Midrasz do Rodzaju 35:32

(Deut. 33:1:) AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. This text is related (to Prov. 31:29): MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VALIANTLY, BUT YOU SURPASS THEM ALL. This is the blessing of Moses,¹Tanh., Deut. 11:1; PRK 31:11. in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but compared to all of them none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence. He blessed one and cursed another. (Gen. 9:27:) MAY GOD ENLARGE (YPT) JAPHETH (YPT); but he said (vs. 25:) CURSED BE CANAAN. Isaac blessed Jacob. There was strife in it, in that he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35): YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT; and it is stated (in vs. 41): THEN ESAU HATED JACOB <…, AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: LET THE DAYS OF MORNING FOR MY FATHER COME, AND I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB>. Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he said to Reuben (in Gen. 49:4): UNSTABLE AS WATER; and similarly (in vs. 5): SIMEON AND LEVI <ARE BROTHERS; WEAPONS OF VIOLENCE ARE THEIR SWORDS>. And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned] from the Holy One. When he created Adam, he blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:28): THEN GOD BLESSED THEM; [and²The other part of this bracket is several lines below. the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7): AND THE LORD SAID: I WILL BLOT OUT THE HUMANITY WHICH I CREATED. When Noah left the ark, the Holy One saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1): THEN GOD BLESSED NOAH AND HIS CHILDREN. The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world. Then the Holy One added one blessing for him, as stated (in Gen. 12:2): FOR I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION…. When Abraham came, the Holy One said: It is not a practice worthy of me, that I should be obliged to bless my creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who issue a blessing through him, I am placing my seal upon <those blessings>, as stated (in vs. 2, cont.): <I WILL BLESS YOU AND MAGNIFY YOUR NAME> AND SO BECOME A BLESSING. (vs. 3:) I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU…. What is the meaning of I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU. The Holy One said: Take note. I am handing over the blessings to ALL WHOM YOU BLESS, and I am sealing <them> through you. But if from then on the blessings were {spoken} [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said: If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard.³See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5; also Matthew 13:24–30.: He gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said: If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard.⁴Cf. Matthew 13:24–30. And so also did Abraham say: If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Look here. It is simply that he is leaving him alone until the Holy One comes, when he will deal with what belongs to him.] Jacob came and received five blessing: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One.⁵Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.: Two from his father, according to what is stated (in Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why TREMBLED? R. Eleazar ben Padat said: <He did so> because he saw Gehinnom open for Esau. He wanted to say: Cursed. He repented and added a blessing when he said (ibid., end): HE ALSO SHALL BE BLESSED. Here is one blessing. A second (is in Gen. 28:1): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM. [The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4): AND MAY HE GRANT YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM…; the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30 [29]): AND HE (the angel) BLESSED HIM THERE; and the blessings of the Holy One (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN…, AND BLESSED HIM.] When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessing that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28): ALL THESE ARE THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, <TWELVE IN NUMBER, AND THIS IS WHAT THEIR FATHER SPOKE TO THEM> WHEN HE BLESSED THEM, EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING IS HOW HE BLESSED THEM.⁶The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe. When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1): AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. < According to another interpretation, Moses made> an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel,⁷Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4 since it was fitting for him to bless with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars <he had built>;⁸On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29. but <Balaam> only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10): BUT HERE YOU HAVE EVEN BLESSED THEM THESE THREE [TIMES]. The Holy One said to him: You are wicked. Your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair. Then he will bless Israel, and it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9): HE THAT HAS A BENEVOLENT EYE SHALL BE BLESSED (YBRK). Do not read YBRK <with vowels meaning> SHALL BE BLESSED, but <with vowels meaning> SHALL BLESS. This refers to Moses our Master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel. He also blessed them with <the other> four blessings:

(Deut. 33:1:) “And this is the blessing.” This text is related (to Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.” This is the blessing of Moses,¹PRK 31:11. in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but there was none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence, as he blessed one and cursed another, as stated (Gen. 9:27,) “May God enlarge (ypt) Japheth (ypt) [...]; and let Canaan be a slave to them.” Isaac blessed Jacob, but there was strife in it. It is so stated (in Gen. 28:4), “May He give you the blessing of Abraham, but he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35), “Your brother came with deceit”; and it is stated (in vs. 41), “Then Esau hated Jacob […, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob’].” Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he rebuked Reuben, as stated (in Gen. 49:4), “Unstable as water”; and similarly (in vs. 5), “Simeon and Levi [are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords].” And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned it] from the Holy One, blessed be He. When he created Adam, He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:27-28), “male and female. Then [God] blessed them.” And the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7), “And the Lord said, “I will blot out the humanity which I created.” When Noah left the ark, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1), “Then God blessed Noah and his children.” The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world, and He added blessing, as stated (in Gen. 12:2), “For I will make you into a great nation.” Once Abraham came, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “It is not honorable for Me, that I should be obliged to bless My creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who they issue a blessing, I am placing my seal upon [those blessings], as stated (in vs. 2, cont.), ‘[I will bless you and magnify your name] and so become a blessing.’” (Vs. 3:) “I will bless those who bless you….” What is the meaning of “I will bless?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Take note. I am handing over the blessings to all whom you bless, and I am sealing [them] through you.” But if from then on the blessings were [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said, “If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard,²See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5. [and] gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said, “If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard.” And so also did Abraham say, “If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Rather look here. I will leave him alone until the Holy One, blessed be He, comes, when He will deal with what belongs to Him.” Jacob came and received five blessings: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One, blessed be He.³Cf. Gen. R. 94:5. From his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “Then Isaac trembled (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why “trembled?” R. Eliezer ben Pedat said, “[He did so] because he saw Gehinnom open in front of him. He wanted to say, ‘Cursed will be [Jacob.’ Instead,] he went back [on it], and added blessing [to it], when he said (ibid., end), ‘he also shall be blessed.’” Here is one [blessing]. A second (is in Gen. 28:1), “So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him.” The blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, (is in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob [… and blessed him].” The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4), “And may He grant you the blessing of Abraham.” And the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30), “and he (the angel) blessed him there.” When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessings that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28), “All these are the tribes of Israel, [twelve in number, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them, each one with his own blessing is how he blessed them].”⁴The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe. When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” [According to another interpretation, Moses made] an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel,⁵Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4. since it was fitting for him to bless them with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars [he had built];⁶On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29. but [Balaam] only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10), “but here you have even blessed them these three times.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “O wicked one, your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair; then he will bless Israel.” And it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9), “He that has a benevolent eye shall be blessed (ybrk).” Do not read “ybrk [with vowels meaning] shall be blessed,” but [with vowels meaning] “shall bless.” This refers to Moses our master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel, such that he blessed them with [the other] four blessings: The first is (in Exod. 39:43), “When Moses saw all the work […] he blessed them.” The second is (in Lev. 9:23), “Then Moses and Aaron came unto the tent of meeting; and when they came out, they blessed the people….” The third is (in Deut. 1:11), “May the Lord God of your ancestors add [to your numbers a thousand times more than you are and bless you].” The fourth is (here in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” It is therefore stated (in Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.”(Deut. 33:1:) And this is the blessing.” It was fitting for Moses to bless Israel because he had constantly risked his life for them.⁷PRK 31(suppl. 1):12. For this reason, it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing [that Moses blessed... the Children of Israel].” (Deut. 33:1:) “The man of God (the Power).” If it says, “man,” why does it say, “God,” and if it says, “God,” why does it say, “man?” It is simply that at the time he fled from in front of Pharaoh, he was a man, but at the time he trounced [the Egyptians], he was a power. Another interpretation: At the time that he went up to the firmament, he was a man; in front of the angels that were all fire, he was a man. But at the time he came down, he was a power. Before he went up to the firmament, he was a man, as he would eat and drink. But all the time that he was there, he was a power, as stated (in Exod. 34:20), “and they were afraid to approach him.”

It was taught that Ben Zoma said to the sages: "Is it truly so that the Exodus from Egypt will be mentioned [as a miraculous incident] after Messiah will come? Has not the prophet long ago said (Jer. 23, 7.) Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when they shall no more say, as the Lord liveth, who hath brought up the children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt; But as the Lord liveth, who hath brought up, and who hath led forth the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and out of all countries whither I had driven them." "This," said the sages, "is intended to mean, not that the memory of the redemption of Egypt will be removed from its place (entirely extinct), but that the latter redemption will be the principal consideration and the redemption of Egypt the secondary. Just as it is said (Gen. 35, 10.) Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. (Fol. 13a.) It means not that the name Jacob will entirely fall into disuse, but that Israel shall be the principal name and Jacob the secondary. And this is meant by the passage (Is. 43, 18.) Remember not the former things, and ancient events regard no more. Remember not former things, alludes to the present subjugation, and ancient events regard no more, refers to the redemption of Egypt." Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth (Ib. ib. 10). R. Joseph recited a Baraitha that this alludes to the war of Gog and Magog. It is likened to a man who while walking on the road met a wolf from whom he escaped, and as he was exulting over the miracle of the wolf, he met a lion and also escaped him. He exulted over his escape from the lion, forgetting the miracle of the escape from the wolf. He then met a serpent and also escaped. He forgot all the former escapes and exulted over the miracle of the serpent. Thus it is with Israel; the later troubles make them forget the earlier ones.

And in those days after Isaac's death, the Lord called a famine into all the earth. At that time ‎Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was seated upon his throne and he fell asleep that night and he ‎dreamed many dreams. And Pharaoh saw in his dream, and behold he stood by the banks of ‎the river of Egypt, which is Shichor... And as he stood there he saw, and behold, seven cows ‎fat fleshed and well favored came up out of the river, and after them came out seven cows ‎lean fleshed and ill favored. And the seven ill-favored cows did eat up the seven well favored ‎cows and their appearance was yet as bad as before. And he awoke. And he fell asleep and ‎dreamed a second time. And he saw and behold seven ears of corn came up, upon one stalk, ‎rank and good, and right after them grew up seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind. ‎And the seven thin ears swallowed up the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke from ‎his dream. And in the morning when the king thought over his dreams his spirit was greatly ‎disturbed on account of his dreams. And the king hastened and issued a call unto all the ‎magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof, and they came and stood before the king. ‎And the king said unto them: I have dreamed dreams and there is no one to interpret them. ‎And they said unto the king: Relate thy dreams we pray thee, unto thy servants, that we may ‎hear them. And the king related his dreams unto them. And all of them answered and said ‎unto the king, as if with one mouth: May the king live forever! this is the interpretation of his ‎dreams: The seven fat cows that thou hast seen are seven daughters, which will be born unto ‎thee in thy last days. And the seven cows that came up after them which thou hast seen ‎swallow up the first cows are a sign that the daughters which will be born unto thee will all die ‎during the life time of the king. And what thou hast seen in thy second dream, namely, the ‎seven rank and good ears, springing up from one stalk, this is the interpretation that thou wilt ‎build unto thee seven cities in the land of Egypt in thy last days. And what thou hast seen ‎afterwards, namely, the seven blasted ears that grew up after them, and swallowed them up ‎before thine eyes, is a sign that the cities which thou shalt build shall all be destroyed in the ‎latter days during the life time of the king. And when they had spoken these words the king ‎did not incline his ears. unto their speech, nor did he quiet his heart on their account; for the ‎king in his wisdom knew well that they had not interpreted his dreams correctly. And when ‎they ceased speaking before the king, the king answered unto them saying: What are these ‎words which you have spoken unto me? Verily you have allowed lies. And falsehoods to come ‎out of your mouths, and unless you give me the correct interpretation of my dreams, all of you ‎shall be put to death.‎

Another interpretation (of Lev. 19:2:) YOU SHALL BE HOLY. The Holy One said to Israel: Before I created my world, the ministering angels praised my name through you and sanctified me through you by saying (in I Chron. 16:36): BLESSED IS THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING.⁸Tanh., Lev. 7:2. When the first Adam was created, the angels said: Sovereign of the World, is this the one in whose name we are praising you? He told them, [No]. This person is a thief, since it is stated (of him in Gen. 3:17): < BECAUSE YOU OBEYED YOUR WIFE AND > ATE OF THE TREE ABOUT WHICH I COMMANDED YOU, < SAYING: DO NOT EAT OF IT. CURSED IS THE LAND BECAUSE OF YOU >. < When > Noah came, they said to him (i.e., to the Holy One): Is this the one? He told them, [No]. This person is a drunkard, since it is stated (of him in Gen. 9:21): THEN HE DRANK OF THE WINE AND BECAME DRUNK…. < When > Abraham came, they said to him: Is this the one? He told them: This is a stranger (ger). < When > Isaac came, they said to him: Is this the one? He told them: This one loves my enemy, as stated (in Gen. 25:28): NOW ISAAC LOVED ESAU. When Jacob came, they said to him: Is this the one? He told them, Yes, for so it says (in Gen. 35:10): GOD SAID TO HIM: YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE JACOB, BUT YOUR NAME SHALL BE ISRAEL…. So all Israel was called by his name. At that time the Holy One, Blessed be He, sanctified them because of his name, as stated (in Is. 49:3): ISRAEL, IN WHOM I WILL BE GLORIFIED. The Holy One said to him: Since you were sanctified for my name before I created my world, Be holy as I am holy. It is so stated (in Lev. 19:2:) YOU SHALL BE HOLY, BECAUSE I, THE LORD YOUR GOD, AM HOLY. To what is the matter comparable? To a king who betrothed a wife. He said to her because you have been betrothed (literally: sanctified) to my name, I am a king and you, a queen. Just as it (i.e., my name) is an honor for me, so it is an honor for you. Why? Because you are my wife. Thus the Holy One said to Moses. Go and sanctify (i.e., go and betroth) Israel, as stated (in Exod. 19:10): GO UNTO THE PEOPLE AND SANCTIFY (rt.: QDSh) THEM TODAY AND TOMORROW. {The Holy One sanctified them} [He sanctified them. The Holy One came] and said to them (in Exod. 19:6): BUT YOU SHALL BE FOR ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS, A HOLY (rt.: QDSh) NATION. Why? (Lev. 19:2:) BECAUSE… I AM HOLY. And you also shall be sanctified (rt.: QDSh) just as you have sanctified me, as stated (in Lev. 19:2) SPEAK UNTO THE WHOLE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND SAY UNTO THEM: YOU SHALL BE HOLY (rt.: QDSh)…. The Holy One said unto them: If you are worthy, you shall be called a congregation of saints (rt.: QDSh); < if > you are unworthy, you shall be called an evil congregation. (Numb. 14:27:) HOW LONG SHALL THIS EVIL CONGREGATION…?

(Lev. 19:2:) “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “Before I created My world, the ministering angels praised My name through you and sanctified Me through you by saying (in I Chron. 16:36), ‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.’” When the first Adam was created, the angels said, “Master of the world, is this the one in whose name we are praising You?” He told them, “No. This person is a thief, since it is stated (of him in Gen. 3:17), ‘and you ate of the tree.’” [When] Noah came, they said to Him (i.e., to the Holy One, blessed be He), “Is this the one?” He told them, “[No]. This person is a drunkard, since it is stated (of him in Gen. 9:21), ‘Then he drank of the wine [and became drunk].’” [When] Abraham came, they said to Him, “Is this the one?” He told them, “This is a stranger (ger), from which Yishmael came out.” [When] Isaac came, they said to Him, “Is this the one?” He told them, “This one loves My enemy, as stated (in Gen. 25:28), ‘Now Isaac loved Esau.’” When Jacob came, they said to Him, “Is this the one?” He told them, “Yes, for so it says (in Gen. 35:10), ‘God said to him, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but your name shall be Israel.”’ So all Israel was called by his name.” At that time the Holy One, blessed be he, sanctified them because of His name, as stated (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Since you were sanctified for My name before I created My world, be holy as I am holy.” It is so stated (in Lev. 19:2), “[You shall be holy,] because I am holy.” To what is the matter comparable? To a king who betrothed a wife. He said to her, “Because you have been betrothed (literally, sanctified) to my name, I am a king and you, a queen. Just as it (i.e., my name) is an honor for me, so it is an honor for you. Why? Because you are my wife.” Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “Go and sanctify (i.e., go and betroth) Israel,” as stated (in Exod. 19:10), “and sanctify (rt.: qdsh) them today and tomorrow.” The Holy One, blessed be He, sanctified them and said to them (in Exod. 19:6), “But you shall be for Me a kingdom of priests, a holy (rt.: qdsh) nation.” Why? (Lev. 19:2:) “Because I the Lord am holy.” And you also shall be sanctified (rt.: qdsh) just as you have sanctified Me, as stated (in Lev. 19:2) “Speak unto the whole congregation of the Children of Israel, and say unto them, ‘You shall be holy (rt.: qdsh).’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said unto them, “If you are worthy, you shall be called a congregation of holy ones (rt.: qdsh); [but if] you are unworthy, you shall be called an evil congregation, as stated (Numb. 14:27) ‘How long shall this evil congregation?’”

