When a Mother Lost All She Had for Doing Good
The narrator of Genesis tells us that the matriarchs Sarah, Rivkah, and Rachel were barren. The birth of the promised son Yitschak came as a miracle, for Sarah was able to conceive and give birth in her advanced age. If the birth of Yitschak was a miracle, and the birth of Ya’akov was a double miracle, all the more the emergence of the nation of Israel. Each one of the matriarchs knew that she would have a son, because of the promised the Eternal gave to their husbands. Yet they were not without bad judgement.
After recording Abraham’s death and burial, in Genesis 25:19 the Torah portion Toldot, “Generations”, begins its description of how the Eternal began to fulfill His promise of making Yitschak into a great nation through his son Ya’akov. Yitschak was the most long-lived of the three patriarchs. He lived 180 years, Avraham lived 175 years and Ya’akov 147 years, but Yitschak is also the least-mentioned patriarch among the three.
And these are the generations of Yitschak, Avraham’s son: Avraham begot Yitschak. (Gen 25:19)
This is how the Torah portion Toldot begins telling us that Avraham begot Yitschak. But with the very next verse, the focus seemingly shifted from Yitschak, the son of Avraham, to Rivkah, his wife, the daughter of Bethu’el the Aramean of Paddan Aram, the sister of Lavan the Aramean, whom he married when he was forty years old (Gen 25:20). This is a long description here in this verse seeing that we already know her genealogy. The Torah goes on to let us know that Yitschak prayed to the Eternal, because his wife was barren. The prayer was answered, and Rivkah conceived (verse 21). In contrast, we should recall, when Sarah was barren for many years, Avraham did not supplicate the Supernal One for children, because when he said “You have given me no seed” (Gen 15:3), he did not mean it as a prayer, but as a mere fact; a promise was made to him that he would become a father of many nations, and he still did not have a heir through whom this promise would be fulfilled. But now Yitschak did offer up a prayer on behalf of his wife. And indeed, Rivkah was with two children who struggled together in her womb, as we read,
And the children struggled together within her, and she said: ‘If so, why am I in this?’ And she went to inquire of the Eternal. (Gen 25:22)
The Torah is very careful in its choice of words. The Hebrew word banim, “children”, “sons”, always refers to born children, but here the Torah refers to the unborn “fetuses” in her womb as “children”. The children were unborn, but they already struggled together within Rivkah. In this she saw a disturbing sign that her pregnancy would bring unforeseen troubles resulting from the struggle in her womb, and this might not secure the promise that a great nation would come out of her, so she cried out, “If so, why is this?”. And she went to ask of the Lord. Here again the narrator is careful in his words: “she went”. Where did she went to inquire of the Omniscient. Where and how she asked YHVH, is not recorded by Mosheh, and therefore cannot be determined with certainty, but per the oral tradition, she went to Avraham or Shem, who were still alive at that time, to inquire. And the Eternal answered the prayer immediately. We read,
And the Eternal said to her: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your bowels. And one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the older shall serve the younger. (Gen 25:23)
In their mother’s womb, two peoples were already different and struggling. The key phrase here is the seemingly usual expression: “And the Eternal said to her”, which in this case carries a significant charge. Why so? According to the plain meaning of the text, this was said to her only. It was only Rivkah and not her husband who understood what that struggle between the children in her womb meant. As it will become clear later in the narrative, this phrase explains why Yitschak could not imagine his older son Eisav to be unfit for the position of firstborn, and why Rivkah engaged in plotting to change Yitschak’s blessing for Eisav. Rivkah and not Yitschak was given to foresee the future, namely, through whom of the two sons the promised nation would emerge. And when it is said that “one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger”, it is not clear to us who will serve whom, as it is appear to us from the text. The only clue we have in order to determine who is meant is the fact that normally the active subject is written first. In other words, there is a hint that the older son will eventually be subservient to the younger one. It is not clear to use, but it was made very clear to the mother who received the answer to her inquiry. She would keep this for herself in the years to come.
And when the days were filled for Rivkah to give birth, twins came out of her womb. According to modern-day gynecological studies, the conception of hetero-ovular twins may differ from several minutes to seven days, and it is impossible to define who was conceived first. At the birth of such hetero-ovular twins there is always a period that can last to about an hour. Here however the fact that there is no interval in the birth description in the Torah, by itself is evidence of a miracle.
