Komentarz do Rodzaju 25:23

ויאמר ה' לה AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO HER through a messenger: it was told to Shem by holy inspiration and he told it to her (Genesis Rabbah 63:7).

TWO NATIONS ARE IN THY WOMB. The intent of this is that He informed her that she should not fear, for the reason that the struggle in her womb is that she is pregnant with twins, this being the customary way among women who are pregnant with twins.
It is possible that He is also saying that since they are destined to be two peoples, hating and warring with each other, at the very beginning of their creation they initiated a quarrel, thus intimating at the situation which will ultimately exist between them. But He assured her that now they will rest, and she will find rest and quiet for herself.

ויאמר ה' לה, by means of the prophet who was either Shem or Avraham.

ויאמר ה' לה, G’d’s answer was provided by the prophet.

"ha-Shem said to her: two nations are in your womb." This was the opposite of what she had thought [as described in the previous commentary], that there is only one authority [God]. Rather, there are two children in your womb, one that will serve ha-Shem and one that will serve idols. Yet ha-Shem is always one, there is no other. There are those who interpret, "Yizchak entreated ha-Shem opposite his wife," that since he was a tzadik, the son of a tzadik, therefore it was certain that from his side he could only have suitable descendants. But he feared that from his wife's side, since she was the daughter of Betuel and the sister of Laban, that in order to prevent her having any kind of unsuitable descendants, she was therefore barren. Since her barrenness continued, therefore he was afraid lest she have a descendant without suitability, just like when Yishmael descended from Hagar, and thus perhaps this was the explanation for her barrenness. When "the children agitated within her", one struggled to come out near the entrance to the Beit Midrash and one struggled to come out near the entrance to the house of idols. By this she felt certain that one would be righteous and one evil. About this the text says, "why am I thus?". For I am just like Hagar! In what way am I better than she? And for what purpose did I pray? "And she went to inquire of ha-Shem", what difference did my prayer make? "ha-Shem said to her: two nations are in your womb" -- these are Rebbi [Yehudah ha-Nasi, and his friend, the Roman emperor] Antoninus! This was the difference her prayer made, that Esav would also have kosher descendants like Antoninus [since Esav is the progenitor of Rome], and all the other righteous converts. This was not true of Yishmael, and in this respect, you are better than Hagar.

שני גוים בבטנך, this is the reason for the quarrelling you experience inside your womb.

ויאמר ה׳ לה, G'd said to her, etc. Although this verse has been explained by many there is still no truly satisfactory answer. G'd responded to her fear that she would miscarry by explaining to her that there was nothing medically wrong in her womb but that she was carrying two instead of merely one fetus. Whereas normally, when a mother expects twins, the two fetuses get along inside the womb (compare Song of Songs 7,4), in Rebeccah's case they did not. Hence her feeling of being crushed. She did not merely carry twins but each one was destined to become a nation with very different characteristics from one another. Not only would each one be a king in his own right, but these respective nations would endure for thousands of years. All of this would not have resulted in her having a feeling of being crushed were it not for the fact that these twins did not conform to the usual pattern of twins. When G'd explained that ממעיך יפרדו, "they will be totally separate already while still inside of you," this meant that they would not only be separate inside of Rebeccah but their being separate would continue after they were born. At any rate, G'd reassured Rebeccah that there was nothing wrong with her womb.

שני גויים בבטמנך, “there are two nations within your womb.” G’d informed her not to worry, that her condition was due to the fact that she would give birth to twins. All the commotion going on within her was due to that fact; women who are pregnant with twins usually experience these violent upheavals within their wombs. Alternately, it is possible that G’d informed her that the convulsions she had experienced foreshadowed that these twins would not live harmoniously together, especially at the time preceding the redemption of mankind. In the meantime, these convulsions would cease forthwith.

Through an intermediary. We cannot say that Hashem told her Himself, as she did not speak to Hashem herself. Furthermore, Rashi knew this since it is written ויאמר ה' לה, rather than ויאמר לה ה' as it says for Hagar ויאמר לה מלאך (16:9) and for Rus ויאמר לה בועז (Rus 2:14). Perforce, ויאמר ה' לה means that Hashem told her through an intermediary. גיים