[(Gen. 24:1:) NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD.] This text is related (to Ps. 25:10): ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE STEADFAST LOVE AND TRUTH. The beginning of Torah is steadfast love, its middle is steadfast love, and its end is steadfast love.²See above, 4:1 & 4; Eccl. R. 7:2:2. Its beginning is steadfast love in that he has rendered steadfast love to bridegrooms and brides. He rendered steadfast love to Adam and Eve, as stated (in Gen. 2:22): THEN GOD BUILT THE RIB < WHICH HE HAD TAKEN FROM THE MAN INTO A WOMAN >. R. Abbahu said: In Arabia they call the plaited coiffure a "building."³Cf. Ber. 61a; Shab. 95a; Erub. 18a; Nid. 45b; ARN, A, 4; Gen. R. 18:1; M. Pss. 25:11. The Holy One adorned Eve and brought her to Adam.⁴Cf. Gen. R. 8:13. Do you suppose that he brought her to him under an olive tree? Or under a fig tree? Our masters have said: The Holy One made thirteen bridal canopies for Adam and Eve, as stated (in Ezek. 28:13): YOU WERE IN EDEN, THE GARDEN OF GOD; < EVERY PRECIOUS STONE WAS YOUR COVERING: CARNELIAN, CHRYSOLITE, AMETHYST, BERYL, LAPIS LAZULI, JASPER, SAPPHIRE, TURQUOISE, EMERALD, AND GOLD >. And the least of them is gold; for so it is written: EMERALD, AND GOLD (i.e., with gold in last place). Thus < there were > thirteen bridal canopies which were made for Adam and Eve.⁵Since Ezek. lists only nine stones plus gold, according to BB 75a there were only ten canopies; or perhaps eleven, with EVERY PRECIOUS STONE representing the extra one. Lev. R. 20:2 explains the tradition of thirteen by having EVERY PRECIOUS STONE represent three canopies. Similarly Gen. R. 18:2; Eccl. R. 8:1:2; PRK 4:4; PR 14:10. R. Levi said in the name of R. Hama bar Hanina: The Holy One adorned Eve with twenty-four ornaments. And not only that, but he took her by the hand and brought her to Adam. R. Abbin Berabbi the Levite said: Blessed is a provincial who has seen this: the king taking < his bride > by the hand and bringing her to the house for him.⁶Gen. R. 18:3. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 2:22, cont.): AND BROUGHT HER TO ADAM. Ergo (in Ps. 25:10): ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE STEADFAST LOVE AND TRUTH. Thus the beginning of Torah is steadfast love. Its middle also is steadfast love. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Gen. 35:8): THEN REBEKAH'S NURSE, DEBORAH, DIED. When she had died, what is written (ibid.)? AND ITS NAME (i.e., the name of her burial place) WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK, for Jacob was sitting there and weeping over her. The Holy One said: Jacob is sitting and grieving. He appeared to him visibly, as stated (in vs. 9): NOW THE LORD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN… < AND BLESSED HIM >.⁷Eccl. R. 7:2:3; see Gen. R. 8:13; 82:1. And its end is steadfast love, < as seen in the case > of Moses; for, when he passed away, he buried him. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 34:6): AND < THE LORD > BURIED HIM IN THE VALLEY IN THE LAND OF MOAB. Ergo (in Ps. 25:10): ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE STEADFAST LOVE AND TRUTH.⁸Cf. M. Pss. 25:11, which derives from the verse that the Holy One adorns brides (Gen. 2:22), visits the sick (Gen. 18:1), and buries the dead (Deut. 34:6). Abraham persisted in clinging to a measure of steadfast love. The Holy One said to him: This measure was mine and you have taken it. By your life, I am making you < old > like me. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Dan. 7:9): AS I LOOKED, THRONES WERE SET IN PLACE, AND THE ANCIENT OF DAYS TOOK HIS SEAT. HIS GARMENT WAS AS WHITE AS SNOW, < AND THE HAIR OF HIS HEAD WAS LIKE PURE WOOL >.⁹See Gen. R. 58:9. What is written elsewhere on the matter (in Gen. 23:19)? THEN AFTERWARDS ABRAHAM BURIED HIS WIFE SARAH.¹⁰In doing so, Abraham showed his steadfast love. He persisted in clinging to her. The Holy One said to him. You deserve a crown. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD (i.e., with a crown of white hair).

It is written: “The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). We have found that the Holy One blessed be He performs acts of kindness: He adorns brides, blesses grooms, visits the ill, buries the dead, and comforts the mourners. He adorns brides, as it is written: “The Lord God built [the rib that he took from the man into a woman, and He brought her to the man]” (Genesis 2:22). Rabbi Yoḥanan says: He built her, adorned her, and showed her to him [Adam]. Rabbi Abbahu said: Perhaps you will say that He showed her to him from behind a carob tree or from behind a sycamore tree; rather, He adorned her with twenty-four types of jewelry and then He showed her to him, as it is stated: “And He brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22).³¹Although she was made from his rib, and would naturally have been right next to him, the verse states that God brought her to him. This implies that He took her to another location to adorn her and then brought her to Adam (Midrash HaMevo’ar). He blesses grooms, as it is stated: “God blessed them” (Genesis 1:28). He visits the ill, as it is stated: “The Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1). He buries the dead, as it is written: “He buried him in the valley” (Deuteronomy 34:6). He comforts the mourners, as it is written: “He called its name Alon Bakhut” (Genesis 35:8). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: What is Alon Bakhut? While he was observing the mourning for Deborah, his nursemaid, tidings reached him that his mother Rebecca had died, and he wept two weepings [bekhiyot]; that is why it is stated [that Jacob called that place] Alon Bakhut. And [the verse] states regarding Jacob: “[And God appeared to Jacob again…] and blessed [him]” (Genesis 35:9) – He blessed him with the blessing of the mourners.

It is written: “The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). We have found that the Holy One blessed be He performs acts of kindness: He adorns brides, blesses grooms, visits the ill, buries the dead, and comforts the mourners. He adorns brides, as it is written: “The Lord God built [the rib that he took from the man into a woman, and He brought her to the man]” (Genesis 2:22). Rabbi Yoḥanan says: He built her, adorned her, and showed her to him [Adam]. Rabbi Abbahu said: Perhaps you will say that He showed her to him from behind a carob tree or from behind a sycamore tree; rather, He adorned her with twenty-four types of jewelry and then He showed her to him, as it is stated: “And He brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22).³¹Although she was made from his rib, and would naturally have been right next to him, the verse states that God brought her to him. This implies that He took her to another location to adorn her and then brought her to Adam (Midrash HaMevo’ar). He blesses grooms, as it is stated: “God blessed them” (Genesis 1:28). He visits the ill, as it is stated: “The Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1). He buries the dead, as it is written: “He buried him in the valley” (Deuteronomy 34:6). He comforts the mourners, as it is written: “He called its name Alon Bakhut” (Genesis 35:8). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: What is Alon Bakhut? While he was observing the mourning for Deborah, his nursemaid, tidings reached him that his mother Rebecca had died, and he wept two weepings [bekhiyot]; that is why it is stated [that Jacob called that place] Alon Bakhut. And [the verse] states regarding Jacob: “[And God appeared to Jacob again…] and blessed [him]” (Genesis 35:9) – He blessed him with the blessing of the mourners.

11...

“It is better that you do not vow, than that you vow and do not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:4).
“It is better that you do not vow” – Rabbi Meir said: Better than both is one who does not vow at all, but rather brings his sheep to the Temple Courtyard, consecrates it, and slaughters it, as it is stated: “If you refrain from vowing, [there will be no sin in you]” (Deuteronomy 23:23).
Rabbi Huna said: There was an incident involving one who vowed and did not pay. He set sail in the Mediterranean Sea, and his ship sank in the sea and he died. Rabbi Shmuel said: Anyone who vows and does not pay causes for himself that his wife will die, as it is written: “I, when I came from Padan, Rachel died on me…” (Genesis 48:7).
Rabbi Shmuel bar Yitzḥak said: Anyone who vows and does not pay causes [himself] to come to four transgressions: Idol worship, forbidden sexual relations, bloodshed, and slander, and all of them are derived from Jacob.¹⁰While fleeing Esau, Jacob took a vow that he was to fulfill upon his return to Canaan (see Genesis 28:20–22), but he did not fulfill it immediately upon his return. Idol worship, as it is written: “Remove the foreign gods” (Genesis 35:2). Forbidden sexual relations, as it is written: “That he had defiled Dina his daughter” (Genesis 34:5). Bloodshed, as it is written: “Jacob’s two sons, […each] took [his sword…and killed all the males]” (Genesis 34:25). And slander, as it is written: “He heard the words of Laban’s sons [saying: Jacob has taken everything that was our father’s]” (Genesis 31:1).
Rabbi Mana said: Anyone who vows and does not pay causes death to come upon him, as it is stated: “For the Lord your God will demand it of you [and it will be a sin for you]” (Deuteronomy 23:22), and Rabbi Ami said: There is no death without sin, and there is no suffering without iniquity. There is no death without sin, as it is stated: “The soul that sins, it will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). And there is no suffering without iniquity, as it is stated: “I will punish their transgressions with a rod and their iniquity with plagues” (Psalms 89:33).

(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?¹⁵Tanh., Deut. 6:4; PRK 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.¹⁶The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense. And how did he sin against his fathers?¹⁷Above, 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>¹⁸The “only” is found in the parallel account of Tanh., Deut. 6:4. lived a hundred and seventy-five years.¹⁹The Tanh. parallel adds here: “Why so? Because he did not foresee Esau’s shame.” Rabbi Levi said: 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 [the Elder] said: He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 5): IF THIEVES HAVE COME TO YOU.²⁰The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau. The Holy One said: I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15): YOU SHALL GO UNTO YOUR ANCESTORS IN PEACE; YOU SHALL BE BURIED <AT A GOOD OLD AGE>. But now he would see his grandson, when he was robbing with violence, practicing seduction, and shedding blood. At that time he was a good grandfather; <so> it was better for him as a righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4 [3]): FOR STEADFAST LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE. And what sin did he commit against his father? 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 eyes to grow dim during his lifetime. A wicked son came from Isaac, as written (in (Gen. 27:1): <AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD> AND HIS EYES WERE TOO DIM TO SEE. [Why? Because he produced Esau the Wicked.] In regard to a wicked disciple, <there was a disciple> from Ahijah the Shilonite, as stated (in I Kings 14:4): NOW AHIJAH {THE SHILONITE} 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 uterus²¹Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix. {i.e., placenta}, 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 DESTROYED HIS WOMB.²²I.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 ALL PITY. Moreover, R. Berekhyah says: You should not say <this> in reference to when he had left <his mother's uterus>.²³Gen. R. 63:6. Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta'²⁴The 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 [3]:) THE WICKED GO ASTRAY (zoru) FROM THE WOMB. R. Nehemiah says: He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes, since 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.²⁵See 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. [Here are eleven.] (vs. 26:) AND AFTERWARD HIS BROTHER CAME OUT. Here are twelve. There are also some who apply a passage to her (from vs. 22): AND SHE SAID: IF SO, WHY AM I HERE (ZH)? By gematria²⁶Gk.: geometria. Z (=7) + H (=5) <for a total of> twelve. But <our> masters have said: He was the cause of her bier not going 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>:²⁷Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic. Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man {i.e., <in Hebrew>: cursed be the breasts that have suckled one like this man}. What did they do? They brought out her bier at night. R. Jose bar 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 WAS BURIED UNDER THE OAK BELOW BETHEL> [AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK (Allon-bacuth)]. What is the meaning of Allon-bacuth? Two weepings.²⁸Bacuth, 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 {his} [her] nurse, the news about his mother came to him. This is related (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.²⁹The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead. The Holy One 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 grand[father] pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? So should I pay him back with evil? When you mention his name below, I shall blot out his name above. (Ps. 109:15:) LET THEM (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) ALWAYS BE BEFORE THE LORD. Whatever he has done, he has done against me. Thus it is stated (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.

(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.”

(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?¹⁵Tanh., Deut. 6:4; PRK 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.¹⁶The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense. And how did he sin against his fathers?¹⁷Above, 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>¹⁸The “only” is found in the parallel account of Tanh., Deut. 6:4. lived a hundred and seventy-five years.¹⁹The Tanh. parallel adds here: “Why so? Because he did not foresee Esau’s shame.” Rabbi Levi said: 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 [the Elder] said: He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 5): IF THIEVES HAVE COME TO YOU.²⁰The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau. The Holy One said: I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15): YOU SHALL GO UNTO YOUR ANCESTORS IN PEACE; YOU SHALL BE BURIED <AT A GOOD OLD AGE>. But now he would see his grandson, when he was robbing with violence, practicing seduction, and shedding blood. At that time he was a good grandfather; <so> it was better for him as a righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4 [3]): FOR STEADFAST LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE. And what sin did he commit against his father? 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 eyes to grow dim during his lifetime. A wicked son came from Isaac, as written (in (Gen. 27:1): <AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD> AND HIS EYES WERE TOO DIM TO SEE. [Why? Because he produced Esau the Wicked.] In regard to a wicked disciple, <there was a disciple> from Ahijah the Shilonite, as stated (in I Kings 14:4): NOW AHIJAH {THE SHILONITE} 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 uterus²¹Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix. {i.e., placenta}, 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 DESTROYED HIS WOMB.²²I.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 ALL PITY. Moreover, R. Berekhyah says: You should not say <this> in reference to when he had left <his mother's uterus>.²³Gen. R. 63:6. Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta'²⁴The 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 [3]:) THE WICKED GO ASTRAY (zoru) FROM THE WOMB. R. Nehemiah says: He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes, since 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.²⁵See 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. [Here are eleven.] (vs. 26:) AND AFTERWARD HIS BROTHER CAME OUT. Here are twelve. There are also some who apply a passage to her (from vs. 22): AND SHE SAID: IF SO, WHY AM I HERE (ZH)? By gematria²⁶Gk.: geometria. Z (=7) + H (=5) <for a total of> twelve. But <our> masters have said: He was the cause of her bier not going 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>:²⁷Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic. Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man {i.e., <in Hebrew>: cursed be the breasts that have suckled one like this man}. What did they do? They brought out her bier at night. R. Jose bar 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 WAS BURIED UNDER THE OAK BELOW BETHEL> [AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK (Allon-bacuth)]. What is the meaning of Allon-bacuth? Two weepings.²⁸Bacuth, 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 {his} [her] nurse, the news about his mother came to him. This is related (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.²⁹The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead. The Holy One 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 grand[father] pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? So should I pay him back with evil? When you mention his name below, I shall blot out his name above. (Ps. 109:15:) LET THEM (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) ALWAYS BE BEFORE THE LORD. Whatever he has done, he has done against me. Thus it is stated (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.

(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.”

Abraham also pleaded for death with his own lips, as it is said: What wilt thou give me, seeing I go hence childless (Gen. 15:2). Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace (ibid., v. 15). Isaac likewise sought death, as is said: That I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death (ibid. 35:29). Similarly, Jacob asked for death, as is said: Now let me die (ibid. 46:30). The Holy One, blessed be He, told him: You have said: Now let me die, but you will live seventeen additional years. After that time had passed he became ill and died.

After Abraham and Isaac passed away, the Holy One, blessed be He, blessed Jacob on his own behalf, as it is said: And God appeared unto Jacob when he came from Padan-aram and blessed him (Gen. 35:9).

Another interpretation (of Gen. 12:2): SO BECOME A BLESSING.¹⁹PRK, 31(suppl. 1):11; cf. M. Pss. 1:5. The Holy One said to him: From the time that I created my world until now I have been obliged to bless my people. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 1:28): AND GOD BLESSED THEM. So I blessed Noah and his children, as stated (in Gen. 9:1): AND GOD BLESSED NOAH < AND HIS CHILDREN >. From now on you are responsible for the blessing. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 12:2): SO BECOME A BLESSING. But he did not act, except < that >, when Isaac arose, Abraham wanted to bless him. < Still >, when he foresaw that Esau and Jacob would issue from him, he did not bless him. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a king of flesh and blood who had an orchard.²⁰Gen. R. 61:6. So he gave it to a tenant so that he would tend it. Now within the orchard were a tree with the elixir of death and a tree with the elixir of life. < The two > were clinging to each other. The tenant said: What shall I do? I cannot water one and leave the other alone. Instead I shall leave them alone until the owner of the orchard comes. Then he will know what to do. Similarly Abraham said: If I bless Isaac, Jacob and Esau will issue from him. Instead I shall leave him alone until the Holy One is willing to bless him. As soon as Abraham and Isaac had passed away, the Holy One blessed Jacob by himself, as stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB… [AND BLESSED HIM].

R Samuel b. Nachmeini said in the name of R. Jonathan: "Whoever says that Reuben (the son of Jacob) sinned, errs, for it is said (Gen. 35, 22.) Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. It is intended to inform us that they were all equal [in righteousness]. How then shall we explain the first part of the above-mentioned passage? It is intended to teach that he (Reuben) deranged his father's bed, and the Scriptures charge him as if he had been lying with Bilhah." We are taught that R. Simon h. Elazar said: "That righteous one (Reuben) is cleared of that crime, that such an occurrence never happened to him, for how could it possibly be that a man whose descendants were to stand on Mt. Ebal and proclaim (Deu. 29, 20.) Cursed be he who lieth with his father's wife, would commit such a sin. But how then is the passage (Gen. 35, 22 ) And he lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, to be explained? It is intended to inform us that he demanded redress for the humiliation inflicted upon his mother saying: 'When my mothers sister lived and proved a vexation to her, it was bearable; but that the servant of my mother's sister should be a vexation to my mother is unbearable!' Whereupon he went and deranged the bed of Bilhah." Others say he deranged two beds, that of the Schechina and that of his father, and this explains that which is written (Gen. 48, 4.) Unstable as water, thou shalt not have the excellence, because thou did go up to thy father's bed; then didst thou defile the Shechina of my couch. Do not read Yetzu'ey (my bed), but read Yetzuay (the beds).

3. [God] confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers; that saith of Jerusalem: 'She shall be inhabited'; and of the cities of Judah: 'They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places thereof';(Is 44:26) R. Berekiah said in the name of R Levi: Whoever confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers, do we not [therefore also] know that he will say of Jerusalem: 'She shall be inhabited'; and of the cities of Judah: 'They shall be built?' Rather [the apparent repetition may be understood by another text]: an angel appeared to our father Jacob and said to him, 'What is thy name?' And he said: 'Jacob.' And he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel;(Gen 32:28-29). The Kadosh Baruch Hu appeared [afterwards] to our father Jacob to fulfill the decree of the angel [in another verse]: And God said unto him: 'Thy name is Jacob: [thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name'; and He called his name Israel.] (Gen 35:10) Jerusalem, of which all the prophets prophesied that it will be built, all the more so! Another interpretation: “[God] confirmeth the word of His servant” refers to Moses, [as he is called in another verse]: My servant Moses is not so. (Num 12:7) “Performeth the counsel of His messengers” refers to Moses, [as he is called in another verse]: [God] sent a messenger, and brought us forth out of Egypt. (Num 20:16) The Kadosh Baruch Hu said to Moses, “Go, tell the people Israel that I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, [and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt.]” (Ex. 12:12) Moses went and said to Israel, “Thus saith the LORD: About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt.” (Ex 11:4) The Kadosh Baruch Hu said, “Already I have made my promise to Moses, And I said of him 'My servant Moses is not so; he is trusted in all My house.' (Num 12:7) Should I make a liar out of My servant Moses? No, instead Since Moses said “About midnight,” then I will go out at midnight. So it happened that it came to pass at midnight, [that the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.]

Another interpretation: When the king loves someone, he honors him with silver, gold, and garments so as to make [him wealthy]. Then, while he is traveling by ship, the wind comes and destroys the ship. Where < now > is the king's gift? Here he had honored him and enriched him. Could he possibly have saved him from the sea? Or from robbers?²⁷Gk.: lestai. But the Holy One is not like that. Rather, when he gives one a gift, he protects him, as stated (in Numb. 6:24): THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU. He blessed Abraham and preserved him, as stated (in Gen. 24:1): < NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD, ADVANCED IN YEARS >, AND THE LORD HAD BLESSED ABRAHAM IN ALL THINGS. He blessed Isaac and preserved him, as stated (in Gen. 25:11): GOD BLESSED HIS SON ISAAC. He blessed Jacob and preserved him, as stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN [… AND BLESSED HIM].

