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Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
28:1: VA YIKRA YITSCHAK EL YA'AKOV VA YEVARECH OTO VA YETSAV'EHU VA YOMER LO LO TIKACH ISHAH MI BENOT KENA'AN
Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
28:1: VA YIKRA YITSCHAK EL YA'AKOV VA YEVARECH OTO VA YETSAV'EHU VA YOMER LO LO TIKACH ISHAH MI BENOT KENA'AN
וַיִּקְרָא יִצְחָק אֶל יַעֲקֹב וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתוֹ וַיְצַוֵּהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ לֹא תִקַּח אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן
KJ (King James translation): And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
BN (BibleNet translation): Then Yitschak summoned Ya'akov, and blessed him, and instructed him, saying to him, "You shall not take a wife from the Benot Kena'an...
Again it's the deceitful Rivkah who orchestrates. For Yitschak to call him, she must have told him that Ya'akov was about to leave; and we heard her stating her concern at the very end of the last chapter.
Yitschak blesses Ya'akov for a second time. We must understand that this is a different form of blessing from the first time, as it cannot have the same significance. This further nonetheless reinforces the ceremonial and legal formality of the former.
But psychologically it is disturbing. We can more easily imagine Yitschak calling Ya'akov and giving him a complete dressing-down combined with stern moral lecture for what he has done to Esav, and indeed to Yitschak himself. It seems to be ignored, or just accepted as de facto, and let's move on. Or perhaps, despite Esav having been his favourite son, he too is upset by the exogamous marriages, and that was why he allowed himself to be deceived.
It is problematic as narrative as well. Rivkah tells him to flee because Esav wants his life, yet he pauses long enough to get Yitschak's blessing, and his instructions. Is this blessing then the same as the covenants, a ceremony of departure?
LO TIKACH (לא-תקח): repeating again the Av-Raham story, but with greater importance here after we have heard twice about Esav's Kena'anite/Chitite marriages. Grammatically should it not be AL TIKACH (אל תקח)? The answer is, yes but no, see the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20).
KENA'AN (כנען): this time he says Kena'an, not Chet; or, in fact, it's Rivkah who says Chet, Yitschak Kena'an. Is that significant? Given that the Beney Chet ruled the same area that became Kena'an, is Chet the Aramaean and Kena'an the Chorite/Hurrian name for the same place (as Switzerland is Helvetia, Germany Deutschland etc)?
28:2: KUM LECH PADENAH ARAM BEITAH VETU-EL AVI IMECHA VE KACH LECHA MI SHAM ISHAH MI BENOT LAVAN ACHI IMECHA
קוּם לֵךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם בֵּיתָה בְתוּאֵל אֲבִי אִמֶּךָ וְקַח לְךָ מִשָּׁם אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת לָבָן אֲחִי אִמֶּךָ
KJ: Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.
BN: "Get up now and go to Padan-Aram, to the home of Betu-El your mother's father; and take a wife from there, from among Lavan's daughters - your mother's brother...
Sometimes Padan Aram, sometimes Charan - the one is the region, the other the specific town. Why does he not do as his father did, and send a servant? Does it infer that he understands the need for Ya'akov to leave? Cousin-marriage is genetically impoverishing, however good it may be for developing pedigree (Ya'akov understands these things, as we will see in chapter 30 when he genetically engineers his uncle Lavan's sheep). The question is: is he fleeing to Padan Aram to escape Esav's wrath, or is he going to Padan Aram to find a bride? Probably both.
BEITAH VETU-EL: Where the Eli-Ezer story rather overlooked Betu-El - and indeed the Ya'akov story once he arrives will do the same - at least the old man does get a mention at this point.
28:3: VE EL SHADAI YEVARECH OT'CHA VE YAPHRECHA VA YARBECHA VE HAYITA LI KEHAL AMIM
וְאֵל שַׁדַּי יְבָרֵךְ אֹתְךָ וְיַפְרְךָ וְיַרְבֶּךָ וְהָיִיתָ לִקְהַל עַמִּים
KJ: And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
BN: "And may El Shadai bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a congregation of peoples...
