Toledot
Encyclopedia
Toledot, Toldot, or Tol'doth ( — Hebrew
for “generations” or “descendants,” the second word and the first distinctive word in the parshah) is the sixth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
. It constitutes Genesis . Jews in the Diaspora
read it the sixth Sabbath
after Simchat Torah
, generally in November or early December.
was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, and when she proved barren
, Isaac pleaded with God
on her behalf, and God allowed Rebekah to conceive
. As twin
s struggled in her womb, she inquired of God, who answered her that two separate nations were in her womb, one mightier than the other, and the older would serve the younger. When Rebekah gave birth, the first twin emerged red and hairy, so they named him Esau
, and his brother emerged holding Esau’s heel, so they named him Jacob
. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
Esau became a skillful hunter
and outdoorsman, but Jacob remained a mild man and camp-bound. Isaac favored Esau for his game, but Rebekah favored Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking, Esau returned to the camp famished and demanded some of Jacob’s red stew. Jacob demanded that Esau first sell him his birthright, and Esau did so with an oath, spurning his birthright.
struck the land, and Isaac went to the house of the Philistine
King Abimelech
in Gerar
. God told Isaac not to go down to Egypt
, but to stay in the land
that God would show him, for God would remain with him, bless
him, and assign the land to him and his numerous heirs, as God had sworn to Abraham
, who had obeyed God and kept God’s commandments.
When the men of Gerar asked Isaac about his beautiful wife, he said that she was his sister
out of fear that the men might kill him on account of her. But looking out of the window, Abimelech saw Isaac fondling Rebekah, and Abimelech summoned Isaac to complain that Isaac had called her his sister. Isaac explained that he had done so to save his life. Abimelech complained that one of the people might have lain with her, and Isaac would have brought guilt upon the Philistines, and Abimelech charged the people not to molest Isaac or Rebekah, on pain of death.
God blessed Isaac, who reaped bountiful harvests and grew very wealthy, to the envy of the Philistines. The Philistines stopped up all the wells that Abraham’s servants had dug, and Abimelech sent Isaac away, for his household had become too big. So Isaac left to settle in the wadi of Gerar, where he dug anew the wells that Abraham’s servants had dug and called them by the same names that his father had. But when Isaac's servants dug two new wells, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and claimed them for their own, so Isaac named those wells Esek and Sitnah. Isaac moved on and dug a third well, and they did not quarrel over it, so he named it Rehoboth
.
Isaac went to Beersheba
, and that night God appeared to Isaac, telling Isaac not to fear, for God was with him, and would bless him and increase his offspring for Abraham’s sake. So Isaac built an altar and invoked the Lord by name. And Isaac pitched his tent there and his servants began digging a well.
Then Abimelech, Ahuzzath his councilor, and Phicol
his general came to Isaac, and Isaac asked them why they had come, since they had driven Isaac away. They answered that they now recognized that God had been with Isaac, and sought a treaty that neither would harm the other. Isaac threw a feast for the Philistines, and the next morning, they exchanged oaths and the Philistines departed from him in peace. Later in the day, Isaac's servants told him that they had found water, and Isaac named the well Shibah, so that place became known as Beersheba.
When Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women, Judith
and Basemath, causing bitterness for Isaac and Rebekah.
When Jacob went to Isaac, he asked which of his sons had arrived, and Jacob said that he was Esau and asked for Isaac’s blessing. Isaac asked him how he had succeeded so quickly, and he said that God had granted him good fortune. Isaac asked Jacob to come closer that Isaac might feel him to determine whether he was really Esau. Isaac felt him and wondered that the voice was Jacob’s, but the hands were Esau’s. Isaac questioned if it was really Esau, and when Jacob assured him, Isaac asked for the game and Jacob served him the kids and wine. Isaac bade his son to come close and kiss him, and Isaac smelled his clothes, remarking that he smelled like the fields. Isaac blessed Jacob, asking God to give him abundance, make peoples serve him, make him master over his brothers, curse those who cursed him, and bless those who blessed him.
Just as Jacob left, Esau returned from the hunt, prepared a dish for Isaac, and asked Isaac for his blessing. Isaac asked who he was, and Esau said that it was he. Isaac trembled and asked who it was then who had served him, received his blessing, and now must remain blessed. Esau burst into sobbing, and asked Isaac to bless him too, but Isaac answered that Jacob had taken Esau’s blessing with guile. Esau asked whether Jacob had been so named that he might supplant Esau twice, first taking his birthright and now his blessing. Esau asked Isaac whether he had not reserved a blessing for Esau, but Isaac answered that he had made Jacob master over him and sustained him with grain and wine, and asked what, then, he could still do for Esau. Esau wept and pressed Isaac to bless him, too, so Isaac blessed him to enjoy the fat of the earth and the dew of heaven, to live by his sword and to serve his brother, but also to break his yoke.
Esau harbored a grudge against Jacob, and told himself that he would kill Jacob upon Isaac’s death. When Esau’s words reached Rebekah, she told Jacob to flee to Haran
and her brother Laban
and remain there until Esau’s fury subsided and Rebekah fetched him from there, so that Rebekah would not lose both sons in one day. Rebekah told Isaac her disgust with the idea that Jacob might marry a Hittite woman, so Isaac sent for Jacob, blessed him, and instructed him not to take a Canaan
ite wife, but to go to Padan-aram and the house of Bethuel
to take a wife from among Laban’s daughters. And Isaac blessed Jacob with fertility and the blessing of Abraham, that he might possess the land that God had assigned to Abraham.
When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and charged him not to take a Canaanite wife, Esau realized that the Canaanite women displeased Isaac, and Esau married Ishmael
’s daughter Mahalath.
argued that one may deduce from Isaac’s example that a man may remain for 20 years with an infertile wife. For of Isaac, says, “And Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca . . . to be his wife,” and says, “And Isaac was 60 years old when she bore them” (which shows that Isaac waited 20 years). Rav Nachman
replied that Isaac was infertile (and he knew that the couple was childless because of him). Rabbi Isaac deduced that Isaac was infertile from which says, “And Isaac entreated the Lord opposite his wife.” Rabbi Isaac taught that does not say “for his wife” but “opposite his wife.” Rabbi Isaac deduced from this that both were barren (as he had to pray for himself as well as her). The Gemara
countered that if this were so, then should not read, “And the Lord let Himself be entreated by him,” but rather should read, “And the Lord let Himself be entreated by them” (as Isaac's prayer was on behalf of them both). But the Gemara explained that reads, “And the Lord let Himself be entreated by him,” because the prayer of a righteous person who is the child of a righteous person (Isaac son of Abraham) is even more effective than the prayer of a righteous person who is the child of a wicked person (Rebekah daughter of Bethuel). Rabbi Isaac taught that the Patriarchs
and Matriarchs were infertile because God longs to hear the prayer of the righteous. (Babylonian Talmud
Yevamot 64a.)