(Fol. 36) GEMARA: How is the word (Josh. 8, 33) V'hachetzyo (and the other half of them) to be explained? Said R. Cahana: "This means that just as they were divided here at Mts. Gerizim and Ebal so were they also divided in the same manner upon the stones of the Ephod. An objection was raised from the following Baraitha: Two precious stones were fixed upon the shoulders of the High-priest, one stone on one shoulder and the other stone on the other shoulder. The names of the twelve tribes were inscribed, thereon, six on one stones and six on the other stone, as it is said (Ex. 28, 10) Six of the names on one stone and the remaining six names on the other stone, according to their birth. This means that the second stone was according to their birth, but the first stone was not according to their birth, because Juda preceded the others. Fifty letters were there altogether, of them twenty-five were on one stone and twenty-five on the other. R. Chanina b. Gamliel says (Ib. b) "They were placed upon the Ephod not in accordance with their division mentioned (Num. 1, 5), but they were placed in an Ephod in accordance with their division mentioned in (Ex. 1, 1-5). How so? The children of Leah were placed in accordance with their age. Then came the children of Rachel, one on one stone, and the other on the other stone. The children of the hand-maids were placed in the middle. As to the question how can the passage, According In their order of birth, be upheld? We must explain it that it was inscribed with the names as they were called by their father and not with the names they were called by Moses — Reuben but not Reubeni, Shimon but not Shimoni, Dan but not Dani, Gad but not 'Gadi.' Hence this will refute the above statement of R. Cahana, [because none of the above opinions is in accordance with the arrangements of the Ephod]. The refutation is indeed sustained. If so, then what is the meaning of V'hachezyo? We are taught in a Baraitha that the half that was placed opposite Mt. Gerizim was more than the half placed opposite Mt. Ebal, for, the Levites were below the hill. On the contrary, since the Levites were below the hill, hence the number of tribes facing Mt. Gerizim was less? We must therefore say; Although the tribe of Levi were below the hill, nevertheless the sons of Joseph were with thim, and completed the amount, as it is said (Josh. 17, 14) And the children of Joseph spoke unto Joshua, saying 'Why hast thou given me, but one lot ... ... ... and Joshua said unto them, if thou art a numerous people, then get up to the wood country, etc. He said to them, "Go and hide yourselves in the forest so that no covetous eye may afflict you." Whereupon they answered him, "We are the descendants of Joseph whom a covetous eye cannot afflict, as it is written (Gen. 29, 22) Joseph is a fruitful bough by a spring, and R. Abahu explains thus: "Do not read Aleh Ayin (by a spring), but read it Ole Ayin (above the covetous eye.'" R. Jose b. Chanina said: "From this it may be inferred that Joseph's children are not subject to the affliction of a covetous eye, (Ib., 48, 16) And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. This [the word grow used by Jacob which has the derivation of Dog (fish) is to mean that just as the fishes in the sea because of their being covered by water, no eye can afflict them, so also are the children of Joseph not subject to the affliction of a covetous eye." But how do you say above that there were fifty letters in the inscription of the Ephod. Behold there were only fifty letters less one? Said R. Isaac: "The fiftieth letter was used as an extra letter to the name of Joseph, as it is said (Ps. 81, 6) He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt." R. Nachman b. Isaac raised an objection: "The passage says that it was in accordance with the names of birth, and this is not so." We must therefore say that the extra letter was inserted in the name of Benjamin, which is spelled in the entire Torah with only one Yud, but here in the Ephod, Benjamin, is spelled with two Yuds, as it is written (Ex. 25, 18) But his father called him Benjamin [with two Yuds]. R. Chama b. Bizna said, in the name of R. Simon the pious: "Joseph, who sanctified Heaven's name in secret was rewarded with only one additional letter of the name of the Holy One, praised be He, but Juda, who sanctified Heaven's name publicly was rewarded so that his entire name was equal to that of the Holy One, praised be He." What happened with Joseph? as written (Gen. 39, 11). And it came to pass on a certain day ... ... ... We are taught in a Baraitha, Joseph was destined to produce twelve tribes, just as they were by his father Jacob, as it is said (Gen. 37, 2) These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph, however, they were produced through his brother, Benjamin. They were nevertheless called after the name of Joseph, as it is said (Ib. 46, 21) And the sons of Benjamin, Bela, Mecher, Ashbel, Gera, Na'aman, Achi, V'rosh, Muppim, Chuppim and Ard; i.e., Bela because Joseph was swallowed (lost) among the other nations; Mechcr, because he was the first born of his mother; Ashbel, because he was captured with the consent of God; Gera, because he lived in inns (having no settled home); Na'aman because he was very sweet Achi V'rosh, because he was my brother and leader; and Chuppim, because he did not see my wedding canopy nor did I see his; and Ard, according to some because he was driven among idolatrous nations, and according to others because his face was like a rose.

And God said unto Jacob: “Arise, go up to Beth-El” (Gen. 35:1). May our master teach us: How many times is a man’s “account book”⁷The heavenly ledger wherein man’s deeds are recorded. open? Thus did our masters teach us: A man’s account book is opened three times: when he journeys alone upon a highway; when he resides in a dilapidated house; when he vows and fails to fulfill. R. Aha the son of Jacob deduced the first statement from the biblical verse If harm befall him by the way (Gen. 42:3). R. Eliezer the son of R. Yosé the Galilean stated: If you should discover that a righteous man is setting out on a journey, leave even three days earlier or three days later in order to travel with him. But if you should see a wicked man setting out on a journey, leave three days earlier or three days later in order not to go with him, as it is said: Set thou a wicked man over him; and let an adversary stand at his right hand (Ps. 109:6). A righteous man, however, is accompanied by angels of peace, as it is said: For He will give his angels charge over thee (ibid. 91:11).

(Numb. 8:6:) “Take the Levites.” This text is related (to Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous.” The Holy One, blessed be He, does not elevate a person to an office until He first tests and examines him.¹Numb. R. 15:12. When he withstands his test, He elevates him to the office. And so you find in the case of our father Abraham; when the Holy One, blessed be He, tested him with ten temptations, he withstood his trials. Then after that He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 24:1), “And the Lord blessed Abraham in all things.” So also in the case of Isaac, when He tested him with the days of Abimelech, he withstood the trial. Then after that He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 26:12), “So Isaac sowed on that land […] for the Lord had blessed him.” So also in the case of Jacob, when He tested him by means of all those tribulations with Esau, with Rachel, with Dinah, with Joseph, with Simeon, with Benjamin and [with the tribulation of] how he departed from the house of his father and his mother (in Gen. 32:11), “for with [only] my staff did I cross [this Jordan].” Then after that He blessed him. It is so stated (in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-Aram, and blessed him.” So also in the case of Joseph, He tested him with all of those tribulations, with the wife of Potiphar and he was imprisoned for twelve years. Then after that he came out and became king because he had withstood his trial. Ergo (in Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous.” So also in the case of the tribe of Levi, they laid down their lives for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, (i.e. for martyrdom), so that the Torah would not be set aside. Now when Israel was in Egypt, they had rejected the Torah and circumcision and all of them had become worshipers of idols, as Ezekiel has demonstrated where it is stated (in Ezek. 20:5), “And you shall say unto them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “In the day that I chose Israel […].”’” Then what is written at the end (in vs. 8)? “But they rebelled against Me and did not come to hearken unto Me; each man did not cast away [the abominations of their eyes nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt].” What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He brought darkness upon Egypt for three days, and during those [days] he killed all the wicked ones of Israel. For this reason it says (in Ezek. 20:36-38), “[As I brought your ancestors to judgment in the desert of the land of Egypt….] So will I remove from you those who rebel and transgress against Me.” So also it says (in Cant. 2:13), “And the fig tree sheds²Heb.: hanetah. Although the biblical context suggests a translation such as “puts forth” or “ripens” the context understands this rare verb in a more negative sense. See above vol. 2, p. 62 Tanh. (Buber); Exod. 3:7). its green figs…,” these are the wicked who are in Israel; (ibid. cont.) “and the vines in blossom give off fragrance,” these are the rest who have repented and been accepted; (ibid. cont.) “arise, my beloved, my fair one, and come away,” for behold the time of redemption has arrived. However all those in the tribe of Levi were righteous and carried out the Torah. It is so stated (in Deut. 33:9), “For they observed Your word,” i.e., the Torah; (ibid. cont.) “and kept Your covenant,” i.e., circumcision. And not only that, but when Israel made the calf, the tribe of Levi did not participate there, as stated (in Exod. 32:26), “So Moses stood up on the gate of the camp and said, ‘Whoever is for the Lord come to me,’ and all the Children of Levi gathered unto him.” When Moses said (in vs. 27), “Each [of you] put his sword on his thigh…,” they immediately did so. Moreover they did not show partiality. And so Moses blesses them, [namely (according Deut. 33:9)], “The one who says of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them’ and his brother….” When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that they all were righteous, that He had tested them and they had withstood their trial – as stated (of Levi in Deut. 33:8), “[Your faithful one,] whom You tested at Massah” – the Holy One, blessed be He, immediately said (in Numb. 8:14), “And the Levites shall belong to Me,” to fulfill what is stated (in Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous.” In the case of the wicked, however, it is written of them (ibid. cont.), “but His soul (i.e. The soul of the Holy One, blessed be He,) hates the wicked and the lover of injustice.” David said (in Ps. 128:1), “Fortunate is everyone who fears the Lord and walks in His ways.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: How long shall this righteous man continue to be punished without comprehending the sin for which he is being afflicted? Indeed, I will inform him. And it is written: God said unto Jacob: “Arise, go up to Beth-El, and dwell there” (Gen. 35:1). R. Aibu said: When your sieve is clogged, strike it.⁹A proverb telling us that Jacob’s mind had become clogged, causing him to forget his vow, and so God beat upon it by causing him to suffer. The Holy One, blessed be He, told him: These trials have befallen you only because you have not fulfilled your vow. If you do not wish to experience other afflictions, Arise, go up to Beth-El, dwell there, and erect an altar, at the very place at which you made your vow. I am the God of Beth-El, where thou didst anoint a pillar, where thou didst vow a vow unto Me (ibid. 31:13). R. Abba the son of Kahana stated: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob: When a man has problems he will make a vow, but when he is enjoying ease and comfort he will quickly disregard his vow. When you were in difficulty you made a vow, but after you attained security you forgot it. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: “Let us arise, and go up to Beth-El” (ibid. 35:2–3).

Noah handed on the tradition to Shem, and he was initiated in the principle of intercalation; he intercalated the years and he was called a priest, as it is said, "And Melchizedek king of Salem… was a priest of God Most High" (Gen. 14:18). Was Shem the son of Noah a priest? But because he was the first-born, and because he ministered to his God by day and by night, therefore was he called a priest. Shem delivered the tradition to Abraham; he was initiated in the principle of intercalation and he intercalated the year, and he (also) was called priest, as it is said, "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:4). Whence do we know that Shem delivered the tradition to Abraham? Because it is said, "After the order of Melchizedek" (ibid.). Abraham delivered the tradition to Isaac, and he was initiated in the principle of intercalation, and he intercalated the year after the death of our father Abraham, as it is said, "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son" (Gen. 25:11), because he had been initiated in the principle of intercalation and had intercalated the year (therefore) He blessed him with the blessing of eternity. Isaac gave to Jacob all the blessings and delivered to him the principle of intercalation. When Jacob went out of the (Holy) Land, he attempted to intercalate the year outside the (Holy) Land. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Jacob! Thou hast no authority to intercalate the year outside the land (of Israel); behold, Isaac thy father is in the (Holy) Land, he will intercalate the year, as it is said, "And God appeared unto Jacob again, || when he came from Paddan-Aram, and blessed him" (Gen. 35:9). Why "again"? Because the first time He was revealed to him, He prevented him from intercalating the year outside the (Holy) Land; but when he came to the (Holy) Land the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Jacob ! Arise, intercalate the year, as it is said, "And God appeared unto Jacob again,… and blessed him" (ibid.), because he was initiated in the principle of the intercalation, and He blessed him (with) the blessing of the world. Thus were the Israelites wont to intercalate the year in the (Holy) Land. When they were exiled to Babylon || they intercalated the year through those who were left in the (Holy) Land. When they were all exiled and there were not any (Jews) left in the (Holy) Land, they intercalated the year in Babylon. (When) Ezra and all the community with him went (to Palestine), Ezekiel wished to intercalate the year in Babylon; (then) the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Ezekiel ! Thou hast no authority to intercalate the year outside the Land; behold, Israel thy brethren, they will intercalate the year, as it is said, "Son of man, when the house of Israel dwell in their own land" (Ezek. 36:17). Hence (the Sages) have said, Even when the righteous and the wise are outside the Land, and the keeper of sheep and herds are in the Land, they do not intercalate the year except through the keeper of sheep and herds in the Land. Even when prophets are outside the Land and the ignorant are in the Land they do not intercalate the year except through the ignorant who are in the land (of Israel), as it is said, "Son of man, when the house of Israel dwell in their own land"(ibid.) it is their duty to intercalate the year.

And God said unto Jacob (Gen. 35:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; evil shall not sojourn with Thee (Ps. 5:5).

(Hosea 12:13 [12]:) THEN JACOB FLED TO THE LAND OF ARAM. From where did he flee? From Beersheba, as stated (in Gen. 28:10): AND JACOB SET OUT FROM BEERSHEBA. Was he in Beersheba? Was he not rather in Hebron, as stated (in Gen. 35:27): I.E., HEBRON, WHERE ABRAHAM AND ISAAC SOJOURNED? < The situation was merely that he fled > from a place set aside for oaths (shevu'ot), since < it was > there < that > Abraham had sworn to Abimelech. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 21:23, 31): SO NOW SWEAR TO ME BY GOD, BEHOLD…. THEREFORE THAT PLACE WAS NAMED BEERSHEBA, (i.e., The Well of the Oath) BECAUSE < IT WAS > THERE < THAT > BOTH OF THEM HAD SWORN. Now where is it shown that Isaac had sworn? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:32f.): THAT ISAAC'S SERVANTS CAME < AND TOLD HIM ABOUT THE WELL >…. SO HE CALLED IT SHIBAH (i.e., oath); < THEREFORE THE NAME OF THE CITY IS BEERSHEBA UNTO THIS DAY >.²⁸Similarly Rashi and Nachmanides on Gen. 26:33. Cf. Malbim on this verse, according to whom Beersheba means “seventh well,” in that this well was the seventh dug by Isaac. Cf. also Ibn Ezra, who, because of what might be an alternative derivation from the number seven in Gen. 21:23-33, suggests that either Beersheba had two derivations or that there were two cities with this name. And Esau also swore to Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 25:33): < THEN JACOB SAID > SWEAR TO ME FIRST. < Thus he swore an oath > when he took his birthright. He thought in his heart and said: If he should come and say: Come, swear to me that you have not taken my blessing by deceit, what shall I be able to do to him? I shall simply go away from this place set aside for oaths. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 28:10): AND JACOB SET OUT FROM BEERSHEBA (i.e., The Well of the Oath).²⁹Beersheba seems to be, not a particular city, but any well where one might swear an oath. Thus, there is no contradiction between Jacob living in Hebron and setting out from Beersheba, i.e., the Hebron oath well. Ergo (in Hosea 12:13 [12]): THEN JACOB FLED TO THE LAND OF ARAM.

Observe what is written: Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now thou shalt go forth out of the city and shalt dwell in the field (Micah 4:10). The ketiv (traditional spelling) is “I shall dwell” (rather than the Masoretic “thou shalt dwell” as in the preceding quotation) to indicate that though I shall exile you from its midst, my Shekhinah will not depart from the city. The field mentioned here alludes only to Zion, as it is said: Zion unto a field will be plowed (ibid. 3:12). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: You shall pray unto me in the direction of the Holy City, and I will hearken from heaven and heal your land. Therefore Jacob said to his sons: Let us arise, and go up to Beth-El. What shall we do there? they asked. And he answered: The Holy One, blessed be He, has commanded me to arise, go up to Beth-El and dwell there.

Observe what is written: Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now thou shalt go forth out of the city and shalt dwell in the field (Micah 4:10). The ketiv (traditional spelling) is “I shall dwell” (rather than the Masoretic “thou shalt dwell” as in the preceding quotation) to indicate that though I shall exile you from its midst, my Shekhinah will not depart from the city. The field mentioned here alludes only to Zion, as it is said: Zion unto a field will be plowed (ibid. 3:12). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: You shall pray unto me in the direction of the Holy City, and I will hearken from heaven and heal your land. Therefore Jacob said to his sons: Let us arise, and go up to Beth-El. What shall we do there? they asked. And he answered: The Holy One, blessed be He, has commanded me to arise, go up to Beth-El and dwell there.

(Gen. 25:1:) THEN ABRAHAM TOOK AN ADDITIONAL³⁹Again the translation of the verse has been changed to fit the midrashic context. WIFE. This text is related (to Job 8:7): THOUGH YOUR BEGINNING WAS TRIFLING, YOUR END SHALL GREATLY FLOURISH. R. Simeon ben Laqish said in the name of R. Eleazar: You learn from here that an addition of the Holy One is more than the original.⁴⁰Below, 7:20; see Gen. R. 61:4. Abraham had previously sired no one but Isaac. When the Holy One made an addition for him, he made his addition < even > more, as stated (in Gen. 25:2): AND SHE BORE HIM < ZIMRAN, JOKSHAN, MEDAN, MIDIAN, ISHBAK, AND SHUAH >. Thus you find in the case of the first Adam that when < Eve > gave birth, she bore Cain (Gen. 4:1). Then afterwards (in Gen. 4:2): AND IN ADDITION SHE BORE < HIS BROTHER ABEL >. And so you find in the case of Rachel that she bore Joseph and said (in Gen. 30:24): MAY THE LORD ADD ANOTHER SON FOR ME. He added Benjamin for her and his twin sister. Where is it shown to be so? Here (in Gen. 35:17), < where > "This is a son for you" is not written, but FOR THIS ALSO IS A SON FOR YOU. And so you find in the case of King Hezekiah, all the days of his reign were fourteen years; but when the Holy One made an addition for him, he added fifteen years. (Is. 38:5; cf. II Kings 20:6:) SEE, I AM ADDING [FIFTEEN YEARS] TO YOUR LIFE. Now when the prophets saw that an addition of the Holy One was more than the original, they began to bless Israel with an addition. Moses said (in Deut. 1:11): MAY THE LORD [GOD OF YOUR ANCESTORS] ADD TO YOUR NUMBERS A THOUSAND TIMES [MORE THAN YOU ARE]…. David said (in Ps. 115:14): MAY THE LORD ADD TO YOUR NUMBERS. Also in the world to come the Holy One has procured an addition (rt.: YSP) for his people, as stated (in Is. 11:11): AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY, THE LORD WILL EXTEND (rt.: YSP) HIS HAND A SECOND TIME < TO PROCURE THE REST OF HIS PEOPLE >.

