Esau was seething after Jacob received their father Isaac's blessing. He was so consumed by hatred, according to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, that Jacob had to escape to the house of Eber, the son of Shem. Imagine, fourteen years hidden away, studying the ways of God.
What was Esau doing during this time? Well, he wasn't exactly mellowing out. He was furious at everyone – Jacob, his parents – the whole situation! He even took a second wife, Basemath, a Hittite, in the land of Seir, renaming her Adah. The text implies this name change was a symbolic acknowledgement of his perceived loss; he was so upset that the blessing had "passed from him." He kept his two wives in his father's house in Hebron. But these wives were a constant source of grief for Isaac and Rebekah. They didn't follow God's ways, but worshipped idols, causing Isaac and Rebekah deep sorrow.
After fourteen long years, Jacob yearned to see his parents. But Esau hadn't forgotten. Seeing Jacob return reignited Esau's fury. He wanted to kill Jacob, but he hesitated, fearing it might lead Isaac to have another son, jeopardizing Esau's inheritance. He decided to hasten his father's death and then kill Jacob.
Pretty dark. But nothing is truly hidden. "Probably thou knowest not that I examine the hearts of men, for I am the Lord that searcheth the heart," the verse says.
And Rebekah, ever the insightful mother and a prophetess in her own right, saw Esau's true intentions. She warned Jacob, "Thy brother is as sure of accomplishing his wicked purpose as though thou wert dead. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him." She even thought Esau’s anger would eventually fade, which, sadly, wasn’t the case.
Jacob, though, wasn’t exactly thrilled about running. He even declared, "I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him." Rebekah wouldn’t hear of it and responded, "Let me not be bereaved of both my sons in one day." And, chillingly, her words proved prophetic – Esau was slain during Jacob's burial.
So, how do you convince someone to leave when they don't want to?
Rebekah used a clever tactic. She approached Isaac, feigning concern about Jacob marrying a Canaanite woman. "If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, what good shall my life do me?" she lamented.
This prompted Isaac to call Jacob and command him to go to Haran, to the house of Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban. It wasn’t just about finding a wife; it was about preserving the covenant. Isaac charged Jacob: "Take heed lest thou shouldst forget the Lord thy God and all His ways in the land to which thou goest…But when thou comest to the land, serve the Lord."
Isaac, recognizing the gravity of the situation, reinforced his blessing to Jacob. "In so far as I am endowed with the power of blessing, I bestow blessing upon thee. May God, with whom there is endless blessing, give thee His, and also the blessing wherewith Abraham desired to bless me." This was a way of ensuring no one could say Jacob had gotten the blessing through trickery. Isaac even foresaw the exile of Jacob's descendants, praying for their eventual return.
While Jacob was leaving, Esau was busy plotting with Ishmael. In a twisted conversation, Esau suggests they both kill their fathers so that they can divide the world between them. Ishmael, however, suggests Esau should kill his own father. Esau responds that a man killing his brother (like Cain and Abel) is more common than a son killing his father. However, the text reveals that Esau's resistance to parricide was merely part of his twisted scheme to kill both his father and brother in order to claim the inheritance.
Esau even married Mahalath, Ishmael's daughter, but not to please his parents, who disapproved of his Canaanite wives. His real motive was to secure Ishmael's support for his evil plans. But things didn't go as planned. Ishmael died before the wedding, and Esau's continued association with his Canaanite wives proved his lack of genuine concern for his parents' feelings.
As Jacob departed, Rebekah wept, deeply distressed. Isaac, however, offered comfort: "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." He had faith in Jacob, believing in his righteousness.
So, Jacob leaves. Marked by deception, threats of violence, and a mother's desperate maneuvering. But also, it is a story filled with blessings, promises, and the hope of a future secured through faith. Where does that leave you thinking about your own path? How do we reconcile the messy, complicated humanity of these stories with the sacred messages they carry?