Noting that the three-letter root used in can mean either “entreat” or “pitchfork,” Rabbi Eleazar (or others say Rabbi Isaac) taught that the prayers of the righteous are like a pitchfork. Just as the pitchfork turns the grain from place to place in the barn, so the prayers of the righteous turn the mind of God from the attribute of harshness to that of mercy. (Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 14a (Rabbi Eleazar), Yevamot 64a (Rabbi Isaac).)
Reading the words, “and she went to inquire of the Lord,” in a Midrash
wondered how Rebekah asked God about her pregnancy, and whether there were synagogues and houses of study in those days. The Midrash concluded that Rebekah went to the school of Shem
and Eber
to inquire. The Midrash deduced that this teaches that to visit a Sage
is like visiting the Divine Presence. (Genesis Rabba
h 63:6.)
The Rabbis of the Talmud read Edom to stand for Rome
. Thus, Rav Nahman bar Isaac
interpreted the words, “and the one people shall be stronger than the other people,” in to teach that at any one time, one of Israel and Rome will be ascendant, and the other will be subjugated. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 6a.)
Rabbi Haninah taught that Esau paid great attention to his parent (horo), his father, whom he supplied with meals, as reports, “Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison.” Rabbi Samuel the son of Rabbi Gedaliah concluded that God decided to reward Esau for this. When Jacob offered Esau gifts, Esau answered Jacob in “I have enough ; do not trouble yourself.” So God declared that with the same expression that Esau thus paid respect to Jacob, God would command Jacob’s descendants not to trouble Esau’s descendants, and thus God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy “You have circled this mountain long enough .” (Deuteronomy Rabbah
1:17.)
A Tanna
taught in a Baraita
that the day recounted in on which Esau spurned his birthright was also the day on which Abraham died, and Jacob was cooking lentils to comfort Isaac. In the Land of Israel they taught in the name of Rabbah bar Mari that it was appropriate to cook lentils because just as the lentil has no mouth (no groove like other legumes), so the mourner has no mouth to talk but sits silently. Others explained that just as the lentil is round, so mourning comes round to all people. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 16b.)
Rabbi Johanan
taught that Esau committed five sins on the day recounted in Rabbi Johanan deduced from the similar use of the words “the field” in and in connection with the betrothed maiden in that Esau dishonored a betrothed maiden. Rabbi Johanan deduced from the similar use of the word “faint” in and in connection with murderers in Jeremiah
that Esau committed a murder. Rabbi Johanan deduced from the similar use of the word “this” in and in the words “This is my God” in Exodus that Esau denied belief in God. Rabbi Johanan deduced from Esau’s words, “Behold, I am on the way to die,” in that Esau denied the resurrection of the dead. And for Esau’s fifth sin, Rabbi Johanan cited the report of that “Esau despised his birthright.” (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 16b.)
and Tosefta
deduced from that Abraham kept the entire Torah even before it was revealed. (Mishnah Kiddushin 4:14; Tosefta Kiddushin 5:21; Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 82a.)
The Tosefta deduced from the contrast between the plenty indicated in and the famine indicated in that God gave the people food and drink and a glimpse of the world to come while the righteous Abraham was alive, so that the people might understand what they had lost when he was gone. (Tosefta Sotah 10:5.) The Tosefta reported that when Abraham was alive, the wells gushed forth water, but the Philistines filled the wells with earth (as reported in ), for after Abraham died the wells no longer gushed forth water, and the Philistines filled them so that they would not pose a hazard to travelers. But when Isaac came along, the wells gushed water again (as indicated in ) and there was plenty again (as indicated in ) (Tosefta Sotah 10:6.)
Interpreting God’s command to Isaac in not to go to Egypt, Rabbi Hoshaya taught that God told Isaac that he was (by virtue of his near sacrifice in ) a burnt-offering without blemish, and as a burnt offering became unfit if it was taken outside of the Temple grounds, so would Isaac become unfit if he went outside of the Promised Land. (Genesis Rabbah 64:3.)
Rabbi Dosetai
ben Yannai said in the name of Rabbi Meir
that when God told Isaac that God would bless him for Abraham’s sake , Isaac interpreted that one earns a blessing only through one’s actions, and he arose and sowed, as reported in (Tosefta Berakhot 6:8.)
Reading the verb “to see” repeated in the passage “We saw plainly” in a Midrash taught that Abimelech and his party had seen two things — Isaac’s deeds and the deeds of his parents. (Genesis Rabbah 64:10.)
Reading the report of Esau’s marriage to two Hittite women in a Midrash found signs of the duplicity of Esau and his spiritual descendants, the Romans. Rabbi Phinehas (and other say Rabbi Helkiah) taught in Rabbi Simon’s name that Moses
and Asaph
(author of Psalm
) exposed the Romans’ deception. Asaph said in “The boar of the wood ravages it.” While Moses said in “you shall not eat of . . . the swine, because he parts the hoof but does not chew the cud.” The Midrash explained that Scripture compares the Roman Empire to a swine, because when the swine lies down, it puts out its parted hoofs, as if to advertise that it is clean. And so the Midrash taught that the wicked Roman Empire robbed and oppressed, yet pretended to execute justice. So the Midrash taught that for 40 years, Esau would ensnare married women and violate them, yet when he reached the age of 40, he compared himself to his righteous father Isaac, telling himself that as his father Isaac was 40 years old when he married (as reported in ), so he too would marry at the age of 40. (Genesis Rabbah 65:1.)