[(Gen. 38:1:) THAT JUDAH WENT AWAY < FROM HIS BROTHERS AND TURNED ASIDE TO A CERTAIN ADULLAMITE >.] This text is related (to Micah 1:15): I WILL YET BRING TO YOU ONE WHO SHALL DISPOSSESS YOU, < O INHABITANT OF MARESHAH; TO ADULLAM SHALL COME THE GLORY OF ISRAEL >.¹⁹Rashi on Gen. 37:35; see Gen. R. 85:1. R. Judah and R. Nehemiah differed. The one said: The tribal patriarchs married their sisters, since it is stated (in Gen. 37:35): THEN ALL HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS²⁰According to R. Judah, the plural here shows that Jacob had more than one daughter. AROSE TO COMFORT HIM. And how many daughters were there? They were simply their < brothers' twelve > twin sisters. < A given brother's mother > bore twins at his < birth >, and he would marry her. Moreover, it says so about Benjamin (in Gen. 35:17): BECAUSE THIS ALSO IS A SON FOR YOU.²¹Gen. R. 82:8. "Because this is a son for you" is not stated, but BECAUSE THIS ALSO IS A SON FOR YOU, since his mother had < already > given birth to < his > twin sister. Ergo (in Gen. 37:35): THEN ALL HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS AROSE…. Hence you learn that they married their sisters. But R. Nehemiah maintains: His daughters were his daughters-in-law. Since one's son-in-law is like his son, and his daughter-in-law, like a daughter, one does not refrain from calling his daughter-in-law his daughter.²²Gen. R. 84:21. Our masters have said: Judah, who was the eldest in his father's house, married a Canaanite. Thus it is written (in Gen. 38:2): AND JUDAH SAW THERE < THE DAUGHTER OF A CERTAIN CANAANITE >. And the prophet proclaims (in Micah 1:15): TO ADULLAM SHALL COME THE (HOLY ONE) [GLORY] OF ISRAEL. Ergo (according to Gen. 38:1-2): THAT JUDAH WENT AWAY < FROM HIS BROTHERS > AND TURNED ASIDE TO A CERTAIN ADULLAMITE < WHOSE NAME WAS HIRAH. AND JUDAH SAW THERE THE DAUGHTER OF A CERTAIN CANAANITE WHOSE NAME WAS SHUA. SO HE TOOK HER AND WENT IN UNTO HER >.

And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Padan-aram (Gen. 35:9). May it please our master to teach us: What is the punishment meted out to one who does not permit the poor to glean from his field? Thus do our masters teach us: One who does not allow the poor to glean from his field, or permits one and not another, or assists one of them at the time of reaping or harvesting, is considered guilty of robbing the poor. Concerning this it is said: Remove not the landmark of old ('olam) (Prov. 22:28). This should be read as “landmark of the poor” (olim).

A lady asked of R. Yosé the son of Halafta: “In how many days did the Holy One, blessed be He, create the world?” “In six days,” he replied, “as it is written: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth (Exod. 20:1).” “What has He been doing since then?” she asked. “He has been erecting ladders,” he answered, “upon which one ascends and another descends; one becomes wealthy and the other poor.” You know this to be so from the fact that it is written with reference to Jacob’s going to Aram-naharaim: With my staff I passed over this Jordan (Gen. 32:11). And he took one of the stones of that place and put under his head (ibid. 28:11). Surely, if he had owned a mattress or a cushion he would have placed them under his head, yet after he joined Laban’s household he became wealthy, as is said: And the man increased exceedingly (ibid. 30:43). Why did he become wealthy? Because of the power of the blessings his father had bestowed upon him, as it is said: And give thee the blessing of Abraham (ibid. 28:4). What was Abraham’s blessing? And the Lord blessed Abraham in all things (ibid. 24:1). After his return from Laban’s house, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Now I must bless him Myself. Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared before him and blessed him, as it is said: And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Padan-aram, and blessed him (ibid. 35:9).

(Gen. 49:3:) REUBEN, YOU ARE MY FIRST-BORN. One said < it was > to his discredit, and another said < it was > to his credit. To his discredit: He said to him: REUBEN, YOU ARE MY FIRST-BORN.⁴⁷Gen. R. 98(99):4. You are a first-born, and I am a firstborn.⁴⁸By virtue of having bought Esau’s birthright. R. Judah b. R. Shallum said: For eighty-four years Jacob never saw a < nocturnal > pollution.⁴⁹Gen. R. 97, New Version, on 49:3 (= p. 1204 in the Theodor-Albeck edition); cf. Gen. R. 99 (another version):6 (= p. 1277 in the Theodor-Albeck edition); Tanh., Gen. 12:9; see also Gen. R. 68:5; Meg. 17a and Rashi, ad loc. I am a first-born, and you are a first-born.⁵⁰Gen. R. 98(99):4 explains that Reuben did not follow his father’s example, but (according to Gen. 35:22, 49:4) slept with his father’s concubine and thereby lost his birthright, his priesthood, and his right to kingship. See also below; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 49:3; Tanh., Gen. 12:9.

And when Jacob saw what they had done to the city and the spoil they had made, Jacob was ‎very angry at them, and he said unto them: What is it that ye have done unto me? Behold I ‎have found rest among the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites, and no one of them ever ‎said a word unto me. And now you have caused me to be in bad order with the inhabitants of ‎the land of the Canaanites, and the Perizzites; and I, being few in numbers, they shall gather ‎themselves together against me and slay me when they hear what you have done unto their ‎brethren, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And Simeon and Levi, and their brothers, ‎answered their father, saying: Behold, we are yet alive in the earth, and shall we suffer ‎Shechem to do this to our sister? Why art thou silent at all that Shechem hath done, shall our ‎sister be treated like a harlot of the street? And the number of the women captured by ‎Simeon and Levi in the city of Shechem, outside of those they had slain, was eighty-five, of ‎such as never knew a man. And amongst those captives was a young maiden of comely ‎appearance, and her name was Bunah, and Simeon took her to wife. And the number of male ‎persons which they captured and did not slay, was forty-seven men, and the rest they slew. ‎And all the youths and women that Simeon and Levi had made captives from the city of ‎Shechem became servants to the sons of Jacob and their children, even unto the day that the ‎children of Jacob went forth from the land of Egypt. And when Simeon and Levi left the city ‎the two young men that escaped death by concealing themselves in the city, arose and went ‎about in the city, and they found the city destroyed and not a single man in it, only women ‎crying and weeping. And these young men exclaimed: Behold, the evil which the sons of ‎Jacob, the Hebrew, have brought over this city, in hav ing this day devastated one of the cities ‎of Canaan without fear of their lives of all the inhabitants of Canaan' And these men went ‎forth from the city and went into the city of Tapuah; and arriving there they said unto the ‎inhabitants of Tapuah all that had occurred, and all that the sons of Jacob had done unto the ‎city of Shechem. And when the news hath been imparted to Jashub the king of Tapuah, he ‎dispatched messengers to the city of Shechem in order to see concerning what these two ‎young men had said. For the king could not believe the statement of those men, saying: How ‎can it be that two men could destroy a large city like Shechem. And Jashub’s messengers ‎returned and spoke unto him saying: Behold we have come unto the city and it is completely ‎destroyed, and we found not a single man in the entire city, only a few weeping women. And ‎there is not one sheep nor any cattle there, for everything was taken away from the city by ‎the sons of Jacob. And Jashub was astonished at that, saying: How could two men do such a ‎thing as to destroy such a large city, and not even one of the inhabitants could stand against ‎them. For such a thing hath never occurred since the days of Nimrod, nor in any of the former ‎days hath such a thing come to pass.‎

[(Gen. 43:14:) AND MAY GOD ALMIGHTY (ShDY) GRANT YOU MERCY.] What was the reason for Jacob to bless them with < the formula > GOD ShDY?⁴⁶Tanh., Gen. 10:10; below, 10:16. To teach you that a lot of afflictions had come upon him. While he was in his mother's womb, Esau had contended with him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22): BUT THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED TOGETHER WITHIN HER.⁴⁷Cf. PRK 3:1. And so it says (in Amos 1:11): BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND DESTROYED HIS WOMB. "His womb" is < what is > written.⁴⁸DESTROYED HIS WOMB would normally be read as a metaphor and translated by an expression such as “cast off all pity.” Because of Esau he fled to Laban. See how many troubles there were! (Gen. 31:40:) THUS I WAS: BY DAY SCORCHING HEAT CONSUMED ME…. < Look at > how, when he left, < Laban > pursued after him to kill him, [as stated (in Gen. 31:23)]: AND PURSUED AFTER HIM FOR A JOURNEY OF {THREE} [SEVEN] DAYS. He escaped from him; Esau came with the intention of killing him. On account of him he lost all that gift⁴⁹Gk.: doron. (according to Gen. 32:15 [14]): TWO HUNDRED SHE-GOATS…. He went away from Esau; the trouble about Dinah came (in Gen. 34). Then after that, the trouble with Rachel < dying > (in Gen. 35:19). Then, after these troubles, he was intending to rest a bit, until there came the trouble about Joseph (in Gen. 37); and after that, the trouble with his father, Isaac, who died (in Gen. 35:29) ten years after the sale of Joseph. So the Scripture has cried out (in Job 3:26): I WAS NOT TRANQUIL, NOT QUIET, HAD NO REST; AND TROUBLE CAME. After that there came upon him the trouble with Simeon (in Gen. 42:24); and after that, the trouble with Benjamin (in Gen. 42:36; 43:3-15). He therefore prayed (in Genesis 43:14) AND MAY GOD ShDY. Now he says: The one who said: Enough (DY), to the heavens and to the earth should say: Enough (DY), to my afflictions. For, when the Holy One created the heavens and the earth, they continued expanding until the Holy One said to them: Enough (DY).⁵⁰See above, 1:11; 3:25. below, 10:16. It is therefore written (in Gen. 43:14): GOD WHO IS ENOUGH (ShDY).

[(Gen. 43:14:) AND MAY GOD ALMIGHTY (ShDY) GRANT YOU MERCY.] What was the reason for Jacob to bless them with < the formula > GOD ShDY?⁴⁶Tanh., Gen. 10:10; below, 10:16. To teach you that a lot of afflictions had come upon him. While he was in his mother's womb, Esau had contended with him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22): BUT THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED TOGETHER WITHIN HER.⁴⁷Cf. PRK 3:1. And so it says (in Amos 1:11): BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND DESTROYED HIS WOMB. "His womb" is < what is > written.⁴⁸DESTROYED HIS WOMB would normally be read as a metaphor and translated by an expression such as “cast off all pity.” Because of Esau he fled to Laban. See how many troubles there were! (Gen. 31:40:) THUS I WAS: BY DAY SCORCHING HEAT CONSUMED ME…. < Look at > how, when he left, < Laban > pursued after him to kill him, [as stated (in Gen. 31:23)]: AND PURSUED AFTER HIM FOR A JOURNEY OF {THREE} [SEVEN] DAYS. He escaped from him; Esau came with the intention of killing him. On account of him he lost all that gift⁴⁹Gk.: doron. (according to Gen. 32:15 [14]): TWO HUNDRED SHE-GOATS…. He went away from Esau; the trouble about Dinah came (in Gen. 34). Then after that, the trouble with Rachel < dying > (in Gen. 35:19). Then, after these troubles, he was intending to rest a bit, until there came the trouble about Joseph (in Gen. 37); and after that, the trouble with his father, Isaac, who died (in Gen. 35:29) ten years after the sale of Joseph. So the Scripture has cried out (in Job 3:26): I WAS NOT TRANQUIL, NOT QUIET, HAD NO REST; AND TROUBLE CAME. After that there came upon him the trouble with Simeon (in Gen. 42:24); and after that, the trouble with Benjamin (in Gen. 42:36; 43:3-15). He therefore prayed (in Genesis 43:14) AND MAY GOD ShDY. Now he says: The one who said: Enough (DY), to the heavens and to the earth should say: Enough (DY), to my afflictions. For, when the Holy One created the heavens and the earth, they continued expanding until the Holy One said to them: Enough (DY).⁵⁰See above, 1:11; 3:25. below, 10:16. It is therefore written (in Gen. 43:14): GOD WHO IS ENOUGH (ShDY).

And when Jacob saw what they had done to the city and the spoil they had made, Jacob was ‎very angry at them, and he said unto them: What is it that ye have done unto me? Behold I ‎have found rest among the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites, and no one of them ever ‎said a word unto me. And now you have caused me to be in bad order with the inhabitants of ‎the land of the Canaanites, and the Perizzites; and I, being few in numbers, they shall gather ‎themselves together against me and slay me when they hear what you have done unto their ‎brethren, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And Simeon and Levi, and their brothers, ‎answered their father, saying: Behold, we are yet alive in the earth, and shall we suffer ‎Shechem to do this to our sister? Why art thou silent at all that Shechem hath done, shall our ‎sister be treated like a harlot of the street? And the number of the women captured by ‎Simeon and Levi in the city of Shechem, outside of those they had slain, was eighty-five, of ‎such as never knew a man. And amongst those captives was a young maiden of comely ‎appearance, and her name was Bunah, and Simeon took her to wife. And the number of male ‎persons which they captured and did not slay, was forty-seven men, and the rest they slew. ‎And all the youths and women that Simeon and Levi had made captives from the city of ‎Shechem became servants to the sons of Jacob and their children, even unto the day that the ‎children of Jacob went forth from the land of Egypt. And when Simeon and Levi left the city ‎the two young men that escaped death by concealing themselves in the city, arose and went ‎about in the city, and they found the city destroyed and not a single man in it, only women ‎crying and weeping. And these young men exclaimed: Behold, the evil which the sons of ‎Jacob, the Hebrew, have brought over this city, in hav ing this day devastated one of the cities ‎of Canaan without fear of their lives of all the inhabitants of Canaan' And these men went ‎forth from the city and went into the city of Tapuah; and arriving there they said unto the ‎inhabitants of Tapuah all that had occurred, and all that the sons of Jacob had done unto the ‎city of Shechem. And when the news hath been imparted to Jashub the king of Tapuah, he ‎dispatched messengers to the city of Shechem in order to see concerning what these two ‎young men had said. For the king could not believe the statement of those men, saying: How ‎can it be that two men could destroy a large city like Shechem. And Jashub’s messengers ‎returned and spoke unto him saying: Behold we have come unto the city and it is completely ‎destroyed, and we found not a single man in the entire city, only a few weeping women. And ‎there is not one sheep nor any cattle there, for everything was taken away from the city by ‎the sons of Jacob. And Jashub was astonished at that, saying: How could two men do such a ‎thing as to destroy such a large city, and not even one of the inhabitants could stand against ‎them. For such a thing hath never occurred since the days of Nimrod, nor in any of the former ‎days hath such a thing come to pass. And Jashub, king of Tapuah, said unto all his people: ‎Strengthen yourselves and we will go forth to fight against those Hebrews, and we will do unto ‎them as they did unto the people of that city, and we will avenge on them the cause of all the ‎people of the city. And Jashub, king of Tapuah, consulted with his counselors concerning this ‎matter, and they said unto him: Thou alone canst not succeed against those Hebrews for they ‎must have a peculiar power being able to do such work with the whole city. If two of them ‎could destroy the whole city without one man being able to stand against them, then surely, if ‎we go against them, they will all rise and exterminate us likewise. But send thou to all the kings ‎around us and let them assemble, and with them we will go to fight against the sons of Jacob, ‎and then wilt thou prevail against them. And when Jashub heard the words of his advisers, ‎their words seemed good in his eyes and in the eyes of the people, and he did so. And Jashub ‎sent to all the kings of the Amorites around Shechem and Tapuah, saying: Send me your help ‎and come up with me to smite Jacob the Hebrew and his sons, and to exterminate them from ‎the earth, for thus did they do to the city of Shechem and ye do not even know of it. And ‎when the kings of the Amorites heard of the evil which the sons of Jacob had done to the city ‎of Shechem, they were greatly astonished. And all of them assembled, the seven kings of the ‎Amorites with their armies, altogether about ten thousand men drawing the sword, and they ‎came to wage war against the sons of Jacob. And when Jacob heard that the kings of the ‎Amorites came to fight against his sons, Jacob was in great fear and distress. And Jacob ‎rebuked Simeon and Levi, saying: What is it that ye have done unto me? why have ye done ‎unto me the evil to summon against me all the children of Canaan, to exterminate me and my ‎household? For I was in rest, I as well as my house hold, ere you have done this thing to unite ‎against me all the inhabitants of the land, by your actions. And Judah replied unto his father, ‎saying: And have my brothers Simeon and Levi slain all the inhabitants of Shechem without any ‎cause? verily they did it because Shechem had defiled our sister, transgressing the ‎commandments of God to Noah and his children, for Shechem hath both robbed us of our ‎sister and defiled her. And Shechem committed that great evil, but none of the inhabitants of ‎his city spoke unto him a word, saying: Why dost thou do this? Is it not for this reason that my ‎brothers went out and smote the city? And the Lord gave them into their hands, because all ‎her in habitants have transgressed the commandments of our God. Have, then, my brothers ‎acted without any just cause? And now why fearest thou, and wherefore art thou distressed, ‎and what causeth thy heart to think evil of my brothers and thy wrath to kindle against them? ‎And verily our God, who hath delivered into their hands the city of Shechem and its ‎inhabitants, will deliver into our hands likewise all the kings of the Canaanites that are now ‎advancing against us, and we will do unto them as my brothers have done unto Shechem. And ‎now be thou quiet concerning them, and abandon thy fears, but trust in God and pray unto ‎him in our behalf to help us and deliver us, and to give our enemies into our hands.

