To My Lord Esau and the Promise of Rachel's Descendants

"To Esau his brother" (Genesis 32:4) -- even though he is Esau, still he is his brother. "To the land of Seir, the field of Edom" -- why was it called Seir? Because it makes a person's hair stand on end [from fear]. "And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall you say to my lord, to Esau." Our Teacher [Rabbi Yehuda the Prince] said to Rabbi Afes: write one letter in my name to our master the king, Antoninus. He wrote it: "From Yehuda the Prince to our master the king, Antoninus." He took it, read it, and tore it. He said to him: write, "From Yehuda your servant to our master the king, Antoninus." He said to him: why do you demean your own honor? He said to him: am I better than my grandfather? Did not Jacob say, "Thus says your servant Jacob"? "With Laban I have sojourned [garti]" -- Laban the chief of swindlers I placed in my belt [outwitted him]; that man [Esau] all the more so. "And I have tarried until now" -- for the adversary of that man [Esau's destined downfall] has not yet been born. As Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said: it is a tradition in our hands that Esau will fall only by the hand of the descendants of the sons of Rachel.