, Abraham’s servant, was an elder and a member of the scholars’ council, as says, “And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all he had,” which Rabbi Eleazar explained to mean that he ruled over — and thus knew and had control of — the Torah of his master. Isaac was an elder and a member of the scholars’ council, as says: “And it came to pass when Isaac was an elder .” Jacob was an elder and a member of the scholars’ council, as says, “Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age .” In Egypt they had the scholars’ council, as says, “Go and gather the elders of Israel together.” And in the Wilderness, they had the scholars’ council, as in God directed Moses to “Gather . . . 70 men of the elders of Israel.” (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 28b.)
Rabbi Eleazar taught that Isaac’s blindness, reported in was caused by his looking at the wicked Esau. But Rabbi Isaac taught that Abimelech’s curse of Sarah caused her son Isaac’s blindness. Rabbi Isaac read the words, “it is for you a covering (kesut) of the eyes,” in not as kesut, “covering,” but as kesiyat, “blinding.” Rabbi Isaac concluded that one should not consider a small matter the curse of even an ordinary person. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 28a; see also Babylonian Talmud Bava Kamma 93a.) Alternatively, a Midrash interpreted the words “his eyes were dim from seeing” in to teach that Isaac’s eyesight dimmed as a result of his near sacrifice in for when Abraham bound Isaac, the ministering angels wept, as Isaiah
says, “Behold, their valiant ones cry without, the angels of peace weep bitterly,” and tears dropped from the angels’ eyes into Isaac’s, leaving their mark and causing Isaac’s eyes to dim when he became old. (Genesis Rabbah 65:10.)
Rabbi Eleazar taught that deceptive speech is like idolatry. Rabbi Eleazar deduced the similarity from the common use of the word “deceiver” to describe Jacob’s deception his father in where Jacob says, “I shall seem to him as a deceiver,” and to describe idols in where idols are described as “the work of deceivers.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 92a.)
But the Gemara cited Jacob as the exemplar of one who, in the words of “has no slander on his tongue,” as Jacob’s protest to Rebekah in “I shall seem to him as a deceiver,” demonstrated that Jacob did not take readily to deception. (Babylonian Talmud Makkot 24a.)
Rabbi Johanan taught that when Jacob explained his rapid success in obtaining the meat by saying in that it was “because the Lord your God sent me good speed,” he was like a raven bringing fire to his nest, courting disaster. For when Jacob said “the Lord your God sent me good speed,” Isaac thought to himself that he knew that Esau did not customarily mention the name of God, and if the person before him did so, he must not have been Esau but Jacob. Consequently, Isaac told him in “Come near, I pray, that I may feel you, my son.” (Genesis Rabbah 65:19.)
Reading Isaac’s observation in “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed,” Rav Judah the son of Rav Samuel bar Shilat said in the name of Rav
that Jacob smelled like an apple orchard. (Babylonian Talmud Taanit 29b.)
Rabbi Judah ben Pazi interpreted Isaac’s blessing of Jacob with dew in merely to pass along to his son what God had deeded to his father Abraham for all time. (Jerusalem Talmud
Berakhot 55b.) And Rabbi Ishmael
deduced from Isaac’s curse of those who cursed Jacob and blessing of those who blessed Jacob in that Jews need not respond to those who curse or bless them, for the Torah has already decreed the response. (Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 85b.)
Interpreting why in “Isaac trembled very exceedingly,” Rabbi Johanan observed that it was surely unusual for a man who has two sons to tremble when one goes out and the other comes in. Rabbi Johanan taught that Isaac trembled because when Esau came in, Gehenna
came in with him. Rabbi Aha said that the walls of the house began to seethe from the heat of Gehenna. Hence asks, “who then ?” for Isaac asked who would be roast (leafot) in Gehenna, him or Jacob? (Genesis Rabbah 77:2.)
Rabbi Hama ben Hanina interpreted the question “who then?” in to ask who then intervened between Isaac and God that Jacob should receive the blessings. Rabbi Hama ben Hanina taught that Isaac thereby hinted at Rebekah’s intervention. (Genesis Rabbah 77:2.)
Reading Rabbi Eleazar contrasted Esau’s jealousy with Reuben’s
magnanimity. As reports, Esau voluntarily sold his birthright, but as says, “Esau hated Jacob,” and as says, “And he said, ‘Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he has supplanted me these two times.’” In Reuben’s case, Joseph
took Reuben’s birthright from him against his will, as 1 Chronicles
reports, “for as much as he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph.” Nonetheless, Reuben was not jealous of Joseph, as reports, “And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 7b.)
), at the close of the fourth blessing (of thanks for God’s goodness), Jews allude to God’s blessing of the Patriarchs described in , , and . (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 172. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3. Reuven Hammer. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
for Shabbat and Festivals, 342. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
, Sephardi Jews
each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parsha. For Parsha Toledot, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Mahour, the maqam that portrays emotional instability and anger. This maqam is similar to Maqam Rast in tone. It is appropriate, because in this parsha, Esau portrays these character traits as he loses out on the major blessings.
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
, there are no commandments
in the parshah. (Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
. Cairo
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:87. 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
for the parshah is:
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Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
for “generations” or “descendants,” the second word and the first distinctive word in the parshah) is the sixth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
. It constitutes Genesis . Jews in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
read it the sixth Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
after Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle...
, generally in November or early December.
Summary
Esau and Jacob
IsaacIsaac
Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, and when she proved barren
Infertility
Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term...
, Isaac pleaded with God
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
on her behalf, and God allowed Rebekah to conceive
Fertilisation
Fertilisation is the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism. In animals, the process involves the fusion of an ovum with a sperm, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo...
. As twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
s struggled in her womb, she inquired of God, who answered her that two separate nations were in her womb, one mightier than the other, and the older would serve the younger. When Rebekah gave birth, the first twin emerged red and hairy, so they named him Esau
Esau
Esau , in the Hebrew Bible, is the oldest son of Isaac. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and by the minor prophets, Obadiah and Malachi. The New Testament later references him in the Book of Romans and the Book of Hebrews....
, and his brother emerged holding Esau’s heel, so they named him Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
Esau became a skillful hunter
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and outdoorsman, but Jacob remained a mild man and camp-bound. Isaac favored Esau for his game, but Rebekah favored Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking, Esau returned to the camp famished and demanded some of Jacob’s red stew. Jacob demanded that Esau first sell him his birthright, and Esau did so with an oath, spurning his birthright.
