Commentaire sur La Genèse 32:8

ויירא...ויצר HE FEARED GREATLY AND WAS DISTRESSED — He was afraid lest he be killed, and he was distressed that he might have to kill someone (Genesis Rabbah 76:2).

THEN JACOB WAS GREATLY AFRAID. This was because they told him that Esau had gone forth from his city and was coming to meet Jacob, and moreover, that he took along many men — four hundred. He thus greatly feared for his life, for he said, “He has not taken all these men except for the purpose of waging war against me.”
It appears to me in this matter that Esau did not receive the messengers properly and paid them no heed. Perhaps they did not even come before him for he did not at all give permission for them to come before him and speak to him for otherwise, Scripture would have related that Esau questioned them concerning his brother’s welfare and about his circumstances and those of his household and children. [Scripture further would have told how Esau requested] that they convey greetings to Jacob and tell him that he is proceeding towards him to see him, and they would have told it thus to Jacob. Scripture, however, does not narrate that the messengers transmitted a word in Esau’s name. Instead, he [Esau] kept his wrath in his heart,¹⁵See Amos 1:11. and he came with his army for the purpose of doing Jacob evil. Now the messengers had investigated the matter in the camp, and they knew that he was going to meet Jacob. This is the meaning of the word vegam (and moreover) [in the verse, and moreover he goeth to meet thee], for they said, “We came to thy brother Esau,¹⁶Verse 7 here. but he did not answer us a word, and he sent you no greeting, and moreover, he goeth to meet thee with might and an army.” This was why he added fear to his fear, as Scripture says, And Jacob was greatly afraid, and was distressed. And so our Rabbis said that the messengers recognized hatred in him[Esau]. Thus they said:¹⁷Bereshith Rabbah 75:7. “We came to thy brother Esau. You behave towards him like a brother, but he behaves towards you like Esau the villain.” However, in the end, when Esau saw the great honor that Jacob bestowed upon him and how he prostrated himself before him, bowing to the ground seven times¹⁸Genesis 33:3. from the distance until he approached him, his mercy was aroused, and he thought that Jacob is recognizing his birthright and his pre-eminence, as I have explained.¹⁹Above, Verse 5. And with this he was comforted, for the hearts belong to G-d, Who turns them whither He will.²⁰See Proverbs 21:1.

ויירא ויצר, the reason why the Torah repeated the emotions Yaakov experienced twice but in different words was to underline how strongly he felt this fear. In Bereshit Rabbah 76,2 these two expressions are described as basically meaning the same thing, the only difference being that the former is intransitive, Yaakov being afraid of being killed, whereas the latter describes a similar fear, but that of having to kill one’s adversary.

ויירא יעקב, in his heart; Although he had pretended to his messengers that Esau approached with a large delegation in order to honour him, he did not believe this himself, but he was convinced that Esau’s intentions were hostile.

ויירא יעקב, Jacob was afraid, etc. He prepared himself to either kill or be killed. He was very afraid of being killed; he was pained by the possible need to kill Easu in self-defence. This is why the verse mentions מאד, very much, in connection with this fear.

ויירא יעקב, “Yaakov was afraid (when he heard this). He worried that the merit of Esau having practiced the commandment of honouring father and mother during the 35 years when Yaakov had not been able to do this, would give him an edge in any hostile confrontation.

Yaakov was very frightened. When Yaakov realized that he was afraid despite Hashem’s assurance, he reckoned that he was not worthy of miraculous salvation and began preparing naturalistic stratagems instead.

ויירא lest he be killed. You might ask: Had Hashem not promised him when he left his father’s house, “And I will bring you back to this land” (28:15)? The Gemara (Berachos 4a, Sanhedrin 98b) answers: [He feared that] sin might cause [the promise not to be fulfilled]. Another answer: The promise was only, “And I will bring you back to this land,” meaning to Eretz Yisrael, but not to his father’s house. See Re’m, R. Noson, Gur Aryeh and Minchas Yaakov.

Wir können uns sehr wohl in Jakobs Lage versetzen, und müssen dies um so mehr, je bedeutsamer die Begegnung ist, in deren Folge Jakob eine Offenbarung wurde, welche das göttliche Gesetz dem Jakobsvolke zur ewigen Erinnerung in das tägliche Mahl verwebte.

ויירא יעקב, “Yaakov was greatly afraid;” seeing that Yaakov had had many assurances from G–d, why would he be afraid of the encounter with his brother Esau? He realised –belatedly-that he had erred in staying with Lavan after having completed his 14 years of service, in order to marry. During the years when he had worked to amass material wealth, his brother Esau had performed the commandment of honouring father and mother. He was afraid that he did not have sufficient merits to overcome Esau’s lead in that department. (B’reshit Rabbah 76,2) According to the Midrash, G–d’s promise to protect him, was limited to while he was outside the borders of the Holy Land.

