Jacob and Esau (Gen 25)
19 And these [Jacob and Esau] are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac [i.e., after he was called “Abraham,” he became the father of Isaac].
Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 1:1
And these are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham—May it please our master to teach us why peace-offerings (sacrifices) were instituted? R. Hiyya the son of Abba taught in the name of R. Judah: They were instituted because anyone who brings a peace-offering brings peace to the world.
Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 1:4
Come and observe the importance of peace: Between the time that Sarah left the control of Pharaoh and when she came under the authority of Abimelech, Isaac was conceived. Whereupon people asserted: “It is hardly likely that this centenarian could father a son, she must have conceived either from Pharaoh or Abimelech.” In fact, Abraham also had some misgivings. What did the Holy One, blessed be he, do? He ordered the angel responsible for the formation of embryos to fashion this embryo in the exact likeness of his father, so that everyone would be forced to acknowledge that he was Abraham’s son. We know that this was so from the verse These are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac (Gen 25:19). Since the verse states Isaac, son of Abraham, could we not know from those words that Abraham became the father of Isaac? Why then does Scripture add the words Abraham became the father of Isaac? Because everyone who looked at Abraham would exclaim: “Without doubt Abraham became the father of Isaac, since their countenances are so much alike.” Hence Scripture says: Abraham became the father of Isaac.
Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 2:1
These are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac—Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The father of a righteous child will rejoice; he who engenders wisdom [in the heart of another] will rejoice in him (Pro 23:24). Concerning whom did Solomon make this statement? He said it about Isaac. When Isaac was born, the entire universe rejoiced; the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the stars and the planets. Why did they rejoice? Because the world would not have survived had Isaac not been born, as it is said: If my covenant for day and night stand not, and the ordinance of heaven and earth (Jer 33:25). My covenant refers to Isaac, as it is said: I will establish My covenant with Isaac (Gen 17:21).
Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 3:1
These are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac—Why does Scripture repeat itself by adding: Abraham became the father of Isaac? There were some men who whispered among themselves: “It is impossible that this centenarian and this woman of ninety gave birth to a son. This cannot be her offspring, she must have purchased him in the marketplace.” Hence, you find that when Isaac was weaned, Abraham arranged a banquet to which he invited the influential men of the government, while Sarah invited their wives. What did the women do? They said to each other: “Now we shall be able to prove whether or not he is actually her son.” Each of them brought her own son along but neglected to bring the child’s nurse. Soon, the children began to cry and the mothers exclaimed: “I have forgotten to bring the child’s nurse.” Whereupon, milk began to flow from Sarah’s breast, and she took the children and nursed them, as it is said: Sarah would nurse children (Gen 21:7). Then they all proclaimed: “In truth, Sarah gives children suck.” Hence it is said: Abraham became the father of Isaac.
Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 5:1
These are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac—It is written in Scripture: “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me,” declares the Lord (Isa 54:17). You find that Israel cried unto the Holy One, blessed be he: Master of the universe, observe how the idolatrous nations persecute us, they do nothing but sit and conspire against us, as it is said: Look on their sitting or their standing, I am their deliverer (Lam 3:63). The Holy One, blessed be he, responded: To what avail are their conspiracies against you? I will void their decisions and destroy them, as it is said: I am their deliverer, and it is elsewhere written: Blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hands (Gen 14:20).
Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 6:1
Abraham became the father of Isaac—R. Isaac stated; No generation lacks scoffers. While Nabal was shearing his flock, David sent some of his young men to him with the request: Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find at hand (1Sa 25:8). But Nabal retorted: Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who are breaking away from their masters. Should I take my bread and my water, and the meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where? (ibid., vv. 10–11). When David’s men returned and repeated Nabal’s words, he armed himself and his soldiers, and with their weapons started out to destroy Nabal. One of Nabal’s young servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he had spoken rudely to them” (ibid., v. 14). As soon as she heard what had transpired, she prepared a gift which she took to David, as it is said: Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of grain . . . and she told her servants, “Go on ahead of me, I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal (ibid., vv. 18–19). Later on Scripture states: About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. . . . then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife (ibid., vv. 38-39). After he had her brought to him, David stayed apart from her for three months to determine whether or not she had conceived with Nabal. After the third month, David had intercourse with her and she became pregnant. The scoffers in that generation asserted that she had actually conceived from Nabal. What did the Holy One, blessed be he, do? He ordered the angel in charge of the formation of embryos to fashion that embryo in the likeness of its father so that everyone would be forced to acknowledge that David was the father. We know that this is so from the verse His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel; his second, Kileab, by Abigail (2Sa 3:2-3). Why does Scripture call him Kileab? Because he was completely like his father, and everyone who saw him said: “David is this child’s father.”
Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 1:9
And he who loves him chastises him betimes (Pro 13:24). This alludes to Abraham, who punished Isaac, taught him the law, and guided him in his ways, as it is written of him: Because that Abraham harkened to My voice and he kept my keeping (Gen 26:5). And it is also written elsewhere: And these are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac (ibid. 25:19). This teaches us that he resembled his father in every respect; in beauty, wisdom, strength, riches, and (the performance of) good deeds. You know this to be so from the fact that though Isaac, at the time of the sacrifice, was thirty-seven years of age, and Abraham was an old man, yet he bound him and tied him as though he were a sheep, and Isaac did not resist. Scripture states: Abraham left all that he owned to Isaac, but to the sons of his concubine, Abraham gave gifts (ibid., v. 5-6); that is to say, he distanced them from Isaac (so that he would have undisputed possession of the land). Hence, And he who loves him chastises him betimes.
Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 11:1
Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses (Exo 39:32). It is written elsewhere in reference to the verse: He does not remove his eyes from the righteous; with kings to the throne; and he enthrones them and exalts them forever (Job 36:7). What does this verse signify? That the Holy One, blessed be he, does not deny the righteous man the realization of his plans. Therefore he does not remove his eyes from the righteous. You may know this to be so from Abraham, who became the father of Isaac, who resembled him closely, as it is said: These are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac (Gen 25:19). And Jacob became the father of Joseph, who resembled him, as is said: These are the records of the generation of Jacob. Joseph (ibid. 37:2). Reuben, Simeon, et al., are not mentioned here but only Joseph. It says also: Because he was a son of his old age (ibid., v. 3). Hence, he draweth not his eyes from the righteous.
Rashi’s Commentary
And these are the records of the progeny of Isaac the son of Abraham—viz, Jacob and Esau who are spoken of in this section.
Abraham became the father of Isaac—Just because Scripture wrote, “Isaac the son of Abraham” it felt compelled to say “Abraham became the father of Isaac,” because the cynics of that time said, “Sarah had conceived from Abimelech. See how many years she lived with Abraham and had not conceived from him.” What did the Holy One, blessed be he, do? He shaped Isaac’s facial features exactly similar to those of Abraham’s, so that everyone had to admit that Abraham became the father of Isaac. This is what is stated here: that Isaac was the son of Abraham, for there is evidence that Abraham became the father of Isaac (Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 1).
Mat 1:2
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Luk 3:34
the son of Jacob,
the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,
the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
Act 7:8
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean [an evildoer] from Paddan Aram [a place of evildoers], the sister of Laban the Aramean [an evildoer] to himself as a wife [Rebekah retaining her integrity in spite of the above associations].
Rashi’s Commentary
Forty years old—For when Abraham came from Mount Moriah he received the news that Rebekah was born (22:20). Isaac was then thirty-seven years old, because at that time Sarah died and from the birth of Isaac until the binding—when Sarah died—there were 37 years since she was 90 years old when Isaac was born and 127 when she died, as it is said, (23:1) “Sarah lived a hundred and twenty seven years”—thus Isaac was then 37 years old. At that period Rebecca was born and he waited until she was fit for marriage—3 years—and then married her (Seder Olam).
The daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban—Has it not already been written that she was the daughter of Bethuel and sister of Laban from Paddan-Aram? But we are told these facts once more to proclaim her praise—she was the daughter of a wicked man, sister of a wicked man, and her native place was one of wicked people, and yet she did not learn from their doings (Genesis Rabbah 63:4).
From Paddan-Aram—Because there were two Arams—Aram-Naharaim (Mesopotamia) and Aram-Zoba—it is called Padan-aram, (Padan meaning pair), an expression of a pair of oxen and which is translated in the Targum by פַּדַּן תּוֹרִין a Padan of oxen, so that we see that Padan means a pair. Some, however, explain Padan-aram to be the same as (Hos 12:13) “the field of Aram,” because in the Arabic language a field is called Padan.
21 Isaac entreated the Lord [praying] on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. And the Lord was entreated of him [but not of her, the prayer of a righteous child of a wicked father not being comparable to that of a righteous child of a righteous father], and Rebekah his wife conceived.
Rashi’s Commentary
Entreated—He prayed much and urgently.
On behalf of his wife—He stood in one corner and prayed whilst she stood in the other corner and prayed (Genesis Rabbah 63:5).
Was entreated of him—He let himself be urged, conciliated and influenced by him. I say that wherever this root עתר occurs it has the meaning of heaping up and increasing. E. g., (Eze 8:11) “And a thick (וַעִתַר) cloud of incense,” which means an abundance of ascending smoke; (Eze 35:13) “And you have multiplied (וְהַעְתַּרְתֶּם) your words against me,” and so, (Pro 27:6) “but the kisses of an enemy are burdensome (וְכַעְתָּרוֹת)”—they appear to be too many and therefore they are burdensome. Old French accroissement; English to increase.
Was entreated of him—Of him and not of her, because there is no comparison between the prayer of a righteous person who is the son of a righteous person and the prayer of a righteous person the child of a wicked-person—therefore God allowed himself to be entreated of him and not of her (Yevamot 64a).