Wife as sister
Another famineFamine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
struck the land, and Isaac went to the house of the Philistine
Philistines
Philistines , Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age . According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with...
King Abimelech
Abimelech
Abimelech was a common name of the Philistine kings.Abimelech was most prominently the name of a king of Gerar who is mentioned in two of the three wife-sister narratives in Genesis...
in Gerar
Gerar
Gerar - meaning "lodging-place" - was a Philistine town and district in what is today south central Israel. Archaeological evidence points to the town having come into existence with the arrival of the Philistines at around 1200 BC and having been little more than a village until 800-700...
. God told Isaac not to go down to Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, but to stay in the land
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
that God would show him, for God would remain with him, bless
Blessing
A blessing, is the infusion of something with holiness, spiritual redemption, divine will, or one's hope or approval.- Etymology and Germanic paganism :...
him, and assign the land to him and his numerous heirs, as God had sworn to Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, who had obeyed God and kept God’s commandments.
When the men of Gerar asked Isaac about his beautiful wife, he said that she was his sister
Wife-sister narratives in Genesis
There are three wife-sister narratives in Genesis, part of the Torah, all of which are strikingly similar. At the core of each is the tale of a Biblical Patriarch, who has come to be in the land of a powerful foreign overlord who misidentifies the Patriarch's wife as the Patriarch's sister, and...
out of fear that the men might kill him on account of her. But looking out of the window, Abimelech saw Isaac fondling Rebekah, and Abimelech summoned Isaac to complain that Isaac had called her his sister. Isaac explained that he had done so to save his life. Abimelech complained that one of the people might have lain with her, and Isaac would have brought guilt upon the Philistines, and Abimelech charged the people not to molest Isaac or Rebekah, on pain of death.
God blessed Isaac, who reaped bountiful harvests and grew very wealthy, to the envy of the Philistines. The Philistines stopped up all the wells that Abraham’s servants had dug, and Abimelech sent Isaac away, for his household had become too big. So Isaac left to settle in the wadi of Gerar, where he dug anew the wells that Abraham’s servants had dug and called them by the same names that his father had. But when Isaac's servants dug two new wells, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and claimed them for their own, so Isaac named those wells Esek and Sitnah. Isaac moved on and dug a third well, and they did not quarrel over it, so he named it Rehoboth
Rehoboth (Bible)
Rehoboth is the name of three Biblical places:* A well in Gerar dug by Isaac , supposed to be in Wady er-Ruheibeh, about 20 miles south of Beersheba.* An ancient city from which came Saul, an Edomite king Rehoboth is the name of three Biblical places:* A well in Gerar dug by Isaac (Gen. 26:22),...
.
Isaac went to Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
, and that night God appeared to Isaac, telling Isaac not to fear, for God was with him, and would bless him and increase his offspring for Abraham’s sake. So Isaac built an altar and invoked the Lord by name. And Isaac pitched his tent there and his servants began digging a well.
Then Abimelech, Ahuzzath his councilor, and Phicol
Phicol
Phicol, also spelled Phichol or Phikol, was a Philistine military leader.Phicol was the chief captain of the army of Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar...
his general came to Isaac, and Isaac asked them why they had come, since they had driven Isaac away. They answered that they now recognized that God had been with Isaac, and sought a treaty that neither would harm the other. Isaac threw a feast for the Philistines, and the next morning, they exchanged oaths and the Philistines departed from him in peace. Later in the day, Isaac's servants told him that they had found water, and Isaac named the well Shibah, so that place became known as Beersheba.
When Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women, Judith
Judith (Genesis)
Judith , the feminine form of Judah.Judith is the name of one of the two Hittite wives of Esau in the Book of Genesis 26:34. Reportedly, Esau's two wives were a great deal of annoyance to his parents Isaac and Rebekah. As with in-laws in contemporary times, it is not uncommon for a few families to...
and Basemath, causing bitterness for Isaac and Rebekah.
Isaac’s blessing
When Isaac was old and his sight had dimmed, he called Esau and asked him to hunt some game and prepare a dish, so that Isaac might give him his innermost blessing before he died. Rebekah had been listening, and when Esau departed, she instructed Jacob to fetch her two choice kids so that she might prepare a dish that Jacob could take to Isaac and receive his blessing. Jacob complained to Rebekah that since Esau was hairy, Isaac might touch him, discover him to be a trickster, and curse him. But Rebekah called the curse upon herself, insisting that Jacob do as she directed. So Jacob got the kids, and Rebekah prepared a dish, had Jacob put on Esau’s best clothes, and covered Jacob’s hands and neck with the kid’s skins.When Jacob went to Isaac, he asked which of his sons had arrived, and Jacob said that he was Esau and asked for Isaac’s blessing. Isaac asked him how he had succeeded so quickly, and he said that God had granted him good fortune. Isaac asked Jacob to come closer that Isaac might feel him to determine whether he was really Esau. Isaac felt him and wondered that the voice was Jacob’s, but the hands were Esau’s. Isaac questioned if it was really Esau, and when Jacob assured him, Isaac asked for the game and Jacob served him the kids and wine. Isaac bade his son to come close and kiss him, and Isaac smelled his clothes, remarking that he smelled like the fields. Isaac blessed Jacob, asking God to give him abundance, make peoples serve him, make him master over his brothers, curse those who cursed him, and bless those who blessed him.
Esau harbored a grudge against Jacob, and told himself that he would kill Jacob upon Isaac’s death. When Esau’s words reached Rebekah, she told Jacob to flee to Haran
Haran
Haran or Aran is a figure in Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Haran was born in Ur Kaśdim , the son of Terah and thus a descendant of Shem. Haran's brothers were Abram/Abraham and Nahor...
and her brother Laban
Laban (Bible)
Laban is the son of Bethuel, brother of Rebekah and the father of Leah and Rachel and Bilhah and Zilpah as described in the Book of Genesis. As such he is brother-in-law to Isaac and both father-in-law and uncle to Jacob...
and remain there until Esau’s fury subsided and Rebekah fetched him from there, so that Rebekah would not lose both sons in one day. Rebekah told Isaac her disgust with the idea that Jacob might marry a Hittite woman, so Isaac sent for Jacob, blessed him, and instructed him not to take a Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ite wife, but to go to Padan-aram and the house of Bethuel
Bethuel
Bethuel , in the Hebrew Bible, was an Aramean man, the youngest son of Nahor and Milcah, the nephew of Abraham, and the father of Laban and Rebekah....
to take a wife from among Laban’s daughters. And Isaac blessed Jacob with fertility and the blessing of Abraham, that he might possess the land that God had assigned to Abraham.