The twins were very different from the moment they left the womb. The first that came out was of a ruddy complexion and hairy. For this reason he was called Eisav. The second came out while holding his brother’s foot, as if in an attempt to protect his head from his kick. For this reason he was called Ya’akov, meaning he was in protection of himself.
Insight: The Hebrew of Genesis 25:25 says that because of the physical appearance of firstborn, “they called his name Eisav”. Generally, it is assumed that the “they” were the parents. But in the case of the second son, the text says: “He named him”. Who is the “he” who named him Ya’akov, or why is it not plainly stated, as in the case of Eisav, “they named him”? Also, since Yitschak was 40 years old when he married Rivkah (Gen 25:20), and 60 when the twins were born (Gen 25:26), we know that they were childless for 20 years. This means that Avraham (160 years old) was still alive when his grandsons were born. He died when the twins were 15 years old. We now return to the text.
Yitzchak and Rivkah noticed how very different the children were. Rivkah noticed and knew what that meant from the very first struggle between the children in her womb, but not her husband. Rivkah would keep this secret and the explanation of it in her mind until the opportunity opened for the blessing of the firstborn, but for now the boys would grow and develop as very different natures and characters.
Most children born by the same father and mother will grow up as parts of the same nation, as in the case of Avraham. But not in the family of Yitschak and Rivkah. As soon as the children came out of the womb, they each began to develop with very different personalities, so that two different nations would arise and establish from them. The children were born twins and raised in a righteous family. Eventually, they would come to hate and fight one another as they were already fighting in their mother’s womb. But while in the womb they had nothing inherently good or evil that could define them seeing they had done nothing good or bad. The struggle in Rivkah’s womb between the children was not at all based on any predestination or personal freedom of choice of doing good or evil, as this choice could not have been developed before their birth, because freedom of choice comes with consciousness which developed later in their lives.
Eisav became a cunning hunter, a man of the wilderness, while Ya’akov was a quiet man dwelling in tents. It turned out however that Yitschak loved Eisav [more], because he did eat of his venison, and Rivkah loved Ya’akov [more], because of the prophecy given to her (Gen 25:27-28). From this account it is evident why Yitschak loved Eisav, because Eisav was a good hunter and he ate from his game. But there was no need for the Torah to mention that Yitschak loved Ya’akov, for clearly his love for Ya’akov was because Ya’akov grew as a righteous man. But since Avraham was still alive when the boys grew up, who was his favorite? The Book of Jubilee 19:15-16 reveals that Avraham loved Ya’akov. He saw the deeds of Eisav, and he knew that in Ya’akov his name and seed should be called. And Avraham called Rivkah and instructed her regarding Ya’akov, for he knew that she too loved Ya’akov much more than Eisav because of this.
The boys grew and became men. And it came to be that Ya’akov cooked a stew, and Eisav came in from the hunting, and he was weary. Upon seeing the red stew he pleaded with his brother to give him to eat. According to the oral tradition, that was the day for mourning, for on that day Avraham passed away. But if so, it should have been written then, “And Yitschak cooked a pottage”, not Ya’akov? Either way, it came to be that on the day Eisav despised his birthright and sold it to his younger brother for a bow of red meat. For this reason, he was called also Edom (“red”). But as we argued elsewhere, Eisav did not possess his birthright to sell, nor did Ya’akov to buy it, because no birthright comes into effect except after the passing of the father and only according to his will; and it was not theirs to sell or buy it in the first place. Regardless of whether the “transaction” was legal or not, it shows what attitude the sons of Yitschak had towards the birthright. There is no indication in the narrative that the parents knew about what the sons had done, and we will leave the issue open and unexplained.
And when Eisav became forty years old, he took as wives certain women, daughters of a Chittite, which displeased greatly Yitschak and Rivkah; at that time Yitschak was 100 (compare to Gen 25:26). And it came to be, when Yitschak, 123, was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he became overly concerned about his old age and called Eisav. Perhaps, Yitschak misunderstood his advanced age as a sign that his death would occur soon. This prompted him to call in Eisav and in order to bestow his blessing upon him before his passing.
Let us summarize the events so far in our story. Yitschak was 40 years old when he married Rivkah (Genesis 25:20). He was 60 years old when the twins were born (Genesis 25:26). Eisav was 40 when he married, and Yitschak was 100 at that time (Genesis 26:34). Twenty-three years after Eisav married, Yitschak, 123, called Eisav to come into his tent and asked him to make him a tasty dish, which he loved, and then he would giving him his blessing, for he thought he was dying. But Rivkah overheard the conversation, and when Eisav went hunting, she spoke to her son Ya’akov (Gen 27:4-6).