שני גוים וגו׳ ,ושני לאמים וגו׳. ,Uns scheint die Lehre vom Parallelismus, des כפל ענין וכו׳ eine freilich bequeme, aber schon einer ernsten menschlichen Rede, geschweige denn einer Gottesschrift durchaus unwürdige Interpretationskrücke zu sein. Kaum Kinder, höchstens Betrunkene mögen כפל ענין במלות שונות gedankenleer lallen. לאם ist der Staatsverband, אין לאום אלא מלכות. Verschiedene Völker brauchen doch nicht verschieden geartete Staaten zu bilden. Europa zählt eine Menge Völker, und doch sind die meisten europäischen Staaten im Grundprinzip und Wesen fast dieselben. Rebekka wurde gesagt, sie trage zwei Völker in ihrem Schoße, die zwei verschiedene soziale Gestaltungen repräsentieren werden. Einen Staat, der seine Größe auf Geist und Sitte, auf das Menschliche im Menschen erbaut; einen anderen, der seine Größe in Schlauheit und Macht sucht. Geist und Macht, Sittlichkeit und Gewalt stehen einander gegenüber, und zwar schon von der Geburt an werden sie sich einander gegenüberstehen. Ein Staat wird immer mächtiger sein als der andere. Die Schale wird fortwährend schwanken zwischen לאום ולאום. Die ganze Geschichte ist nichts als ein Kampf, ob Geist oder Schwert, ob, wie das Wort der Weisen diesen Gegensatz ausdrückt, Jerusalem oder Cäsarea das Herrschende sein soll.

ורב יעבוד צעיר, “and the older one will serve the younger one.” Our author understands the word רב here not as “older, senior,” as do most commentators, but as meaning הרבה, “many, a great number.” Esau himself used the word in that sense when he told his brother Yaakov: יש לי רב, “I have lots,” (Genesis 33,9) The word may mean “lots” in terms of “time;” i.e. Esau would serve Yaakov for a long time.

ויאמר ה' לה, “the Lord said to her:” by using a prophet to inform her; some commentators say that seeing that Avraham was still alive. [She had turned to him and that he answered her; others say that the reason she had not told her husband about her problem was that she did not want to cause him pain when hearing about her problem, and about the fact that G-d had not revealed the answer to him.] The reason why Avraham answered her instead of her husband was why Yitzchok could not believe that Esau was a wicked person[, as she never told him about all her problems and the answer she had received].

שני גויים בבטנך TWO NATIONS ARE IN THY WOMB —The word is written גיים (exalted, noble persons), an allusion to Antoninus and Rabbi (Rabbi Judah the Prince) from whose table neither radish nor lettuce was absent neither in summer nor in winter (Avodah Zarah 11a)

שני גויים, do not be upset, seeing that the additional pain you experience is due to the fact that you will give birth to twins. This normally accounts for a more difficult pregnancy.

ושני לאמים, they will also be politically different from one another, being separate kingdoms.

שני גויים, the word is written with two letters י and a letter ו which is read but does not appear in the text, something which has been explained in the Talmud Avodah Zarah 11 as affording us the opportunity to read it as גיים, or גאים, a reference to both the Roman Emperor Antoninus as well as Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, who both occupied lofty positions and were so wealthy that vegetables which have a limited season were never absent from their table all year round. The reading of the text (as opposed to the spelling) would represent the plain meaning then, i.e. peoples.

ורב יעבוד צעיר, “and the senior one would serve the junior one.” This can be interpreted in various directions. Either, literally, the older one will serve the younger one, or as in Ezekiel 26,2 אמלאה החרבה, where the prophet describes the city Tzor (Tyre) as discontent as long as Jerusalem has not been destroyed. The philosophies of Esau and Yaakov are mutually exclusive, and as long as both are alive and vibrant the other can not be content. Another approach to the word רב sees in it a reference to “abundance, surfeit,” as in ’ורב מקולות וגו, “enough, too much of the thunder, etc.” (Exodus 9,28) Translated into our verse here, the meaning of the prophecy would be that the many would serve the few. (Yaakov’s descendants being “the few.”)

is written. This refers to Antoninus and Rabbi... גיים means גאים (great and princely persons) because the י is in place of the א.

ולאום מלאום יאמץ, "and one nation will be stronger than the other, etc." This means that there is an additional factor preventing these two peoples from dwelling together in harmony; each one will derive its strength from the other (the defeat of the other). We find an example of this concept in a statement in Megillah 6 that the city of Tzor attained its true prominence only through the fall of Jerusalem. Seeing that each nation therefore anxiously awaits the downfall of the other, there is no hope that they will live together in brotherly harmony.

רב heißt nie der Altere, sondern immer: groß an Zahl und Macht. Zuletzt wird derjenige, der bis dahin als der Mächtigere erschienen, nur für den materiell Geringeren gearbeitet, dessen Sieg vorbereitet haben, und sich ihm zuletzt selbst unterordnen— der Träger des Geistes und der Sitte geht als der endliche Sieger aus diesem Kampfe hervor, und der Träger der Macht wird nicht vernichtet, wohl aber findet er zuletzt selber sein Ziel in der Huldigung und Hingebung an den andern.

