5,406 related texts · 40 related myths · Page 2 of 113
"Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob" (Jeremiah 2:4). Not the word of Jeremiah. Not the word of the priesthood. The word of the Lord, direct, unmediated, demanding attentio...
Jakob saw the encampment approaching and his first instinct was dread. These are not the host of Esau who are coming to meet me, nor the host of Laban, who have returned from pursu...
Jacob lifted his eyes and saw what he had feared for twenty years: Esau, and with him four hundred men of war (Genesis 33:1). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan does not soften the number. Fou...
"I will lead on quietly alone, according to the foot of the work which is before me, and according to the foot of the instruction of the children; until the time that I come to my ...
"And they journeyed from thence, offering praise and prayer before the Lord. And there was a tremor from before the Lord upon the people of the cities round about them, and they pu...
"And Deborah, the nurse of Rebecca, died, and was buried below Bethel, in the field of the plain. And there it was told Jacob concerning the death of Rebecca his mother; and he cal...
The Torah gives us one sentence, and it is a scandal: Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22). The sages could not bear to leave it there. Reuben was...
The Torah says Pharaoh gave Joseph a wife named Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 41:45) stops the reader short with a different clai...
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 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...
See, Joseph, sent by his father Jacob, arrives in Shechem. Now, Shechem wasn't just any town. According to the legends, it was a place already steeped in bad vibes. Ginzberg, in hi...
"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...
"I have remained a stranger at Laban's" (Genesis 32:5). Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev reports his father's brilliant reading of Jacob's message to Esau. The Hebrew word garti (...
Adam was created in twelve hours. According to Sanhedrin 38b, Rabbi Yohanan bar Hanina mapped each hour of the first man's first day onto a specific stage of formation. In the firs...
"Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Vayisu": It is based on the verse "They journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were around them, and they did not pur...
Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau (Genesis 32:4). The Hebrew word is malachim, messengers, angels. The midrash says this literally: Jacob sent actual angels. He had t...
"And the sons of Jacob had come up from the field when they heard. And the men were indignant, and very violently moved, because Shekem had wrought dishonour in Israel in lying wit...
"You have made my name to go forth as evil among the inhabitants of the land, among the Kenaanites and Phezerites. And I am a people of small number, and they will gather together ...
Jacob draws the line. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 42:38) preserves his refusal: "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone remains of his moth...
The plain verse of (Genesis 46:20) simply records that Joseph married Asenath, daughter of Potiphera priest of On, and had two sons, Menasheh and Ephraim. The Targum Pseudo-Jonatha...
There's a fascinating little drama tucked away in the story of Jacob preparing to meet his brother Esau, a drama involving a chest, a daughter, and a divine rebuke. It all starts w...
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...
Take the story of Jacob's sons and the city of Shechem. It's a brutal tale, full of moral complexities. And it's found not just in Genesis, but also amplified in other ancient Jewi...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text not included in the Hebrew Bible but considered scripture by some, certainly thinks so. It gives us a slightly different spin on famili...
Have compassion on thyself, father, and on us and on all our house, for they have come against thee to slay thee and to destroy thy house." Jacob girded his loins with strength, an...
Compiled by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, it was a near-death experience involving Esau's son, Eliphaz. Fueled by rage and a thirst for revenge, Esau doesn't waste any time. He calls for h...
Remember the story? Jacob, with a little help from his mother, tricked his aging, blind father Isaac into giving him the blessing meant for Esau, the elder twin. Esau was furious, ...
Jacob wasn't just praying for himself. According to Legends of the Jews, he was also pleading for the future of his descendants, that they wouldn't be wiped out by Esau's line. He ...
The story of that legendary grapple is… well, it’s more than just a simple wrestling match. It's a clash of worlds, a test of faith, and a glimpse into the complex relationship bet...
Legends of the Jews turns to Michael Asked Jacob Why He Still Feared Esau. As dawn breaks, the drama continues. Michael says to Jacob, "Let me go, for the day breaketh." But Jacob,...
Jacob did. And the encounter didn't just leave him with a limp; it left him with a new name, a new destiny, and a whole lot of responsibility. Michael, the archangel, stands before...
Remember him? One of Jacob's sons? According to Legends of the Jews, Michael, the archangel himself, took Levi up to heaven! A whirlwind trip to the celestial court. Once there, Mi...
Take Jacob, for instance. His story isn't just about wrestling an angel; it's about the very human cost of that struggle. The familiar story is this: Jacob, alone in the darkness, ...
He continued his journey, finally, to his father Isaac. The peace wouldn't last. Jacob eventually made his way back to Shechem, that very place where his sons had, shall we say, st...
The whole thing started with a bowl of soup. Esau came home from hunting one day, starving, exhausted, still a young man. And found his brother Jacob cooking lentil stew. It was br...
The familiar story is this: Jacob, preparing to face his estranged brother Esau, finds himself confronting a mysterious figure in the dead of night. The Torah tells us "a man" wres...
Chapter 2 Our forefather Jacob was 63 when he was blessed. Ishmael died at that time as is written, "Esau saw that Isaac had blessed...Jacob listened to his father...Esau saw [the ...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Jacob Wrestled the Angel and Limped at Sunrise. Hold onto your hats, because According to Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of...
The story of Jacob wrestling with an angel, found in Genesis 32, is one of the most enigmatic and powerful scenes in the Torah. But what was really going on that night by the river...
It’s the story of Jacob, our patriarch, and it's a story that the rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah, that great collection of Genesis interpretations, unpack with fascinating detail. The f...
It all starts with Jacob, that famous figure from the Book of Genesis. Remember when Jacob wrestles with a mysterious figure all night long? After this epic struggle, Jacob asks hi...
The story, as told in Bereshit Rabbah 78, isn't just about brothers meeting again; it’s about celestial battles, misunderstandings, and the ultimate ratification of destiny. Rememb...
The story starts with a quote from (Genesis 49:5): "Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of villainy are their heritage." But what does it really mean? Bereshit Rabbah, an ancient...
The Torah recounts that when the city of Shechem violated Dinah, it was specifically Shimon and Levi who took up swords and avenged her. The verse calls them "the brothers of Dinah...
The messengers returned with the news every fleeing brother dreads. We came to thy brother, to Esau, and he also cometh to meet thee, and four hundred chief-warriors with him (Gene...
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 ...
"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 was a strategist, and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the tactical cleverness of his gift to Esau (Genesis 32:17). He did not send one large herd. He sent flock after flock,...
