ויאמר ישראל. עד שלא באה אליו רוח נבואה הזכירו הכתוב בשם יעקב ותחי רוח יעקב, משבאה אליו הרוח הזכירו בשם ישראל ויאמר ישראל, ויסע ישראל, ויאמר אלהים לישראל במראות הלילה. ומה שהקב"ה קראו יעקב והוא עצמו יתברך קרא שמו ישראל, מכיון שנסיעתו למצרים היתה להיותו גולה שם לא הזכירו בשם השררה רק בשם השפלות, ואחר שהקב"ה קראו בשם יעקב יזכירנו הכתוב ג"כ בשם הזה, ויקם יעקב מבאר שבע, את יעקב אביהם. ומה שכתוב וישאו בני ישראל, כי רצה להזכיר בירידה זו שני שמותיו ישראל ויעקב להורות שאע"פ שהוא עתה יעקב בירידה עתידים הבנים להגאל ולצאת ביד רמה ולחזור לשררותם ולגדולה ממנה, ומזה הוצרך להזכיר בני ישראל כי יכול היה הכתוב לומר וישאו בני יעקב את אביהם, וזהו שכתוב ואלו שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה יעקב ובניו, כי הבאים מצרימה הם יעקב ובניו והם עתידים להקרא בני ישראל ולהפקד במספר שמות.
ויאמר ישראל, “Yisrael said.” As long as his prophetic spirit had not been restored to him, the Torah referred to him only as Yaakov. Now that he had regained this additional spiritual dimension he is once more referred to as Yisrael. We have 18 instances from here until the end of the Book of Genesis where Yaakov is referred to as ישראל, such as 46,1; 46,5; 46,8; 46,29; to name but a few. The reason that G’d called him “Yaakov” in 46,2 whereas the Torah (G’d Himself) had referred to him as ישראל in the same verse was because the journey to Egypt was a voluntary exile on the part of Yaakov and it was not appropriate that the name Yisrael which denotes authority, victory, etc., should be applied to someone who exiles himself and subordinates himself to a human ruler. Once G’d had called him by the name Yaakov, it is not surprising to see that the Torah reverts to use of that name (compare 46,5, 46,6, 46,8, 46,19, 46,26, 46,27, etc.).
When the Torah (46,5) nonetheless speaks of וישאו בני ישראל את יעקב אביהם, “the sons of Israel carried their father Yaakov, etc.,” the message of the Torah is that Yaakov’s descent to Egypt involved both his names, i.e. although at this stage he had become an exile, ultimately, -through the exile experience in Egypt- he (his people) would be redeemed there and would emerge as more deserving of the name בני ישראל than before. This is the reason that in the verse mentioned the sons of Yaakov are referred to as בני ישראל rather than as the בני יעקב. The Torah could have simply written that “Yaakov’s sons carried him, etc.” We have this concept repeated at the beginning of the Book of Exodus where the Torah speaks of: “these are the children of Israel who came down to Egypt.” The same verse goes on naming them as “Yaakov and his sons.” These are the very ones who in the future would be called “the children of Israel.”
רב עוד יוסף בני חי. ע"ד הפשט לפי שאמר, לו שני דברים עוד יוסף חי וכי הוא מושל, השיב להם מה לי אם הוא מושל רב לי שהוא חי. רב, עוד יוסף בני חי, “it is indeed great! My son Joseph is still alive!” According to the plain meaning of the text the two separate exclamations by Israel refer to the two separate pieces of information that the brothers had brought with them. 1) The information that Joseph was alive. 2) The news that he occupied such a lofty position in Egypt. When Israel exclaimed רב!, he meant that the news that Joseph was alive was already sufficient good news. The fact that he occupied such a lofty position was an added bonus to the principal news that he was alive.
וע"ד המדרש רב עוד יוסף בני חי, שכר הרבה ורבוי טובה יש לי בעוה"ז ובעוה"ב כאשר יוסף בני חי, והוא כלשון (תהלים לא) מה רב טובך. והוסיף מלת עוד המורה על הענין להבא כמו שכתוב (תהלים פד) עוד יהללוך סלה. A Midrashic approach to this verse is that the exclamation רב, was meant to acknowledge Israel’s satisfaction at having been granted such a reward in his life on earth, whereas the second exclamation עוד, “in addition,” refers to the meta-physical dimension of this news, i.e. that his standing in the world to come would remain unimpaired, not as he had been afraid that the fact that he lost a child during his own lifetime was a sign that he had forfeited his claim to that world. Technically speaking, the use of both these exclamations in this sense is found in Psalms 31,20 מה רב טובך, whereas the word עוד in this sense is found in Psalms 84,5 עוד יהללוך סלה, “forever (even in the hereafter) they will praise You.”
ונראה לי כי לזה רמז אונקלוס שתרגם סגי לי חדוא, ואין רבוי שמחה כי אם לנפש לעוה"ב, כי שמחת העוה"ז דבר כלה ואף כי ליעקב שכל ימיו מצאוהו צרות רבות וכמו שדרשו רז"ל אין הבטחה לצדיקים בעוה"ז. וכלפי שאמר כשאבד ממנו כי ארד אל בני אבל שאולה, מפני שמיתת בנו בחייו הוא המעיד על רשעו ומפני זה היה מתירא מעונש גיהנם שהוא שאול, אמר עתה כשראהו חי כי בטוח הוא שיזכה לג"ע ולעוה"ב. I believe that this is also what Onkelos alluded to when he translated סגי לי חדוא , “great joy for me.” This kind of joy is of a type reserved for the hereafter. Joy in this life is something finite and only in the hereafter do we encounter something enduring. This in spite of the fact that Yaakov had experienced more than his fair share of disappointments during his life on earth [ — Compare his own words in Genesis 47,9. Ed.] Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 76,2 state that “promises made to the righteous by G’d are not ironclad as to their validity during the terrestrial life of the recipient (my translation).” When Yaakov had thought that he had lost Joseph and had said (37,35) “for I will go down to my grave mourning for my son,” this expressed his fear that he had forfeited eternal life. He had come to believe that both Joseph and he himself were slated for purgatory due to sins they had committed. Now that he heard that Joseph was alive he was certain that both he and his son would merit life in the hereafter.