Another interpretation (of Numb. 8:6): TAKE THE LEVITES. This text is related (to Ps. 11:5): THE LORD TESTS THE RIGHTEOUS. The Holy One does not elevate a person to an office until <first> he tests and examines him.³⁷Tanh. Numb. 3:8; Numb. R. 15:12. When he withstands his test, he elevates him to the office. And so you find in the case of our father Abraham, when the Holy One tested him with ten temptations, he withstood his trial. Then after that he blessed him. It is so stated (in Gen. 24:1): AND THE LORD BLESSED ABRAHAM IN ALL THINGS. So also in the case of Isaac, when he tested him in the days of Abimelech, he withstood the trial. Then after that he blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 26:12): SO ISAAC SOWED ON THAT LAND [ … FOR THE LORD HAD BLESSED HIM]. So also in the case of Jacob, when he tested him by means of all those tribulations with Esau with Dinah, with Joseph, and <with the tribulation of> how he departed from the house of his father and his mother (in Gen. 32:11 [10]): FOR WITH <ONLY MY STAFF DID I CROSS <THIS JORDAN> …, he blessed him. It is so stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN, [WHEN HE CAME FROM PADDAN-ARAM, AND BLESSED HIM]. So also in the case of Joseph, he tested him with the wife of Potiphar, and he was imprisoned for twelve years. Then after that he came out and became king because he had withstood his trial. Ergo (in Ps. 11:5): THE LORD TESTS THE RIGHTEOUS. So also in the case of the tribe of Levi, they laid down their lives for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One (i.e. for martyrdom), so that the Torah would not be set aside. Now when Israel was in Egypt, they had rejected the Torah and circumcision and all of them had become worshipers of idols as Ezekiel has demonstrated where it is stated (in Ezek. 20:5): AND YOU SHALL SAY UNTO THEM: THUS SAYS THE LORD GOD, IN THE DAY THAT I CHOSE ISRAEL…. Then what is written at the end (in vs. 8)? BUT THEY REBELLED AGAINST ME AND DID NOT COME TO HEARKEN UNTO ME. [INDIVIDUALLY THEY DID NOT CAST AWAY THE ABOMINATIONS OF THEIR EYES NOR DID THEY FORSAKE THE IDOLS OF EGYPT]. What did the Holy One do? He brought darkness upon Egypt for three days, and during those <days> he killed all the wicked ones of Israel. For this reason it says (in Ezek. 20:36, 38): AS I BROUGHT YOUR ANCESTORS TO JUDGMENT IN THE DESERT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT….] SO WILL I REMOVE FROM YOU <THOSE WHO REBEL AND TRANSGRESS AGAINST ME>. So also it says (in Cant. 2:13): AND THE FIG TREE SHEDS³⁸Heb.: hanetah. Although the biblical context suggests a translation such as “puts forth” or “ripens” the context understands this rare verb in a more negative sense. See above vol. 2, p. 62 Tanh. (Buber); Exod. 3:7). ITS GREEN FIGS…. These are the wicked who are in Israel. (Ibid. cont.:) AND THE VINES IN BLOSSOM GIVE OFF FRAGRANCE. These are the rest who have repented and been accepted. (Ibid. cont.:) ARISE, MY BELOVED, MY FAIR ONE, AND COME AWAY, for behold the time of redemption has arrived. However all those in the tribe of Levi were righteous and carried out the Torah. It is so stated (in Deut. 33:9): FOR THEY OBSERVED YOUR WORD, i.e., the Torah; AND KEPT YOUR COVENANT, i.e., circumcision. And not only that, but when Israel made the calf, the tribe of Levi did not participate there as stated (in Exod. 32:26): SO MOSES STOOD UP ON THE GATE OF THE CAMP AND SAID: WHOEVER IS FOR THE LORD COME TO ME. THEN ALL THE CHILDREN OF LEVI GATHERED UNTO HIM. When Moses said (in vs. 27): EACH <OF YOU> [PUT HIS SWORD ON HIS THIGH, they immediately did so. Moreover they did not show partiality. And so Moses blesses them, <namely> the one (according Deut. 33:9) WHO SAYS OF HIS FATHER AND MOTHER: I DO NOT CONSIDER THEM …, FOR THEY (the Levites) OBSERVED YOUR WORD AND KEPT YOUR COVENANT. When the Holy One saw that they all were righteous, that he had tested them and they had withstood their trial, as stated (of Levi in Deut. 33:8): <YOUR FAITHFUL ONE,> WHOM YOU TESTED AT MASSAH, the Holy One immediately said (in Numb. 8:14): AND THE LEVITES SHALL BELONG TO ME to fulfill what is stated (in Ps. 11:5): THE LORD TESTS THE RIGHTEOUS. In the case of the wicked, however, it is written of them (ibid. cont.:) BUT HIS SOUL (i.e. the soul of the Holy One) HATES THE WICKED AND THE LOVER OF INJUSTICE. David said (in Ps. 128:1): BLESSED IS EVERYONE WHO FEARS THE LORD AND WALKS IN HIS WAYS.

And Judah called one of his father's servants, saying: Go and see where the kings, that come ‎against us, are stationed with their armies. And the servant went and looked from the ‎distance, ascending opposite Mount Sihon, and he saw all the armies of the kings standing in ‎the field. And he returned unto Judah and said: Behold the kings are stationed in the field with ‎all their armies, a people of great multitude, even like the sand on the sea shore. And Judah ‎said unto Simeon and Levi and unto all his brothers: Strengthen yourselves and be brave men, ‎for the Lord our God is with us; fear them not! Stand up and arm yourselves with all the ‎utensils of war, with bow and sword, and let us go to fight against those uncircumcised ones. ‎The Lord our God he will save us! And they arose and put on their weapons great and small, ‎eleven sons of Jacob and their servants with them. And all the servants of Isaac, that were in ‎Hebron with Isaac, came to them likewise, girt with all the instruments of war. And the sons of ‎Jacob with their servants marched against the kings, one hundred and twelve men in all and ‎Jacob went along with them. And they sent unto Isaac the son of Abraham to Hebron, to ‎Kirjath-arba, saying: Pray thou for us unto the Lord our God, to deliver us from the hands of ‎the Canaanites, that are coming against us, and to give them into our hands. And Isaac the son ‎of Abraham prayed unto the Lord in behalf of his children, saying: Oh Lord God, thou who hast ‎assured my father Abraham, saying, I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven, and then ‎didst promise unto me likewise and thou hast fulfilled thy word, now behold the kings of ‎Canaan are all united, coming to make war against my children on whose hands there is no ‎violence. And now, oh Lord God, the God of all the earth, pervert thou the counsel of these ‎kings, so that they do not fight against my children. And wilt thou let the fear of my children ‎enter the hearts of all these kings and of all their people, and humble their pride, that they ‎may turn away from my children, and deliver my children and their servants with thy strong ‎hand and outstretched arm, for in thine hands are power and strength to do all these things. ‎And Jacob and his sons with all their servants went forth against the kings, trusting in the Lord ‎their God. And as they went on, Jacob their father also prayed un to the Lord saying: Oh Lord, ‎thou sublime and fearful God, who hast ruled from the earliest days even to this day and who ‎will rule forever, thou who provokest war and who causeth it to cease and in whose hands are ‎power and might to lift up and to cast down to the very ground, may my prayer be accepted ‎unto thee that thou turn unto me in thy mercy, to put the fear of my sons into the hearts of ‎the kings and their people, to terrify them and their armies, and to deliver by thy great mercy ‎all those that trust in thee. For it is thou who subduest peoples under us and nations under our ‎hands! And all the kings of the Amorites came and posted themselves in the field, in order to ‎consult with their counselors what to do unto the sons of Jacob; for they were still afraid of ‎them, saying: Two of them have slain the whole city of Shechem.‎

And the Lord had hearkened unto the prayers of Isaac and Jacob and he put great fear and ‎terror into the hearts of all the advisers of these kings, and they said all, like with one mouth: ‎Are you all foolish to-day and is there no reason within you to fight against the Hebrews, or do ‎you de sire the death of all of you this very day? Behold two of them came unto the city of ‎Shechem, without fear or terror, and slew all the inhabitants of the city, so that no man could ‎stand against them, and how can ye undertake to fight against all of them? And do ye not ‎know that their God hath great delight in them, performing wonderful things in their behalf, ‎such as have not come to pass since the remotest days and the like of which none of the gods ‎of other nations can bring about? Behold he delivered Abraham the Hebrew, their father, ‎from the hands of Nimrod and all his people, who sought to slay him time and again; and from ‎the fire, whereunto Nimrod had him cast, his God hath delivered him, and who is he that can ‎do such things? And the very same Abraham hath slain the five kings of Elam, when they ‎touched his relative who was dwelling in Sodom in those days. And he took his servant, the ‎most faithful in his house and a few of his men and pursued the kings of Elam in one night and ‎slew them all, and he recovered all the property of his relative which they took away from him. ‎And surely you know that the God of these Hebrews takes great pleasure in them, and they ‎take great pleasure in him, knowing that he hath delivered them from the hands of all their ‎enemies. And through love to their God, Abraham took his only beloved son and was ready to ‎offer him up as a burnt offering to his God. And were it not for God who prevented him from ‎doing it, he should surely have done it through his love to God. And when the Lord saw his ‎behavior he swore unto him, and he promised to deliver his sons and all his seed from all ‎trouble that might befall them, because he hath done this thing, to stifle the compassion for ‎his child through the love of God. And have you not heard what their God hath done unto ‎Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and unto Abimelech, king of Gerar, when they took away Sarah, ‎Abraham's wife, though he proclaimed her to be his sister for fear that they might kill him on ‎her account; and though they had the intention of taking her to wife. God hath done unto ‎them and their people all that you have heard of And behold, we ourselves have seen it with ‎our eyes, that Esau, the brother of Jacob, came against him with four hundred men, resolved ‎to slay him, when he recalled how Jacob had taken away from him his father's blessing. And he ‎went to meet Jacob when he came from Padan-Aram, to smite the mother with the children, ‎and who hath saved him from his hands? Verily, only this God in whom he trusted. He ‎delivered him from the hands of his brother, and can he not deliver him now from the hands ‎of his enemies? ‎

12 (Numb. 8:6) “Take the Levites”: This text is related (to Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous […].” The Holy One, blessed be He, does not elevate a person to an office until He first tests and examines him. When he withstands his test, He elevates him to the office. And so you find in the case of our father Abraham; when the Holy One, blessed be He, tested him with ten temptations, he withstood his trials. Then after that He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 24:1), “And the Lord blessed Abraham in all things.” So also in the case of Isaac, when He tested him with the days of Abimelech, he withstood the trial. Then after that He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 26:12), “So Isaac sowed on that land […] for the Lord had blessed him.” So also in the case of Jacob, when He tested him by means of all those tribulations with Esau, with Rachel, with Dinah, with Joseph, and [with the tribulation of] how he departed from the house of his father (in Gen. 32:11), “for with [only] my staff did I cross [this] Jordan.” Then after that He blessed him. It is so stated (in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-Aram, and blessed him.” So also in the case of Joseph, with the wife of Potiphar and he was imprisoned for twelve years. Then after that he came out and became king because he had withstood his trials. Ergo (in Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous.” So also in the case of the tribe of Levi, they laid down their lives for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, (i.e. for martyrdom). Now when Israel was in Egypt, they had rejected the Torah and, as Ezekiel had rebuked them where it is stated (in Ezek. 20:5), “And you shall say unto them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “In the day that I chose Israel […].”’” Then what is written at the end (in vs. 8)? “But they rebelled against Me and did not come to hearken unto Me … and I resolved to pour out My fury upon them.” What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He brought darkness upon Egypt for three days, and during those [days] he killed all the wicked ones of Israel. For this reason it says (in Ezek. 20:36-38), “[As I brought your ancestors to judgment in the desert of the land of Egypt….] So will I remove from you those who rebel and transgress against Me.” So also it says (in Cant. 2:13), “And the fig tree sheds¹⁸Heb.: hanetah. Although the biblical context suggests a translation such as “puts forth” or “ripens” the context understands this rare verb in a more negative sense. See Tanh. (Buber); Exod. 3:7). its green figs…,” these are the wicked who are in Israel; (ibid. cont.) “and the vines in blossom give off fragrance,” these are the rest who have repented and been accepted; (ibid. cont.) “arise, my beloved, my fair one, and come away,” for behold the time of redemption has arrived. However all those in the tribe of Levi were righteous and carried out the Torah. It is so stated (in Deut. 33:9), “For they observed Your word,” i.e., the Torah; (ibid. cont.) “and kept Your covenant,” i.e., circumcision. And not only that, but when Israel made the calf, the tribe of Levi did not participate there, as stated (in Exod. 32:26), “So Moses stood up on the gate of the camp and said, ‘Whoever is for the Lord come to me,’ and all the Children of Levi gathered unto him.” When Moses said (in vs. 27), “Each [of you] put his sword on his thigh…,” they immediately did so. Moreover they did not show partiality. And so Moses blesses them, [namely (according Deut. 33:9)], “The one who says of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them’ and his brother….” When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that they all were righteous, that He had tested them and they had withstood their trial – as stated (of Levi in Deut. 33:8), “[Your faithful one,] whom You tested at Massah” – the Holy One, blessed be He, immediately said (in Numb. 8:14), “And the Levites shall belong to Me,” to fulfill what is stated (in Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous.” In the case of the wicked, however, it is written of them (ibid. cont.), “but His soul (i.e. the soul of the Holy One, blessed be He,) hates the wicked and the lover of injustice.” David said (in Ps. 128:1), “Fortunate is everyone who fears the Lord and walks in His ways.”

And who knoweth it not that it was their God who hath given such valor to the sons of Jacob, ‎to do unto the city of Shechem all the evil you have heard of? Could two men, with their own ‎strength, smite a city large as Shechem was it not for their God in whom they trusted? Verily it ‎is he by whose instrumentality they were enabled to slay all the inhabitants of that city. And ‎now, albeit that you are all here united and have left your cities to make war against them, ‎think ye to prevail over all of them, even if there came to your assistance thousand times as ‎many as there are of you. For you must know and understand that it is not with them you have ‎come to fight, but with their God who hath chosen them, you come to make war, and you will ‎come to destruction this very day. Now therefore refrain from the evil which you are about to ‎summon upon yourselves, and it will be better for you not to engage in a battle with them, ‎though they be few in numbers; for their God is with them. And the kings of the Amorites on ‎hearing the words of their counselors had their hearts filled with terror and they were afraid of ‎Jacob’s sons, and they resolved not to fight against them. And unto the words of their advisers ‎they inclined their ears and hearkened unto their voice, and their words found favor in the ‎eyes of the kings and they concluded to do accordingly. And the kings returned and abstained ‎from the sons of Jacob, being afraid to approach them and to make war against them for their ‎hearts melted within them for fear, and this fear from the Lord came upon them, for he ‎listened unto the prayers of Isaac and Jacob, and their trusting in him. And all these kings ‎returned on that day with their armies, each one to his own city, without fighting against the ‎sons of Jacob on that day. And the sons of Jacob maintained their position till the evening of ‎that day, opposite Mount Sihon, and when they saw that the kings did not advance to fight ‎with them the sons of Jacob returned to their dwelling place. At that time the Lord appeared ‎unto Jacob, saying: Go unto Beth-el and remain there and erect there an altar to the Lord who ‎appeared unto thee and who delivered thee, and all thy sons, from trouble. And Jacob arose ‎with his sons and all belonging to him, and they went up and came to Beth-el according to the ‎word of the Lord; ‎

and Jacob was ninety-nine years of age when he went up to Beth-el. And Jacob with his sons ‎and all the people that were with him dwelt in Beth-el in Luz, and he built there an altar to the ‎Lord who appeared unto him; and Jacob and his sons tarried in Beth-el for six months. At that ‎time Deborah daughter of Uz, the nurse of Rebekah who had been with Jacob, died and Jacob ‎buried her beneath Beth-el under an oak which was there. And Rebekah daughter of Bethuel, ‎Jacob’s mother, died at that time in Hebron, in Kirjath-arba, and she was buried in the cave of ‎Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth. And the days of Rebekah ‎were one hundred and thirty-three years. And when Jacob heard that his mother Rebekah ‎had died he wept greatly for his mother, and he made a great mourning for her, and for ‎Deborah her nurse, beneath the oak; and he called the name of that place Allon-bachoth, the ‎oak of weeping. And Laban the Aramite died in those days, for the Lord punished him for ‎transgressing the covenant which was established between him and Jacob. And Jacob was one ‎hundred years old when the Lord appeared unto him and blessed him, and he called his name ‎Israel. And Rachel, Jacob’s wife, conceived in those days. And Jacob journeyed at that time ‎with all belonging to him from Beth-el, to his father's house in Hebron. And while they were on ‎the road, only a short distance before coming to Ephrath, Rachel bare a son, and having hard ‎labor she died. And Jacob buried her on the road to Ephrath, in Bethlehem, and he set there a ‎pillar which is upon her grave even to this day. And the days of Rachel were forty-five years ‎when she died. And Jacob called the name of the son that Rachel bare unto him, Benjamin, for ‎in the land “on the right hand” he was born unto him. And after Rachel’s death Jacob ‎transferred his tent into the tent of Bilhah her maid-servant. And Reuben became jealous in ‎behalf of Leah his mother, and he entered Bilhah’s and forcibly removed thence the bed of his ‎father. At that time Reuben was deprived of the portion of the first-born, the kingdom, and ‎the priesthood, for having profaned his father's bed; and the right of the first-born was given ‎unto Joseph, and the kingdom to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi, because Reuben had ‎profaned the bed of his father.‎

[(Exod. 12:29:) AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.] This text is related (to Is. 44:26): <HE> CONFIRMS THE WORD OF HIS SERVANT.⁶⁸PRK 7:3. R. Berekhyah said in the name of R. Levi: What is the meaning of CONFIRMS THE WORD OF HIS SERVANT? Do we not know that (ibid., cont.) HE SAYS TO JERUSALEM: YOU SHALL BE INHABITED, AND TO THE CITIES OF JUDAH: THEY SHALL BE REBUILT? It is simply that a certain angel appeared to our ancestor Jacob. He said to him: What is your name? He told him: Jacob. <THEN HE SAID> (in Gen. 32:29 [28]): YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE JACOB, <BUT ISRAEL>…. (Is. 44:26, cont.:) AND FULFILLS THE COUNSEL OF HIS MESSENGERS. The Holy One appeared to Jacob to affirm the command of his angel, AND (in Gen. 35:10) GOD SAID TO HIM: YOUR NAME IS JACOB. <YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE JACOB, BUT YOUR NAME SHALL BE ISRAEL. > In the case of Jerusalem, over which all the prophets have prophesied, how much the more <will the Holy One confirm (i.e., fulfill) their prophecies>?

