the seashore" (22:17).
What are the implications of, "Asher Lo Yisafer me'Rov"?
Rashi (to Shmuel I 15:4): It implies that it is forbidden to count Yisrael [directly]. 1
Rashi: Which explains why Shaul counted the troops by exacting a lamb from each soldier (Shmuel ibid).
Why did Hashem promise [Avraham] that his children will be like the sand by the seashore?
Hadar Zekenim (to Shemos 2:12): Yisrael are compared to sand. If you make a cavity in sand, it gets filled in. So Yisrael [if some are removed, they are replaced]. 1
Also see 32:13:3.2:1.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "'Heitev Eitiv' - [Hashem said,] 'Heitev' in your own merit; [and] 'Eitiv' in the merit of your forefathers." Why can Rashi expound on this double expression; perhaps the Torah merely uses common expressions (Diberah Torah k'Lashon Bnei Adam)?
Gur Aryeh: Nevertheless, when it is evident that the verse must be expounded, we do so. 1 Yaakov certainly had both his own merits and those of his forefathers. Yaakov himself had alluded to this above, in 32:10, by invoking both of Hashem's promises. In the first, Hashem addresses him as "The G-d of your father Avraham, and the G-d of Yitzchak" (28:13); in the second, Hashem addresses Yaakov directly (31:3). 2
Rashi writes (to 32:11) that Yaakov feared lest his sins cause his defeat. If so, what was the gist of his current request?
Ramban: He nevertheless pleaded with Hashem that, since, notwithstanding his sins, He had performed with him so many undeserved kindnesses, how much more so should He carry out the promises that He had made him to do good to him and to increase his children. 1
Rashbam and Seforno: Granted, he might be unworthy of salvation due to his sins; yet he prayed to Hashem to keep His promise for the sake of His honor of His Name. 2 Because, if his fears materialize, and he sees the destruction of his family, the very opposite of Hashem's promise (to do good with him) will occur; and if his children are killed, the very opposite of the promise that He will make his offspring like the sand of the sea (Seforno). 3
Seeing as ultimately, Hashem's promises depended, not on Yaakov's merits, but on Hashem's abundant kindnesses.
Like Moshe did after the sin of the Egel (Shemos 32:13), and after the sin of the Meraglim (Bamidbar 14:16). In both cases, this argument was accepted (Shemos 32:14; Bamidbar 14:20).
Seforno: As the Pasuk says, "If our sins testify against us, do it for the sake of Your Name!" (Yirmeyahu 14:7).
Rashi writes: "I shall make your offspring like the sand of the sea - When had Hashem said this to Yaakov? He said only, 'like the dust of the earth' (28:14)! ... To Avraham, He had said, 'I shall increase your offspring like the sand on the sea shore' (22:17)." Why in fact didn't Yaakov invoke the first promise, which Hashem had addressed directly to him?
Gur Aryeh: Yaakov invoked the promise Hashem made to Avraham. This would be more powerful, for the fear that sin had annulled the promise was not so much of a concern. Hashem recalls the kindnesses of the forefathers for their children, even when the latter are not entirely worthy.
Rashi writes: "'Like the sand of the sea' - ... To Yaakov, He had only said, 'like the dust of the earth' (28:14)!" In fact, Hashem had made this promise to Avraham (Bereishis 13:16), as well as to Yaakov! If so, why didn't Yaakov invoke 'the dust of the earth'?
Gur Aryeh: Hashem compared the Bnei Yisrael to three things in His blessings to the Avos - a) to the stars, b) to the sand of the sea, c) to the dust of the earth. Each of these metaphors has its own unique meaning. Each star is important, each has its own name; thus, they can be counted. 1 Sand, though not as important, is innumerable; and its power derives from its quantity. Dust of the earth, like a spring, is unlimited; even after being cleared away, it becomes replenished. Yaakov was praying that his numbers not be diminished by Esav; therefore the appropriate blessing to invoke was that of the sand.
Gur Aryeh: See Yeshayah 40:26. The Bnei Yisrael were compared to the stars in the times of Moshe (Devarim 1:10); and to the sand in the days of Shlomo (Melachim I 4:20).
