Brian Somers Torah: Genesis 32:3 – 36:43
Haftarah: Obadiah 1:1 – 21
New Testament/Brit Chadassah: Hebrews 11:11-20
In this parashah, Jacob has left Padan-Aram after serving his uncle Laban for 20 years. When he arrived in Padan-Aram, he was a penniless man. Twenty years later, he had two wives, two concubines, 11 sons and 1 daughter, and had become considerably wealthy in male and female servants and in livestock. After resolving his conflict with Laban with a covenant to take no additional wives, he now faced home and a much greater danger in his brother Esau who was sworn to kill him.
There seems to be a contradiction between Genesis 32:3 and 36:6-8 but I think I have a possible solution to it.
Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of himself to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Genesis 32:3
6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all his household, and his livestock and all his cattle, and all his property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. 7 For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they resided could not support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.
Genesis 36:6-8
It seems that Esau had been on a diplomatic mission to explore the possibility of an alliance with the Horites of Mount Seir, and Jacob’s messengers were re-routed to Mount Seir. Later, once Jacob was back in the land, Esau moved permanently to Seir.
When Jacob was told that Esau was coming with 400 men to meet him, he was distressed. The first defensive action he took was to divide his company into two. His thinking was that if one company was attacked, the other would escape.
After this immediate defensive posture, he then took the time to pray. In the words of his prayer, we see a much different man than twenty years previously. Initially, Jacob was afraid of YHVH but did not yet have a personal relationship. After twenty years of experiencing YHVH blessing him, he now knew who He was because of what He had done for him.
Jacob prayed now in deep humility and knowledge of Him Who had preserved him with Laban. He now asked in faith based on experience after presenting the situation for personal deliverance for himself, the mothers and their children. Fear can lead to an acknowledgment of unworthiness. Unlike 20 years ago, Jacob did not attempt to bargain. He simply asked in faith.
Then the next morning, likely after pondering his options during the night, he selected gifts intended to soften Esau’s heart. These consisted of 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milking camels and their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.
The following night, he sent his family and all his remaining possessions across the Jabbok while remaining behind. He found himself in a wrestling match with a Man until daybreak. Jacob refused to quit, refused to lose, even with a dislocated hip until he got the blessing he desired. The blessing came in the form of a new name, to recognize him as Israel, as a man who wrestled with men and God and prevailed. Jacob earned the name Israel because of sheer stubborn (and desperate) faith that transformed him. YHVH was telling him if he can wrestle with Him, he can deal with Esau from a place of calmness and strength.
Now, the next morning was the confrontation with Esau. Jacob, now named Israel, could face his brother, Esau, also called Edom. As Jacob divided his animal gifts to Esau, so now he divided his family. Of the mothers, the concubines and their children went first. In the middle were Leah and her children. At the rear were Rachel and Joseph. But before them all walked (or limped) Jacob.
The encounter between Esau and Jacob went about as well as Jacob could have hoped for. By showing submissive behavior, he defused the potentially volatile situation. No lives were lost, and Esau accepted Jacob’s gifts upon his repeated urgings. All it cost Jacob was his personal pride and animals from his herd. He was willing to pay that price so his family could live and go forward from that day.
Esau offered to leave some of his men with Jacob. Jacob politely and diplomatically declined. He knew it was better to remain separate from his brother, and not be indebted to him in any shape, manner or form. There was also the possibility that the men would take control of the caravan and redirect it to Seir.
After parting ways with Esau, Jacob went to Succoth and built a house for himself and booths for the animals. After some time, he moved everyone to Shechem and bought land there.
His only daughter Dinah was now a beautiful young maiden. She was forcibly taken and raped by the prince of the city, Shechem son of Hamor. Uncharacteristically, when Jacob learned of the rape, he remained silent until his sons who were out in the fields heard about it and came storming home.
Shechem wanted to marry Dinah and got his father Hamor to talk to Jacob about it. But Jacob was silent and his sons spoke to Hamor and Shechem. The sons of Israel lied to Hamor and Shechem and agreed to the marriage of Dinah to Shechem if every male in the city would be circumcised, and then they would become one people.
