2,302 related texts · 12 related myths · Page 3 of 48
There is a class of moment in the Torah where even the schemers have to stop scheming. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 24:50) captures one. After Eliezer finishes his story, Lab...
After the consent comes the unpacking. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 24:53) describes Eliezer bringing out vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and vestments, which he gave to ...
This is one of the most startling single verses in the Targum. Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 24:55) tells us what happened while everyone was still talking. Bethuel, the father of Ri...
The Torah's bookkeeping of Abraham's later life is precise. He had taken another wife after Sarah, Keturah, and by her and his concubines there were sons. The inheritance had to be...
This is one of the Targum's most humane glosses, tucked into a genealogy verse no one usually stops for. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 25:19) says: "These are the generations ...
When Jacob asked Joseph to bury him in Canaan rather than Egypt, he did not ask for a simple promise. In (Genesis 47:29) he asked Joseph to "put thy hand under my thigh", a euphemi...
The ancestral blessings were not universally loved. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan includes a striking aside in Joseph's final benediction. "The blessings of thy father be added to the ble...
The story begins with Abraham, who, concerned about finding the right wife for his son Isaac, sends his trusted servant Eliezer on a mission to Haran. Eliezer is laden with gifts a...
The Torah is full of incredible journeys, and sometimes, the distance covered seems almost impossible. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah (59) about Eliezer, Abraham's s...
Our focus today is on Jacob, later to be named Israel, and a very specific moment in his journey. The text places him at the "Well of the Oath" – Beersheba in Hebrew – in a very pa...
Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) turns to The Death And Burial Of Sarah. The story begins, surprisingly, amidst the drama of the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac. According to Ginzberg'...
Before the sun existed, there was light. This is one of the oldest puzzles in Genesis, God creates light on the first day, but the sun and moon don't appear until the fourth. The r...
Joseph's request to Pharaoh hinges on a vow he cannot break. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders it simply. "My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I die, in the sepulchre which I hav...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Eliezer's Camels and the Test of Idol Worship. Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya pose a fascinating question to Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Rabba: Were Abraham's camels, pa...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to The Well of the Oath and Why Jacob Left Beersheba. "From Beersheba," the text begins. Rabbi Yudan and Rav Huna offer two interpretations. Rabbi Yudan focus...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text expanding on the Torah, speaks to just that feeling. It tells a story of wells, oaths, and the sometimes-difficult path to peace. We pi...
Some say it's gravity, others dark energy. But what about love? What about a mother's love, strong enough to bind even the most volatile relationships? The Book of Jubilees, an anc...
That’s kind of what happened to Abraham. God promised him the entire land of Canaan, a massive inheritance for him and his descendants. But when his beloved wife Sarah passed away,...
The story in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer paints a pretty vivid picture. The scene: Jacob, with his sons, grandsons, wives, the whole shebang, journeys to Kirjath Arba, wanting to be nea...
The Torah describes Jacob's burial as a solemn procession to Canaan. Targum Jonathan turns it into an epic confrontation complete with a golden deathbed, a eulogy comparing Jacob t...
Hannah was barren for years. Her husband loved her and her rival taunted her and the priest Eli misread her prayer as drunkenness. The whole story is about a woman whose deepest lo...
It's a story packed with subtle cues and divine hints, all swirling around a well in Aram Naharaim. The servant arrives and asks Rebecca for a sip of water: "Please allow me to sip...
The story unfolds in Genesis chapter 24. Abraham has tasked his most trusted servant (traditionally identified as Eliezer) with a monumental mission: to find a wife for his son, Is...
Sometimes, the little snippets, the moments in between the big events, can be just as fascinating. Take the story of Isaac, Esau, and Jacob. We know the highlights. But what about ...
After journeying from Shechem to Hebron to be with their father Isaac, Jacob's sons settled in the valley. The pastures of Shechem were still good, and that’s where they tended the...
Take the tale of Eliezer, Abraham's trusted servant, tasked with finding a wife for Isaac. It’s more than just a simple errand; it's a journey filled with divine assistance and sub...
The Mekhilta continues cataloguing everything God showed Moses from Mount Pisgah. The question this time: how do we know that God showed him even the graves of the forefathers? The...
Abraham made his servant Eliezer swear an oath by placing his hand on the mark of circumcision. The Torah says "under my thigh." The Targum says exactly what it means: the section ...
(Exodus 22:3) says: "If found will be found in his hand." The phrase "in his hand" seems to mean the stolen object was physically held by the thief. But the Mekhilta interprets "in...
Some consider it pseudepigrapha – writings ascribed to biblical figures but not part of the accepted canon. Others see it as a vital window into the beliefs and practices of ancien...
Isaac knew that feeling. For three long years after his mother Sarah's passing, Isaac was inconsolable. He sought solace in the academy of Shem and Eber, immersing himself in study...
The story of Jacob and Esau, those eternally squabbling twins, offers us a fascinating glimpse into just that. The familiar version gives us the tale: Jacob, the trickster, steals ...
The story of Rachel's burial offers a powerful glimpse into this very idea. The Torah tells us simply that Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin and was buried on the road to Ephrat...
Sometimes, those threads are stronger than we imagine, woven with love and a touch of the divine. Our story today comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating work of Jewish li...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Abraham — Moses and the Angels. The story opens with a terrifying decree: God, in his anger, sends not one, but five angels to destroy Israel. These...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text, gives us a glimpse. It’s like a backstage pass to some of the most pivotal moments in the Torah. The scene: Abraham is visited by ange...
Book of Jubilees turns to Abraham Torn Between Sarah and Hagar. It all centers around Sarah, Abraham’s beloved wife, and Hagar, her handmaid. Sarah, in her older years, had been un...
Trials is often remembered as grand, sweeping events, but sometimes the most profound tests come in the quiet moments of grief. Think about Abraham. We know him as a patriarch, a f...
Book of Tobit turns to Sarah — Marriage of Tobiyyah. "Then Reuel gave Tobiyyah Sarah his daughter, and half his riches..." It's quite the dowry, isn't it? Not just love, but also w...
The Book of Jasher, a non-canonical text with roots possibly stretching back to the Second Temple period, offers some fascinating glimpses. Isaac and Rebecca. We begin with a probl...
(Yes, that's the title of the whole collection.) It's a wild ride through the aggadah – the stories, the embellishments, the "filling in the blanks" that surrounds the more straigh...
Abraham knew that feeling well. Before he was Avraham Avinu, our father Abraham, before the brit bein ha-betarim, the covenant of the pieces, he was just a man with a promise and a...
Ever find yourself in a sticky situation, and think, "Didn't I just do this?" Well, let's He's about to have a serious case of déjà vu. After leaving Egypt, Abraham and his wife, S...
The angels in heaven apparently felt that way on behalf of Sarah. The familiar version gives us Abraham. The patriarch, the man of faith. Well, there's a fascinating little aside i...
Abraham found himself in a quandary. "How," he wondered aloud, "am I going to separate my son Isaac from his mother, Sarah?" It's a universal question, isn't it? How do we let go, ...
Legends of the Jews turns to Sarah Beyond the Firmament. Abraham, the story goes, did indeed return to Beer-sheba, a place that held so many happy memories for him. But Isaac? Well...
Rebekah? She shone. The text says she didn’t walk in their ways; her piety, her devotion, was on par with Isaac himself. Yet, their marriage wasn't all smooth sailing. Can you imag...
Their story is well-known: a righteous couple, deeply devoted, yet facing the heartbreaking reality of infertility. They pleaded with God. They poured out their hearts in prayer. A...
