The story of the sons of Yitshak is a troubling one with some glaring questions; How can it be that Yaakov, the heir to the covenant between Avraham and Yahweh, acted so deceptively? How could he and his mother take such advantage of Yitshak's weakness? And then when Yitshak comes to realize what had happened, and that his beloved son Esau had been swindled of a blessing that his father intended for him, Yitshak does not seem angered.
This week we offer a retelling in which such questions are addressed, and the echoes of some of our previous retellings are heard. (Gen. 23:19-34 and ch. 27)
A brief commentary follows.
The days of Rivkah for bearing children were filled; And look! Twins within her body!
The first one came out red; All of him, like a hairy mantle. And they called his name Esau. And afterwards his brother came out, his hand holding on the heel of Esau. And his name was called Yaakov.
The lads grew up. And Esau was a man who knew the hunt, a man of the field; And Yaakov was a plain man, staying in the tents.
And Yitzhak loved Esau, for the hunted-game in his mouth. And Rivkah loved Yaakov.
Once Yaakov was stewing stew, and Esau came in from the field, and he was tired.
And Esau said to Yaakov, “Let me gulp down some of that red red stuff! I’m tired!”
And Yaakov said, “Sell me your birthright!”
Esau said, “Look, I’m dying! What good to me is the birthright!”
And Yaakov said, “Swear it!”
And he swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Yaakov. And Yaakov gave to Esau bread and lentil stew.
And he ate.
And he drank.
And he got up.
And he left.
And Esau spurned the birthright.
When Yitshak became old and his eyes became too dim to see, he called to Esau, his older son, and said to him;
“My son! Look, I am old, and do not know the day of my death! So now, don your weapons!- Your quiver and your bow, and sally forth to the field to hunt for me some hunted-game. And make me some food just as I like it, so that I can bless you before I die.”
But Rivkah heard everything. And when Esau went to hunt hunted-game for his father, she went and spoke to Yaakov her son;
“Look! I heard your father speaking to your brother Esau, asking for hunted-game so that he can bless him. Listen to me! Go out and harvest from the lentil-fields. Bring them to me, and I’ll prepare them for your father just as he likes the hunted-game. And then you’ll take it to him, so that he can bless you before he dies! For your father has forgotten much; He neither recalls the day the ram was spared on the mountain, nor the words that his father heard on that very day. Should the blessing go to your brother, all is lost. Do not tarry; Go!”
Yaakov did so. And brought to his father lentil-delicacies, prepared just as he likes the hunted-game of his brother, of Esau. And his father, whose eyes were weak, did not see. And he ate.
And he drank.
And he sat up.
And look! His eyes were opened up, and he remembered the day the ram was spared.
He then put forth his hand, resting it upon the head of Yaakov his son, and opened up his mouth with blessing;
Look! The aroma of my son is like the aroma of the field which Yahweh has blessed! May Yahweh give you from the dew of the heavens, and from the fat of the earth, and from the abundance of grain and fresh-wine!
Nations will serve you!
Peoples will bow down to you!
Be mighty over your brothers, and the children of your mother will bow down to you! Those who curse you shall be cursed,
and those who bless you shall be blessed!
For truly you are of the seed of my father. That which I have seen with my own eyes, heard with my own ears, I have forgotten. Yet you remembered, and lived with Compassion.
And it was, that just as Yaakov went out, Esau came in, and in his hands was hunted-game, and his hands were red with blood. And therefore they called his name Edom/Red One. And when he heard that the blessing had gone to his brother, he let out a curse, saying;
May the day of my father’s death draw near, so I can kill Yaakov my brother!
For he had grown accustomed to spilling blood, and his hands were red-stained; And therefore they called him Edom/Red One.
Commentary
The lentil-stew, which in the earlier story-teller's version is only mentioned when Yaakov sold the birthright, here becomes a recurring motif, with its second appearance being when Rivkah invites Yaakov into her conspiracy. She no longer has him going out to slaughter two goats; For commanding him to do so is quite the jarring difference of behavior from the young girl who once had so much compassion on thirsting camels (see our What Qualified Israel's Founding Figures?). And so in this retelling, Rivkah still has a heart of compassion. And in expressing urgency to her son, it becomes clear that Rivkah remembers that all of the blessings that were given to Avraham were conditional (see our Returning to Eden) Should Yitshak have tried to pass on the blessings while gorging on the innocent, the covenant would be violated beyond redemption.
Note also the echo of the description of the eating of the lentils. Using an abrupt series of verbs, the earlier storyteller did a masterful job communicating the animalistic intensity with which Esau gulped down his food before getting up and leaving without a word. Here, the description of Yitshak's eating the same meal begins similarly; But when he sits up with strength after having eaten, he can "see," both literally, that it is Yaakov and not Esau who is standing before him, and also intellectually, he understands that Yaakov is the true heir. Most of the blessing is unchanged, but for the added last two lines.
Finally, the explanation behind Esau's being called Edom/Red One has been changed. The earlier storyteller gave two reasons; He emerged from the womb Edom/Red, and during that fateful lentil-meal, he referred to the dish as Edom edom/red red. Here, his name is deserved due to his blood-stained hands, a red from which he can never be cleansed.
Compare the ending of this version with that which was said about Hevel just after he killed Kayin in our earlier entry, A Mystery Solved. Hevel so quickly went from killing a sheep to killing his brother. Esau the hunter was heading down the very same path; For those who dismiss the sanctity of life and spill the blood of the innocent can no longer be trusted around life of any kind.
Comments