At the break of day the angel left off from wrestling with Jacob. The
dawn on that day was of particularly short duration. The sun rose two
hours before his time, by way of compensation for having set early, on
the day on which Jacob passed Mount Moriah on his journey to Haran, to
induce him to turn aside and lodge for a night on the future Temple
place.[255] Indeed, the power of the sun on this same day was
altogether remarkable. He shone with the brilliance and ardor with
which he was invested during the six days of the creation, and as he
will shine at the end of days, to make whole the halt and the blind
among the Jews and to consume the heathen. This same healing and
devastating property he had on that day, too, for Jacob was cured,
while Esau and his princes were all but burnt up by his terrible
heat.[256]
Jacob was in dire need of healing lotions for the injury he had
sustained in the encounter with the angel. The combat between them had
been grim, the dust whirled up by the scuffle rose to the very throne
of God.[257] Though Jacob prevailed against his huge opponent, as big
as one-third of the whole world, throwing him to the ground and keeping
him pinned down, yet the angel had injured him by clutching at the
sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, so that it was
dislocated, and Jacob halted upon his thigh.[258] The healing power of
the sun restored him, nevertheless his children took it upon themselves
not to eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh,
for they reproached themselves with having been the cause of his
mishap, they should not have left him alone in that night.[259]
Now, although Jacob had prepared for the worst, for open hostilities
even, yet when he saw Esau and his men, he thought it discreet to make
separate divisions of the households of Leah, Rachel, and the
handmaids, and divide the children unto each of them. And he put the
handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after,
and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. It was the stratagem which the fox
used with the lion. Once upon a time the king of beasts was wroth with
his subjects, and they looked hither and thither for a spokesman who
mastered the art of appeasing their ruler. The fox offered himself for
the undertaking, saying, "I know three hundred fables which will allay
his fury." His offer was accepted with joy. On the way to the lion, the
fox suddenly stood still, and in reply to the questions put to him, he
said, "I have forgotten one hundred of the three hundred fables."
"Never mind," said those accompanying him, "two hundred will serve the
purpose." A little way further on the fox again stopped suddenly, and,
questioned again, he confessed that he had forgotten half of the two
hundred remaining fables. The animals with him still consoled him that
the hundred he knew would suffice. But the fox halted a third time, and
then he admitted that his memory had failed him entirely, and he had
forgotten all the fables he knew, and he advised that every animal
approach the king on his own account and endeavor to appease his anger.
At first Jacob had had courage enough to enter the lists with Esau in
behalf of all with him. Now he came to the conclusion to let each one
try to do what he could for himself.
However, Jacob was too fond a father to expose his family to the first
brunt of the danger. He himself passed over before all the rest,
saying, "It is better that they attack me than my children."[260] After
him came the handmaids and their children. His reason for placing them
there was that, if Esau should be overcome by passion for the women,
and try to violate them, he would thus meet the handmaids first, and in
the meantime Jacob would have the chance of preparing for more
determined resistance in the defense of the honor of his wives.[261]
Joseph and Rachel came last, and Joseph walked in front of his mother,
though Jacob had ordered the reverse. But the son knew both the beauty
of his mother and the lustfulness of his uncle, and therefore he tried
to hide Rachel from the sight of Esau.[262]
In the vehemence of his rage against Jacob, Esau vowed that he would
not slay him with bow and arrow, but would bite him dead with his
mouth, and suck his blood. But he was doomed to bitter disappointment,
for Jacob's neck turned as hard as ivory, and in his helpless fury Esau
could but gnash his teeth.[263] The two brothers were like the ram and
the wolf. A wolf wanted to tear a ram in pieces, and the ram defended
himself with his horns, striking them deep into the flesh of the wolf.
Both began to howl, the wolf because he could not secure his prey, and
the ram from fear that the wolf renew his attacks. Esau bawled because
his teeth were hurt by the ivory-like flesh of Jacob's neck, and Jacob
feared that his brother would make a second attempt to bite him.[264]
Esau addressed a question to his brother. "Tell me," he said, "what was
the army I met?" for on his march against Jacob he had had a most
peculiar experience with a great host of forty thousand warriors. It
consisted of various kinds of troops, armor-clad soldiers walking on
foot, mounted on horses, and seated in chariots, and they all threw
themselves upon Esau when they met. He demanded to know whence they
came, and the strange soldiers hardly interrupted their savage
onslaught to reply that they belonged to Jacob. Only when Esau told
them that Jacob was his brother did they leave off, saying, "Woe to us
if our master hears that we did thee harm." This was the army and the
encounter Esau inquired about as soon as he met his brother. But the
army was a host of angels, who had the appearance of warriors to Esau
and his men.[265] Also the messengers sent by Jacob to Esau had been
angels, for no mere human being could be induced to go forth and face
the recreant.[266]
Jacob now gave Esau the presents intended for him, a tenth of all his
cattle,[267] and also pearls and precious stones,[268] and, besides, a
falcon for the chase.[269] But even the animals refused to give up
their gentle master Jacob and become the property of the villain Esau.
