Why Esau Married at Forty and the Four Ways of Proverbs Thirty

"And Esau was forty years old, etc." This is what Scripture says: "God seats the solitary in a house" (Psalms 68:7). A certain matrona asked Rabbi Yossi bar Halafta: In how many days did the Holy One, blessed be He, create the world? He said to her: In six days the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world. She said to him: And from that day until now, what does He do? He said to her: He sits and pairs couples, and brings the daughter of the east to the son of the west, and the son of the east to the daughter of the west, as it is said, "He seats the solitary in a house, He brings out prisoners into prosperity" (Psalms 68:7), for He places upon their necks bonds of iron until the two of them come together. And even the pairing of Esau is from before the Holy One, blessed be He. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let Esau also marry from the nation that is liable to destruction like himself, as it is said, "For I will utterly blot out" (Exodus 17:14), and it is written concerning them, "for you shall utterly destroy them" (Deuteronomy 20:17). "And he took as a wife Judith." This is what Scripture says: "every raven after its kind" (Leviticus 11:15). And why so? Rather, the wicked to the wicked and the righteous to the righteous, so that the righteous man may merit together with the righteous woman, and the wicked man be condemned together with the wicked woman. Rabbi Hanina said: And why did Esau marry when he was forty years old? Rather, Esau said: Father married when he was forty years old, and I will do as Father did. And he married first and raised up only five sons; but Jacob married after eighty-three years and saw in his lifetime thirty myriads of his grandchildren. And from where? As it is written concerning Israel, "And the children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed and multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty" (Exodus 1:7), and they were sixty myriads; each "exceedingly" raises thirty myriads. And concerning Jacob it is said, "And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they took possession of it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly" (Genesis 47:27) — behold, thirty myriads. Another interpretation: "And Esau was forty years old." He likened himself to Isaac, who married when he was forty years old. But Scripture says, "When he speaks graciously, do not trust him, for there are seven abominations in his heart" (Proverbs 26:25). And another Scripture says, "the way of the eagle in the heavens" (Proverbs 30:19) — this is Nebuchadnezzar, whose ancestor stepped one step for the honor of the Holy One, blessed be He — and stepped three steps for the honor of the Holy One, blessed be He — and from him He raised up three kings. And from where that this Scripture is said concerning Nebuchadnezzar? It is written here, "the way of the eagle in the heavens," and it is written concerning Nebuchadnezzar, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14). "The way of a serpent upon a rock" (Proverbs 30:19) — this is Cyrus, who commanded to build the Temple. It is said here "rock," and it is said concerning the Shekhinah, which dwells in the Temple, "the Rock that begot you, you neglected" (Deuteronomy 32:18). "The way of a ship in the heart of the sea" (Proverbs 30:19) — this is Alexander of Macedon, who, when he saw Shimon the Righteous, would bow before him. And his servants said to him: A king such as you bows to a Jew? He said to them: It is in his likeness that I see when I go out to war and am victorious. And why did he liken Alexander to a ship? To tell you: just as a ship roves about in the sea, here and there, and no way is seen, so Alexander left no place that he did not conquer. "The way of a man with a maiden" (Proverbs 30:19) — this is Esau the wicked, concerning whom it is written, "a man knowing how to hunt" (Genesis 25:27), and he is like the swine that is in the field. And why is he likened to a swine? Just as this swine hides its mouth and stretches out its hooves, hiding the unclean side of it and putting out the clean side of it, so Esau the wicked shows himself to be clean, in that he married like his father when he was forty years old, and hides the transgressions that he did. For he did five transgressions: he killed and murdered and worshipped idols and denied the resurrection of the dead and stole. And he is likened to the adulterous woman who fornicates with everyone who passes and returns, and says, "I have done no wrong" (Proverbs 30:20).