When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and charged him not to take a Canaanite wife, Esau realized that the Canaanite women displeased Isaac, and Esau married Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...
’s daughter Mahalath.
Genesis chapter 25
RavaRava (amora)
For the third generation Amora sage of Babylon, with a similar name, see: Joseph b. Hama .Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama, who is exclusively referred to in the Talmud by the name Rava , was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora, born in 270. He is one of the most often-cited Rabbis...
argued that one may deduce from Isaac’s example that a man may remain for 20 years with an infertile wife. For of Isaac, says, “And Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca . . . to be his wife,” and says, “And Isaac was 60 years old when she bore them” (which shows that Isaac waited 20 years). Rav Nachman
Rav Nachman
Rav Nachman bar Yaakov was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the third generation, and pupil of Samuel of Nehardea. He was chief justice of the Jews who were subject to the exilarch , and was also head of the school of Nehardea...
replied that Isaac was infertile (and he knew that the couple was childless because of him). Rabbi Isaac deduced that Isaac was infertile from which says, “And Isaac entreated the Lord opposite his wife.” Rabbi Isaac taught that does not say “for his wife” but “opposite his wife.” Rabbi Isaac deduced from this that both were barren (as he had to pray for himself as well as her). The Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
countered that if this were so, then should not read, “And the Lord let Himself be entreated by him,” but rather should read, “And the Lord let Himself be entreated by them” (as Isaac's prayer was on behalf of them both). But the Gemara explained that reads, “And the Lord let Himself be entreated by him,” because the prayer of a righteous person who is the child of a righteous person (Isaac son of Abraham) is even more effective than the prayer of a righteous person who is the child of a wicked person (Rebekah daughter of Bethuel). Rabbi Isaac taught that the Patriarchs
Patriarchs (Bible)
The Patriarchs of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, the ancestor of all the Abrahamic nations; his son Isaac, the ancestor of the nations surrounding Israel/Judah; and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites...
and Matriarchs were infertile because God longs to hear the prayer of the righteous. (Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
Yevamot 64a.)
Noting that the three-letter root used in can mean either “entreat” or “pitchfork,” Rabbi Eleazar (or others say Rabbi Isaac) taught that the prayers of the righteous are like a pitchfork. Just as the pitchfork turns the grain from place to place in the barn, so the prayers of the righteous turn the mind of God from the attribute of harshness to that of mercy. (Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 14a (Rabbi Eleazar), Yevamot 64a (Rabbi Isaac).)
Reading the words, “and she went to inquire of the Lord,” in a Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
wondered how Rebekah asked God about her pregnancy, and whether there were synagogues and houses of study in those days. The Midrash concluded that Rebekah went to the school of Shem
Shem
Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...
and Eber
Eber
Eber is an ancestor of the Israelites, according to the "Table of Nations" in and . He was a great-grandson of Noah's son Shem and the father of Peleg born when Eber was 34 years old, and of Joktan. He was the son of Shelah a distant ancestor of Abraham...
to inquire. The Midrash deduced that this teaches that to visit a Sage
Wise old man
The wise old man is an archetype as described by Carl Jung, as well as a classic literary figure, and may be seen as a stock character...
is like visiting the Divine Presence. (Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabba is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis ....
h 63:6.)
The Rabbis of the Talmud read Edom to stand for Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. Thus, Rav Nahman bar Isaac
Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak
Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak or Rabh Naħman bar Yişħaq in actual Talmudic and Classical Hebrew was an amora who lived in Babylonia. He was a disciple of Abaye and Rava and the dean of the yeshiva at Pumbedita....
interpreted the words, “and the one people shall be stronger than the other people,” in to teach that at any one time, one of Israel and Rome will be ascendant, and the other will be subjugated. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 6a.)
Rabbi Haninah taught that Esau paid great attention to his parent (horo), his father, whom he supplied with meals, as reports, “Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison.” Rabbi Samuel the son of Rabbi Gedaliah concluded that God decided to reward Esau for this. When Jacob offered Esau gifts, Esau answered Jacob in “I have enough ; do not trouble yourself.” So God declared that with the same expression that Esau thus paid respect to Jacob, God would command Jacob’s descendants not to trouble Esau’s descendants, and thus God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy “You have circled this mountain long enough .” (Deuteronomy Rabbah
Deuteronomy Rabbah
Deuteronomy Rabbah is an aggadic midrash or homiletic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy. Unlike Bereshit Rabbah, the Midrash to Deuteronomy which has been included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot in the ordinary editions does not contain running commentaries on the text of the Bible,...
1:17.)
A Tanna
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
taught in a Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
that the day recounted in on which Esau spurned his birthright was also the day on which Abraham died, and Jacob was cooking lentils to comfort Isaac. In the Land of Israel they taught in the name of Rabbah bar Mari that it was appropriate to cook lentils because just as the lentil has no mouth (no groove like other legumes), so the mourner has no mouth to talk but sits silently. Others explained that just as the lentil is round, so mourning comes round to all people. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 16b.)
Rabbi Johanan
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
taught that Esau committed five sins on the day recounted in Rabbi Johanan deduced from the similar use of the words “the field” in and in connection with the betrothed maiden in that Esau dishonored a betrothed maiden. Rabbi Johanan deduced from the similar use of the word “faint” in and in connection with murderers in Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
that Esau committed a murder. Rabbi Johanan deduced from the similar use of the word “this” in and in the words “This is my God” in Exodus that Esau denied belief in God. Rabbi Johanan deduced from Esau’s words, “Behold, I am on the way to die,” in that Esau denied the resurrection of the dead. And for Esau’s fifth sin, Rabbi Johanan cited the report of that “Esau despised his birthright.” (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 16b.)
