A monumental compilation of Jewish folklore by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, Rebekah, overcome with distress, began to weep as soon as Jacob departed. Isaac, ever the comforter, reassured her. "Weep not for Jacob!" he declared. "In peace doth he depart, and in peace will he return." He had faith that God would protect Jacob, guiding him and ensuring his safety because Jacob walked the "right path."
But Esau, consumed by rage and resentment, had other plans. He summoned his son, Eliphaz, for a clandestine meeting. "Take thy sword," he commanded, "pursue Jacob, and slay him!" Esau also instructed Eliphaz to seize all of Jacob's possessions. Eliphaz, only thirteen but already "dexterous and expert with the bow," as the text says, gathered ten of his maternal uncles and set off in pursuit.
Imagine the scene: Jacob, journeying towards Haran, unaware of the danger closing in. Eliphaz and his men, lying in ambush near Shechem. When Jacob saw them approaching with drawn swords, he stopped, confused. "Wherefore have you come hither?" he asked, "and why do you pursue with your swords?"
Eliphaz, unflinching, relayed his father's command. But then, something remarkable happened.
Jacob, facing imminent death, pleaded for his life. He offered Eliphaz everything he owned, including the gifts from his parents. "Take unto thee and go from me, and do not slay me," he begged, "and may this thing that thou wilt do with me be accounted unto thee as righteousness."
And here's where the story takes an unexpected turn. According to Legends of the Jews, "The Lord caused Jacob to find favor in the sight of Eliphaz and his men." Moved by Jacob's supplication, they spared his life, taking all his belongings instead. They left him with absolutely nothing.
Can you picture Jacob, stripped bare, continuing his journey? It's a stark image.
When Eliphaz returned to Esau and confessed to his disobedience, Esau was furious. Why hadn't they killed Jacob? Eliphaz explained that Jacob's plea had moved them to pity. Esau, though displeased, seized the stolen silver and gold, stashing it away in his house.
So, what are we to make of this dramatic encounter? It's a story of sibling rivalry, revenge, and ultimately, the power of supplication. It highlights the complexities of family relationships and the potential for both cruelty and compassion. And, perhaps most importantly, it reminds us that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, divine intervention—or a change of heart in others—can alter the course of destiny.
Scarcely had Jacob left his father's house, when Rebekah began to weep, for she was sorely distressed about him. Isaac comforted her, saying: "Weep not for Jacob! In peace doth he depart, and in peace will he return. The Lord, God Most High, will guard him against all evil and be with him. He will not forsake him all the days of his life. Have no fear for him, for he walketh on the right path, he is a perfect man, and he hath faith in God--he will not perish."
When Jacob went away to go to Haran, Esau called his son Eliphaz, and secretly spoke unto him, saying: "Now hasten, take thy sword in thy hand and pursue Jacob, and pass before him in the road, and lurk for him and slay him with thy sword in one of the mountains, and take all belonging unto him, and come back." And Eliphaz was dexterous and expert with the bow, as his father had taught him, and he was a noted hunter in the field and a valiant man. And Eliphaz did as his father had commanded him. And Eliphaz was at that time thirteen years old, and he arose and went and took ten of his mother's brothers with him, and pursued Jacob. And he followed Jacob closely, and when he overtook him, he lay in ambush for him on the borders of the land of Canaan, opposite to the city of Shechem. And Jacob saw Eliphaz and his men pursuing after him, and Jacob stood in the place in which he was going in order to know what it was, for he did not understand their purpose. Eliphaz drew his sword and went on advancing, he and his men, toward Jacob, and Jacob said unto them, "Wherefore have you come hither, and why do you pursue with your swords?" Eliphaz came near to Jacob, and answered as follows, "Thus did my father command me, and now therefore I will not deviate from the orders which my father gave me." And when Jacob saw that Esau had impressed his command urgently upon Eliphaz, he approached and supplicated Eliphaz and his men, saying, "Behold, all that I have, and that which my father and mother gave unto me, that take unto thee and go from me, and do not slay me, and may this thing that thou wilt do with me be accounted unto thee as righteousness." And the Lord caused Jacob to find favor in the sight of Eliphaz and his men, and they hearkened to the voice of Jacob, and they did not put him to death, but took all his belongings, together with the silver and gold that he had brought with him from Beer-sheba. They left him nothing. When Eliphaz and his men returned to Esau, and told him all that had happened to them with Jacob, he was wroth with his son Eliphaz and with his men, because they had not put Jacob to death. And they answered, and said unto Esau, "Because Jacob supplicated us in this matter, not to slay him, our pity was moved toward him, and we took all belonging to him, and we came back." Esau then took all the silver and gold which Eliphaz had taken from Jacob, and he put them by in his house.
