2,207 related texts · 56 related myths · Page 4 of 46
Remember Jacob's famous dream? He's fleeing from his brother Esau, sleeps on a stone, and sees a ladder stretching to heaven, with angels ascending and descending (Genesis 28:12). ...
The ancient rabbis certainly did.It illuminates the complex relationship between Leah, Jacob, and the birth of the tribes of Israel. In this, Midrash, a rabbinic interpretation, Le...
“Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himself to him and Haman was filled with wrath” (Esther 3:5).“Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himse...
Was Jacob, the patriarch, just an ordinary man? Tradition whispers secrets, suggesting his story is far grander than we might imagine. Some even say his true name was Israel, and t...
Jacob, madly in love with Rachel, works seven long years for her hand in marriage. Seven years! That’s dedication. That’s commitment. But the wedding night… oh, that’s where things...
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...
It’s a tale of love, rivalry, prayer, and a whole lot of divine intervention. the Torah tells us about Jacob’s preference for Rachel over Leah. But the ways of God, as Legends of t...
Compiled by Ginzberg, in his 132nd year, Naphtali invited his children to a banquet. The next morning, he announced his impending death, which they, of course, disbelieved. But Nap...
The why behind it all is so much more intricate, and dare I say, a little bit scandalous. Jacob arrives in Haran, falls head-over-heels for Rachel, and strikes a deal with her fath...
One story tells us that among the idols Jacob destroyed, there was one shaped like a dove. And wouldn’t you know it, the Samaritans later dug it up and started worshiping it again!...
Sometimes, the answer lies tucked away in unexpected corners of our sacred literature. Take the tradition of the seven-day wedding celebration, the sheva brachot. Where did that co...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Jacob in Heaven. Rabbi Eliezer paints a vivid picture of Jacob’s family. Apparently, Leah had a knack for early deliveries, bringing her sons into t...
Our story begins with Jacob, completely unaware of the drama unfolding within his own family. Remember when Rachel, his beloved wife, stole her father Laban’s Teraphim – household ...
Jacob, our patriarch, knew that feeling all too well. He was working for his father-in-law, Laban, and things were…complicated. In Genesis 31, we hear Jacob expressing his frustrat...
After Jacob's direct encounter with the Divine, something unexpected happens. The text says, "He finished speaking with him, and He went up from him, and Jacob looked till He had a...
That sign came with the birth of his son, Joseph. Jacob believed that Joseph's descendants would ultimately triumph over Esau's – his own brother, with whom he was not on the best ...
"Jacob left Beer Sheva" (Genesis 28:10). Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev connects this verse to a surprising topic: Chanukah. The word Chanukah (חנוכה) derives from chinukh (חנוך...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Rachel's Tomb and the Prophecy of Jacob's Family. The text in Bereshit Rabbah 82: “God appeared…again.” That little word "again" is loaded with meaning. Ra...
Joseph, having risen to power in Egypt, brings his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to visit his aging father. Now, it first appears this would be a joyous occasion. A reunion of fa...
Genesis 30 describes the intense rivalry between Rachel and Leah as they compete to bear Jacob's children. The Targum Jonathan turns this domestic drama into a prophetic saga where...
Jakob drew up the final accounting for the court of kinsmen. These twenty years have I been in thy house, serving thee; fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy ...
The Targum's gloss here is theologically sharp. From the time he appointed him superintendent over his house, and over all that he had, the Lord prospered the house of the Mizraite...
Jacob speaks. For the first time in the Targum's chapter, he is called by his second name, Israel. "Israel said, Many benefits hath the Lord wrought for me; He delivered me from th...
The Bible is full of them, but sometimes the stories between the lines are even more fascinating. to the tale of Jacob and his father-in-law, Laban, a story ripe with tension, accu...
The Torah tells us that after wrestling with an angel all night, Jacob was left with a limp. But that wasn't the end of the story! According to Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, the...
The ancient rabbis certainly knew the type. "It profits not if a villain is cast into a sawmill," they said. Neither force nor gentle words can sway a true rascal. And according to...
The familiar version gives us Jacob worked for seven years to earn Rachel's hand, only to be tricked into marrying Leah first. But what about Leah and Rachel themselves? Were they ...
Leah, found herself in a predicament. She had stopped bearing children, while her sister Rachel's handmaid, Bilhah, had already given Jacob two sons. According to Legends of the Je...
Sometimes, it’s in the quiet moments. In the silences. Think about Esther. Think about the immense pressure she was under, concealing her Jewish identity while navigating the treac...
Mordecai, in the Book of Esther, certainly did. He had to communicate with Esther, his niece and now Queen, without raising suspicion. So how did he do it? Well, according to Legen...
The Mekhilta completes its tracing of prayer through the three patriarchs by turning to Jacob. The Torah says that Jacob "vayifga in the place and he spent the night there, for the...
Jacob was one of the four righteous people whom God gave a hint about the future. But Jacob, the Mekhilta says, failed to take the hint. And the consequences reveal something profo...
The familiar story is this: from (Genesis 32:24-30). Jacob, preparing to meet his estranged brother Esau, sends his family and possessions across the Yabbok River (a stream whose n...
"And your eyes shall see" (Malachi 1:5). The prophet promises that Israel will watch the fall of Edom, watch it with their own eyes, from their own territory, and say: "Great is th...
"And Jacob called unto his sons" (Genesis 49:1). The Torah records the great final blessing, all twelve sons gathered around the dying patriarch, each receiving something tailored ...
A Roman legend told how the daughter of a certain emperor had so admired the beauty of Rabbi Ishmael's face that after his martyrdom his skin was removed, embalmed, and kept among ...
The rabbis noticed a quiet escalation in the promises made to the patriarchs about the land. To Abraham, God said, “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in th...
The Torah says Jacob came upon a place and lay down because the sun had set (Genesis 28:11). The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan cannot read that verse without shouting. It was not just any...
Laban tried to buy him off. What shall I give thee? he asked, the question of a man who believes everything has a price (Genesis 30:31). Jakob, in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan's telling,...
Jakob knew exactly where to set the peeled rods, in the canals, in the troughs of water, at the one place where the flocks were certain to gather (Genesis 30:38). Targum Pseudo-Jon...
The house turned cold long before anyone said a word out loud. Jakob heard the words of the sons of Laban, not spoken to him, but about him (Genesis 31:1). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan r...
Laban gathered his kinsmen and chased for seven days until he caught up at Mount Gilead. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan paints the arrival as a contrast too sharp to ignore. Laban had ridd...
For twenty years Jakob had held his tongue. Every shift of wages, every cold look, every whisper from the sons, he had swallowed them all. Now, after the fruitless search, somethin...
After the stones were stacked, Jakob did something remarkable. Jakob slew sacrifices in the mount, and invited his kinsmen who came with Laban to help themselves to bread, and they...
The moment Jacob heard that Esau was coming with four hundred armed men, he did what his grandfather and father had done before him: he prayed. But notice the opening he chose. He ...
"Save me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him." Jacob's plea in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Genesis 32:12) names two things most ancient prayers leave imp...
"But You promised." This is the hinge of Jacob's prayer in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Genesis 32:13). After naming his fears, after invoking his fathers, after shrinking himself into ...
Jacob knew Esau would ask three questions, so he wrote the answers in advance. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the briefing given to the first servant in the caravan (Genesis 32:1...