Another interpretation: Judah bar Shallum the Levite said: When she came out, the Holy One made her eyes light up and she found them after she had lost them because there is no finding except of what is LOST. Thus it is written (in Lev. 5:22): OR HAS FOUND WHAT IS LOST. Immediately she sent < her tokens of the pledge > to Judah, (according to Gen. 38:25) THE ONE TO WHOM THESE BELONG. She said to him (ibid., cont.): PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE your Creator.⁶¹Gen. R., 97, New Version, on Gen. 49:8 (= p. 1214 in the Theodor-Albeck edition) explains that for Judah to acknowledge the Creator meant for him not to be ashamed in confessing the matter before flesh and blood. Cf. Sot. 10b. Immediately (in vs. 26): JUDAH GAVE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. In that hour a heavenly voice (bat qol) came forth and said to him: You are to say: [She is pregnant from me; lest] she be burned. And afterwards he confessed: The affair stemmed from me. The Holy One said to Him: Judah, for me you have saved three lives from the fire and one (i.e., Joseph) from the pit. By your life, I will save < four lives > for you just as you have saved < them > for me. Who are they? Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah from the fiery furnace (in Dan. 3:20-27) and Daniel from the lions' pit (in Dan. 6:16-23). What is written about them (in Dan. 1:6)? NOW AMONG THOSE FROM THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH WERE DANIEL, HANANIAH, MISHAEL, AND AZARIAH. "From Hezekiah's children"⁶²See PRE 52 at the end; Sanh. 93b. is not written here, but FROM THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH. For what reason? For the reason that he had saved Tamar and her children < from the fire > and Joseph from the pit. When Reuben heard that Judah had confessed, he immediately arose also and said: I also have violated my father's beds (in Gen. 35:22). Eliphaz said to Job (in Job 15:17-18): I WILL INFORM YOU; HEARKEN TO ME. NOW THIS HAVE I SEEN, AND I WILL DECLARE THAT WHICH SAGES HAVE TOLD. These < sages > are Reuben and Judah. Therefore (in vs. 19): TO THEM ALONE WAS THE LAND GIVEN. When? (Ibid.:) AND NO STRANGER PASSED AMONG THEM. When Moses came to bless them, what did he say (in Deut. 33:6-7)? MAY REUBEN LIVE AND NOT DIE…. AND THIS IS FOR JUDAH….

And these are the generations of Jacob born unto him in Padan-Aram. And the sons of Jacob ‎were twelve. The sons of Leah were: The first born Reuben, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, ‎and Issachar, and Zebulum, and Dinah their sister: And the sons of Rachel were: Joseph and ‎Benjamin. And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid-servant, were: Gad and Asher. And the sons of ‎Bilhah were: Dan and Naphtali; these are the sons of Jacob which were born unto him in Padan ‎Aram. And Jacob with his sons and all belonging to him journeyed further and came to Mamre, ‎the same is Kirjath-Arba which is in Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac dwelt, and Jacob with ‎his sons with all belonging to him dwelt with his father in Hebron. And his brother Esau and his ‎sons, and all belonging ... to him went to the land of Seir and dwelt there, and had possessions ‎in the land of Seir, and the children of Esau were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly in the land ‎of Seir. And these are the generations of Esau that were born to him in the land of Canaan; ‎and the sons of Esau were five. And Adah bare to Esau his first born Eliphaz, and she also bare ‎to him Reuel. And Ahli bamah bare to him Jeush, and Yaalam and Korah. These are the children ‎of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Eliphaz the son of Esau ‎were: Teman, and Omar, and Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz, and Amalex. And the sons of ‎Reuel were: Nachath, and Zerach, and Shamah, and Mizzah. And the sons of Jeush were: ‎Timnah, and Alva, and Jetheth. And the sons of Yaalam were: Alah, and Phinor, and Kenaz. ‎And the sons of Korah were: Teman, and Mibzar, and Magdiel, and Eram; these are the ‎families of the sons of Esau according to their dukes in the land of Seir. And these are the ‎names of the sons of Seir the Horite, inhabitants of the land of Seir: Lotan, and Shobal, and ‎Zibean, and Anah, and Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan, seven sons.‎‏ ‏And the children of Lotan ‎were: Hori, and Heman, and their sister Timna, that is Timna who came to Jacob and his sons, ‎and they would not listen to her, and she went and became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of ‎Esau, and she bare to him Amalek.‎‏ ‏And the sons of Shobal were: Alvan, and Manahath, and ‎Ebal, and Shepho, and Onam.‎‏ ‏And the sons of Zibeon were: Ajah, and Anah, this is Anah who ‎found the Yemim in the wilderness when he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.‎‏ ‏And it came to ‎pass while he was feeding the asses of his father, driving them to the wilderness into pasture ‎as heretofore, and approaching one of the deserts on the sea shore opposite the wilderness ‎of the people, and be hold a very great storm came from the other side of the sea, and it ‎rested over the asses in the pasture and they were stunned and stood still all of them.‎‏ ‏And ‎after wards one hundred and twenty great and horrible animals emerged from the wilderness ‎on the other side of the sea, and they came all to the place of the asses and stood there.‎‏ ‏And ‎those animals were on their lower half after the shape of the sons of men, but the upper half ‎of some were in the shape of bears and some in the shape of apes, and they had tails behind, ‎hanging down from between the shoulders and sweeping the ground like the tails of the ‎dochiphath.‎

And those animals mounted the asses and rode away with them and they were not to be ‎found to this very day.‎‏ ‏And one of those animals approached Anah and dealt him a blow with ‎its tail and fled from the place.‎‏ ‏And when he saw these things he was greatly afraid of his life, ‎and he too fled and escaped to the city.‎‏ ‏And he related unto his father and brothers all that ‎hath befallen him and many men went in search of the asses but they could not find them.‎‏ ‏And Anah and his brothers never dared to approach that place again for they were in great ‎fear of their lives.‎‏ ‏And the children of Anah the son of Seir were: Dishon and his sister ‎Ahlibamah, and the children of Dishon were: Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran and Cheran; and ‎the children of Ezer were: Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan, and the children of Dishan were: Uz ‎and Aran. These are the families of the children of Seir the Horite, according to their dukes in ‎the land of Seir.‎‏ ‏And Esau with his children dwelt in the land of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants ‎of the land, and they acquired possessions in it and they were fruitful and multiplied ‎exceedingly.‎‏ ‏And Jacob with his children and all belonging to him dwelt with Isaac their father ‎in the land of Canaan, as the Lord had commanded unto Abraham their father.‎‏ ‏And it came to ‎pass in the one hundred and fifth year of Jacob's life, which was the ninth year of his dwelling ‎in the land of Canaan after his return from Padan-Aram, that Jacob journeyed with his children ‎from Hebron, and they went along and reached the city of Shechem, and they located there, ‎for the sons of Jacob found good and fat pasture for their cattle in Shechem.‎‏ ‏And the city of ‎Shechem had been rebuilt at that time, and there were in her about three hundred men and ‎women.‎‏ ‏And when Jacob and his sons with all belonging to them came back, they dwelt in the ‎parcel of the land which Jacob had bought from Hamor, when he arrived there from Padan-‎Aram, long before Simeon and Levi had destroyed the city.‎‏ ‏And when the kings of the ‎Canaanites and the Amorites around the city of Shechem heard that Jacob and his sons ‎returned to Shechem to dwell therein, they said: Shall Jacob and his sons be permitted to ‎dwell again in this city after having slain and driven away its inhabitants, to come once again to ‎kill and drive away the people now living in the city? And all of the Canaanitish kings assembled ‎once more to fight with Jacob and his sons.‎‏ ‏And Jashub king of Tapuah sent also to all the kings ‎that were around him, to Elan king of Gaash, and to Thuri king of Shiloh, and to Parathon, king ‎of Hazar, and to Susy king of Sarton, and to Laban king of Beth-horan, and to Shabir king of ‎Othnaimah, saying: Come up to my assistance, and we will smite the Hebrew and his sons and ‎all belonging to him, for they have come once more to Shechem, to take possession thereof ‎and to slay its inhabitants as heretofore.‎

(Numb. 3:40:) “Enroll every first-born male.” This text is related (to Is. 43:4), “Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I love you….” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob, “Jacob, you are exceedingly precious in My eyes.⁹⁷Numb. R. 4:1. Why? Because I, as it were, have installed your image⁹⁸Gk.: eikonion. on My glorious throne, and in your name the angels praise Me and say (in Ps. 41:14), “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,⁹⁹Israel here is the patriarch Jacob, not the people. from everlasting to everlastings.” Ergo (in Is. 43:4), “Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored.” Another interpretation (of Is. 43:4), “Because you are precious….” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Jacob, you are precious in my eyes because I and my angels were, as it were, standing over you when you set out for Paddan-Aram and when you came back.” It is so stated (in Gen. 28:10-13), “And Jacob set out…. When he came across a certain place…. Then he dreamed that there was a ladder [placed on earth with its top reaching to the heavens; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.] And behold, the Lord stood over him….” R. Hosha'ya said, “Blessed is the one born of woman who has seen the King and his household¹⁰⁰Lat.: familia. standing over him and ministering to him.” But where is it shown in reference to his coming back? Where it is stated (in Gen. 32:2), “So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.” So much for the angels, but where is it shown for the Divine Presence? (Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again….” It is therefore stated (in Is. 43:4), “Because you are precious in My eyes.” Another interpretation (of Is. 43:4), “Because you are precious in My eyes, you are honored.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “You are precious in my eyes, because to all the nations I gave no numbering (minyan), but to you I did give a numbering.” To what is this comparable? It is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who had a lot of granaries, but all of them were dirty and full of darnel; so he was not meticulous about their numbering. [There was,] however, this granary [which had] beautiful wheat. He said to his household, “Those granaries that are dirty and full of darnel; I will not be meticulous about their numbering. But this granary has beautiful wheat. I therefore want to be meticulous in numbering how many kor¹⁰¹One kor is equivalent to somewhat under 400 liters. there are, how many sacks there are in it, [and] how many measures there are in it.” Similarly this king is the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He; and this granary (goren) is Israel, since it is stated (in Is. 21:10), “My threshing, and the product (literally: the child) of My threshing floor (goren).” It also says (in Jer. 2:3), “Israel is the Lord's sanctuary, the beginning of His harvest.” The child of His house is Moses, as stated (in Numb. 12:7), “he is trusted in all My house.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, The nations are [comparable to thorns], as stated (in Is. 33:12), “And the peoples shall become burnings of lime, thorns cut down that are burned in the fire.” Therefore, you shall not be meticulous about numbering them, but Israel is righteous, chosen wheat, as stated (in Is. 60:21), “And all of your people are righteous.” It also says (in Cant. 4:7), “You are beautiful all over, My beloved, and there is no blemish in you.” Therefore, be meticulous in counting Israel. Moses did so. He numbered them [to determine] how many kor there were, as stated (in Numb. 1:2), “Take a census…”; how many sacks there were, as stated (in Numb. 2:4), “Its host and those of them enrolled”; and how many measures there were, as stated (in Numb. 3:40), “enroll every first-born male.”

And all those kings assembled and they came with their armies, a people very numerous, even ‎like the sand on the sea shore, and they gathered themselves together before Tapuah.‎‏ ‏And ‎Jashub king of Tapuah went forth with all his armies to meet them and they en camped ‎outside of Tapuah.‎‏ ‏And all of those kings divided themselves into seven bands to go with ‎seven ar mies against the sons of Jacob.‎‏ ‏And they sent a writ ing to Jacob and his sons saying: ‎Come ye forth one and all that we face each other in the plain, for we de sire to take revenge ‎on you for the people of Shechem whom you have slain, since you have returned once more ‎to the city of Shechem to dwell therein and to slay its inhabitants as heretofore.‎‏ ‏And when the ‎sons of Jacob heard this their anger was kindled at the words of those kings.‎‏ ‏And ten of ‎Jacob's sons arose and each of them put on his instruments of war, and with them one ‎hundred and two of their servants all armed, and ready for the fight.‎‏ ‏And all these men, the ‎sons of Jacob and their servants went to meet those kings.‎‏ ‏And Jacob their father was with ‎them, and they posted themselves upon the hill of Shechem.‎‏ ‏And Jacob prayed to the Lord in ‎behalf of his sons, and, lifting up his hands unto the Lord, he said: Oh Lord, thou art the ‎Almighty God and our father, thou hast formed us and we are thy handiwork. I pray unto thee ‎to deliver my sons through thy great mercy from the hands of their enemies, who have come ‎this day to make battle with them, for in thy hands are power and might to deliver the few ‎from the many.‎‏ ‏And give thou, oh Lord, to thy servant my sons, courage and strength to fight ‎with their enemies and to overpower them and let their enemies fall down before them, so ‎that my sons and their servants may not perish by the hands of the sons of Canaan.‎‏ ‏And if it ‎pleaseth thee to take the lives of my sons and their servants, then let it be done in thy great ‎mercy, through the hands of thy angels, but let them not die by the hands of the kings of the ‎Amorites.‎‏ ‏And when Jacob had finished his prayer, the earth was shaken from its place, and ‎the sun was darkened, and all these kings were frightened and great terror came over them. ‎For the Lord listened to Jacob’s prayer, and the Lord put the fear and terror of the sons of ‎Jacob into the hearts of all the kings and their armies.‎‏ ‏And the Lord caused them to hear the ‎noise of mighty chariots and horses and the war cry of a great army coming with the sons of ‎Jacob.‎‏ ‏And great consternation seized those kings and while they kept their position the sons ‎of Jacob approached them with an hundred and two men amidst terrible shouting.‎‏ ‏

“He seats the barren woman of the house as a happy mother of children. Hallelujah!” (Psalms 113:9) There are seven barren women: Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah, Manoach’s wife, Chana and Zion…Another explanation. ‘He seats the barren woman’ this refers to Zion. “Sing you barren woman who has not borne…” (Isaiah 54:1) ‘a happy mother of children,’ “And you shall say to yourself, Who begot these for me…” (Isaiah 49:21)

What is written above on the matter (in Gen. 33:18)? NOW JACOB CAME WHOLE. < When > he had come from Paddan-Aram under conditions that the Holy One had set with him, he did not lessen him in any respect. What did Jacob do? He began opening bazaars.⁶⁶On this word, see above, 8:19, and the note there. The Holy One said to him: Have you forgotten what you vowed to me? And did you not say this (in Gen. 28:20): IF GOD IS WITH ME, so that I do not commit idolatry, (ibid., cont.:) AND PROTECTS ME, from bloodshed, (ibid., cont.:) ON THE WAY, from unchastity, as stated (in Prov. 30:20): SUCH IS THE WAY OF AN ADULTERESS: SHE EATS, WIPES HER MOUTH, AND SAYS: I HAVE DONE NO WRONG. The Holy One did protect him, for it so states (in Gen. 28:15): AND I WILL PROTECT YOU WHEREVER YOU GO. Jacob said (in Gen. 28:22): [AND] OF ALL THAT YOU GIVE ME, I WILL SURELY SET ASIDE A TITHE FOR YOU. As soon as he came to the land of Israel, he forgot this vow. The Holy One said: By your life, through the very things which you said you would observe, through them you shall come to grief. Where is it shown in regard to idolatry? Where it is stated (in Gen. 35:4): THEN THEY GAVE UNTO JACOB ALL THE ALIEN GODS THAT THEY HAD…. Where is it shown in regard to bloodshed? Where it is stated (in Gen. 34:25): THAT TWO OF JACOB'S SONS, SIMEON AND LEVI, BROTHERS OF DINAH, EACH TOOK HIS SWORD … [AND KILLED EVERY MALE]. Where is it shown in regard to unchastity? From Dinah, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 34:2-3): THEN SHECHEM BEN HAMOR THE HIVITE, THE PRINCE OF THE LAND, SAW HER. < … > AND HIS SOUL CLUNG TO JACOB'S DAUGHTER DINAH. R. Abbahu said: We have learned things from putrid secretion (i.e., mere mortals):⁶⁷“Putrid secretion” can denote semen or, as here, the mere mortals like Pharaoh, who were produced by it. (Gen. 41:44:) PHARAOH SAID TO JOSEPH: I AM PHARAOH.⁶⁸Gen. R. 90:2. I have said that you shall be king. The Holy One said to Israel concerning each and every commandment which they do: I AM THE LORD (e.g., in Lev. 19:3, 4, 10, 12, 14, 16, etc.). I am the one who is going to repay each and everyone with his reward. Now, just as in the case of flesh and blood, when it said: I AM PHARAOH, it raised him to great dignity; so much the more so with me when I say something. And just as you said (in Gen. 41:40): ONLY WITH RESPECT TO THE THRONE SHALL I BE GREATER THAN YOU, < so > has the Holy One said to Israel (in Deut. 28:13): AND YOU ONLY SHALL BE AT THE TOP. Just as an "only" from flesh and blood (i.e., from Pharaoh) magnified Joseph, so much the more so in the case of an "only" from the Holy One.

And when these kings saw the sons of Jacob advancing upon them, their hearts were filled ‎with additional fear, and they thought of returning as heretofore, without fighting against the ‎sons of Jacob. But they did not turn back, saying: It would be a great shame for us to retreat ‎for the second time.‎‏ ‏And when the sons of Jacob came quite near to these kings and their ‎armies, they saw a great multitude even like the sand of the sea.‎‏ ‏And the sons of Jacob called ‎upon the Lord, saying: Oh Lord help us and answer us for in thee alone do we trust, and let us ‎not perish by the hands of these uncircumcised ones who have come upon us this day. And ‎the sons of Jacob armed themselves with their instruments of war, and each man took in his ‎hand shield and lance and they approached to fight. And Judah with ten of his men | ran first ‎before his brothers and he went to meet these kings. And Jashub king of Tapuah, went forth ‎first with his army against Judah. And when Judah saw Jashub with his army coming against ‎him, Judah’s wrath was kindled and his anger was burning within him, and he advanced to ‎fight, ready to give up his soul to die. And Jashub with all his army approached against Judah. ‎And Judah was riding upon a mighty powerful horse. And Jashub was a very heroic man, and ‎he was covered from head to foot with iron and with copper, and he shot arrows, with both ‎his hands, forwards and backwards whilst sitting upon his horse, according to his manner in all ‎his battles, and his arrows never missed the point he was aiming at. And when Jashub ‎advanced against Judah, sending forth his ar rows against Judah the Lord bound Jashub’s ‎hands, so that the arrows bounded upon his own men.