ויירא יעקב מאד (upon hearing this) “Yaakov was very much afraid;” you may well ask that after Yaakov had been met by angels, as we read at the end of the last portion, and these angels were clearly meant to protect him, what did he have to worry about? This obvious question is answered by our sages by explaining that one of these angels was Michael, Yaakov’s protective angel, whereas the second one was Samael, Esau’s angel. Knowing this, Yaakov had no way of knowing which of these two angels was more powerful. This is why he became very fearful. Yaakov feared that although he had sent a conciliatory message to Esau, he was afraid that through some inadvertent sin he might have committed recently, he might fall victim to his older brother. He was especially conscious of the fact that he had overstayed his time at Lavan for six years in order to amass some money, instead of returning to the land of Canaan and fulfilling the commandment of honouring his father and mother, especially so, seeing that his father was blind. (Based on B’reshit Rabbah 76,2) He therefore did not credit Esau with having friendly intentions. Another exegesis about the words: באנו אל אחיך, ”we have come to your brother;” (but he did not respond with a single word). He only said that he would proceed to meet Yaakov; he did not have to come to him, and the messengers returning added that Esau was accompanied by four hundred men. Esau did say that he would speak with Yaakov personally. Yaakov’s fear resulted from the fact that now he was no wiser than before. He had no clue as to Esau’s real intentions.

ויחץ, Rabbah Chiyah said that in this part of the verse the Torah teaches us prudence. A man must not place all his eggs in one basket.

ויצר, a word derived from the same root as Numbers 25,17 צרור את המדינים, “harass the Midianites.” The construction is not unlike that of the word ותקל in Genesis 16,4 which describes Hagar’s attitude to her mistress after she had become pregnant by Avraham. The word there is derived from the root קלל.

ויצר לו that he might kill others. [Question: Why did this distress him?] The answer is: Yaakov feared he might kill Eisov, and Yitzchok loved Eisov and considered him a good person. It would pain Yitzchok greatly and bring him to curse Yaakov. (Midrash Tanchuma) An alternative answer: Yaakov surely did not fear killing Eisov, for it says in Sanhedrin 72a: “If someone comes to kill you, kill him first.” Rather, Yaakov feared that he might kill Eisov’s men, who came to kill not Yaakov but Yaakov’s men. Only Eisov came to kill Yaakov. Indeed, Eisov’s men would be attacking Yaakov’s men, and one may save the attacked even by taking the attacker’s life. But if injuring the attacker’s limb would suffice to save the one being attacked, then for killing the attacker [instead of just injuring him] one is liable for the death penalty. Thus, Yaakov feared he might kill them in the confusion of war even where injuring a limb would suffice. Some ask: Why did Yaakov fear being killed? Eisov said, “When the mourning days for my father approach, I will kill my brother Yaakov” (27:41), and Yitzchok was still alive. A further question: Why did Eisov send Elifaz to kill Yaakov [at the time that Yitzchok was alive]? It seems the answer is: When Eisov said he will not kill Yaakov while his father is alive, this applied only if Yaakov was with Yitzchok. But if he was elsewhere, Eisov would kill him. See Minchas Yaakov.

Inasmuch as the angels had warned him of Esau's duplicity, that he would pretend to be brotherly, Jacob was afraid not to prepare himself for war in the event Esau planned to kill him while he was unarmed. On the other hand "it distressed him" that the very fact that their encounter would be an armed one might precipitate a war which Esau had not really intended until he saw Jacob armed. His hatred would be rekindled only because he presumed that Jacob confronted him in a fighting stance when he looked at his weapons. As a result of such considerations Jacob divided his camp; the first camp would display friendliness whereas the second camp would be armed and ready for battle.

Wie Jakob und Esau hier einander gegenübertraten, so stehen sich bis auf den heutigen Tag Jakob und Esau gegenüber. Jakob: der dienende, arbeitende, sorgenerfüllte, mit Familiengliedern gesegnete Familienvater. Esaw: der "fertige, gemachte" Mensch. Was Jakob trotz des erhaltenen Segens und der erhaltenen Erstgeburt erst durch zwanzig mühevolle Jahre hatte erringen und erkämpfen müssen und nun als das größte Los, als die größte Errungenschaft mit heimbrachte: selbständiger Familienvater sein zu können, das ist andern die von der Wiege an mitgegebene natürlichste Voraussetzung, das hatte Esaw, "der fertige, gemachte" Mensch, schon, als Jakob erst auszog, in vollem Maße besessen; und während Jakob mit seiner Arbeit das Glück errang, Familienvater zu sein, war Esau inzwischen eine politische Größe, war Volks-Heerführer, ein אלוף mit seinen Reisigen geworden. So der äußere Gegensatz des ,"Fersenhalters" und des "Gemachten".

ויצר לו, “he was distressed;” his distress was over his inability to overcome his fear of Esau in spite of the assurances he had received from G–d. (attributed to Harav Eliav hacohen) An alternate interpretation. The commentator agrees with the meaning of the words: ויירא. However, he interprets the word ויצר as referring to his fear when hearing that Esau was on the way with an armed escort planning to kill him. He knew from his mother that although Esau had sworn to await the death of his father before killing Yaakov (Genesis 27,41) he had changed his mind; when he is quoted as referring to G–d as “the G–d of my father Yitzchok,” instead of “the G–d of my father,” that Yitzchok had died in the meantime, (during the 36 years he had been away from home) as G–d does not associate His name with a living person. (Compare B’reshit Rabbah on that verse.)

