Translation:Mikraot Gedolot/Genesis/37:3

Text

And Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was for him a son of old age and he made for him ​​a striped coat:

וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אָהַ֤ב אֶת־יוֹסֵף֙ מִכָּל־בָּנָ֔יו כִּֽי־בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים ה֖וּא ל֑וֹ וְעָ֥שָׂה ל֖וֹ כְּתֹ֥נֶת פַּסִּֽים׃

Rashi

a son of old age	בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים
He was born to him in his old age. And Onkelos translated it as, "A son of wisdom he was to him". What he had learned from [the yeshiva of] Shem and Ever, he handed over to him. Another explanation, that his features were similar [to Jacob’s]:	שנולד לו לעת זקנתו. ואונקלוס תרגם בר חכים הוא ליה כל מה שלמד משם ועבר מסר לו. דבר אחר שהיה זיו איקונין שלו דומה לו:
striped	פַּסִּֽים
This is using the language of "stripped coat", such as (Esther 1:6) "green and blue", and (Samuel II 13:18) "stripped coat", of Tamar and Amnon. An midrash (Genesis Rabbah 84:8) [says] that this is referring to his troubles [as an acrostic], that he was sold to Potifar (פוטיפר), to traders (סוחרים), to Ishmaelites (ישמעאלים) and to Midianites (מדינים).	לשון כלי מלת, כמו (אסתר א ו) כרפס ותכלת, וכמו (שמואל ב' יג יח) כתונת הפסים, דתמר ואמנון. ומדרש אגדה על שם צרותיו שנמכר לפוטיפר ולסוחרים ולישמעאלים ולמדינים:

Ibn Ezra

because he was for him a son of old age	כִּֽי־בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים ה֖וּא ל֑וֹ
Literally, that he [Jacob] had a child at the age of ninety-one years. Also his brother Benjamin was called "a child of his old age", and after these two, no more were born to him.	כמשמעו, כי הולידו והוא בן תשעים ואחת שנה גם כן אחיו בנימין קראו וילד זקונים ואחר אלה שניהם לא נולד לו.
striped	פַּסִּֽים
[This is refering to] an embroidered tunic, such as "פס ידא" in Aramaic.	כתונת מרוקמת. כמו: פס ידא בלשון ארמית.

Ramban

because he was for him a son of old age

כִּֽי־בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים ה֖וּא ל֑וֹ

He was born to him in his old age. And Onkelos translated it as, "A son of wisdom he was to him". What he had learned from [the yeshiva of] Shem and Ever, he handed over to him. This is the interpretation of Rashi. And said Rabbi Abraham [ibn Ezra], a son of old age that was born to him in old age, at the age of ninety-one years, and his brother Benjamin [was also] called a "little child of his old age" (Genesis 44:20). But this is not true to me, because Scripture said (above) "and he loved Joseph more than all his sons for he was a child of his old age", but all of his sons were born in his old age, and Issachar and Zebulun were not one year or two years older than Joseph. And seems to me that the custom of the elders was that they take one of their young sons to serve them, and he would lean on his arm and would never be parted from him, and he called him "a son of his old age", for he served him in old age, and here Jacob took Joseph for this thing and was always with him, and therefore he did not work with the sheep when they grazed in far away places. And Onkelos said "A son of wisdom". He wanted to say that he was a wise and knowledgeable son to his father, and he had understanding like elders. In the case of Benjamin, where is says] "child of his old age", [Onkelos] translates as "son of his old age" that it was not written here that said "he was a son of his old age," but [rather] it said "he was to him", which means in his eyes [i.e. that this was the way he perceived him as being wise]. As our sages say (Genesis Rabbah 84:8), what he had learned from [the yeshiva of] Shem and Ever, he handed over to him. This is to say that he [Jacob] told him [Joseph] the wisdom and secrets of the Torah and found him to be an intellectual and a master of the secrets [of the Torah] as if he was an elder and had many years.

שנולד לו בעת זקנתו. ואונקלוס תרגם: ארי בר חכים הוא ליה. שכל מה שלמד משם ועבר מסר לו. דבר אחר: שהיה זיו איקונין שלו דומה לו, לשון רש"י. וכן אמר רבי אברהם: כי בן זקונים שהולידו לזקוניו, והוא בן תשעים ואחת שנה, וגם אחיו בנימין קראו ילד זקונים קטן: ואיננו נכון בעיני, כי הכתוב אמר שאהב את יוסף מכל בניו בעבור שהוא בן זקונים, וגם כל בניו נולדו לו בזקוניו, והנה יששכר וזבולון אינם גדולים מיוסף רק כשנה או שנתים: והנראה בעיני כי מנהג הזקנים שיקחו אחד מבניהם הקטנים להיות עמו לשרתו, והוא נשען על ידו מיד לא יפרד ממנו, והוא נקרא לו בן זקוניו בעבור שישרתו לזקוניו, והנה לקח יעקב את יוסף לדבר הזה והיה עמו תמיד, ועל כן לא ילך עם הצאן ברעותם במקום רחוק: ואונקלוס שאמר: "בר חכים" ירצה לומר שהיה בן דעת וחכם בעיני אביו, וטעמו כטעם זקנים. ותרגם בילד זקונים, בר סבתין, כי לא אמר הכתוב בכאן "כי בן זקונים היה", אבל אמר "הוא לו", שהיה כן בעיניו. וזאת כונתם באמרם (ב"ר פד ח): כל מה שלמד משם ועבר מסר לו, לומר שמסר לו חכמות וסתרי תורה ומצאו משכיל ובעל סוד בהם כאלו היה זקן ורב ימים:

Rashbam

And Israel loved	וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אָהַ֤ב
All of this [extra attention to Joseph] caused jealousy [between the other sons of Jacob].	כל זה גרם הקנאה.
a son of old age	בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים
He was the last born of his [Jacob’s] eleven boys [other than Benjamin], but Benjamin was not born until long after and [this occurred] long before Benjamin was born, so he [Joseph] was "the child of his old age" and [Jacob] began to love him [the most].	כי אחרון היה לי"א בנים, אבל בנימין לא נולד אחרי כן עד זמן מרובה והרבה קודם שנולד בנימין, היה לו בן זקונים והתחיל לאוהבו.
striped	פַּסִּֽים
[This means] a coat.	מעיל.

Sforno

he made for him ​​a striped coat	וְעָ֥שָׂה ל֖וֹ כְּתֹ֥נֶת פַּסִּֽים
This was a signal that he [Yosef] will be the leader in the field and in the house, as in the matter of "and I will dress him in your tunic" (Isaiah 22:21), and this is like our sages, of blessed memory, said (Bava Kama 11a), "the eldest of the heirs, as it is in the interest of them all that his words should be respected."	לְאות שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הוּא הַמַּנְהִיג בַּבַּיִת וּבַשָּׂדֶה, כְּעִנְיָן "וְהִלְבַּשְׁתִּיו כֻּתָּנְתֶּךָ" (ישעיהו כב, כא), וּכְאָמְרָם זִכְרונָם לִבְרָכָה: "בִּגְדול אֲחֵי כִּי הֵיכִי דְּלִשְׁתַּמְעָן מִלֵּיהּ" (בבא קמא יא, ב).