שני גויים בבטנך, Do not worry that you are experiencing so much pain because you are carrying two nations in your womb and it is common knowledge that the birth pains for two are so much greater than for one.

ושני לאמים AND TWO RACES — The word לאם always denotes a people that has all the characteristics of a kingdom (Avodah Zarah 2b)

ושני לאומים, kingdoms, as per Psalms 148,11 מלכי ארץ וכל לאומים, “all kings and peoples of the earth.” We know that this interpretation is correct as otherwise the words גויים and לאומים would simply be a needless repetition. The word לאומים therefore refers to nations. Seeing that the prophet had already begun to foretell Rivkah part of the future, he continued further adding:

ממעיך יפרדו, they will go their different ways after being born, neither of them will die at birth as you fear.

ושני לאומים, in view of this word here, i.e. a second word referring to nations, it is possible that the spelling of the word גיים is parallel to a plural ending as found in the word איים, from אי, “wild beasts.” The problem is that we do not find לאומיים spelled with two letters י anywhere so that we cannot use it as describing the nature of Esau and the Romans descended from him. Our sages in Yevamot 76 view the spelling as teaching that marriage, i.e. weddings in the accepted sense are not legally possible when only one party to such a union is Jewish, i.e. has already converted. The word גיות is also understood in the sense of widowhood during the lifetime of their husbands. (Samuel II 20,3) The prophet told Rivkah that the strange phenomenon she was experiencing in her womb was a sign that two totally different nations would develop from the twins she was about to give birth to. Most children born by the same father and mother will grow up as part of one and the same nation. Not so in the case of Rivkah’s children. The proof that this interpretation was correct was the very fact that they were already quarrelling with one another even before having been born into this world.

Whose tables never lacked radish or lettuce... I.e., Antoninus was a scion of Eisov, and Rabbi [referring to R. Yehudah HaNasi] was a scion of Yaakov. Question: Does it not say in Kesubos 104a that when Rabbi was dying, he lifted his ten fingers toward Heaven and said, “I did not benefit from this world even my little finger’s worth”? The answer is: Rabbi’s household would eat [the special foods], and his table was never lacking. This was the princeliness. But Rabbi himself did not eat them. (Re’m) See Nachalas Yaakov.

ורב יעבד צעיר, "and the senior one will serve the younger." None of the many commentaries on this expression seem to do justice to the words. Our approach will solve the problem. Not only will one of these two nations attain its respective grandeur at the expense of the other, but the nation which is defeated will wind up in servitude to the respective victor. The victor will not content himself with having vanquished his antagonist and deprived him of his assets, but he will oppress him to boot. This will further inhibit any chance of reconciliation and will increase the degree of mutual hatred. This is what the Talmud (Ketuvot 72) had in mind when it stated that a human being and a snake cannot live together in cramped quarters. The words do not mean that Esau and Jacob respectively will live in such a dependence on each other; the meaning is that whoever will be the senior one of these two nations during different periods of history will relate to the other as a tyrannical overlord.

Even though the word for “nations” is spelled in our texts as גיים, it is to be read as if it had been spelled גוים in the regular way.

ממעיך יפרדו SHALL BE PARTED FROM THY BOWELS —as soon as they leave thy body they will take each a different course — one to his wicked ways, the other to his plain life (Genesis 5:27)

ורב יעבוד צעיר, that the younger one would in fact be senior to the older one; as a result of this prophecy Rivkah loved Yaakov more than Esau already from birth.

ושני לאומים, we have already mentioned several times (21,1) that it is the practice of the Torah when repeating something to use different words to say basically the same thing.

The word לאום always means kingdom. Otherwise, why does it say ושני לאומים [after it already said שני גוים]? But R. Noson explained that Rashi knew this from the word יאמץ, which is used only for kings, as Rashi clearly states on Avodah Zarah 12b.

ממעיך יפרדו, “they are fighting for separation from one another already in your womb. Rashi, on this expression, comments: “one wishes wickedness to prevail on earth, the other righteousness.” G-d implied that at this point in time the outcome of who would prevail in this struggle was not yet known. It would only become clear when the two children’s vocational choices had been made, one a hunter, the other a philosopher, making study his primary occupation.

מלאם יאמץ SHALL BE STRONGER THAN THE OTHER RACE —They will never be equally great at the same time: when one rises the other will fall. Thus it says, (Ezekiel 26:2) “[Because Tyre (colonised by Esau) says about Jerusalem] I shall be filled with her that is laid waste” — Tyre became full (powerful) only through the ruin of Jerusalem (Megillah 6a).

