Jacob Crosses the Jordan with His Staff Fleeing Esau

Another interpretation: "He guards the feet of His pious ones" (1 Samuel 2:9). When Jacob went out from his father's house, he went out with nothing but his staff, as it is said, "For with my staff I crossed this Jordan" (Genesis 32:11). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Isaac: Thus did Abraham your father do for you? Did he not give you all that he had, as it is said, "And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac" (Genesis 25:5)? And likewise, "And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had" (Genesis 24:2). Rabbi Samuel bar Isaac said: What is "who ruled"? That he gave him authority over all that he had. He said: Even if you give away all that I have, take a wife for my son from there. "And the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and went, with all the goods of his master in his hand" (Genesis 24:10) — this is the diatheke (a deed of gift) that he carried in his hand, "And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac" (Genesis 25:5). The servant began to distribute: to this one earrings, and to this one necklaces, and to this one rings. This is what is written, "There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more" (Proverbs 11:24). The Holy One, blessed be He, blessed him, as it is said, "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son" (Genesis 25:11). But Isaac did not do so for Jacob; rather, he sent him out empty. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "And one who withholds from what is upright comes only to want" (Proverbs 11:24). And what happened to him? The Divine Presence departed from him, and you do not find that it spoke with him again except at the hour when he died. Come and see what Esau the wicked did to Jacob. He saw him empty and had no mercy on him; rather, he said: Behold, I will get ahead of him on the road, and he will not be able to pass on the road, and there I will kill him. And whence do we know this? For thus the prophet says, "Because he pursued his brother with the sword" (Amos 1:11). Jacob knew, and lifted his eyes to the Holy One, blessed be He, who performed miracles with him: he placed his staff in the Jordan, and the Jordan was split before him, and he crossed, as it is said, "For with my staff I crossed this Jordan" (Genesis 32:11). And Esau waited on the road, but Jacob did not pass on the road. And Esau sensed that Jacob had fled and crossed the Jordan. What did Esau do? He pursued after him and found him in a cave, a place resembling the bathhouse that is in Tiberias. Jacob said: I have neither bread nor food in my hand; I shall enter and warm myself in the bath. Esau the wicked came and surrounded the bathhouse so that he would die in it. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: O most wicked one in the world, is it against him that you set yourself? Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob: Why are you afraid? "Behold, I am with you" (Genesis 28:15). Jacob said to Him: Master of the world, since I trust in You, and thus You assure me, I will trust and go forth. "And Jacob went out from Beersheba" (Genesis 28:10).