Genesis chapter 26
A Midrash cited to show that there is double rejoicing in the case of a righteous one who is the child of a righteous one. (Genesis Rabbah 63:1.) The MishnahMishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
and Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
deduced from that Abraham kept the entire Torah even before it was revealed. (Mishnah Kiddushin 4:14; Tosefta Kiddushin 5:21; Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 82a.)
The Tosefta deduced from the contrast between the plenty indicated in and the famine indicated in that God gave the people food and drink and a glimpse of the world to come while the righteous Abraham was alive, so that the people might understand what they had lost when he was gone. (Tosefta Sotah 10:5.) The Tosefta reported that when Abraham was alive, the wells gushed forth water, but the Philistines filled the wells with earth (as reported in ), for after Abraham died the wells no longer gushed forth water, and the Philistines filled them so that they would not pose a hazard to travelers. But when Isaac came along, the wells gushed water again (as indicated in ) and there was plenty again (as indicated in ) (Tosefta Sotah 10:6.)
Interpreting God’s command to Isaac in not to go to Egypt, Rabbi Hoshaya taught that God told Isaac that he was (by virtue of his near sacrifice in ) a burnt-offering without blemish, and as a burnt offering became unfit if it was taken outside of the Temple grounds, so would Isaac become unfit if he went outside of the Promised Land. (Genesis Rabbah 64:3.)
Rabbi Dosetai
Dosetai
Dosetai is a Greek given name meaning "gift of God". It was extremely popular in late classical Judea and among Jewish communities in Egypt, and corresponds to the Hebrew "Mattaniah" or "Nethaneel," which seems to have been a favorite one both in Palestine and in Alexandria...
ben Yannai said in the name of Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
that when God told Isaac that God would bless him for Abraham’s sake , Isaac interpreted that one earns a blessing only through one’s actions, and he arose and sowed, as reported in (Tosefta Berakhot 6:8.)
Reading the verb “to see” repeated in the passage “We saw plainly” in a Midrash taught that Abimelech and his party had seen two things — Isaac’s deeds and the deeds of his parents. (Genesis Rabbah 64:10.)
Reading the report of Esau’s marriage to two Hittite women in a Midrash found signs of the duplicity of Esau and his spiritual descendants, the Romans. Rabbi Phinehas (and other say Rabbi Helkiah) taught in Rabbi Simon’s name that Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Asaph
Psalms of Asaph
The Psalms of Asaph are the twelve psalms numbered 50 and 73 – 83 of the Book of Psalms. The origin and identity of the person of Asaph is ambiguous, and it is difficult to know whether or not there was an identifiable progenitor for this family name...
(author of Psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
) exposed the Romans’ deception. Asaph said in “The boar of the wood ravages it.” While Moses said in “you shall not eat of . . . the swine, because he parts the hoof but does not chew the cud.” The Midrash explained that Scripture compares the Roman Empire to a swine, because when the swine lies down, it puts out its parted hoofs, as if to advertise that it is clean. And so the Midrash taught that the wicked Roman Empire robbed and oppressed, yet pretended to execute justice. So the Midrash taught that for 40 years, Esau would ensnare married women and violate them, yet when he reached the age of 40, he compared himself to his righteous father Isaac, telling himself that as his father Isaac was 40 years old when he married (as reported in ), so he too would marry at the age of 40. (Genesis Rabbah 65:1.)
Genesis chapter 27
Rabbi Hama ben Hanina taught that our ancestors were never without a scholars’ council. Abraham was an elder and a member of the scholars’ council, as says, “And Abraham was an elder well stricken in age.” EliezerEliezer
For the mathematician and Tamil activist see C.J. Eliezer; for the AI researcher and writer on rationality see Eliezer Yudkowsky; for the Levite priest of the Hebrew Bible, see Eleazar...
, Abraham’s servant, was an elder and a member of the scholars’ council, as says, “And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all he had,” which Rabbi Eleazar explained to mean that he ruled over — and thus knew and had control of — the Torah of his master. Isaac was an elder and a member of the scholars’ council, as says: “And it came to pass when Isaac was an elder .” Jacob was an elder and a member of the scholars’ council, as says, “Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age .” In Egypt they had the scholars’ council, as says, “Go and gather the elders of Israel together.” And in the Wilderness, they had the scholars’ council, as in God directed Moses to “Gather . . . 70 men of the elders of Israel.” (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 28b.)
Rabbi Eleazar taught that Isaac’s blindness, reported in was caused by his looking at the wicked Esau. But Rabbi Isaac taught that Abimelech’s curse of Sarah caused her son Isaac’s blindness. Rabbi Isaac read the words, “it is for you a covering (kesut) of the eyes,” in not as kesut, “covering,” but as kesiyat, “blinding.” Rabbi Isaac concluded that one should not consider a small matter the curse of even an ordinary person. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 28a; see also Babylonian Talmud Bava Kamma 93a.) Alternatively, a Midrash interpreted the words “his eyes were dim from seeing” in to teach that Isaac’s eyesight dimmed as a result of his near sacrifice in for when Abraham bound Isaac, the ministering angels wept, as Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
says, “Behold, their valiant ones cry without, the angels of peace weep bitterly,” and tears dropped from the angels’ eyes into Isaac’s, leaving their mark and causing Isaac’s eyes to dim when he became old. (Genesis Rabbah 65:10.)
Rabbi Eleazar taught that deceptive speech is like idolatry. Rabbi Eleazar deduced the similarity from the common use of the word “deceiver” to describe Jacob’s deception his father in where Jacob says, “I shall seem to him as a deceiver,” and to describe idols in where idols are described as “the work of deceivers.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 92a.)
But the Gemara cited Jacob as the exemplar of one who, in the words of “has no slander on his tongue,” as Jacob’s protest to Rebekah in “I shall seem to him as a deceiver,” demonstrated that Jacob did not take readily to deception. (Babylonian Talmud Makkot 24a.)
Rabbi Johanan taught that when Jacob explained his rapid success in obtaining the meat by saying in that it was “because the Lord your God sent me good speed,” he was like a raven bringing fire to his nest, courting disaster. For when Jacob said “the Lord your God sent me good speed,” Isaac thought to himself that he knew that Esau did not customarily mention the name of God, and if the person before him did so, he must not have been Esau but Jacob. Consequently, Isaac told him in “Come near, I pray, that I may feel you, my son.” (Genesis Rabbah 65:19.)
