Midrash sobre Génesis 25:25

(Ibid., cont.:) TO THE LAND OF SEIR IN THE FIELDS OF EDOM. [What is the meaning of TO THE LAND OF SEIR (rt.: S'R)?] That he makes one's hair (rt.: S'R) stand on end. TO THE FIELDS OF EDOM (rt.: 'DM).¹⁵Gen. R. 63:12; 75:4. He is red (rt.: 'DM), his food is red, his warriors are red, his attire is red, his shields are red, his land is red, the one who stands up to him is red, and the one who exacts retribution from him is red in red attire. He is red (according to Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY. His food is red (according to Gen. 25:30): < PLEASE LET ME GULP DOWN > SOME OF THIS RED RED STUFF. His warriors are red (according to Nahum 2:4): HIS WARRIORS' SHIELDS ARE RED. His attire is red (according to ibid., cont.): AND HIS SOLDIERS ARE CLOTHED IN CRIMSON. His shields are red (according to ibid.): HIS WARRIORS' SHIELDS ARE RED. His land is red (rt.: 'DM) (according to Gen. 32:4 [3]): TO THE LAND OF SEIR IN THE FIELDS OF EDOM (rt.: 'DM). The one who stands up to him is red. This is David (according to I Sam. 16:12): SO HE SENT AND BROUGHT HIM. NOW HE WAS RUDDY. And what < else > is written about him (in II Sam. 8:14)? HE PUT GARRISONS IN EDOM. And the < the Holy One >, who exacts retribution from him, is red (according to Cant. 5:10): MY BELOVED IS BRIGHT AND RUDDY. (Is. 63:1:) WHO IS THIS COMING FROM EDOM (rt.: 'DM)? < He comes > in red attire (according to vs. 2): WHY IS YOUR CLOTHING SO RED … ?

As to Jacob, the Holy One, named him also, as it is said: And his name was called Jacob (ibid. 25:26). The four letters in Jacob’s name in Hebrew correspond to the four crowns through which his descendants adored the Holy One, blessed be He. The yod corresponds to the Ten Commandments, the ayin (seventy) corresponds to the seventy elders, the kuf (one hundred) to the Temple, which was one hundred cubits high, that his descendants erected for the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said: And he measured the house, a hundred cubits (Ezek. 41:13), and the bet (two) corresponds to the two tablets on which were inscribed the Ten Commandants. They were redeemed from Egypt by Jacob’s merit, as it is said: And He established it unto Jacob for a statute (Ps. 105:10). Were it not for Jacob, Abraham would not have been redeemed from the furnace, as it is said: Therefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob (Isa. 29:22). However, as for Esau, his father and mother named him, as it is said: And they called his name Esau (Gen. 25:25). About him, Scripture states: His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name abroad (Job 18:7).

Another interpretation (of Exod. 25:3): AND THIS IS THE PRIESTLY SHARE…: [GOLD, SILVER, AND BRONZE]. GOLD corresponds to the kingdom of Babylon, concerning which is written (in Dan. 2:38): YOU (Nebuchadnezzar) ARE THE HEAD OF GOLD.²¹Tanh., Exod. 7:7; cf. Exod. R. 35:5; above, 3:15. SILVER: This denotes the kingdom of Media, concerning which is written (in Esth. 3:9): THREE THOUSAND TALENTS OF SILVER.²²The money was to be Haman’s payment into the treasury of the king of the Persians and Medes. AND BRONZE: This denotes the kingdom of Greece, which was the least of them all. (Exod. 25:5:) REDDENED (rt.: 'DM) RAM SKINS. This denotes the kingdom of Edom, as stated (in Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY (rt: 'DM).²³See also above, Gen. 8:4. The Holy One said: Although you have seen these four kingdoms exalting over you, by your life, I am producing salvation for you out of the midst of slavery. What is written next (in Exod. 25:6)? OIL FOR LIGHTING (ma'or). What is the meaning of LIGHTING? This denotes the Messianic (Mashiah) King, as stated (in Ps. 132:17): THERE I WILL MAKE A HORN SPROUT FOR DAVID; [I HAVE PREPARED A LAMP FOR MY ANOINTED ONE (Mashiah)].²⁴Below, 8:6. When Daniel saw these [four] kingdoms, he was afraid. It is so stated (in Dan. 7:15): AS FOR ME, DANIEL, MY SPIRIT WAS DISTURBED <WITHIN ME; AND THE VISION OF MY HEAD ALARMED ME>. What did Daniel see? It is simply that, when Nebuchadnezzar saw the dream, Daniel came and interpreted it for him. He said to him (in Dan. 2:38): YOU (Nebuchadnezzar) ARE THE HEAD OF GOLD. (Dan. 2:32:) <THE HEAD OF THAT STATUE WAS OF FINE GOLD;> ITS BREAST AND ITS ARMS WERE OF SILVER. This <silver> denotes the kingdom of Babylon.²⁵Cf. the Oxford MS, marked, “Michael 577, no. 155”; Codex Vaticanus, Ebr., 34; and the parallels in Tanh., Exod. 7:7 and Exod. R. 35:5. They all read here, “Kingdom of Media,” and identify the other kingdoms to fit this rendering. (Dan. 2:39:) BUT ANOTHER KINGDOM SHALL ARISE AFTER YOU, INFERIOR TO YOU. (Dan. 2:32:) ITS BELLY AND ITS THIGHS WERE OF BRONZE. This denotes the kingdom of Media. (Dan. 2:39, cont.:) THEN YET A THIRD KINGDOM, ONE OF BRONZE, WHICH SHALL RULE OVER THE WHOLE EARTH. (Dan. 2:33:) ITS LEGS WERE OF IRON. This denotes the kingdom of Greece. (Dan. 2:40, 42:) BUT THE FOURTH KINGDOM SHALL BE AS STRONG AS IRON<….> {AND ITS} [THE] FEET²⁶The Masoretic Text renders, “AND THE TOES OF THE FEET.” WERE PARTLY {OF} IRON AND PARTLY {OF} CLAY. This is Edom. Why was it likened to iron and clay? Our masters have said: This wicked kingdom is going to use clay coinage.