When the Patriarch Vowed and Broke His Word
Why did the Eternal move Israel and his family from the land of Kana’an to Egypt? The reason why Israel moved to Egypt, which turned to slavery, is not explicitly stated in the Torah. Was it an exile and if so, why? We have the reason to believe that it was an exile but why? Because of the famine? In the issue of famine in the entire land, there is a common mistake made when it is asserted that it caused the relocation of Israel to Egypt, where there was plenty of food. And if we are to say that the famine was the cause of the relocation, why did only Israel move to Egypt, and not the Kana’anites, since the famine affected the entire land? And who caused the famine in the first place and why? Yet, if we are to say that a strong nation is forged in challenges and trials, why was the nation of Israel not made such in Kana’an? These questions become even stronger when we bear in mind that there would be many trials in the land caused by the surrounding nations like the Kana’anites, Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, as the history confirms our point. With all these inevitable questions raised, and when we examine the matter closely, we will find that Torah seemingly tries to tell us something beyond what is immediately obvious: the famine. And it is therefore the object of this work to seek the answers to these questions.
The present study deals with a subject that has not been touched upon in the commentaries, namely, Was Israel exiled in Egypt? At the core of this study is the principle that the vows must be fulfilled when the conditions met. How does this core principle relate to the subject of Israel’s exile? We will now turn to our study to explain in due course, wherein we would like to posit another way to look at the life of the patriarch Israel. It all began with a few verses in Genesis 28.
Jacob’s Dream (1639) by José de Ribera, at the Museo del Prado, Madrid.
A good departure point for our survey is Genesis 25. In Gen 25:11, the story of Ya’akov stealing the blessing from Esav, the family was living in Beer-lahai-roi. In Gen 28:5, Yitschak sent Ya’akov away, and he went toward Paddan Aram, that is Charan, to Lavan, the brother of his wife Rivkah. But later on, verse Gen 28:10 tells us that Ya’akov left Be’ersheva and set out for Charan. So, Ya’akov after he left Beer-lahai-roi, for some reason spent some time in Be’ersheva and then went to Charan. The apparent problem is solved by considering the custom of Scriptures to first tell us the beginning and the end of something before elaborating on what occurred in between by having employed a general statement without particulars. The verse thus translates: Ya’akov went out of Be’ersheva to go to Charan. According to the plain meaning of the text, the verse described that Ya’akov was headed for Charan. And indeed, Ya’akov did not arrive in Charan on the day he left Be’ersheva, because Scripture explicitly tells us that he spent a night on the way. But why does Scripture need to repeat, “Ya’akov went out,” when it had already been written in Gen 28:5, “Yitschak sent Ya’akov away”? Why does Scripture write two departures: one from Be’ersheva and another one toward Charan? Verse 10 literally reads: “And Ya’akov went out of Be’ersheva” (which means “Well of the Seven” or “Well of Oath”) “and went to Charan” (“Wrath”). As we will see later on these names will play their roles in the story. The verse thus tells us that Ya’akov arrived in Charan. If this is the case, why then do the verses that follow tell us what happened to Ya’akov on the way to Charan? The whole verse tells more than needed. It should have rather written, “He went out of Be’ersheva to go to Charan”, as the plain meaning of th etext implies. So, there were two different actions here: leaving Be’ersheva was by itself, and going to Charan was by itself. According to the oral tradition, the rabbis have learned that, in between, Ya’akov resided at Shem and Ever (who were still alive at that time) for fourteen years before he headed for Charan.
And he came upon the place and stopped over for the night, for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. (Gen 28:11)
The word in question here is “the place” (Hebrew makom). Torah vocalized this word as בַּמָּקוֹם ba-makom. The reason the prefix bet of בַּמָּקוֹם ba-makom (the place) is vocalized as ba- and not as be- is to indicate that the place Ya’akov chose to sleep was well known. There is a difference between be-makom (“in a place”) and ba-makom (“in the place”). When Ya’akov came to Beth-el, it seems that there was as yet nothing significant about that place. Why then does Scripture say that Ya’akov came to rest upon “the place”? If the Torah had not informed us so, we would not have suggested that “the place” was Mount Moriah, the “Temple Mount” in Jerusalem, where Avraham had bound Yitschak in an attempt to sacrifice him upon the altar, and where the Temple would be erected.