ממעיך יפרדו, as soon as they come out of your womb they will each develop in a different way, even physically. One would be hairy, his skin reddish looking, whereas the other would have smooth skin like normal babies. They would be different in their deeds and choice of occupations as soon as they would be old enough to make such choices. The Torah testifies to this by describing Esau as כי ציד בפיו, being a hunter, whereas Yaakov is described as יושב אהלים, a dweller of tents, i.e. studious bookish type. They would also hate one another as a matter of course.

Already from the womb they are separated... Re’m writes that according to Rashi, יִפָרֵדו is to be understood as present tense, for Rashi writes הם נפרדים (they are separated). Here, Hashem is not telling her what is in her womb. He already told her, “Two nations are in your womb.” He is rather telling her the nature of these nations. While still in the womb, as yet unborn, they are exceptionally separated from one another — one to his evil ways and the other to his wholesomeness. This is why Rashi writes נפרדים, present tense, rather than יִפָרֵדו, future tense. He is saying that already in the womb, they are separated. You might ask: Does the Sifrei not say that the evil inclination does not affect a person while he is his mother’s womb? For it is written (8:21), “The inclination of man’s heart is evil מנעריו,” meaning [that he has the evil inclination only] after he is shaken (ננער) from his mother’s womb. The answer is: Before a person is born, the evil inclination does not cause him to lust sins. But Eisov was drawn to the sin of idolatry because it was his nature. He sought out his own kind. (Gur Aryeh)

ורב יעבוד צעיר, “and the older will become subservient to the younger.” This is where the Torah decreed that Yaakov, though the younger, will eventually wind up as the senior one of the twins to be born. Rav Hunna (B’reshit Rabbah 63,6) is quoted as having said that it means if Yaakov merits it he will become the senior, if not, Esau will become senior to him. [Not found in the editions of B’reshit Rabbah at my disposal. Ed.] An alternate exegesis: the word רב does not mean: “the senior one,” but simply means “הרבה,” a great deal,” or “for a long time.” The word occurs when Esau first declined Yaakov’s gift by saying: יש לי רב, “I have lots.” (Genesis 33,9).

ולאם מלאם יאמץ, they will never be evenly matched in strength, one of them always being stronger or weaker than the other. (Megillah 6) The letter ל in the word לאם is “weak,” spelled without the dagesh it ought to have. There are numerous such anomalies in Scripture, as for instance Judges 8,2 מבציר אביעזר, where the letter ב in the word mivtzir is unaccountably written without the dagesh. A similar anomaly exists in Ezekiel 32,30 מגבורים בושים, where the letter ג in the word מגבורים should have had a dagesh in it. There are other examples of this phenomenon.

ורב יעבוד צעיר, the word את which we would have expected before the word צעיר is missing. It is not clear who will serve whom, i.e. the predicate in such a construction as is before us. The only clue we have to determine who is meant as serving whom, is the fact that normally the active subject is written first in any verse. In other words, there is a hint that the senior brother (Esau) will eventually be subservient to the junior one (Yaakov). In some verses similarly constructed there is no doubt as to who is the active party. For instance in Job 14,19 אבנים שחקו מים, “water wears away stone,” there is no question that the stone does not wear away water, i.e. that the first subject mentioned is the active one. Similarly, in Isaiah 64,1 מים תבעה אש, “water drowned fire,” there can also be no doubt as to which subject is the active one. The reason we face the problem of meaning in our verse is that the future of the two peoples is not spelled out clearly, in the prophecy, seeing that history teaches that the Jewish people enjoyed distinct periods in which it was in the ascendancy, whereas over the last 1000 years plus the opposite is the case. The only part of the prophecy which is clear is that during most of history Esau was indeed subservient to Israel, hence Esau is mentioned first in this part of the verse, seeing that it is the principally active subject. Not only this, but after the arrival of the Messiah this situation will be restored with Edom/Esau serving his junior brother Israel. The word רב being applied to the older of the twins refers to his seniority at the time of birth, seeing he emerged first from Rivkah’s womb. It follows that the one who emerged last must be referred to as the צעיר, the younger one. We find another examples of the word רב or at least its plural רבים referring to chronological seniority in Job 32,9 לא רבים יחכמו, “it is not the seniors who are wise.”

When one rises the other falls... I.e., both of them cannot be great at the same time because when one rises the other falls. The מ of מלאום is [not] like the מ of מכל מלמדי השכלתי (Tehillim 119:99), which means “more than.” [In other words, מלאום does not imply a comparison, that one government has “more” power than the other.] Rather, the מ of מלאום means “from.” I.e., one government seizes power “from” the other [and thereby acquires its greatness.] Tyre is the kingdom of Eisov.