(Gen. 35:1:) THEN GOD SAID UNTO JACOB: ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL. Let our master instruct us: When one prays,⁶⁹The particular prayer under consideration is the Tefillah, also known as the ‘Amidah or the “Eighteen Benedictions” (Shemoneh ‘Esreh). This prayer, which ultimately came to contain nineteen benedictions, is recited as part of the daily services. where should he direct his heart? Thus have our masters taught: One who prays should (according to Ber. 4:5-6) DIRECT HIS HEART TOWARD THE HOUSE OF THE HOLY OF HOLIES.⁷⁰PR 33:1; also Sifre Deut. 3:26 (29); TBer. 3:14-16; yBer. 4:5 (8bc); Ber. 30a; see Yev. 105b; Cant. R. 4:4:9. R. Eliezer ben Jacob says: One who prays outside of the land [is to direct his heart towards the land of Israel. One who prays in the land of Israel is to direct his heart toward Jerusalem. One who prays in Jerusalem is to direct his heart toward the Sanctuary. When one prays in the Sanctuary], he is to direct his heart to the House of the Holy of Holies. R. Abbin the Levite said: It is written (in Cant. 4:4): LIKE THE TOWER OF DAVID (i.e., the Temple), YOUR NECK IS BUILT FOR TLPYWT (TURRETS). What is the meaning of FOR TLPYWT? That all mouths PYWT pray through it.⁷¹Cf. PR 33:1: “The hill (TL) towards which all mouths (PYWT) turn.” This explanation succeeds in accounting for all the letters in TLPYWT. [R. Judah the Levite said: It is written (in I Kings 6:17): THAT IS THE TEMPLE LPNY. What is the meaning of LPNY? That all the faces (PNYM) turn to⁷²The Buber text here reads B (“in,” “on,” “by means of,” etc.). A more likely reading is that of the Hebrew Bible, i.e., L (“to” or “toward”), which accounts for the L in LPNY. it.] The Holy One said: Everyone is going to and yearning for my house. Are you not going there? (Gen. 35:1) ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL.⁷³BETHEL means “the house of God.”

R. Jose said: He immediately began to take [counsel with] the tribes who would go up with him. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 35:3): LET US ARISE AND GO UP. They said to him: Where to? He said to them: To the place where my Creator told me (in vs. 1): ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL…. R. Aha said: Jerusalem is only built by virtue of the tribes. It is so stated (in Ps. 122:3): JERUSALEM IS BUILT UP AS A CITY WHICH HAS BEEN KNIT TOGETHER. What is written after this (in vs. 4)? FOR THERE HAVE THE TRIBES GONE UP….

But Jashub continued advancing against Judah to slay him with his arrows, and there was ‎between them only the distance of thirty cubits. And when Judah saw Jashub darting his ‎arrows against him, Judah ran against him with all his wrath and might. And Judah took up from ‎the ground a large stone weighing about sixty shekels, and he ran at Jashub and struck him on ‎his shield with the stone. And Jashub was stunned by the blow and he fell from his horse to ‎the ground. And the shield was torn off from Jashub’s hand and it sprang away by the severity ‎of the blow to the distance of fifteen cubits, so that the shield fell before the second camp. ‎And when the kings that came with Jashub saw from the distance the strength of Judah, ‎Jacob’s son, and what he had done unto Jashub, they were greatly afraid of Judah. And they ‎gathered around Jashub’s army, to terrify him, but Judah drew his sword and slew forty-two ‎men of Jashub’s camp. And the whole camp of Jashub re treated before Judah and no man ‎dared to stand against him, and they fled leaving Jashub prostrate upon the ground. And when ‎Jashub saw himself deserted by all his men, he rose up in his terror and faced Judah in single ‎combat, and they struck shield against shield. And Jashub took the spear into his hand to strike ‎Judah upon his head, but Judah placed the shield quickly over his head so that his shield ‎received the blow from Jashub’s spear, which cut the shield asunder. And when Judah saw ‎that his shield was broken, he quickly drew his sword and struck Jashub on his ankles and he ‎cut off both his feet, and Jashub fell upon the ground, and the spear fell from his hand. And ‎Judah hastened and picked up Jashub’s spear, and he cut off therewith Jashub's head, and he ‎cast it next to his feet. And when the sons of Jacob saw what Judah had done unto Jashub ‎they ran all into the ranks of the other kings and they $ought with all the armies of Jashub and ‎of the other kings. And the sons of Jacob slew of them fifteen thousand men, smiting them as ‎if they were pomp kins, and the rest ran for their lives. And Judah was still standing over ‎Jashub's body stripping him of his armor and of the iron and copper that was on him, when ‎behold, nine of Jashub’s princes came to fight with Judah. And Judah took quickly a stone from ‎the ground and he smote one of them upon the head, and his skull was fractured and his body ‎also fell from the horse to the ground. And the remaining eight princes, seeing Judah’s ‎strength, were greatly terrified and fled, but Judah with his ten men pursued them, and they ‎overtook them and slew them. And meanwhile the sons of Jacob were still smiting the armies ‎of the kings killing many of them, for there were some of the kings very bold and courageous, ‎and they would not retreat from their places. And they cheered those of the armies that fled ‎before the sons of Jacob, but none of them would listen unto their words, | for they were ‎afraid of their lives, lest they die. And after having completely routed the armies of the kings, ‎the sons of Jacob returned and came unto Judah; and Judah was still slaying the eight princes ‎of Jashub and stripping them of their garments. And Levi saw Elon, king of Gaash, advancing ‎against him with fourteen of his princes. And he came to smite Levi, but Levi knew it not. And ‎when Elon came near Levi looked around himself, and behold he was to be attacked from the ‎rear. And Levi ran with twelve of his servants and slew Elon and his princes with the edge of ‎the sword.

It is written (in Ps. 50:14): SACRIFICE A THANK OFFERING TO GOD. When Jacob left his father's house, he left with nothing but his staff, as stated (in Gen. 32:11 [10]): WITH ONLY MY STAFF I CROSSED THIS JORDAN. Immediately Jacob had made a vow before the Holy One, as stated (in Gen. 28:20): THEN JACOB VOWED A VOW. What is written at the end of the passage (in vs. 22)? AND OF ALL THAT YOU GIVE ME. But, when he enriched him, as stated (in Gen. 30:43): SO THE MAN (Jacob) BECAME VERY VERY PROSPEROUS, he forgot his vow. Immediately he provoked Laban against him, as stated (in Gen. 31:23): SO HE (Laban) TOOK HIS RELATIVES WITH HIM < AND PURSUED HIM (Jacob) SEVEN DAYS' JOURNEY >. When he had escaped from Laban, Esau was incited against him. Immediately the angel appeared to him. He said to him: Are you not aware of all this trouble? Why has all the trouble come over you? Because you have been late with your vow. Jacob said to him (in Gen. 32:30 [29]) {WHAT IS} [PLEASE TELL] YOUR NAME. He said to him (ibid.): WHY IS IT THAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR MY NAME? Sometimes the angel is made into a spirit, as stated (in Ps. 104:4): HE HAS MADE HIS ANGELS SPIRITS. Sometimes he is made a into lightning bolt, as stated (in Job 38:35): CAN YOU SEND FORTH LIGHTNINGS SO THAT THEY GO? But as for the miracles (of transformation), he (God) acts himself. And so the angel said to Manoah (in Jud. 13:18): YOU ARE NOT TO ASK MY NAME. (Gen. 32:30 [29]:) WHY IS IT THAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR MY NAME?⁷⁴Yalqut Shim‘oni, Jud., 69, explains that names are useless because the angel would not know into what form God might change him. Immediately the angel blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 32:30 [29]): AND HE BLESSED HIM THERE. (Hos. 12:5 [4]:) SO HE STROVE WITH AN ANGEL AND PREVAILED. What did he say to him? Go, fulfill your vow. (Eccl. 5:4 [5]:) IT IS BETTER NOT TO VOW < THAN TO VOW AND NOT FULFILL >. What did Simeon and Levi do immediately? TWO OF JACOB'S SONS, [SIMEON AND LEVI, BROTHERS OF DINAH, EACH TOOK HIS SWORD] … < AND KILLED EVERY MALE >. < Jacob > immediately fell on his face and did not get up until < the Holy One > gave him permission (in Gen. 35:1): ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL. So also with Joshua (according to Josh. 7:6 & 10): [AND HE FELL ON HIS FACE] < .. . > THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO JOSHUA: ARISE, GO. WHY IS IT THAT YOU FALL UPON YOUR FACE? So also with David (according to I Chron. 21:16): SO DAVID AND THE ELDERS, COVERED IN SACKCLOTH, FELL UPON THEIR FACES. Then what was said to him (in II Sam. 24:18)? GO UP, ERECT AN ALTAR TO THE LORD ON THE THRESHING FLOOR OF ARAUNAH. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 35:1): ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL. He immediately journeyed with his whole house; and the Holy One put his fear upon all about him, as stated (in Gen. 35:5): AND, AS THEY JOURNEYED, A TERROR FROM GOD CAME < UPON THE CITIES THAT WERE ROUND ABOUT THEM >. It is also stated (in Deut. 28:10): AND ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH SHALL SEE THAT THE NAME OF THE LORD IS PROCLAIMED OVER YOU, AND THEY SHALL BE AFRAID OF YOU.

It is written (in Ps. 50:14): SACRIFICE A THANK OFFERING TO GOD. When Jacob left his father's house, he left with nothing but his staff, as stated (in Gen. 32:11 [10]): WITH ONLY MY STAFF I CROSSED THIS JORDAN. Immediately Jacob had made a vow before the Holy One, as stated (in Gen. 28:20): THEN JACOB VOWED A VOW. What is written at the end of the passage (in vs. 22)? AND OF ALL THAT YOU GIVE ME. But, when he enriched him, as stated (in Gen. 30:43): SO THE MAN (Jacob) BECAME VERY VERY PROSPEROUS, he forgot his vow. Immediately he provoked Laban against him, as stated (in Gen. 31:23): SO HE (Laban) TOOK HIS RELATIVES WITH HIM < AND PURSUED HIM (Jacob) SEVEN DAYS' JOURNEY >. When he had escaped from Laban, Esau was incited against him. Immediately the angel appeared to him. He said to him: Are you not aware of all this trouble? Why has all the trouble come over you? Because you have been late with your vow. Jacob said to him (in Gen. 32:30 [29]) {WHAT IS} [PLEASE TELL] YOUR NAME. He said to him (ibid.): WHY IS IT THAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR MY NAME? Sometimes the angel is made into a spirit, as stated (in Ps. 104:4): HE HAS MADE HIS ANGELS SPIRITS. Sometimes he is made a into lightning bolt, as stated (in Job 38:35): CAN YOU SEND FORTH LIGHTNINGS SO THAT THEY GO? But as for the miracles (of transformation), he (God) acts himself. And so the angel said to Manoah (in Jud. 13:18): YOU ARE NOT TO ASK MY NAME. (Gen. 32:30 [29]:) WHY IS IT THAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR MY NAME?⁷⁴Yalqut Shim‘oni, Jud., 69, explains that names are useless because the angel would not know into what form God might change him. Immediately the angel blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 32:30 [29]): AND HE BLESSED HIM THERE. (Hos. 12:5 [4]:) SO HE STROVE WITH AN ANGEL AND PREVAILED. What did he say to him? Go, fulfill your vow. (Eccl. 5:4 [5]:) IT IS BETTER NOT TO VOW < THAN TO VOW AND NOT FULFILL >. What did Simeon and Levi do immediately? TWO OF JACOB'S SONS, [SIMEON AND LEVI, BROTHERS OF DINAH, EACH TOOK HIS SWORD] … < AND KILLED EVERY MALE >. < Jacob > immediately fell on his face and did not get up until < the Holy One > gave him permission (in Gen. 35:1): ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL. So also with Joshua (according to Josh. 7:6 & 10): [AND HE FELL ON HIS FACE] < .. . > THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO JOSHUA: ARISE, GO. WHY IS IT THAT YOU FALL UPON YOUR FACE? So also with David (according to I Chron. 21:16): SO DAVID AND THE ELDERS, COVERED IN SACKCLOTH, FELL UPON THEIR FACES. Then what was said to him (in II Sam. 24:18)? GO UP, ERECT AN ALTAR TO THE LORD ON THE THRESHING FLOOR OF ARAUNAH. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 35:1): ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL. He immediately journeyed with his whole house; and the Holy One put his fear upon all about him, as stated (in Gen. 35:5): AND, AS THEY JOURNEYED, A TERROR FROM GOD CAME < UPON THE CITIES THAT WERE ROUND ABOUT THEM >. It is also stated (in Deut. 28:10): AND ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH SHALL SEE THAT THE NAME OF THE LORD IS PROCLAIMED OVER YOU, AND THEY SHALL BE AFRAID OF YOU.

Another interpretation (of Is. 43:4): BECAUSE YOU ARE PRECIOUS. The Holy One said: Jacob, you are precious in my eyes because I and my angels were, as it were, standing over you when you set out for Paddan-Aram and when you came back. It is so stated (in Gen. 28:10-13): AND JACOB SET OUT…. WHEN HE CAME ACROSS A CERTAIN PLACE…. <THEN HE DREAMED THAT THERE WAS A LADDER PLACED ON EARTH WITH ITS TOP REACHING TO THE HEAVENS; AND BEHOLD, THE ANGELS OF GOD WERE ASCENDING AND DESCENDING ON IT.> AND BEHOLD, THE LORD STOOD OVER HIM…. R. Hosha'ya said: Blessed is the one born of woman who has seen the King and his household¹²²Lat.: familia. standing over him and ministering to him. But where is it shown in reference to his coming back? Where it is stated (in Gen. 32:2 [1]): SO JACOB WENT ON HIS WAY, AND THE ANGELS OF GOD MET HIM. So much for the angels, but where is it shown for the Divine Presence? (Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN…. It is therefore stated (in Is. 43:4): BECAUSE YOU ARE PRECIOUS IN MY EYES.

Another interpretation (of Cant. 5:16): HIS PALATE (i.e., what he says) IS MOST SWEET: If a king of flesh and blood has a friend, he loves him. So, if that friend becomes ill,⁷⁵Heb.: HLH, a word that can also be pointed to mean “sweeten.” he sends away to inquire after his health. Then, if he loves him even more, he goes to visit him. < But > if he went out into lodgings,⁷⁶Gk.: xenia. is it thinkable that the king would go out with him? However, < it was > the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, < who > loved Jacob, as stated (in Mal. 1:2): YET I HAVE LOVED JACOB. When Deborah⁷⁷Instead of DEBORAH (Rebekah’s nurse) Yalqut Shim‘oni, Cant., 991, reads, “Rebekah” here. died (in Gen. 35:8), < the Holy One > came to visit him; and, when he went out into lodgings, he was with him. It is so stated (in Gen. 28:15): AND SEE, I AM WITH YOU. When he returned, he was with him, as stated (in Gen. 31:3): THEN GOD SAID UNTO JACOB: < RETURN UNTO THE LAND OF YOUR ANCESTORS WHERE YOU WERE BORN >, AND I WILL BE WITH YOU.

And Ihuri, king of Shiloh, came to Elon’s assistance, and when he approached Jacob, Jacob took ‎the bow which was in his hand and struck Ihuri with an arrow and killed him. And when Ihuri ‎king of Shiloh was dead the other four kings retreated from their positions with the remainder ‎of their princes, and they fled, saying: There is not strength in us to fight against the Hebrews ‎after they have slain those three kings and their princes, so much more powerful than we are. ‎And when the sons of Jacob saw the remaining kings retreating from their positions, they ‎went in pursuit of them. And Jacob came likewise from his station on the hill of Shechem and ‎went after them. And when the kings and their princes, with the remnants of their armies saw ‎the sons of Jacob approaching, they were afraid of their lives, and they fled until they reached ‎the city of Hazar. And the sons of Jacob pursued them to the very gates of the city, slaying of ‎the kings and their armies about four thousand men, and while they were engaged in smiting ‎the armies, Jacob with his bow aimed at the kings and slew them all. And he slew Parathon, ‎the king of Hazar at the gates of Hazar, and afterwards also Susi king of Sarton, and Laban king ‎of Beth-horin, and Shabir king of Machnaimah. And he slew them all with his arrows, only one ‎arrow to each of them, and they died. And when the sons of Jacob saw that all the kings were ‎dead and their armies routed, they still fought with the remaining men before the gates of ‎Hazar killing of them over four hundred. And three men fell in that battle from the servants of ‎Jacob. And when Jacob saw that three of his men were slain he was greatly grieved, and his ‎wrath burnt within him against the Amorites. And all the men that were left of the armies of ‎the kings were exceedingly afraid of their lives, and they ran and broke open the gates of the ‎city, and they all entered the city to save themselves. And they kept themselves hidden in the ‎city of Hazar for the city was very large and spacious. And when all of the armies had entered ‎the city, the sons of Jacob followed them. But four powerful men, heroes skilled in warfare, ‎came from the city and posted themselves at the entrance of the city with swords drawn and ‎with spears in their hands, and they took their stand against the sons of Jacob and would not ‎permit them to enter the city. And Naphtali ran against them and came between them and he ‎slew two of them with his sword and he cut off their heads with one blow. And when he ‎turned to the remaining men, and behold they had fled, he ran after them and overtook them ‎and he slew them.‎

(Gen. 35:9:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN…. This text is related (to Eccl. 7:2): IT IS BETTER TO GO UNTO A HOUSE OF MOURNING < THAN UNTO A HOUSE OF FEASTING >…. R. Simeon bar Abba said: There are two ways to be charitable, to be charitable with a bride and with the dead. If both of these < opportunities > should present themselves to you, you would not know which of them to seize first. Solomon came and explained (in Eccl. 7:2): IT IS BETTER TO GO INTO THE HOUSE OF MOURNING < THAN UNTO A HOUSE OF FEASTING >…. We have found that, when people have gone to the house of feasting, their names were not specified; but, when people have gone to the house of mourning, they have been excluded from Gehinnom, their names have been specified, and they have prophesied through the Holy Spirit.⁷⁵Eccl.R. 7:2:4. So who were those who entered the house of feasting? It is written (in Gen. 21:8): SO THE CHILD (Isaac) GREW AND WAS WEANED, AND ABRAHAM MADE A GREAT FEAST. What is the meaning of GREAT? It teaches that Shem, Eber, and Abimelech were there; but their names were not specified.⁷⁶Cf. Gen. R. 53:10. However, the names of those who went to the house of mourning {Job and his friends} were excluded from Gehinnom and the Holy Spirit rested upon them, i.e., upon Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. And the Holy Spirit rested upon them, in that it is stated (in Job 4:1): THEN ANSWERED ELIPHAZ THE TEMANITE. Now he would only have answered in the language of prophecy. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 19:19): MOSES SPOKE, AND GOD ANSWERED HIM IN THUNDER.⁷⁷See also ySot. 7:2 (21c). Ergo: IT IS BETTER TO GO INTO THE HOUSE OF MOURNING < THAN INTO A HOUSE OF FEASTING >…. And who was the first to show his face [as a mourner]. See, the Holy One says < when >. When? When Deborah died, as stated (in Gen. 35:8): THEN < REBEKAH'S NURSE > DEBORAH DIED < AND WAS BURIED UNDER THE OAK BELOW BETHEL; AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK >. And it is written (in vs. 9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN … < AND BLESSED HIM >.⁷⁸According to below, 8:26; Eccl. 7:2:3, the Holy One blessed him with a benediction for mourners.