And Ya’akov dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to the heavens, and saw messengers of Elohim going up and coming down on it. The angels live in heaven. For this reason, it should have been expected to read that the angels first came down and then went up to heaven and then remaining down on earth. Why the other way around? The simple explanation is that whatever occurred in the dream was done by angels, who were on earth carrying out the Eternal’s will, for they were messengers. With this vision, the Eternal wanted to assure Ya’akov of His ongoing protection on the journey that he had undertaken, as we will see later in the story. When Torah says that messengers of Elohim were going up and down “on it”, the first perception the reader may get is that Torah refers to the ladder. But Hebrew allows another translation and interpretation. In Hebrew, it is בֹּו bo. The meaning of the word is not clear. It can refer to “it”, “the ladder”, but also “him”, i.e., Ya’akov, and “on” can also be translated as “because of“. (see WLC). Thus, alternatively it can mean either “on it” or “because of him”, i.e., “messengers of Elohim going up and coming down because of him (Ya’akov)”.
Note: With that said, we find a similar construction in Joh 1:50-51. If we translate the Greek test back to Hebrew, we will see a different picture depicted in the Gospel. We now return to the text.
And the Eternal stood above it (the ladder) and said,
I am the Eternal Elohim of Avraham your father and the Elohim of Yitschak. The land on which you are lying, I give it to you and your seed. (Gen 28:13)
We should recall that neither Avraham nor Yitzchak had been granted such a vision Ya’akov had. Why did He need to guard Ya’akov from now, when he was about to leave the land of Kana’an, and not before? Perhaps answer is that Ya’akov feared both Esav, his brother, and Lavan, his uncle; Esav because he would pursue him, and on his way back, Lavan would do so, as it actually happened. Therefore, Ya’akov needed special protection of the angels, as it was written later in Psa 91:11, “for He will command His angels to protect you on all your travels”.
And see, I am with you and shall guard you wherever you go and shall bring you back to this land (Ed. Kana’an). For I am not going to leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. (Gen 28:15)
In other words, the Eternal assured Ya’akov that he did not need to fear Esav or Lavan, for He would be with you and protect him wherever he would go to bring him back to the land.
And Ya‛akov rose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his head to set it up and poured oil on it (Gen 28:18). Why did Ya’akov feel the need to erect a stone as a monument and anoint it? Perhaps, he planned to erect an altar at this site when he would return from Charan. In fact, when he did return to this site, he did exactly this: he set up a pillar at the site where the Eternal spoke to him and offered a libation (Gen 35:14). Now, it needs to be clearly understood the following verses and how they relate to our subject.
And Ya’akov vowed a vow, saying (JPS translation reads),
If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and garment to put on, (Gen 28:20 JPS)
The reader might ask: How could Ya’akov have been in doubt whether the Eternal would keep His promise? The problem in the text is how did Ya’akov dare to apply the word “if” to Eternal’s promise. The reason why Ya’akov conditioned his statement with the word אם im, “if”, might have not been that he conditioned his vow, but that seeing that the promise was in a dream, he could not have been sure that this was a heavenly revelation, which would render his vow as wishful thinking on his part. If this is the case, then he still expressed a doubt. But the word אם does not necessarily have to mean the conditional “if’ but also “when”. An example of such a different meaning of the word אם is found in Num 36:4, where im means: “and when the Jubilee year will arrive for the Children of Israel”. Similar is the use of im in Exo 21:30, or in Exo 22:25. In all these instances, the meaning is “when” not “if”, i.e., something that will definitely occur. Otherwise, it will be unnatural to say, “If the Jubilee year will arrive”, for years indeed come. So, when Ya’akov said the word im, it therefore does not indicate a doubt, but it simple means that such is the way of Scripture when referring to future events, as it occurs in the instances above. If this is the case, Ya’akov meant that when the desire is satisfied, then what he promised to do would be fulfilled. Some commentators, however, expressed the view that the vow Ya’akov made at this point was a conditional one on account of his fear that if he would commit a sin, he might never see his father and mother again, and then Elohim would not fulfil His promise. And when Ya’akov said, “… and a garment to put on”, this indicates that he left the family in his rush to escape from his brother Esav without any food or extra clothes.