But on the third day when the men were weak from circumcision, Shimon and Levi came down on the city as avengers and killed every male. Then they and the rest of the brothers looted the city of their wives and children, servants and livestock.
Now Jacob spoke up with anger and spoke to Shimon and Levi and rebuked them for making them “odious” in the eyes of the neighborhood and putting the entire family at risk of reprisals.
It seems to me that Jacob was testing his sons to see how they would handle the aftermath of the rape of Dinah. Only two sons were singled out for chastisement, Shimon and Levi, and they were passed over for the right of leadership many years later. The lesson here to be taken is that men may not always know when they come to a decision that could have costly consequences not only in the immediate present but years down the road. Shimon and Levi let their anger cloud their thinking, and they showed Jacob that they could not be trusted with leadership.
The surprising thing is that YHVH did not speak up at this time. He did not condemn any member of Jacob’s family. One possible reason is that Hamor and Shechem were plotting to take the family’s herd for themselves and to absorb the Israelite family into the Hivite nation and thus cause the family of Israel to vanish. This was a serious threat to YHVH’s plan. He could have used the brothers Shimon and Levi as “battle-axes” to destroy the city of Shechem.
Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms
Jeremiah 51:20 KJV
By killing the men and looting the city, the sons of Jacob were setting a precedent for dealing with their enemies.
Another possible reason for YHVH not punishing the sons of Israel is that YHVH respected Jacob’s authority over his sons and did not push him aside to punish his sons Himself.
Moreover, as the family moved on YHVH’s orders to Bethel, YHVH protected them by causing a great fear to fall on the neighboring peoples. YHVH took Jacob’s fear of being wiped out and put it on the peoples surrounding them. Note should be taken here that with the new captives, they undoubtedly brought their idols with them, and that was why Jacob ordered that the idols be buried. He still maintained his authority as the head of the family and all obeyed him, which provides support in my view that he deliberately did not take charge in the affair of Dinah’s rape.
Rachel then died giving birth to her second and final child. She named her second baby Ben-Oni but Jacob changed that to Benjamin. This is the only instance where he overruled either Leah or Rachel about naming a child. The curse that Jacob decreed for stealing Laban’s teraphim fell on her and she passed away. Jacob buried her but Israel arose and led the family forth to the area near Migdal Eder, tower of the flock.
And it came about, while Israel was living in that land, that Reuben went and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it.
Genesis 35:22
The word “slept” is the Hebrew word שכב “shakab” (H#7901) and means the following:
to lie down
- (Qal)
- to lie, lie down, lie on
- to lodge
- to lie (of sexual relations)
- to lie down (in death)
- to rest, relax (fig)
- (Niphal) to be lain with (sexually)
- (Pual) to be lain with (sexually)
- (Hiphil) to make to lie down
- (Hophal) to be laid
After Rachel’s death and while living near Migdal Eder, Reuben slept with Bilhah who had been Rachel’s maidservant. Israel heard of it, but punishment was deferred until he was on his deathbed and passing out blessings, just like with Shimon and Levi.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
Genesis 49:3-4
My might and the beginning of my strength,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Uncontrollable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
Because you went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.
Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; so he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.
I Chronicles 5:1
This episode has been a source of confusion for millennia and I will take some time to explore it in depth to perhaps understand why Reuben and Bilhah were not put to death. At the time of this writing, I don’t have a good answer but will present some information for the reader to ponder. I will also present one possible scenario to explain what might have happened.
8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
Leviticus 18:8
11 And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Leviticus 20:11
According to these two statutes put together, Leviticus 18:8 and 20:11, Reuben and Bilhah were not put to death. Why not?
The Book of Jasher is a very ancient text, cited by Joshua and Second Samuel, and predating the First Temple. The problem for modern readers is that we don’t know if the copies we have are corrupted. There are some rather fantastic claims in the storytelling. But following is the Book of Jasher’s version of what happened with Reuben and Bilhah.
