Jacob Says I Am at Isaac's Table and Foretells Sinai

Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 27:19

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And Jacob said to his father, 'I am.'" He broke off the speech, and afterward said, "Esau your firstborn." Another interpretation of "I am" (anokhi): Jacob our father prophesied concerning his sons that they would stand at Mount Sinai and receive the Ten Commandments, whose beginning is "I am" (Anokhi). But "Esau is your firstborn" means that you should cast him out as firstborn, and he is Gehinnom. "Arise, please, sit": a sitting in which there is no reclining; a standing in which there is reclining is nicer than it.

Themes

ProphecyPatriarchsJacobMosesSinai

Biblical References

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