Then, Ya’akov went on to vow,
… when I have returned to my father’s house in peace, and the Eternal has been my Elohim, then this stone which I have set as a monument shall be Elohim’s house, and of all that You give me, I shall certainly give a tenth to You. (Gen 28:20-22)
We will do well to pay especial attention to the words, “I shall certainly give a tenth to You”. Here, Ya’akov promised to tithe all the material goods that he would acquire with the help of the Eternal. We will now forward the time when (on his journey back home twenty years later) Ya’akov indeed set up a monument at the site where Elohim spoke to him. We read,
And Ya’akov set up a monument at the site where Elohim had spoken to him, a pillar of stone, and he offered a libation on it and poured oil upon it. (Gen 35:14)
This statement of the narrator is not clear whether Ya’akov used the monument he previously set up, or he might have now set up a new one. The fact is that he did return to this site, and the plain meaning of the verse is that he set up a second monument in addition to (by adding more stones) or in place of the first one. Either way, he set it up and poured a drink-offering [of wine] upon it, thus in his mind he completed paying his vow in which he had vowed to make an offering to the Eternal. But did he? Where has the Torah recorded that Ya’akov kept his promise? For we find none!
Apparently, Ya’akov did not sacrifice [burnt] offerings on the altar, for Torah does not indicate so. According to some commentaries, it is not clear from the text whether the Hebrew word יָצַק yatsak, refers to a libation of wine or of water. If it was water, his intent was to cleanse the altar, followed by anointing it with oil to sanctify it. We should recall that at the first occasion on his way to Lavan, Ya’akov did not offer anything but simply anointed the stone with oil. The reason for not offering at least wine (as he did now) is that he left his father’s house destitute in his haste to flee from his brother and did not have anything with him. But now, Ya’akov had everything he could to put on the altar.
To make our argument even stronger, we can add the following. Before his encouter with his brother Esav, Ya’akov prepared a generous present for him to satisfy the covetous eye of his wicked brother and to amaze him by the size of his possession: 220 goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 camels with their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 donkeys and 10 foals, which he divided in two droves (Gen 32:13-15). Ya’akov had enough to give to Esav but not one gift for the Eternal. In Gen 33:18, we find Ya’akov came to the city of Shechem complete with all his possessions. Even though he had given presents to Esav, yet he still had enough. The king of Chechem emphasised that Ya’akov’s livestock was extremely numerous (Gen 34:23). Ya’akov and his family indeed built an altar to Elohim, but its purpose was to cleanse themselves of the defilement connected with the idols that were among them (Gen 35:1-7). He built another altar (Gen 15:14) on which he offered only drink.
He left his uncle blessed with a lot of sheep, goats, and cattle. He had what was necessary to fulfil his vow and give a tenth of all his possessions. But he did not. Perhaps, for this reason the Land, he returned to, denied its fruits (famine came in Kana’an), because Ya’akov did not present the fruits of the land of exile as a sacrifice before Him as vowed. And that was one of the reasons why we believe Ya’akov had to experience the famine in the land of Kana’an and be exiled in Egypt: he vowed to the Eternal and broke his word; despite what he experienced in the dream. The books of Numbers and Deuteronomy makes explicit what is implicit in Genesis. We may best understand this by recalling what the Torah has in mind in the command not to break but keep our vows:
When a man vows a vow to the Eternal or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he does not break his word, he does according to all that comes out of his mouth. (Num 30:2)
When you make a vow to the Eternal your Elohim, do not delay paying it, for the Eternal your Elohim is certainly requiring it of you, and it shall be sin in you. (Deu 23:21)
The patriarch Ya’akov was not like Noach: righteous in his generations, one who walked with Elohim. Ya’akov was not like Avraham, who left his birthplace in response to a call from heaven. And Ya’akov was not like his father Yitschak, who went on the altar in a complete obedience. Nor was he like Mosheh, who had the zeal and burning sense of justice. Yet a nation is named after him: Israel, not after Avraham, Yitschak, or even after Mosheh. Why Ya’akov? Because the nation that came out of him learns to wrestle with Elohim as he did, when they feel most alone, as he did. The nation of Israel learns how to live apart from the hostile world around them, as he did. The nation is alone today, yet the Eternal is with Israel, as He was with the patriarch.
The following article, which we suggest the reader review for better understanding, is a continuation of what we reasoned here and gives another reason for the exile of Israel to the studious reader. It would be also advantageous for the readers to study the matter of exile in its entirety, as it is all explained in our commentary in The Exiles of Israel.
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