Parashat Vayishlach
("and he sent"); Genesis
32:3-36:43 by Jon Eaton
This week's parashah
begins with Jacob sending messengers to his brother Esau in the land of Edom in
hope of reconciliation (and not being killed):
“And Jacob sent
messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of
Edom.” Genesis 32:3
Rashi
claimed that the "messengers" that Jacob sent to Esau were literally
angels (מַלְאָכִים malachim), and the Hebrew text appears support this
interpretation. In verse 1 Jacob was
met by angels and one verse later the “malachim” were sent to Esau. Was Jacob able to command angels? Just thinking out loud…
After learning about his
oncoming brother who was bringing 400 armed men, Jacob prayed to the Lord,
showing genuine teshuvah, possibly having learned what it was really like to be
on the other side of trickery.
Jacob was severely
stressed and arose in the middle of the night to send his wives and children
away to a safer place over the river Jabbock.
The Hebrew word Yabok יַבֹּק means “emptying”. Jacob had finally emptied himself of his
selfishness and personal pursuit of his destiny and was now left alone to
struggle with the ‘man’ אִישׁ (ish). It
is later in verse 29 and 30 that this ‘man’ is revealed to be Elohim.
The battle ensued all night and finally the
man displaced Jacob’s hip in an effort to end the fight. Jacob refused to let go until the man blessed
him. The nameless man complied with, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob ("heel holder" of Esau) but
Yisrael ("contender with God"), for as a prince (sar: שַׂר) you have
contended (sarita: שָׂרִיתָ) /have power (from the root sarah: שָׂרָה) with God
and with men and have prevailed" Genesis 32:28.
This is a place of humility. How often have we struggled with our own
inadequacies but have unknowingly been struggling with HaShem and His
purpose. For example, Shaul asked HaShem
three times to remove the thorn in his side in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “Concerning
this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.” Shaul’s struggle was part of HaShem’s
purpose.
After the blessing, Jacob
finally confronted his brother Esau. Jacob
did not attempt to trick his brother Esau this time, but rather chose to face
and engage him by sending a succession of servants bearing gifts to Esau in a
vain attempt to "appease" him.
In Genesis 32:21, the Hebrew word translated "appease" (אֲכַפְּרָה achaprah) comes from the verb khafar (כָפַר), from which the word "atonement"
is derived (kippur: כִּפֻּר). Then Jacob went ahead of the entire family and
bowed down seven times as he approached his twin brother. Wonderfully, Esau ran
to Jacob, embraced him, and they wept together.
Some study into traditional customs reveal that the ruler of a house in the
ancient middle-east (and also in some areas today) was never to be seen
running, and required only the lowest servant to “run”.
This also parallels the
story of the prodigal son where the awaiting Father “ran” to meet his lost son,
who was covered in pig filth and uncleanliness; yet instead of waiting for a lowly servant to run to the son or wait for an
apology or even wait for the son to be clean from defilement and by default then
being defiled Himself by touch, humbled himself and “ran, and fell on his neck,
and kissed him” Luke 15:20.
Jacob then introduced
his wives and children.
This was an answer to
Jacob’s prayer in Genesis 32:11-12, “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my
brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and
the mother with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and
make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for
multitude.’” Sometimes it’s handy to
remind ourselves of His promises to us and that His “Word” does not return
void. Isaiah 55:11.
Further on in chapter 34
is the story of the rape and the retribution of Dinah (דִינָה which means
‘judgement’), Jacob’s daughter. It
appears that the Jacob’s sons had inherited his habit of deception when they
tricked an entire city (Shechem) into being circumcised so that they might
destroy it.
Jacob was horrified as
we read in verse 30, “Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me
by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites
and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves
together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
Have you noticed that
Jacob still shows no concern for Dinah?
This did not go unnoticed by Simeon and Levi who responded with, “But
they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?” (verse 31). Maybe Dinah reminded him too much of her
mother Leah or possibly Jacob saw this whole ordeal as the fulfilment of
“judgement”?
After this turmoil,
Jacob returned to Bethel to erect another alter of thanks and once again HaShem
confirmed that his name had changed from Jacob to Israel and that his descendants
would be many and finally that, “The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give
to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land”. Genesis 35:12
Jacob then left Bethel
to return to his hometown of Hebron, but on the way Rachel died while giving
birth to Jacob's twelfth son Benjamin ("son of the right hand") and
was buried beside the road to Bethlehem (Ephrath).
According to the Beersheet
Rabbah, Jacob wept when he saw/knew that Rachel would not join him in burial (Beresheet
Rabbah 70:11) and also that He foresaw that the exiles were destined to pass by
(on the road to Ephrath); therefore he buried her there, that she should beg
God's mercy for them, as it says: A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and
bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children (Yirmiyahu 31:14, Beresheet
Rabbah 82:20).
Jacob finally arrives
home to see his father, but the Torah is silent about their reunion. If Genesis 1:1 is anything to go by, we may
get to see that awkward moment as we watch history unfold (“et” אֵת – whilst ‘et’
is used to indicate that "a definite direct object is next" which is
why there needs to be an ‘et’ before the heavens and the earth, it could also
be used in the context of meaning wholeness- - i.e. the whole of creation from
Aleph to Tav which would then by definition include us).
Shortly afterward Isaac
died and “gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being
old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him”. Genesis 35:29.
The parashah ends with
the genealogy of Esau. “These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are
their dukes.” Genesis 36:19.
By Jon Eaton
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