As we noted above, it seems that Rivkah never told her husband of the prophecy which the Eternal had related to her, namely, “And the older shall serve the younger”, otherwise it would be that Yitschak had transgressed the commandment of the Eternal. Perhaps, at first she did not tell her husband, because the phrase “she went to inquire of the Eternal” suggests that she went without his knowledge and permission. Now, sixty-two years later, Rivkah realized that the time for the blessing of the firstborn came and whoever received the blessing would determine the very fate and destiny of the promised nation. She related all she overheard to her son Ya’akov determined to change the course of the events, for Rivkah knew that her sons could not coexist. But why did Rivkah have to trick her husband in order to make it right? If she felt that Ya’akov deserved the blessings, she should have spoken to her husband to convince him of her view. But because the revelation of the prophecy was given to her, and not to Yitschak, she must have felt that her only alternative was to trick him into giving the blessing to Ya’akov. Ya’akov however on the other hand in order to secure the blessing perpetrated a falsehood against his father.
But notice how Rivkah presented the conversation she overheard. She said to Ya’akov,
See, I heard your father speak to Eisav your brother, saying, “Bring me venison and make me a tasty food to eat, and I shall bless you in the presence of the Eternal before my death“. (Gen 27:6-7)
Compare to what Yitschak actually said to Eisav,
… and make me tasty food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless you before I die. (Gen 27:4)
According to the plain reading of the accounts, Yitschak did not say, “I shall bless you in the presence of the Eternal”. That was what Rivkah said to her son. Did Rivkah consciously put in her husband’s mouth words he never spoke, or less likely the narrator of the story did not see fit to add them? There is no way for us to know, and we need to be satisfied with what we have. But Zohar, Toldot 19:139 makes the point that when Yitschak said to Eisav: “and go out into the field and take me venison”, he added, “I will bless you before the Lord”. Now, had Yitschak said simply, “that I may bless you”, there would have been no harm. But when he uttered the words “before the Lord”, the heavens disapproved it, for that was not the Lord’s desire. Here the Zohar asserts that Yitschak actually said these words, but according to the text we have before us, he did not. We will leave that unexplained, as we did previously.
Either way, the mother instructed her son to do exactly as she wanted it. And Ya’akov brought to his mother two choice young goats as told. Rivkah cooked them and with their skins, she made a disguise for her son, because Eisav was hairy and she was anxious for Ya’akov to appear as much as possible like her other son. Now, Rivkah specifically commanded Ya’akov to bring her two kids. Another question that is raised before us: “Did Yitschak consume two whole young kids every day? Were the meat and the skin of one of them not good enough to get the job done?”
Insight: When we read the text, we must not think of European goats, whose hard hairs would be quite unsuitable for any imitation of human skin and hair. Rather, those kids were specific camel-goats of the East, whose black, silk-like hair was used even by the Roman nobles as a wig. We now return to the text.
But Ya’akov was concerned about his mother’s scheme and asked,
What if my father touches me? Then I shall be like a deceiver in his eyes and shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing. (Gen 27:12)
We wonder about it! Why was Ya’akov concerned about how his skin would feel and would not be concerned about vocal recognition, for all people are very recognizable by their voices. What we have to say in this case is that, perhaps, the brothers had similar voices, and Ya’akov felt that he could alter his voice in order to speak as his brother did. But his mother said to him what later would become fulfilled. She said,
Let your curse be on me, my son. Only listen carefully to my voice and go, get them for me. (Gen 27:13)
Why would Rivkah say such words, and why would a mother take a curse upon herself, which otherwise would have been upon her child? One thing is certain from the text: Rivkah had no fear that there would be a curse at all, for she had complete confidence in the prophecy that her younger son Ya’akov was the promised seed, and Eisav should serve him at the end. Rivkah wanted to assure her son that if there would be any curse, she would take it upon herself, and he would be innocent of what she had told him to do. She did not realize at that time that she had a heavy price to pay for her words.