They all ran away when Jacob wanted to hand them over to his brother,
and the result was that the only ones that reached Esau were the feeble
and the lame, all that could not make good their escape.[270]
At first Esau declined the presents offered to him. Naturally, that was
a mere pretense. While refusing the gifts with words, he held his hand
outstretched ready to receive them.[271] Jacob took the hint, and
insisted that he accept them, saying: "Nay, I pray thee, if now I have
found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand, forasmuch
as I have seen thy face, as I have seen the face of angels, and thou
art pleased with me." The closing words were chosen with
well-calculated purpose. Jacob wanted Esau to derive the meaning that
he had intercourse with angels, and to be inspired with awe. Jacob was
like the man invited to a banquet by his mortal enemy who has been
seeking an opportunity to slay him. When the guest divines the purpose
for which he has been brought thither, he says to the host: "What a
magnificent and delicious meal this is! But once before in my life did
I partake of one like it, and that was when I was bidden by the king to
his table"—enough to drive terror to the heart of the would-be slayer.
He takes good care not to harm a man on such intimate terms with the
king as to be invited to his table![272]
Jacob had valid reason for recalling his encounter with the angel, for
it was the angel of Esau who had measured his strength with Jacob's,
and had been overcome.[273]
As Esau accepted the presents of Jacob willingly on this first
occasion, so he continued to accept them for a whole year; daily Jacob
gave him presents as on the day of their meeting, for, he said, "'A
gift doth blind the eyes of the wise,' and how much more doth it blind
the wicked! Therefore will I give him presents upon presents, perhaps
he will let me alone." Besides, he did not attach much value to the
possessions he had acquired outside of the Holy Land. Such possessions
are not a blessing, and he did not hesitate to part with them.
Beside the presents which Jacob gave Esau, he also paid out a large sum
of money to him for the Cave of Machpelah. Immediately upon his arrival
in the Holy Land he sold all he had brought with him from Haran, and a
pile of gold was the proceeds of the sale. He spoke to Esau, saying:
"Like me thou hast a share in the Cave of Machpelah, wilt thou take
this pile of gold for thy portion therein?" "What care I for the Cave?"
returned Esau. "Gold is what I want," and for his share in Machpelah he
took the gold realized from the sale of the possessions Jacob had
accumulated outside of the Holy Land. But God "filled the vacuum
without delay," and Jacob was as rich as before.[274]
Wealth was not an object of desire to Jacob. He would have been well
content, in his own behalf and in behalf of his family, to resign all
earthly treasures in favor of Esau and his family. He said to Esau: "I
foresee that in future days suffering will be inflicted by thy children
upon mine. But I do not demur, thou mayest exercise thy dominion and
wear thy crown until the time when the Messiah springs from my loins,
and receives the rule from thee." These words spoken by Jacob will be
realized in days to come, when all the nations will rise up against the
kingdom of Edom, and take away one city after another from him, one
realm after another, until they reach Bet-Gubrin, and then the Messiah
will appear and assume his kingship. The angel of Edom will flee for
refuge to Bozrah, but God will appear there, and slay him, for though
Bozrah is one of the cities of refuge, yet will the Lord exercise the
right of the avenger therein. He will seize the angel by his hair, and
Elijah will slaughter him, letting the blood spatter the garments of
God.[275] All this Jacob had in mind when he said to Esau, "Let my
lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant, until I come unto my
lord unto Seir." Jacob himself never went to Seir. What he meant was
the Messianic time when Israel shall go to Seir, and take possession
thereof.[276]
Jacob tarried in Succoth a whole year, and he opened a house of
learning there.[277] Then he journeyed on to Shechem, while Esau betook
himself to Seir, saying to himself, "How long shall I be a burden to my
brother?" for it was during Jacob's sojourn at Succoth that Esau
received daily presents from Jacob.[278]
And Jacob, after abiding these many years in a strange land, came to
Shechem in peace, unimpaired in mind and body. He had forgotten none of
the knowledge he had acquired before; the gifts he gave to Esau did not
encroach upon his wealth; the injury inflicted by the angel that
wrestled with him had been healed, and likewise his children were sound
and healthy.[279]
Jacob entered Shechem on a Friday, late in the afternoon, and his first
concern was to lay out the boundaries of the city, that the laws of the
Sabbath might not be transgressed. As soon as he was settled in the
place, he sent presents to the notables. A man must be grateful to a
city from which he derives benefits. No less did the common people
enjoy his bounty. For them he opened a market where he sold all wares
at low prices.[280]
Also he lost no time in buying a parcel of ground, for it is the duty
of every man of substance who comes to the Holy Land from outside to
make himself the possessor of land there.[281] He gave a hundred lambs
for his estate, a hundred yearling sheep, and a hundred pieces of
money, and received in return a bill of sale, to which he attached his
signature, using the letters Yod-He for it. And then he erected an
altar to God upon his land, and he said, "Thou art the Lord of all
celestial things, and I am the lord of all earthly things." But God
said, "Not even the overseer of the synagogue arrogates privileges in
the synagogue, and thou assumest lordship with a high hand? Forsooth,
on the morrow thy daughter will go abroad, and she shall be
humbled."[282]