Parsha insights Toldos 2006 (Gen 27:46-28:9 P)

מו וַתֹּאמֶר רִבְקָה, אֶל-יִצְחָק, קַצְתִּי בְחַיַּי, מִפְּנֵי בְּנוֹת חֵת; אִם-לֹקֵחַ יַעֲקֹב אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת-חֵת כָּאֵלֶּה, מִבְּנוֹת הָאָרֶץ--לָמָּה לִּי, חַיִּים.
א וַיִּקְרָא יִצְחָק אֶל-יַעֲקֹב, וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתוֹ; וַיְצַוֵּהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ, לֹא-תִקַּח אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן. ב קוּם לֵךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם, בֵּיתָה בְתוּאֵל אֲבִי אִמֶּךָ; וְקַח-לְךָ מִשָּׁם אִשָּׁה, מִבְּנוֹת לָבָן אֲחִי אִמֶּךָ. ג וְאֵל שַׁדַּי יְבָרֵךְ אֹתְךָ, וְיַפְרְךָ וְיַרְבֶּךָ; וְהָיִיתָ, לִקְהַל עַמִּים. ד וְיִתֶּן-לְךָ אֶת-בִּרְכַּת אַבְרָהָם, לְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אִתָּךְ--לְרִשְׁתְּךָ אֶת-אֶרֶץ מְגֻרֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר-נָתַן אֱלֹהִים לְאַבְרָהָם. ה וַיִּשְׁלַח יִצְחָק אֶת-יַעֲקֹב, וַיֵּלֶךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם--אֶל-לָבָן בֶּן-בְּתוּאֵל, הָאֲרַמִּי, אֲחִי רִבְקָה, אֵם יַעֲקֹב וְעֵשָׂו. ו וַיַּרְא עֵשָׂו, כִּי-בֵרַךְ יִצְחָק אֶת-יַעֲקֹב, וְשִׁלַּח אֹתוֹ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם, לָקַחַת-לוֹ מִשָּׁם אִשָּׁה: בְּבָרְכוֹ אֹתוֹ--וַיְצַו עָלָיו לֵאמֹר, לֹא-תִקַּח אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן. ז וַיִּשְׁמַע יַעֲקֹב, אֶל-אָבִיו וְאֶל-אִמּוֹ; וַיֵּלֶךְ, פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם. ח וַיַּרְא עֵשָׂו, כִּי רָעוֹת בְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן, בְּעֵינֵי, יִצְחָק אָבִיו. ט וַיֵּלֶךְ עֵשָׂו, אֶל-יִשְׁמָעֵאל; וַיִּקַּח אֶת-מָחֲלַת בַּת-יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן-אַבְרָהָם אֲחוֹת נְבָיוֹת, עַל-נָשָׁיו--לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה. {ס}

The questions I’m going to discuss this week are on the weak side, but I think they deserve our attention nonetheless. There are several problems with these verses:

1. In the verses immediately preceding and following this passage, Lavan’s city is called charan, here it is called פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם. Why the switch?

2. In 28:1,3 Yitzchak blesses Yaakov. Why was this necessary if he just blessed him in the last passage? Why the repetition? Moreover, it seemed in the last passage that Yitzchak wanted to bless Esav. Why the switch here? If we argue that this blessing was an insignificant one, then why did Esav react so strongly to this blessing?

3. Esav’s reaction to the blessing (v. 5) is a little odd. Esav sees Jacob got the blessing because he is going to marry a relative, so Esav too marries a relative. But, what about all the indignation from the last chapter? Is it somehow gone?

4. This is a questionable argument, but I’ll include it anyway. When we look at chapter 27-28 as a unit, the story we get is as follows. Rivkah thinks Yaakov should run away from Esav and go to charan. She doesn’t want to tell Yitzchak that Yaakov is running away from Esav because that would distress Yitzchak, so instead she makes up a story about Yaakov finding a wife. She tells this story to Yitzchak and so Yitzhak send Yaakov to Charan, not realizing the true reason for sending him. But, if we read the text closely, the idea that Yitzchak is being tricked isn’t anywhere explicitly in the text, but is rather just an assumption made by anyone reading the text because without it the text makes no sense at all. In chapter 27, nothing is said about tricking Yitzchak. In fact, Riva just says to run away from Esav. In chapter 28, the entire focus is on the wife, with Esav going completely unmentioned. Of course, without the DH, there is absolutely no choice but to say that Yitzchak is being tricked, but the DH introduces a new possibility. In chapter 28, Yaakov is going to find a wife, in chapter 27 he is going to run away from Esav, and the two stories have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

While I’ll admit that all 4 of these questions are weak, one must add to them the piece of evidence that the nomenclature of 28:1-9 is that of P and is an abrupt shift from the preceding and following verses. As in the past, I will only discuss the aspects of P’s language I’ve already developed in previous posts (for utilizing a phrase before I’ve already established it as P’s phrase would be circular). Still, we can point to several P phrases in this passage including Kel Shakai, וְיַפְרְךָ וְיַרְבֶּךָ and וְהָיִיתָ, לִקְהַל עַמִּים. Of course, there are many others as well, but we’ll have to wait for future posts to establish them as P phrases.

Finally, the dh explains the odd language of 27:46 "כָּאֵלֶּה like these." What was Rivka referring to with this word? However, the DH assumes that 47:1-45 is JE. Thus, in the original P document, 27:46 followed immediately on the heels of 26:34-35:
לד וַיְהִי עֵשָׂו, בֶּן-אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה, וַיִּקַּח אִשָּׁה אֶת-יְהוּדִית, בַּת-בְּאֵרִי הַחִתִּי--וְאֶת-בָּשְׂמַת, בַּת-אֵילֹן הַחִתִּי. לה וַתִּהְיֶיןָ, מֹרַת רוּחַ, לְיִצְחָק, וּלְרִבְקָה. {ס}

So, Essav marries two wives who Rivka and Yitzchak don't like. Rivkah says to Yitzchak, "I don't like these wives," and sends Yaakov away to Lavan. It reads very smoothly.



A gut shabbos to all