But an issue presents itself: Ya’akov was afraid of causing his father’s wrath if caught, but he was not afraid of causing a curse upon his mother. He did not want to be cursed, but he did not object if his mother would be cursed either. But he should have been. When Ya’akov heard what his mother had overheard, he should have been aware that this was no ordinary blessing his father meant to bestow upon his older brother. We know why Rivkah devised this scheme to secure the blessing for Ya’akov, because of the oracle, but it is difficult to understand why Ya’akov agreed to it.
Nevertheless, Rivkah succeeded in her plan in shifting her husband’s blessing from Eisav to Ya’akov; at that time the brothers were 63 years old, when the younger stole the blessings from the older.
Upon realizing what indeed occurred in his tent, we are told that “Yitschak trembled very exceedingly”. But why would Yitschak “tremble very exceedingly”, since he was in his right to give blessings to whomever of his sons he wished? According to the interpretation of the Rabbis, Yitschak was made see the gates of Gehinnom (Hebrew for “Hell”) open before his son Eisav, and he was scared when he became aware of Eisav true nature. But there is no indication in the text to suggest such a presupposition. Here we feel compelled to address this issue, as we will take leave from the course of the events.
There is no indication in the text up to this point that Eisav was found wicked and hated by Elohim from birth. We have no difficulty understanding why Rivkah loved Ya’akov; she had received an oracle from above. But Yitschak knew nothing about the prophecy. The question is, why did Isaac favor Eisav over Ya’akov? Even if all his wildness did not trouble him, the next episode involving Eisav clearly would, when he wanted to kill his brother. But this will come later on. No one is judged for he has not done. So where did the notion that Eisav was “evil” and Ya’akov was “righteous” come from?
The author of Romans 9:11-16 asserts the attribution of evil predestination to Eisav and righteous predestination to Ya’akov before they were even born, while admitting that they had done no evil or good to deserve such a fate spoken of Genesis 25:23 that would inevitably happen in the future. This being an erroneous opinion, it becomes our duty to explain this passage, since so many people are confused regarding them. It is not in the scope of this study, but we feel that we need to address this now.
We believe that the author of Romans has misappropriated the texts in Exodus 33:19 and Malachi 1:2-4, which he quotes in Romans 9, taking them completely of their contexts. Does Merciful One hate someone while he is in the mother’s womb before he has done any evil? Does the Righteous One not speak in Malachi 1:2-4 of the years that had passed since the first return of Israel from the exile in Babylon under Zerubbavel, when the moral and religious condition of Israel was at decline? Does He not speak of the descendants of Eisav and their mountains and inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness, mountains which Eisav had not occupied while in the womb? If Eisav and his descendants had turned evil later in life, we might attribute this to the fact that every man is given freedom of choice to be righteous or wicked. No one is created wicked or righteous, for everyone has the free choice to do good or evil; this concept of “predestination” is foreign to the Hebrew Scripture. In the case Eisav and Ya’akov, the Creator did not create Eisav wicked, nor did He create Ya’akov righteous, thus having predetermined their life courses, for if that were the case then what would be the purpose of repentance, forgiveness, and redemption, strongly expressed in no uncertain terms in Ezekiel 18 and elsewhere. This subject requires a lengthy exposition, but it is all explained in our commentary on predestination to which we would like to draw the reader’s attention. Having argued against the false doctrine, we now return to our current study to continue what we commenced to explain.
As for Eisav, from the moment he lost his birthright he began to hate his brother Ya’akov, because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. And Eisav said in his heart, “Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand, then will I slay my brother Ya’akov” (Gen 27:41). In his eyes it was Ya’akov who stole his birthright. We are not given to know whether Yitschak and Eisav had ever come to the knowledge that it was Rivkah who was behind the whole scheme. Had Yitschak ever known that, Rivkah would have lost his respect for her.
