Abdías 1:5 Midrash: Midrash Tanchuma, Otzar Midrashim, Midrash Aggadah & Bereshit Rabbah

(Deut. 25:17:) “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.” This verse is related (to Ps.109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord […].” Were the fathers of Esau wicked?¹¹PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING. And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered”? [The verse is] simply [referring to] a sin that he sinned against his fathers.¹²The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense. And how?¹³Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12. You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham only lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Why so? So he would not see Esau’s shame. Abraham had [Isaac] when he was a hundred years [old]. (Gen. 25:26-27:) “And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. And the lads grew.” Both of them went to the elementary school, and both of them were equal until the age of fifteen. R. Levi said, “To what were they comparable? To a myrtle and a thorny plant. As long as they are small, no one [can] distinguish one from the other. After they have grown up, the one gives off its pleasant smell, but the other brings forth its thorns. Thus, so long as Esau and Jacob were small, no one distinguished between them. After they were grown up (in Gen. 25:26, cont.), ’Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp.’” And Esau would go out and rob and extort, and people would maledict him. And during the five years [that were withheld from Abraham's life], Esau committed two serious transgressions: He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29), “then Esau came from the field, and he was exhausted.” Now field can only be a reference to a betrothed maiden [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25), “If in the field the man finds [a maiden who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her…].” Moreover, exhausted can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31), “woe to me, now; for my life is exhausted before those who kill.” Rabbi Zakkay said, “He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 1:5), ‘If thieves have come to you.’”¹⁴The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15), ‘And you shall go unto your ancestors in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age].’ But now he would see his grandson go to bad culture and hear what people say about his grandson; [that he was] transgressing sexual prohibitions and shedding blood. He would [then] wonder and say, ‘Are these the stipulations that the Holy One, blessed be He, being fulfilled with me?’ And he would voice a complaint, ‘And this is not “a good old age.”’ What should I do for him?” [So] He gathered him from the world. It is better for the righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4), “For Your steadfast love is better than life.” Behold, he [thus] sinned against his grandfather. He sinned against his father, as he caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said, “Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his [own] eyes to grow dim during his lifetime.” From where [in Scripture] do you learn [this]? A wicked son, from Isaac, as stated (in (Gen. 27:1), “And it came to pass that when Isaac was old [and his eyes were too dim to see].” [In regard to] a wicked disciple, [we learn] from Ahijah, as it is written (in I Kings 14:4), “now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.” Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) “And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.”] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and [our] masters [differ]. R. Judah says, “When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus,¹⁵Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix. with the result that she would not bear [any more children]. This is what is written (in Amos 1:11), ‘because he (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) pursued his brother with the sword and repressed his pity (rachamiv),’ as it is written, ‘his uterus (rechemo).’”¹⁶I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED HIS PITY. Moreover, R. Berekhyah says, “You should not say [this] in reference to when he had left [his mother's uterus].¹⁷Gen. R. 63:6. Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta'¹⁸The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite. [i.e., fist] was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob).” What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4:) “The wicked go astray (zoru) from the womb.” R. Nehemiah says, “He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes.” As Rav Huna has said, “Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23), ‘And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are [in your womb].”¹⁹See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16. Here are two. (Ibid., cont.:) “and two peoples.” Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) “And one people shall be stronger than the other.” Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) “And the elder shall serve the younger.”’ Here are eight. (Vs. 24:) ‘And behold there were twins in her womb.’ Here are ten. (Vs. 25:) ‘The first came out ruddy.’ That is eleven. (Vs. 26:) ‘And afterward his brother came out.’ Here are twelve.” And there are some who bring this [idea] from here (vs. 22); “and she said, ‘If so, why am I here (zh)?’” By gematria²⁰Gk.: geometria. z (=7) + h (=5) [for a total of] twelve. But [our] masters have said, “He caused her bier to not go forth publicly [to her funeral]. You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying, ‘Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-Aram. Should Esau the wicked go before her? Then people would say [in Aramaic],²¹Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic. “Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man.”’ What did they do? They brought out her bier at night, so that Esau not go out in front of her, and all say, ‘Cursed are the breasts suckled this evil man.’” R. Jose bar R. Hanina said, “Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8), ‘Then Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died [and she was buried under the oak below Bethel] and its name was called Weeping Oak (Allon-Bacuth)],’ as they wept two weepings (bekhiot).”²²Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3. While Jacob was seated in observance [of mourning] for her nurse, the news about his mother came to him, as stated (to Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again […,] and blessed him.” With what blessing did He bless him? He blessed him with the blessing of [consolation given to] mourners.²³The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grandfather pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? I shall pay him back with evil, as his children destroyed My house. You and I shall rise against him, as stated (Obad. 1:1), “Rise, and we shall rise up against her for war.” Israel said to him, “Master of the world, we cannot [overcome] him.” [So] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, “You mention his name below, and I shall blot out his name above, as stated (Ps. 109:15) ‘Let them (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) always be before (neged) the Lord.’ Whatever he has done, he has done against (neged) Me.” [Therefore] (ibid., cont.), “and may He have their memory cut off from the earth.” Ergo (in Deut. 25:17), “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.”