Abba Arika
Abba Arika was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud...
that Jacob smelled like an apple orchard. (Babylonian Talmud Taanit 29b.)
Rabbi Judah ben Pazi interpreted Isaac’s blessing of Jacob with dew in merely to pass along to his son what God had deeded to his father Abraham for all time. (Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
Berakhot 55b.) And Rabbi Ishmael
Ishmael ben Elisha
Rabbi Ishmael or Ishmael ben Elisha was a Tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries . A Tanna is a rabbinic sage whose views are recorded in the Mishnah.-Disposition:...
deduced from Isaac’s curse of those who cursed Jacob and blessing of those who blessed Jacob in that Jews need not respond to those who curse or bless them, for the Torah has already decreed the response. (Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 85b.)
Interpreting why in “Isaac trembled very exceedingly,” Rabbi Johanan observed that it was surely unusual for a man who has two sons to tremble when one goes out and the other comes in. Rabbi Johanan taught that Isaac trembled because when Esau came in, Gehenna
Gehenna
Gehenna , Gehinnom and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom ; one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and...
came in with him. Rabbi Aha said that the walls of the house began to seethe from the heat of Gehenna. Hence asks, “who then ?” for Isaac asked who would be roast (leafot) in Gehenna, him or Jacob? (Genesis Rabbah 77:2.)
Rabbi Hama ben Hanina interpreted the question “who then?” in to ask who then intervened between Isaac and God that Jacob should receive the blessings. Rabbi Hama ben Hanina taught that Isaac thereby hinted at Rebekah’s intervention. (Genesis Rabbah 77:2.)
Reading Rabbi Eleazar contrasted Esau’s jealousy with Reuben’s
Reuben (Bible)
According to the Book of Genesis, Reuben or Re'uven was the first and eldest son of Jacob with Leah. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Reuben.-Etymology:...
magnanimity. As reports, Esau voluntarily sold his birthright, but as says, “Esau hated Jacob,” and as says, “And he said, ‘Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he has supplanted me these two times.’” In Reuben’s case, Joseph
Joseph (Hebrew Bible)
Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
took Reuben’s birthright from him against his will, as 1 Chronicles
Books of Chronicles
The Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim . Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings...
reports, “for as much as he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph.” Nonetheless, Reuben was not jealous of Joseph, as reports, “And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 7b.)
Genesis chapter 28
A Tanna taught in a Baraita that the exalted position of a groom atones for his sins. The Gemara cited as a proof text. The Gemara noted that reports that “Esau went to Ishmael, and took Machalat the daughter of Ishmael, as a wife,” but identifies Esau’s wife as “Basemat, Ishmael's daughter.” The Gemara explained that the name Machalat is cognate with the Hebrew word for forgiveness, mechilah, and thus deduced that teaches that Esau’s sins were forgiven upon his marriage. (Jerusalem Talmud Bikkurim 23b.)In the liturgy
In the Blessing after Meals (Birkat HamazonBirkat Hamazon
Birkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt...
), at the close of the fourth blessing (of thanks for God’s goodness), Jews allude to God’s blessing of the Patriarchs described in , , and . (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 172. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3. Reuven Hammer. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom may refer to any siddur in a family of siddurim, Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries on these siddurim, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism....
for Shabbat and Festivals, 342. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
The Weekly Maqam
In the Weekly MaqamThe Weekly Maqam
In Mizrahi and Sephardic Middle Eastern Jewish prayer services, each Shabbat the congregation conducts services using a different maqam. A maqam , which in Arabic literally means 'place', is a standard melody type and set of related tunes. The melodies used in a given maqam aims effectively to...
, Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parsha. For Parsha Toledot, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Mahour, the maqam that portrays emotional instability and anger. This maqam is similar to Maqam Rast in tone. It is appropriate, because in this parsha, Esau portrays these character traits as he loses out on the major blessings.
Commandments
According to MaimonidesMaimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
Sefer ha-Chinuch
The Sefer ha-Chinuch , often simply "the Chinuch" is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th century Spain...
, there are no commandments
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
in the parshah. (Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
. Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:87. 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
Haftarah
The haftarahHaftarah
The haftarah or haftoroh is a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im of the Hebrew Bible that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Jewish religious practice...
for the parshah is:
- for Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
and Sephardi Jews: MalachiBook of MalachiMalachi is a book of the Hebrew Bible, the last of the twelve minor prophets and the final book of the Neviim...
- for Karaite JewsKaraite JudaismKaraite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme legal authority in Halakhah, as well as in theology...
:
Biblical
(numerous as stars); (numerous as stars). (numerous as stars); (not to go to Egypt).- JoshuaBook of JoshuaThe Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
. (not to go to Egypt)..
Early nonrabbinic
- JosephusJosephusTitus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
. Antiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the Jews is a twenty volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the thirteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around 93 or 94 AD. Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people,...
1:18:1–2, 4–8, 19:1; 2:1:1. - RomansEpistle to the RomansThe Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
- HebrewsEpistle to the HebrewsThe Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books in the New Testament. Its author is not known.The primary purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews is to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. The central thought of the entire Epistle is the doctrine of the Person of Christ and his...
Classical rabbinic
- MishnahMishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
: Mishnah Kiddushin 4:14. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob NeusnerJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, 499. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4. - ToseftaToseftaThe Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
: Berakhot 6:8; Sotah 10:5–6; Kiddushin 5:21. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:39, 876, 947. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2. - SifreSifreSifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
to Deuteronomy 2:3. Land of Israel, circa 250–350 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Sifre to Deuteronomy: An Analytical Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:26. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. ISBN 1-55540-145-7.
- Jerusalem TalmudJerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
: Berakhot 55b, 85b; Bikkurim 23b; Sukkah 21a. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 2, 12, 22. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006–2008. - Genesis RabbaGenesis RabbaGenesis Rabba is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis ....
h 63:1–67:13. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2. - Babylonian TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
: Berakhot 5b, 56b, 57b; Eruvin 104b; Pesachim 5a, 42b; Yoma 28b; Sukkah 5b, 14a; Taanit 29b; Megillah 6a, 28a; Moed Katan 2a; Yevamot 64a; Ketubot 112a; Nedarim 32a; Sotah 11a, 12b, 13a, 41b; Gittin 57b; Bava Kamma 92b–93a; Bava Batra 15a, 16b, 123a; Sanhedrin 12a, 37a, 69a, 92a, 105a; Makkot 10a, 24a; Avodah Zarah 2b, 11a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Medieval
- RashiRashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
. Commentary. Genesis 25–28. TroyesTroyesTroyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 1:271–307. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-89906-026-9. - Judah HaleviYehuda HaleviJudah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
. KuzariKuzariThe Kitab al Khazari, commonly called the Kuzari, is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, completed around 1140. Its title is an Arabic phrase meaning Book of the Khazars...