When the words of Eisav were brought to the attention of his mother, she sent a message to Ya’akov her younger son, saying, “Behold, your brother Eisav comfort himself to kill you” (Gen 27:42). The specific wording in the Torah, namely, that she sent a message [through her servants] to Ya’akov suggests that Ya’akov was in another place hiding from Eisav, because he was afraid of his brother who was seeking to kill him. The message was,
And now, my son, listen to my voice, and rise, flee to my brother Lavan in Charan. And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s wrath turns away, until your brother’s displeasure turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. And I shall send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day? (Gen 27:43-45)
A few things we are compelled to address here. Rivkah urged her son to stay with her brother “a few days”, but figuratively her words are to be understood as if saying, “a few years”, as in Hebrew yamim is used in Leviticus 25:29 to mean “a full year”. Another difficulty in these verses is that Rivkah suddenly said to Ya’akov, “what you have done to him [Eisav]”. Why “you”, when she had taken all responsibility when she said to her son, “Let your curse be on me, my son”? And finally, she said to her son that she did not want to be bereaved of “you both”. Who are “you both” in the last verse? There are two ways to interpret Rivkah’s last words in her message to Ya’akov: (1) “You both” could mean her both sons, Ya’akov and Eisav, per the plain reading of the text, but also it could mean (2) Ya’akov and her husband (per Chizkuni), because Eisav planned to kill Ya’akov after his father’s death.
And to secure one more thing, Rivkah said the following in order to separate Ya’akov from Eisav. She said to Yitschak,
I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Cheth. If Ya’akov take a wife of the daughters of Cheth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? (Gen 27:46) And Yitschak called Ya’akov and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kena’an”. (Gen 28:1)
Who are “these” women, whom Rivkah spoke against before Yitschak? These women are the wives of Eisav, whom he took when he was forty years old (Gen 26:34). Thus, by making this demand, she cleverly justify before her husband the separation of her two sons. Even now, she did not reveal to Yitschak that it was because of Eisav’s hatred that she want to see her sons separated (Rashbam). And Yitschak blessed Ya’akov with the blessing of his father Avraham to become fruitful and multiply that he might inherit the land and sent him away. And Ya’akov went to Lavan, the brother of Rivkah in the foreign land of Padam-aram (Gen 28:2-5). There is no indication in the text that Yitschak sent his son away with any material possessions, as his father Avraham sent away Ishmael and the sons of Kerurah. Ya’akov left home and headed for his journey alone and empty-handed to start a new life away from home. The mother was hoping that Eisav’s anger would go in a few years, but instead “he kept his wrath forever” (see Amo 1:11). Instead of for a few years, Ya’akov would be in exile in a foreign land for over twenty years, and Rivkah never saw him again.
Why did Rivkah do all that?
The many years of childlessness in the family followed by the birth of the twins led to favoritism. Yitschak favored the elder son, Eisav, much as Avraham did toward his elder son, Ishmael, while Rivkah, like Sarah, favored the righteous son in efforts to ensure that he would become the true heir of Avraham and the sole progenitor of the “great nation” that would be established from the promised seed. In their struggle to secure the promise, the mothers went as far as taking risky efforts to change their husbands’ choice of heir. The Torah already told us that two children within Rivkah were very different, and so were Ishmael and Yitschak, who were born by different mothers.
When we keep these considerations in mind, we will understand the reason why Rivkah decided to separate the brothers. The mother separated them in order to save them both: she sent Ya’akov away, and thus she saved Eisav from sinning. And she lost them both; Ya’akov left fleeing for his life from the wrath of his brother, and Eisav soon left the broken family with his wives and went to his uncle Ishmael where he married his daughter in order to show that he was indifferent to his father’s will. With her scheme to secure the fulfilment of the prophecy, the mother thus risked all she had for good: she lost both her sons. Rivkah never saw them again, and her sons never had the chance to close her eyes and bury her.
And Ya’akov came to his father Yitschak at Mamre, or Kiryath Arba, that is Chevron, where Avraham and Yitschak had dwelt. And the days of Yitschak were one hundred and eighty years. So Yitschak breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, aged and satisfied of days. And his sons Eisav and Ya’akov buried him. (Gen 35:27-29)
Ya’akov was separated from his parents for twenty-two years; these are the twenty years he spent in Lavan’s house, and the two years spent traveling home. During these twenty-two years of absence, he did not honor his parents with a message of his wellbeing. When he returned home with his large family and possessions, he found only his father Yitschak alive. And Ya’akov lived 180 years, and when he breathed his last breath, his sons Eisav and Ya’akov buried him in the family tomb, where his father Avraham was buried. But their mother was not there. Like her father-in-law, Avraham, who gained righteousness but lost a son, Rivkah lost all she had.
Knowledge known to only a few will die out. If you feel blessed by these teachings of Time of Reckoning Ministry, help spread the word!
May we merit seeing the coming of our Mashiach speedily in our days!
This page contains sacred literature and the Name of the Creator. Please, do not deface, discard, or use the Name in a casual manner.