ויצר לו, “he was anxious;” the letter י has the vowel tzeyreh underneath it;

ויחץ, from the root חצה, to divide into half. We find this word in this sense in Numbers 31,42 describing Moses as having divided the booty from the Midianites into two halves.

Zwei Prinzipien sinds, die sich in Jakob und Esau begegnen und deren Kampf und Sieg die Weltgeschichte bedeutet. Das menschlich beglückende und beglückte Familien- leben in Jakob, der Glanz politischer Macht und Größe in Esau. Jahrtausende herab gilts dem Kampfe: ob es genüge, Mensch zu sein, und alle soziale und politische Macht und Gestaltung nur Wert habe als Mittel, dieses Höheziel aller Menschenbestrebungen zu erreichen, oder ob alles Menschliche im Menschen, Haus und Familienleben, nur da sei, um den Trophäen der Politik etc etc. zum Unterwurf zu dienen.

ויחץ את העם אשר אתו, “he split up the entourage that was with him;” Yaakov had said to himself: “if Esau should see me fleeing, (instead) I will awaken feelings of hatred within him.”

Und wie ganz anders ist Jakob dem Esau gegenüber, als eben dem Laban. Wir erkennen, welche Kraft das Bewusstsein der Unschuld gibt, und welch ein drückendes Gefühl selbst auch nur aus dem Anschein einer Verschuldung erwächst. Zwanzig Jahre Kampf gegen unschuldig zu erleidendes Unrecht schlagen nicht so nieder, als eine Minute einem Menschen gegenüber, von dem wir wissen, dass er sich durch uns gekränkt fühlen muss und die Motive, die uns, wenn auch nicht rechtfertigen, doch entschuldigen können, gar nicht einzusehen vermag!

Jakob fürchtete, obgleich ihn die Schutz zusagende Gottesverheißung geleitete; מכאן, bemerkt das lehrende Wort der Weisen, שאין הבטחה לצדיקים בע"הז, es gibt keine unbedingte Zusicherung dem Frommen in diesem Leben. Eine jede ist durch fortdauernde Untadelhaftigkeit bedingt, eine jede kann in jedem Augenblick durch einen Fehltritt verscherzt werden; שמא יגרום החטא, das ist die Besorgnis, die aus der Brust der erwähltesten Frommen nie weicht. — ויֵצר לו — ist der Form nach von יצר nicht von צרך oder צור, dem gewöhnlichen Ausdruck für Not und Bedrängnis. יצר das verstärkte יסר, binden, heißt: bilden, formen. Alles Bilden ist ein Beschränken des Stoffes in ein durch den Zweck gegebenes Maß. Sind doch diese Begriffe so verwandt, dass wir auch bilden durch צור ausgedrückt finden: 2 ויצר אותו בחרט. B. M 32, 414 und צורָה geradezu: Form heißt. Vielleicht ist es ein Unterschied, ob Not durch צור oder durch יצר ausgedrückt wird. צר ist die äußere Beschränkung unseres Kreises, so dass wir uns nicht mehr frei bewegen können. Sie lässt unser inneres Wesen unangetastet. Ihr Gegensatz ist מרחב, die Weite. יצר aber wäre eine solche beengende Gestaltung der Verhältnisse, dass wir ihrer Obmacht als völlig willenloser Stoff zur Beute fallen. Sie gewinnen eine solche Obermacht über uns, dass sie aus uns machen können, was sie wollen. In solcher Lage fühlte sich Jakob damals Esau gegenüber, und das ist die Lage, in der wir uns Jahrhunderte herab den Esauvölkern gegenüber befanden. Es ist das jener Zustand, den die Galuthverkündung חמת קרי (3.B. 9. 26, 28) "Wüten des Zufalls"; nennt, dass unser Heil, unser Leben, unser Fortkommen nirgends das Beabsichtigte, Maßgebende war, sondern sich den Zwecken aller Übrigen als das Unberechtigte hingeben und sich mit dem begnügen musste, was als Abhub von der Glückstafel des andern uns zufällig zufiel. ויצר לו sagte demnach: Jakob fühlte, dass er der Willkür des an der Spitze einer bewaffneten Macht gegen ihn heranziehenden Esau völlig preisgegeben sei, und, um doch etwas zu retten — teilte er. So war auch unsere Zerstreuung im Galuth das Mittel unserer Erhaltung und Rettung. Nie und nirgends konnte uns Esaus Schwert auf einmal erreichen. Während wir am Rhein bluteten, waren unsere Brüder im Slavenreiche glücklich, und umgekehrt. צרקה עשה ה"בה לישראל שפזרן לבין האומות (Pesachim 87 b).. Dasselbe tat Jakob im Drange der Not.