And it was after the death of Rachel, that Jacob pitched his tent in the tent of her handmaid Bilhah.
And Reuben was jealous for his mother Leah on account of this, and he was filled with anger, and he rose up in his anger and went and entered the tent of Bilhah and he thence removed his father’s bed.
At that time the portion of birthright, together with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the sons of Reuben, for he had profaned his father’s bed, and the birthright was given unto Joseph, the kingly office to Judah, and the priesthood unto Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father’s bed.
Jasher 36:13-15
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a Second Temple era writing that discusses the Reuben-Bilhah episode. According to the introductory notes before this work, the editor thinks it was written by a Hellenistic Jew in Greek perhaps during the second century BC. The relevant passage from this text follows.
Give heed to the words of Reuben your father.
Do not devote your attention to a woman’s looks,
Nor live with a woman who is already married,
Nor become involved in affairs with women.For if I had not seen Bilhah bathing in a sheltered place, I would not have fallen into this great lawless act. For so absorbed were my senses by her naked femininity that I was not able to sleep until I had performed this revolting act. While our father, Jacob, had gone off to visit his father, Isaac, and we were at Gader near Ephrathah in Bethlehem, Bilhah became drunk and was sound asleep, naked in her bedchamber. So when I came in and saw her nakedness, I performed the impious deed without her being aware of it. Leaving her sleeping soundly, I went out. And immediately a messenger from God revealed it to my father. He came and made lamentation over me, and never again touched her…Even until now, my conscience harasses me because of my impious act. And yet my father consoled me greatly and prayed to the Lord in my behalf so that the Lord’s anger would pass me by — which is just how the Lord treated me.
T12P 3:9-15; 4:4
Jubilees is considered a first century BC Second Temple text written in Hebrew that retells much of the Mosaic text and inserts explanations. In short, it is like an Aramaic targum, but in my opinion, it has some Babylonian flavoring in terms of the word choices.
And Jacob went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra’ef. And he went to his father Isaac, he and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month.
And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her.
And he hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her sleeping alone on a bed in her house.
And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold Reuben was lying with her in the bed, and she uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and cried out, and discovered that it was Reuben.
And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he fled.
And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one.
And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said unto him: ‘I am not clean for thee, for I have been defiled as regards thee; for Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me in the night, and I was asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.’
And Jacob was exceedingly wroth with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his father’s skirt.
And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her. And as for any man who uncovers his father’s skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before the Lord.
Jubilees 33:1-9
All of the texts agree that Reuben defiled his father’s bed. Jasher is the odd one out saying that Reuben acted like an early adolescent angry at his father by simply removing his father’s bed from Bilhah’s tent. Even though Jasher is considered a mostly-authentic ancient text, the simple Hebrew says that Reuben laid with Bilhah, so I will discount Jasher here. The two Second Temple texts, the earlier written in Greek and the later written in Hebrew, appear to draw on the same common understanding prevailing during that period that Reuben did indeed sleep with Bilhah. If we combine the elements from the canonical scripture with the two Second Temple texts, I think the likeliest scenario would be this.
Reuben saw Bilhah bathing in the nude and became inflamed with lust. She became drunk and slept in the nude. Reuben entered her tent and laid with her before she woke up and was aware who was with her. Bilhah told Jacob what had happened. Jacob was very upset with his son. But he eventually forgave him and because he was the father and the head of the family, YHVH did not intervene. While Reuben deserved death for what he had done, Jacob chose instead to memorialize his deed for all time in the blessing of his sons in Genesis 49 and to take the birthright from him. In other words, Reuben got a reduced sentence instead of the maximum capital penalty of death.
Returning to the biblical narrative, we see Jacob living near Migdal Eder and visiting his father Isaac in Hebron at least once (according to the Second Temple texts) before his final visit to his father. Before Isaac died, Jacob came to him in Hebron. There, Isaac passed at 180 years of age, and Esau and Jacob buried him.