EL SHADAI (אל שדי): This is a much more proper blessing of departure and farewell. Now it is the god whose blessing is given through Yitschak, and not just his father giving his personal blessing, twice. The ZAR'ACHA style of blessing is usually attributed to a divine covenant - cf Av-Raham - which adds weight to the suggestion above. However, this is a different god, not YHVH, nor Elohim, but specifically El Shadai. Is this then a third version?
Note that again it is a fertility blessing, and that again the fertility blessing is associated with a change of habitation.
28:4: VA YITEN LECHA ET BIRKAT AV-RAHAM LECHA U LE ZAR'ACHA ITACH LE RISHTECHA ET ERETS MEGUREYCHA ASHER NATAN ELOHIM LE AV-RAHAM
וְיִתֶּן לְךָ אֶת בִּרְכַּת אַבְרָהָם לְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אִתָּךְ לְרִשְׁתְּךָ אֶת אֶרֶץ מְגֻרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן אֱלֹהִים לְאַבְרָהָם
KJ: And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
BN: "And may he give you the blessing of Av-Raham, to you, and to your descendants with you; that you may inherit the land in which you dwell, which Elohim gave to Av-Raham."
The blessings are being spread between three divinities, which we have to interpret as a compromise strategy in the office of the Redactor. I like to imagine a modern equivalent, the catastrophe of a nuclear war in Europe, say, at the end of the 21st century, and then, when the air is safe again to breathe, centuries later, people start uncovering the old documents salvageable from the rubble, and they want their histories back. But those of French ancestry want Dieu to be named in the religious texts, while the British insist on God and the Germans Gott, the Spanish Dios, the Polish Bóg, the Lithuanians Dievas, and the Greeks Theos. And are they not in fact all the same god?
Nonetheless it gives us further insight into the nature of the blessing, which is here made by Yitschak as if on behalf of the divinity, though in the same form as the gods with Av-Raham. There is a definite implication that Elohim is a plurality of gods, which includes El Shadai. Yitschak's backing of Ya'akov is very fulsome - no recriminations whatsoever.
ET ERETS MEGUREYCHA: But that he should receive the land of his sojourning is surprising; it is the land from which he is fleeing that he is meant to inherit. This infers that he will marry one of Lavan's daughters, and inherit Lavan's land – matrilocal marriage again, Ya'akov joining his wife's tribe, which in this case happens also to be his own. Or does Yitschak assume, as it is clear that Rivkah does, that he will bring his wife or wives back with him in order to inherit this land? Which indeed is what will happen.
End of sixth fragment; no pey or samech break.
28:5: VA YISHLACH YITSCHAK ET YA'AKOV VA YELECH PADENAH ARAM EL LAVAN BEN BETU-EL HA ARAMI ACHI RIVKAH EM YA'AKOV VE ESAV
וַיִּשְׁלַח יִצְחָק אֶת יַעֲקֹב וַיֵּלֶךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם אֶל לָבָן בֶּן בְּתוּאֵל הָאֲרַמִּי אֲחִי רִבְקָה אֵם יַעֲקֹב וְעֵשָׂו
KJ: And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.
BN: And Yitschak sent Ya'akov away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Lavan ben Betu-El the Aramaean, the brother of Rivkah, Ya'akov and Esav's mother.
Important that Yitschak is the one who sent him.
Worth emphasising again that these patriarchs are not Beney Yisra-El, or not yet anyway. They are Aramaeans, immigrants, nomads, wanderers, refugees perhaps, whose base home is in Charan in Padan Aram. They do not think of themselves as Beney Yisra-El. Nor are the later redactors attempting to pretend that they were Beney Yisra-El. The name, and the tribal identity, comes later.
