Comentario sobre Génesis 25:24

וימלאו ימיה AND WHEN HER DAYS TO BEAR WERE FULL — But in the case of Tamar it is written, (37:27) “And it came to pass at the time of her travail”, for her days were not fulfilled as she gave birth to them (her children) at the end of seven months.

והנה תומים whenever the Torah speaks about something new it uses the expression והנה in connection with this. Thus we find it in 29,25 where Yaakov is reported as finding that he had slept with Leah instead of with Rachel as he had thought. In 41,7 we also find the expression הנה when Pharaoh awakens from what he thought was a factual experience only to find that it had been a dream.

והנה תומים בבטנה, before they were born, the onlookers already realised that there were twins in her womb. Therefore, when the first one emerged being completely covered with hair, this was a birth which was presumed to be more difficult than the passage of Yaakov whose skin was smooth and did not cause friction with the lining of the womb, they called the first one עשו, attributing his easy passage to his twin brother who had helped push him out of the womb of his mother. [I believe that the author understands the plural ending in עשו, as equivalent to assu, i.e. the result of a combined effort by both him and his brother.]

וימלאו ימיה, the days of her pregnancy.

והנה תומם בבטנה , “and here there were twins in her womb.” The word תומם, “twins,” is spelled defectively, with the letters י and א missing. The reason for the defective spelling is that one of Rivkah’s children was going to be a wicked person. The next time the birth of twins is mentioned in the Torah, i.e. the sons of Tamar and Yehudah, Peretz and Zerach, the word is spelled properly, i.e. תאומים, seeing that both of the sons Peretz and Zerach were going to be righteous.

והנה .והנה תומם וגו׳ leitet immer etwas Unerwartetes ein. Da nun Rebekka bereits völlig darauf vorbereitet war, dass sie zwei Knaben in ihrem Schoße trug, so kann ja dieser nun auch sich also erweisende Umstand nichts Unerwartetes gewesen sein und sich hierauf das והנה nicht beziehen. Es scheint daher das Gegenteil. Nach dem ihr gewordenen Aufschluss von dem völligen Gegensatz der zu erwartenden Kinder hatte man nichts anderes erwartet, als dass die beiden Kinder einander durchaus nicht ähnlich sein würden, wie dies ja selbst bei Zwillingen vorkommt. Das Überraschende war daher, dass sie sich wirklich wie Zwillinge völlig ähnlich waren. Nur in der Konstitution waren sie verschieden, der eine war —, wie dies gleich erzählt wird — körperlich ausgebildeter, kräftiger als der andere. Vielleicht weist auch die mangelhafte Schreibweise תומם :חסר דחסר für לתאומים (wie ויחדו יהי7׳ תמים על ראשו. zw. B. M.8 26, 24) auf die äußerlich völlige Gleichheit und scheinbare Einheit hin. Diese äußerliche völlige Ähnlichkeit, zusammen gehalten mit der verkündeten völlig verschiedenen einst entwickelten Zukunft, hätte geeignet sein dürfen, darauf aufmerksam zu machen, dass der Keim zu dieser einstigen Verschiedenheit tief innerlicher liege, und zu veranlassen, diese tiefverschiedene Innerlichkeit der beiden Knaben früh zu studieren. — תאומים, wenn תהום von המס kommt, so würde analog תאום von אמם, der Wurzel von אֵם und אִם, abzuleiten sein und dann zwei Wesen bezeichnen, die sich gegenseitig bedingen, die gleichzeitig aus einer Wurzel ihre Existenz gefunden, und so sich in dem vorhandenen Erhaltungsfonds zu teilen haben. Dann wäre allerdings die Verbalform תואמים (zweit. B. M.9 26, 24) ungewöhnlich aus der Substantivform gebildet.

והנה תומם, “and behold there were twins.” The word for “twins,” i.e. תומים, has been spelled defectively, the letter י being missing. The reason is to draw our attention to the fact that although, generally speaking, twins resemble each other greatly, in this instance the one was covered with body hair, while the other was smoothskinned. Also, Esau was born with a foreskin, whereas Yaakov was born without. One, Esau, had reddish skin not resembling human skin, whereas Yaakov’s skin was goodlooking. According to Psalms 80,14, the conquerors of Jerusalem are viewed as resembling wild boars, whereas in Jeremiah 50,17 Israel, i.e. Yaakov is described as a lamb. If they were all that different the question arises: “why were they born as twins?” After all, as the proverb says: “where there is straw there must also have been a harvest first.” To quote Ovadiah 1,18, ובית עשו לקש, “the house of Esau will be turned to straw.” We also have a verse: קדש ישראל לה' ראשית תבואתו, “Israel is sacred for G-d, the first of His harvest;” (Jeremiah 2,3). The reference to Yaakov in Rivkah’s womb [the Torah describes him as the only one of the two twins who is worthwhile]; hence the word is in the singular mode.

והנה תומם BEHOLD, THERE WERE TWINS — The word for twins is written defective (without א and י) whilst in the case of Tamar it is written תאומים (with א and י); because in the latter case both children proved righteous whilst here one was righteous and the other wicked (Genesis Rabbah 63:8).

והנה תומים בבטנה, the twins in her womb emerged. The word תומים is spelled defective with the letter א of the root, i.e. the middle letter missing. According to an aggadic interpretation the missing letter hints at the fact that only one of these twins would become a righteous Individual (quoted by Rashi).