. 2:80. ToledoToledo, SpainToledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 128. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4. - ZoharZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
1:134a–46b. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.
Modern
- Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
. LeviathanLeviathan (book)Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil — commonly called simply Leviathan — is a book written by Thomas Hobbes and published in 1651. Its name derives from the biblical Leviathan...
, 3:36. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. MacphersonC. B. MacphersonCrawford Brough Macpherson O.C. M.Sc. D. Sc. was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto.-Life:...
, 460. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950. - Abraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
. The Moral Principles. Early 20th Century. Reprinted in Abraham Isaac Kook: the Lights of Penitence, the Moral Principles, Lights of Holiness, Essays, Letters, and Poems. Translated by Ben Zion BokserBen Zion Bokser-Biography:Bokser was born in Lubomi, Poland, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 in 1920. He attended City College of New York and Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary, followed by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Columbia University...
, 142, 162. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press 1978. ISBN 0-8091-2159-X. - Irving Fineman. Jacob, An Autobiograhical Novel, 11–13, 16–18. New York: Random House, 1941.
- Thomas MannThomas MannThomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
. Joseph and His BrothersJoseph and His BrothersJoseph and His Brothers is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph , setting it in the historical context of the Amarna Period...
. Translated by John E. WoodsJohn E. WoodsJohn E. Woods is a translator who specializes in translating German literature, since about 1978. His work includes much of the fictional prose of Arno Schmidt and the works of contemporary authors such as Ingo Schulze and Christoph Ransmayr...
, 37, 91, 97–100, 103–08, 113–14, 116–17, 134, 150, 153–73, 192–94, 242, 257, 298-99, 335, 340–41, 404, 414, 417, 428–30, 449, 524, 538, 669–70, 693, 806, 809. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943. - Roland de VauxRoland de VauxFather Roland Guérin de Vaux OP was a French Dominican priest who led the Catholic team that initially worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was the director of the Ecole Biblique, a French Catholic Theological School in East Jerusalem, and he was charged with overseeing research on the scrolls...
. “The Separate Traditions of Abraham and Jacob.” Biblical Archaeology ReviewBiblical Archaeology ReviewBiblical Archaeology Review is a publication that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible and the Near and Middle East . Covering both the Old and New Testaments, BAR presents the latest discoveries and...
. 6 (4) (July/Aug. 1980). - Katherine PatersonKatherine PatersonKatherine Paterson is an American author of children's novels. She wrote Bridge to Terabithia and has received several of the major international awards for children's literature.- Early life:...
. Jacob Have I LovedJacob Have I LovedJacob Have I Loved is a novel by Katherine Paterson that won the 1981 Newbery Medal. The title refers to the sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau in the Jewish and Christian Bible, and comes directly from Romans 9:13: As it is written, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."The novel...
. New York: HarperCollins, 1980. ISBN 0-690-04078-4. - Carl D. Evans. “The Jacob Cycle in Genesis: The Patriarch Jacob — An ‘Innocent Man’: Moral ambiguity in the biblical portrayal.” Bible ReviewBible ReviewBible Review was a publication that sought to connect the academic study of the Bible to a broad general audience. Covering both the Old and New Testaments, Bible Review presented critical and historical interpretations of biblical texts, and “reader-friendly Biblical scholarship” from 1985 to...
. 2 (1) (Spring 1986). - Marc Gellman. “The Strong Man Who Cried.” In Does God Have a Big Toe? Stories About Stories in the Bible, 57–59. New York: HarperCollins, 1989. ISBN 0-06-022432-0.
- Susan Ackerman. “Child Sacrifice: Returning God’s Gift: Barren women give birth to exceptional children.” Bible Review. 9 (3) (June 1993).
- Aaron WildavskyAaron WildavskyAaron Wildavsky was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management....
. Assimilation versus Separation: Joseph the Administrator and the Politics of Religion in Biblical Israel, 5–6, 8, 13, 15, 17–29. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993. ISBN 1-56000-081-3. - Savina J. Teubal. “Naming is Creating: Biblical women hold the power.” Bible Review. 11 (4) (Aug. 1995).
- Marc Gellman. “Bless Me, Too!” In God’s Mailbox: More Stories About Stories in the Bible, 75–79. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1996. ISBN 0-688-13169-7.
- Elie WieselElie WieselSir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
. “Supporting Roles: Esau.” Bible Review. 14 (2) (Apr. 1998). - Jack MilesJack MilesJack Miles is an American author and winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the MacArthur Fellowship. His work on religion, politics, and culture has appeared in numerous national publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and The Los...
. “Supporting Roles: Jacob’s Wrestling Match: Was it an angel or Esau?” Bible Review. 14 (5) (Oct. 1998). - Suzanne A. Brody. “Esau’s Prediction.” In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, 67. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007. ISBN 1-60047-112-9.
- Jonathan GoldsteinJonathan Goldstein (author)Jonathan Stuart Goldstein is an American-Canadian author, humourist and radio producer. Goldstein is known for his work on the radio programs This American Life and WireTap.-Biography:...
. “Jacob and Esau.” In Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! is a book written by author and radio presenter Jonathan Goldstein. The book is a comedic retelling of the Old Testament stories such as Adam and Eve, Samson, Noah, and David and Goliath. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! also includes a story narrated by Joseph,...
79–114. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59448-367-7. - Raymond Westbrook. “Good as His Word: Jacob Manipulates Justice.” Biblical Archaeology Review. 35 (3) (May/June 2009): 50–55, 64.
Texts
Commentaries
- Academy for Jewish Religion, California
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- Tanach Study Center
- Teach613.org, Torah Education at Cherry Hill
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- Union for Reform Judaism
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