28:6: VA YAR ESAV KI VERACH YITSCHAK ET YA'AKOV VE SHILACH OTO PADENAH ARAM LAKACHAT LO MI SHAM ISHAH BE VARACHO OTO VA YETSAV ALAV LEMOR LO TIKACH ISHAH MI BENOT KENA'AN
וַיַּרְא עֵשָׂו כִּי בֵרַךְ יִצְחָק אֶת יַעֲקֹב וְשִׁלַּח אֹתוֹ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם לָקַחַת לוֹ מִשָּׁם אִשָּׁה בְּבָרֲכוֹ אֹתוֹ וַיְצַו עָלָיו לֵאמֹר לֹא תִקַּח אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן
KJ: When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
BN: Now Esav saw that Yitschak had blessed Ya'akov and sent him away to Padan Aram, to take a wife from there; and that, as he blessed him, he gave him an instruction, saying, "You shall not take a wife from the Benot Kena'an"...
And again I find myself wondering if this was why Kayin's sacrifice was rejected. So many parallels between the two stories. But is this also why Esav welcomes and accepts reconciliation with Ya'akov upon his return?
28:7: VA YISHMA YA'AKOV EL AVIV VE EL IMO VA YELECH PADENAH ARAM
וַיִּשְׁמַע יַעֲקֹב אֶל אָבִיו וְאֶל אִמּוֹ וַיֵּלֶךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם
KJ: And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;
BN: And that Ya'akov had listened to his father and his mother, and had left for Padan Aram..
28:8: VA YAR ESAV KI RA'OT BENOT KENA'AN BE EYNEY YITSCHAK AVIV
וַיַּרְא עֵשָׂו כִּי רָעוֹת בְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן בְּעֵינֵי יִצְחָק אָבִיו
KJ: And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;
BN: And Esav saw that the daughters of Kena'an did not please Yitschak his father...
This adds weight to the conviction that there are two separate stories. In one, Ya'akov steals his blessing - though that may be a variant upon the earlier birthright story. In this one Ya'akov gets a blessing and is sent to get a wife, after which Esav realises that his own choice of wives has disappointed his father, and so he marries Yishma-El's daughter, either thinking this will make his father happier again, or more likely as an act of rebellion. A foolish move, one would have thought, given the animosity between Yitschak and Yishma-El over precisely the same matter of inheritance. However, when, upon Ya'akov's return, Esav seems to have no more anger towards him, this will make sense in the light of the second version, though not of the first.
28:9: VA YELECH ESAV EL YISHMA-EL VA YIKACH ET MACHALAT BAT YISHMA-EL BEN AV-RAHAM ACHOT NEVAYOT AL NASHAV LO LE ISHAH
וַיֵּלֶךְ עֵשָׂו אֶל יִשְׁמָעֵאל וַיִּקַּח אֶת מָחֲלַת בַּת יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן אַבְרָהָם אֲחוֹת נְבָיוֹת עַל נָשָׁיו לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה
KJ: Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
BN: So Esav went to Yishma-El, and added to the wives that he had Machalat the daughter of Yishma-El, Av-Raham's son, the sister of Nevayot, to be his wife.
Having already married two Benot Chet in 26:34. His departure to the Bedou Yishma-Elim is precisely akin to going off into the land of Nod (נוד) = wandering.
The family link is key though. Esav thus becomes Yishma-El's nephew-in-law, being already his half-nephew since they share Av-Raham as father/grandfather. Esav's Edomites are forever afterwards linked to the Yishma-Elim, and later the Beney Kalev (Calebites) will join them - until all of the outcast/supplanted sons-twins-pairings have become the same rejected tribe of Edom. The Tanach may well be mythological at source, but in the Redaction it is always, also, politics!
Is this perhaps a different tribe's version of the same story, or the same tribe's different version. And if so, how does it fit the scapegoat ritual? For there is something of the Azaz-El about Esav's departure, just as there is of Kayin's, just as there will be with Jesus later on.
samech break; end of scroll
Surf The Site
Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
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