Esau hated his brother Jacob on account of the blessing that his father had given him, and Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and he fled to the house of Eber, the son of Shem, and he concealed himself there fourteen years on account of his brother Esau, and he continued there to learn the ways of the Lord and His commandments. When Esau saw that Jacob had fled and escaped from him, and Jacob had cunningly obtained the blessing, then Esau grieved exceedingly, and he was also vexed at his father and mother. He also rose up and took his wife, and went away from his father and mother to the land of Seir. There he married his second wife, Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and he called her name Adah, saying that the blessing had in that time passed from him. After dwelling in Seir for six months, Esau returned to the land of Canaan, and placed his two wives in his father's house in Hebron. And the wives of Esau vexed and provoked Isaac and Rebekah with their works, for they walked not in the ways of the Lord, but served their fathers' gods of wood and stone, as their fathers had taught them, and they were more wicked than their fathers. They sacrificed and burnt incense to the Baalim, and Isaac and Rebekah became weary of them. And at the end of fourteen years of Jacob's residing in the house of Eber, Jacob desired to see his father and his mother, and he returned home. Esau had forgotten in those days what Jacob had done to him, in having taken the blessing from him, but when Esau saw Jacob returning to his parents, he remembered what Jacob had done to him, and he was greatly incensed against him, and he sought to slay him. But Esau would not kill Jacob while his father was yet alive, lest Isaac beget another son. He wanted to be sure of being the only heir. However, his hatred against Jacob was so great that he determined to hasten the death of his father and then dispatch Jacob. Such murderous plans Esau cherished in his heart, though he denied that he was harboring them. But God spoke, "Probably thou knowest not that I examine the hearts of men, for I am the Lord that searcheth the heart." And not God alone knew the secret desires of Esau. Rebekah, like all the Mothers, was a prophetess, and she delayed not to warn Jacob of the danger that hung over him. "Thy brother," she said to him, "is as sure of accomplishing his wicked purpose as though thou wert dead. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him for seven years, until thy brother's fury turn away." In the goodness of her heart, Rebekah could not but believe that the anger of Esau was only a fleeting passion, and would disappear in the course of time. But she was mistaken, his hate persisted until the end of his life. Courageous as he was, Jacob would not run away from danger. He said to his mother, "I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him," to which she replied, "Let me not be bereaved of both my sons in one day." By words Rebekah again showed her prophetic gift. As she spoke, so it happened—when their time came, Esau was slain while the burial of Jacob was taking place. And Jacob said to Rebekah: "Behold, thou knowest that my father has become old and does not see, and if I leave him and go away, he will be angry and will curse me. I will not go; if he sends me, only then will I go." Accordingly, Rebekah went to Isaac, and amid tears she spoke to him thus: "If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, what good shall my life do me?" And Isaac called Jacob, and charged him, and said unto him: "Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, for thus did our father Abraham command us according to the word of the Lord, which He had commanded him, saying, 'Unto thy seed will I give the land; if thy children keep My covenant that I have made with thee, then will I also perform to thy children that which I have spoken unto thee, and I will not forsake them.' Now therefore, my son, hearken to my voice, to all that I shall command thee, and refrain from taking a wife from amongst the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Haran, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother. Take heed lest thou shouldst forget the Lord thy God and all His ways in the land to which thou goest, and shouldst join thyself to the people of the land, and pursue vanity, and forsake the Lord thy God. But when thou comest to the land, serve the Lord. Do not turn to the right or to the left from the way which I commanded thee, and which thou didst learn. And may the Almighty God grant thee favor before the people of the land, that thou mayest take a wife there according to thy choice, one who is good and upright in the way of the Lord. And may God give unto thee and thy seed the blessing of thy father Abraham and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and mayest thou become a multitude of people in the land whither thou goest, and may God cause thee to return to thy land, the land of thy father's dwelling, with children and with great riches, with joy and with pleasure." As the value of a document is attested by its concluding words, the signature of the witnesses, so Isaac confirmed the blessing he had bestowed upon Jacob. That none might say Jacob had secured it by intrigue and cunning, he blessed him again with three blessings, in these words, "In so far as I am endowed with the power of blessing, I bestow blessing upon thee. May God, with whom there is endless blessing, give thee His, and also the blessing wherewith Abraham desired to bless me, desisting only in order not to provoke the jealousy of Ishmael." Seeing with his prophetic eye that the seed of Jacob would once be compelled to go into exile, Isaac offered up one more petition, that God would bring the exiles back again. He said, "He shall deliver thee in six troubles, and in the seventh there shall no evil touch thee." And also Rebekah prayed to God in behalf of Jacob: "O Lord of the world, let not the purpose prosper which Esau harbors against Jacob. Put a bridle upon him, that he accomplish not all he wills to do." When Esau observed that even his father's love had passed from him to Jacob, he went away, to Ishmael, and he addressed him as follows: "Lo, as thy father gave all his possessions to thy brother Isaac, and dismissed thee with empty hands, so my father purposeth to do to me. Make thyself ready then, go forth and slay thy brother, and I will slay mine, and then we two shall divide the whole world between us." And Ishmael replied: "Why dost thou want me to slay thy father? thou canst do it thyself." Esau said: "It hath happened aforetime that a man killed his brother—Cain murdered Abel. But that a son should kill his father is unheard of." Esau did not really shrink back from parricide, only it chanced not to fit the plan he had hatched. "If Ishmael slays my father," he said to himself, "I am the rightful redeemer, and I shall kill Ishmael to avenge my father, and if, then, I murder Jacob, too, everything will belong to me, as the heir of my father and my uncle." This shows that Esau's marriage with Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael and grandchild of Abraham, was not concluded out of regard for his parents, who were opposed to his two other wives, daughters of the Canaanites. All he desired was to enter into amicable relations with Ishmael in order to execute his devilish plan. But Esau reckoned without his host. The night before his wedding with Mahalath Ishmael died, and Nebaioth, the son of Ishmael, stepped into his father's place, and gave away his sister. How little it had been in Esau's mind to make his parents happy by taking a granddaughter of Abraham to wife, appears from the fact that he kept his two other wives, the Canaanitish women. The daughter of Ishmael followed the example of her companions, and thus she but added to the grief caused the parents of Esau by their daughters-in-law. And the opportunity might have been a most favorable one for Esau to turn aside from his godless ways and amend his conduct, for the bridegroom is pardoned on his wedding day for all his sins committed in years gone by. 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."