And I rested for my prayer and also for my fasting for a day until it was revealed to me that this was the angel and he said to me and asked me something, I said to him, Lord, what will happen after these? The angel said to him, after all this the people of the West increase with large soldiers and they come mixed up and make war with the people of the East in their country and kill them, and the rest flee before them and come to Alexandria, and they will be chased by the people of the West and come there, and there will be a great war, and the people of the East will flee from there and come as far as Egypt and stay And they will take it from a customer and make it a wasteland, to fulfill what was said Egypt will be a wasteland (Joel 4:9). And they passed through the land of the deer and it was consumed by them, and everyone who was captured will not return until the Messiah comes, and when I heard this I wept very much. The angel said to him, Simon! what are you crying for I told him, Abraham's sons Isaac and Jacob will not have an escape in his days. He said to me, the matter is very difficult, if you put meat on the fire, you will not be able to escape from its smell, so Israel is not saved, and anyone who comes into the room and runs away and hides will be saved. He will fall by the sword (ibid. 13:15), and they will pass through the land of the deer and horses, as it is said, "And he came through the lands and washed and passed over" (Daniel 11:30), and they came to the rivers of the valleys and they were in the middle of it, and there will be a great war that all the prophets prophesied about and they will become streams and the waters of the Euphrates to the blood, and the rest will not be able to drink from it, and from there the kingdom of the East will break. And after all these, a bold-faced king will stand and do three and a half years, and at the beginning of his reign, when he stands, he takes the rich and diverts (a missing language, Zephaniah 3:15) from their wealth and kills them, and money will not escape its owners, as it is said that their silver and gold cannot be redeemed (Ezekiel 7 19), and his counsel and his thoughts will not stand on him, and anyone who mentions Shema Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, will be killed, and anyone who says, The God of Abraham will be killed. 7:25), times - they are the times, and religion - is the Torah, as it is said that the fire of religion is for him (Deuteronomy 33), and in his days there will be great trouble for Israel, and everyone who is exiled to the upper Galilee will escape, as it is said that there will be a plague on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem (Joel 3:5) Witness Demati condemns and kills Israel until he reaches Damascus, and when he reaches Damascus, God Almighty gives help and success to Israel, and in his days there will be strife and war in the world, and a city will fight with its friend and a country with a country and a nation against a nation and a nation against a nation, and there will be no peace for those who come and go, as it is said And my troubles came to man, and they went as blind (Zephaniah 1:17). And with the Lord there will be turmoil and trouble upon them for three years, and they will be given in his hand until the end of the three years, as it is said and they will be in his hand [עַד עִדָּן וְעִדָּנִין וּפְלַג עִדָּן] until Iddan and Iddain and peleg Iddan (Daniel 7:25), Iddan - one year, Iddain - two years, peleg Iddan - half a year, It is found that there are three years from the cancellation of the circumcision and prayer, which is said to have taken place at the time of the removal of the tabernacle and to give a glimpse of heaven for one thousand two hundred and ninety days (ibid. 12:11), and they are three and a half years. And there arose a king who put them to the frost, as it was said, and we gave the shadow of the desert (ibid. 11) and he was in front of you for three months, and after that, the sons of Ishmael made war with the Edomites in the valley of Acre, and immediately the Assyrians came upon them and drove them back, as it was said, "How long shall Assyria rest" (Numbers 24:22), and the fleet of the Hittites (ibid. 24) - these are Edomites who are destined to stand at the end of days, and when they go out as thieves they go out, as it is said if thieves come to you, etc. (Obadiah 1:5), and make war with the sons of Ishmael and kill A great number of them, and a great number of them gathered at streets of Akko, crushed with the iron and shame, and a water tank was brake with his fingers, and rush, rabble in Suswan (castle), and they joined legions with their people from Edom, and they came and made war in the valley of Acre until the horse was soaked up to its thigh in blood, and the children of Israel fled until they came to the valley of Jericho, and there they stood and said to one of his comrades, "Here we are fleeing, and let us rest." We bowed down and changed, and returned and waged another war in the Valley of Megiddo, and the Edomites fled and got into the ships, and a wind arose and brought them to Assyria, and they tormented the Assyrians and crossed the river. And at the end of nine months, the Assyrians went out and the Israelites and the Romans perished, as it was said, "How long shall Assyria be troubled"(Deuteronomy 24:20). And when you see Assyrians coming out and walking in the land of Israel, they are making peace, and Elijah the late comes out and announces peace to them as it was said, and it will be an Assyrian peace because it will come to our land (Micah 5:4), and the sons of Italy want to fight with them and the sons of Ishmael will almost return the kingdom to them, and there are not enough to take out their wives until Assyria captures them, and immediately a voice goes out and proclaims everywhere to the children of Israel: Go out and avenge God's vengeance on Edom, as it is said, I have given my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel (Ezekiel 25:14), and immediately the young men of the Israelites gather and listen and they reign A king from the seed of David reigned over them, and a dispute fell between one and another, and the children of the Land of Israel transgressed against the seed of David to fulfill what was said, and Israel transgressed in the house of David until this day (2 Chronicles 10:19).

And Esau came in from the field. Five sins did Esau transgress on that day: He stole, as it is stated, "If thieves were to come to you." (Obadiah 1:5) It is written here, "come", and it is written with Esau, "come." He had relations with a betrothed woman, as it is written here, "If he finds in the field" (Deuteronomy 22:25), and it is written with Esau, "in the field." He killed someone, as it is written here, "Alas for me, I faint before the killers" (Jeremiah 4:31), and with Esau it is written, "and he was faint." And he denied the principal, as it is written here, "he is become my deliverance" (Exodus 15:2), and with Esau it is written, "what is this to me, the birthright?" As it is stated, "thus did Esau spurn the birthright." (25:34)