Yevamot 64a:8
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Isaac our father was infertile, as it is stated: “Isaac entreated the Lord concerning his wife, because she was childless” (Gen 25:21). It is not stated that he entreated the Lord for his wife, but concerning, which can mean on behalf of, against, or corresponding to; this teaches that they were both infertile. The Gemara asks: If so, why does the verse continue: “And the Lord was entreated of him?” The verse should say: And the Lord was entreated of them. The Gemara answers that their prayers were answered due to Isaac, because the prayer of a righteous individual who is the son of a righteous individual is not similar to the prayer of a righteous individual who is the son of a wicked individual, and Rebekah’s father was the wicked Laban.
Luk 1:7, 13
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.
Rom 9:10-12
And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose according to his election might stand: not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
22 And the babies wrangled within her, and she said, “If so [great is the pain of pregnancy], why (did) I [so much desire and pray for] this?” So she went [to the school of Shem] to inquire of the Lord [as to what was portended for her].
Rashi’s Commentary
Wrangled—You must admit that this verse calls for a Midrashic interpretation since it leaves unexplained what this struggling was about and it states that she exclaimed “If so [great is the pain of pregnancy], why (did) I [so much desire and pray for] this” (i.e. she asked whether this was the normal course of child-bearing, feeling that something extraordinary was happening). Our Rabbis explain that the word וַיִתְרוֹצִצוּ has the meaning of running, moving quickly: whenever she passed by the doors of the Law (i. e. the schools of Shem and Eber) Jacob moved convulsively in his efforts to come to birth, but whenever she passed by the gate of a pagan temple Esau moved convulsively in his efforts to come to birth (Genesis Rabbah 63:6). Another explanation is: they struggled with one another and quarrelled as to how they should divide the two worlds as their inheritance (Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 111:2).
If so—That the pain of pregnancy is so great.
Why (did) I [so much desire and pray for] this?—Why (did) I desire and pray to conceive? (Genesis Rabbah 63:6).
So she went to inquire at the school of Shem (Genesis Rabbah 63:6).
To inquire of the Lord, that he might tell her what would happen to her at the end.
Scripture Index
Gen 14:20
“And blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything [Melchizedek being a priest].
Gen 17:21
But my covenant I will establish with Isaac [Isaac was “holy,” i.e., circumcised, from birth], whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
Gen 21:7
And she added, “Who is it [i.e., see how exalted he is] who said [(מִלֵל, 100 in gematria) that in the hundredth year] of Abraham Sarah would nurse children [the matrons bringing their children to her to be nursed]? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Gen 22:20
And it was after these things [i.e., after Abraham’s thoughts on the binding of Isaac, viz.: If he had been slaughtered, he would have died without children—I should have gotten him a wife] that it was told Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor [i.e., Her family, too, is similar to that of Abraham. Just as twelve tribes issued from Abraham by way of Jacob—eight from the principal wives and four from the concubines—here, too, there were eight sons from the principal wife and four from the concubine.]
Gen 25:5-6
Abraham left all that he owned [i.e., the legacy of blessing] to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubine [Hagar], Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from his son Isaac while he Abraham was still living, eastward, to the land of the east.
Gen 26:5
because Abraham obeyed me [when I tried him] and he kept my keeping [i.e., decrees for the safekeeping of the exhortations of the Law], my commands [self-evident moral imperatives], my decrees [decrees inaccessible to reason] and my instructions [including the oral law].
Gen 37:2-3
[And] these [following the abbreviated chronicles of Esau] are the records of the [habitations and wanderings of the] line of Jacob.
Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, was tending the flocks with his brothers, and he was still a lad [he would do callow things, preening and primping himself], and was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives [his brothers scorned them, and he befriended them], and Joseph brought a bad report about them [the sons of Leah] to their father.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was a son of his old age; and he made him an ornate robe.
Exo 39:32
Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses [to set up (lacking the strength to do it themselves)]: the tent and all its furnishings, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, posts and its bases;
1Sa 25:8, 10-11, 14, 18-19, 38-39
Ask your young servants and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find at hand.’ ”
Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Should I take my bread and my water, and the meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”
One of Nabal’s young servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.”
Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. And she told her young servants, “Go on ahead of me, and I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be the Lord, who has upheld my cause against the insults of Nabal and has kept back his servant from evil; the Lord has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”
Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.
2Sa 3:2-3
Sons were born to David in Hebron:
His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel;
his second, Kileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel;
the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;
Job 36:7
He does not remove his eyes from the righteous;
until [he is raised] with kings to the throne; and he enthrones them
and exalts them forever.
Pro 13:24
He who spares his rod [will come] to hate his child [for improper deportment],
but he who loves him chastises him betimes.
Pro 23:24
The father of a righteous child will rejoice;
he who engenders wisdom [in the heart of another] will rejoice in him.
Pro 27:6
Wounds of a friend are faithful,
but the kisses of an enemy are burdensome.
Isa 54:17
no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord.
Jer 33:25
Thus says the Lord: “If my covenant for day and night stand not, and the laws of heaven and earth I have not established,”
Lam 3:63
Look on their sitting or their standing,
I am the object of their songs.
Eze 8:11
Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense was rising.
Eze 35:13
You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and you have multiplied your words against me; I heard it.
Hos 12:13
Jacob fled to the field of Aram;
and Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he tended sheep.
This work, "Jacob and Esau," is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0