(Gen. 35:9:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN…. This text is related (to Eccl. 7:2): IT IS BETTER TO GO UNTO A HOUSE OF MOURNING < THAN UNTO A HOUSE OF FEASTING >…. R. Simeon bar Abba said: There are two ways to be charitable, to be charitable with a bride and with the dead. If both of these < opportunities > should present themselves to you, you would not know which of them to seize first. Solomon came and explained (in Eccl. 7:2): IT IS BETTER TO GO INTO THE HOUSE OF MOURNING < THAN UNTO A HOUSE OF FEASTING >…. We have found that, when people have gone to the house of feasting, their names were not specified; but, when people have gone to the house of mourning, they have been excluded from Gehinnom, their names have been specified, and they have prophesied through the Holy Spirit.⁷⁵Eccl.R. 7:2:4. So who were those who entered the house of feasting? It is written (in Gen. 21:8): SO THE CHILD (Isaac) GREW AND WAS WEANED, AND ABRAHAM MADE A GREAT FEAST. What is the meaning of GREAT? It teaches that Shem, Eber, and Abimelech were there; but their names were not specified.⁷⁶Cf. Gen. R. 53:10. However, the names of those who went to the house of mourning {Job and his friends} were excluded from Gehinnom and the Holy Spirit rested upon them, i.e., upon Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. And the Holy Spirit rested upon them, in that it is stated (in Job 4:1): THEN ANSWERED ELIPHAZ THE TEMANITE. Now he would only have answered in the language of prophecy. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 19:19): MOSES SPOKE, AND GOD ANSWERED HIM IN THUNDER.⁷⁷See also ySot. 7:2 (21c). Ergo: IT IS BETTER TO GO INTO THE HOUSE OF MOURNING < THAN INTO A HOUSE OF FEASTING >…. And who was the first to show his face [as a mourner]. See, the Holy One says < when >. When? When Deborah died, as stated (in Gen. 35:8): THEN < REBEKAH'S NURSE > DEBORAH DIED < AND WAS BURIED UNDER THE OAK BELOW BETHEL; AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK >. And it is written (in vs. 9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN … < AND BLESSED HIM >.⁷⁸According to below, 8:26; Eccl. 7:2:3, the Holy One blessed him with a benediction for mourners.

And then the sons of Jacob came into the city, and they found that the city had another wall ‎around it. And they searched for the gate of that wall but they could not find it. And Judah ‎jumped upon the top of the wall followed by Simeon and Levi, and all three descended from ‎the wall into the city. And Simeon and Levi slew all the men that had escaped into the city for ‎safety, and the inhabitants of the place with their women and children they slew likewise with ‎the edge of the sword, so that the cries of the city reached the very heavens. And | Dan and ‎Naphtali sprang upon the wall to see what caused such great crying, for they were in fears ‎concerning their brothers, and they heard the inhabitants of the city crying and entreating: Oh, ‎take all there is in the city and go away, only do not slay us! And when Judah and Simeon and ‎Levi had finished smiting the inhabitants of the city, they scaled the wall and they called Dan ‎and Naphtali that were on the wall, and the rest of their brothers, and Simeon and Levi ‎informed them concerning the gates of the city, and all the sons of Jacob came to take the ‎spoil. And the sons of Jacob took all the spoil of the city of Hazar, the flocks and the herds and ‎all its wealth, and after taking captive all remaining therein, they went away from the city on ‎that day. And on the second day the sons of Jacob went to Sarton, for they have heard that ‎the men remaining in Sarton were assembling to battle with them because they had slain their ‎king. And Sarton was a very high city and well fortified, and it had a deep rampart around the ‎city and the depth of the rampart was about fifty cubits and its breadth forty cubits, and there ‎was no place for a man to enter the city on account of the rampart. And when the sons of ‎Jacob saw the rampart of the city they searched for an entrance into it, but they could not find ‎it, for the entrance of the city was at the rear. And whosoever wished to enter the city had to ‎come by that road and then go around the whole city in order to enter it. And when the sons ‎of Jacob saw that they could not find an entrance to the city they were exceedingly wroth. ‎And the inhabitants of the city were in great fear of the sons of Jacob, for they had heard of ‎what was done by them to the city of Hazar. And the people of Sarton, could not go out to ‎fight against the sons of Jacob even after they had assembled for that purpose, for fearth: ‎while going out, the sons of Jacob might enter the city. So they hastily removed the bridge ‎from the road to the city and brought it into the city before the sons of Jacob came. And when ‎the inhabitants of the city went up to the top of the wall, and behold, the sons of Jacob were ‎seeking the entrance, they taunted and cursed the sons of Jacob from the top of the wall.‎

[(Gen. 35:9:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN….] < AND BLESSED HIM >. This text is related (to Job 4:12-13): NOW A WORD WAS SECRETLY BROUGHT UNTO ME, AND MY EAR RECEIVED A WHISPER OF IT, IN THOUGHTS FROM NIGHT VISIONS, WHEN DEEP SLEEP FALLS UPON PEOPLE. NOW A WORD WAS SECRETLY BROUGHT UNTO ME. [When the Holy One reveals himself unto the wicked, he reveals himself unto them by stealth at night; but] when he reveals himself unto the righteous, he reveals himself unto them in public.⁷⁹Gk.: parresia. {But when he} [R. Issachar said: When the Holy One] reveals himself unto the wicked, he reveals himself in colloquial speech, in unclean speech,⁸⁰Gen. R. 52:5; Lev. R. 1:13. in semi-utterance. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 23:4): THEN GOD ENCOUNTERED BALAAM. ENCOUNTERED < denotes > nothing but unclean speech. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 23:11 [10]): WHO IS UNCLEAN BECAUSE OF WHAT HE ENCOUNTERS AT NIGHT (i.e., a nocturnal emission). But when he reveals himself to the righteous, he reveals himself in clean speech. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 1:1): THEN < THE LORD > CALLED UNTO MOSES < AND SPOKE UNTO HIM FROM THE TENT OF MEETING >. It was therefore stated (in Job 4:12): NOW A WORD WAS SECRETLY BROUGHT UNTO ME (Eliphaz). When the Holy One reveals himself to the wicked, [he reveals himself] in the night because their deeds are dark like the night. For that reason he reveals himself to them in the night. Thus it is stated (concerning Laban in Gen. 31:24): THEN GOD CAME UNTO LABAN < THE ARAMAEAN > IN A DREAM AT NIGHT. But when he comes to the righteous, what is written (in Gen. 35:9)? NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN, < WHEN HE CAME FROM PADDANARAM >.⁸¹Since the Holy One appeared to Jacob on arrival, before he had retired for the night, the verse implies that the Holy One appeared during the daylight hours.

And the sons of Jacob hearing their words, were greatly provoked, and they arose and jumped ‎over the rampart in the force of their strength and they cleared the forty cubit breadth of the ‎rampart. And passing the rampart, they stood under the wall of the city and all the entrances ‎were closed by iron gates. And the sons of Jacob approached to break the doors open, but the ‎inhabitants of the city kept them away, casting upon them stones and arrows from the top of ‎the wall, and the number of people upon the wall was about four hundred. And when the ‎sons of Jacob saw that the inhabitants of the city would not suffer them to open the gates ‎they sprang and scaled the walls and Judah ascended first to the east of the city. And Gad and ‎Asher followed him to the corner westward, and Simeon and Levi to the north and Dan and ‎Reuben to the south. And when the inhabitants of the city that were upon the wall, saw the ‎sons of Jacob coming up to them they fled, and descended the wall and concealed themselves ‎in the city. And Issachar and Naphtali who had remained under the wall approached and broke ‎into the city and kindled a fire at the gates thereof, and the iron melted, and the sons of Jacob ‎with all their servants entered; and they fought with the inhabitants of Sarton and smote them ‎with the edge of the sword; not one man could stand against them. And about two hundred ‎men escaped and hid themselves in a tower which was in the city. And Judah followed them ‎up and he destroyed the tower and the tower fell upon them and they all died. And the sons ‎of Jacob ascended the way to the roof of that tower, and behold there was another tower at a ‎distance in the city, high and strong and its top reaching into heaven. And the sons of Jacob ‎descended hastily and went to that tower with all their men, and they found it filled with ‎about three hundred men women and children. And the sons of Jacob smote those men in ‎the tower in a fearful manner, and they ran away and fled from before them. And Simeon and ‎Levi went in pursuit of them, when lo and behold, twelve powerful and heroic men came ‎suddenly over them from the place where they had concealed themselves. And the twelve ‎men kept up a strong assault upon Simeon and Levi and Simeon and Levi could not prevail ‎against them. And those heroes shattered the shields of Simeon and Levi, and one of them ‎struck Levi’s head with his sword. And Levi placed his hand quickly to his head, for he was ‎afraid of the sword, and the sword struck Levi's hand and his hand was nearly cut off. And Levi ‎seized upon the sword and took it from the man by force, and then he struck with it the head ‎of the powerful man and severed it from the body.‎

[(Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN]… < AND GOD SAID TO HIM: I AM GOD ALMIGHTY >. This text is related (to … Ps. 61:6 [5]): FOR YOU, O GOD, HAVE HEARKENED TO MY VOWS; < YOU HAVE GRANTED THE HERITAGE OF THOSE WHO FEAR YOUR NAME >. Isaac had a face with a visage like < that of > his father.⁸²Gk.: prosopon. On Isaac’s face being like that of Abraham, see Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 25:19; BM 87a. (Gen. 25:19:) THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC BEN ABRAHAM: ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC. What is the meaning of ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC? That he had a face with a visage like that of his father. Ergo (in Ps. 61:6 [5]): YOU HAVE GRANTED THE HERITAGE OF THOSE WHO FEAR YOUR NAME.⁸³According to BM 87a, Isaac’s visage miraculously became like that of Abraham and thereby demonstrated his paternity, i.e., that Isaac had a heritage. Just as Abraham had the Holy One speak with him at the age of ninety-nine years (in Gen. 17:1), so did Jacob have the Holy One speak with him at the age of ninety-nine years. Just as Abraham had the Holy One say to him (in Gen. 17:1): I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY;⁸⁴These last four words are not found in the Masoretic Text. so did JACOB have him speak with him as God Almighty. It is so stated (in Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN … < AND GOD SAID TO HIM >: [I AM GOD ALMIGHTY); BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY.

[(Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN]… < AND GOD SAID TO HIM: I AM GOD ALMIGHTY >. This text is related (to … Ps. 61:6 [5]): FOR YOU, O GOD, HAVE HEARKENED TO MY VOWS; < YOU HAVE GRANTED THE HERITAGE OF THOSE WHO FEAR YOUR NAME >. Isaac had a face with a visage like < that of > his father.⁸²Gk.: prosopon. On Isaac’s face being like that of Abraham, see Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 25:19; BM 87a. (Gen. 25:19:) THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC BEN ABRAHAM: ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC. What is the meaning of ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC? That he had a face with a visage like that of his father. Ergo (in Ps. 61:6 [5]): YOU HAVE GRANTED THE HERITAGE OF THOSE WHO FEAR YOUR NAME.⁸³According to BM 87a, Isaac’s visage miraculously became like that of Abraham and thereby demonstrated his paternity, i.e., that Isaac had a heritage. Just as Abraham had the Holy One speak with him at the age of ninety-nine years (in Gen. 17:1), so did Jacob have the Holy One speak with him at the age of ninety-nine years. Just as Abraham had the Holy One say to him (in Gen. 17:1): I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY;⁸⁴These last four words are not found in the Masoretic Text. so did JACOB have him speak with him as God Almighty. It is so stated (in Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN … < AND GOD SAID TO HIM >: [I AM GOD ALMIGHTY); BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY.

And the eleven remaining men approached to fight against Levi when they saw that one of ‎them was slain, and the sons of Jacob struggled but they could not prevail over those powerful ‎men. And when the sons of Jacob saw this, Simeon uttered a powerful and tremendous shout ‎and the eleven men were stunned on hearing that terrible shrieking of Simeon. And Judah, ‎though at a distance, recognized the shouting of Simeon’s voice, and Naphtali and Judah ran ‎with their shields to Simeon and Levi and they found them struggling with those powerful ‎men, unable to prevail against them, for their shields were broken. And Naphtali seeing this ‎took two shields from his servants, and brought them to Simeon and Levi. And Simeon and ‎Levi and Judah, all three, fought on that day against the eleven mighty men, until sunset, but ‎they could not prevail over them. And when this was told unto Jacob he was greatly grieved ‎and he prayed unto the Lord, and he with his son Naphtali went against those powerful men. ‎And Jacob came near them and he drew his bow and slew three of those men with his arrows, ‎and the eight remaining ones turned backwards, and beheld that they were attacked in the ‎front and in the rear, and they were in great fear of their lives, and seeing that they could not ‎stand against the sons of Jacob they fled from before them. And in their flight they were met ‎by Dan and Asher who fell upon them suddenly slaying two of them, and Judah and his ‎brethren pursued the remainder and slew them. And the sons of Jacob slew all the inhabitants ‎of the city of Sarton save the women and little ones. And all the inhabitants of Sarton were ‎powerful men, one of them would pursue a thousand, and two of them would not flee before ‎ten thousand of ordinary men. And the sons of Jacob took all the spoil of the city according to ‎their desire, and they took flocks and herds and all the property of the city. And the sons of ‎Jacob did unto Sarton and its inhabitants as they had done to Hazar and its people, and then ‎they went their way.‎

This is what God said to Israel: My children what do I seek from you? I seek no more than that you love one another, and honor one another, and that you have awe for one another

[(Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN < .. > AND GOD SAID TO HIM:] < I AM GOD ALMIGHTY >. This text is related (to Deut. 28:6): BLESSED SHALL YOU BE IN YOUR COMING; < AND BLESSED SHALL YOU BE IN YOUR GOING AWAY >. When Jacob went away from his father's house, he went away with a blessing, as stated (in Gen. 28:3): MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU. Also, when he came from Paddan-Aram, he came with a blessing, as stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN < … > AND BLESSED HIM. How did he bless him? R. Levi said: He blessed him with a benediction for mourners. What is written above on the matter (in Gen. 35:8)? THEN < REBEKAH'S NURSE > DEBORAH DIED < AND WAS BURIED UNDER THE OAK BELOW BETHEL; AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK >. R. Samuel bar Nahman said: While Jacob was observing the mourning for his nurse, news < about the death > of his mother came, as stated (ibid.): AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK (Allon Bakhut). R. Samuel bar Nahman said: The language is Hellenistic. What is the meaning of Allon < in Greek >? "Another."⁸⁵I.e., another occasion for weeping, namely the occasion of the death of Rebekah. So Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 35:8; Gen. R. 81:8; PRK 3:1. The Holy One said: How long will this righteous one remain in grief? R. Jonathan bar Il'ay said: The Holy One said: It is right that I show him a friendly face, as stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN….

[(Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN < .. > AND GOD SAID TO HIM:] < I AM GOD ALMIGHTY >. This text is related (to Deut. 28:6): BLESSED SHALL YOU BE IN YOUR COMING; < AND BLESSED SHALL YOU BE IN YOUR GOING AWAY >. When Jacob went away from his father's house, he went away with a blessing, as stated (in Gen. 28:3): MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU. Also, when he came from Paddan-Aram, he came with a blessing, as stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN < … > AND BLESSED HIM. How did he bless him? R. Levi said: He blessed him with a benediction for mourners. What is written above on the matter (in Gen. 35:8)? THEN < REBEKAH'S NURSE > DEBORAH DIED < AND WAS BURIED UNDER THE OAK BELOW BETHEL; AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK >. R. Samuel bar Nahman said: While Jacob was observing the mourning for his nurse, news < about the death > of his mother came, as stated (ibid.): AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK (Allon Bakhut). R. Samuel bar Nahman said: The language is Hellenistic. What is the meaning of Allon < in Greek >? "Another."⁸⁵I.e., another occasion for weeping, namely the occasion of the death of Rebekah. So Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 35:8; Gen. R. 81:8; PRK 3:1. The Holy One said: How long will this righteous one remain in grief? R. Jonathan bar Il'ay said: The Holy One said: It is right that I show him a friendly face, as stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN….

And the sons of Jacob left the city of Sarton, and scarcely had they gone two hundred cubits ‎when they met the inhabitants of Tapuach coming against them, who went forth to fight with ‎them, because they had killed Jashub and all his men, and they were minded to recapture ‎from the sons of Jacob all that they had taken from Hazar and Sarton. And the rest of the men ‎of Tapuach fought with the sons of Jacob in that place and the sons of Jacob vanquished them ‎and they fled from before them and the sons of Jacob pursued them into the city of Arbelan ‎and all of them fell before the sons of Jacob. And the sons of Jacob turned upon Tapuach to ‎take away the spoil of the city, and when they approached the city they heard that the people ‎of Arbelan had gone forth to meet them in order to save the property of their brethren. And ‎the sons of Jacob left ten of their men in Tapuach to plunder the city and they went against ‎the inhabitants of Arbelan. And the men of Arbelan went forth with their wives to battle ‎against the sons of Jacob, for their women were skilled in warfare, and they came out about ‎four hundred men and women. And all the sons of Judah shouted with a terribly loud voice ‎and they ran against the inhabitants of Arbelan with a great uproar. And when the people of ‎Arbelan heard the terrible shouting of the sons of Jacob and their roaring like the voice of lions ‎and the roaring of the sea, fear and terror filled their hearts and they were exceedingly afraid ‎of the sons of Jacob; and they fled before them into the city, but the sons of Jacob pursued ‎them to the gates and came over them even in the city. And the sons of Jacob fought with ‎them in the city, and all the women were slinging stones at them and the combat was very hot ‎between them until the evening of that day. And the sons of Jacob could not prevail, and they ‎almost perished in the struggle when they called upon the Lord. And they soon gained ‎strength and the sons of Jacob smote all the inhabitants of Arbelan with the edge of the ‎sword, men women and children. For when the women saw that all their men were dead they ‎ascended upon the roofs of the city, and cast stones upon the sons of Jacob, thick as rain, and ‎therefore the sons of Jacob hastened and returned into the city, and smote all the women ‎with the edge of the sword, and they took all the spoil, flocks, herds and cattle. And the sons ‎of Jacob did unto Machanaimah even as they had done unto Tapuach, Hazar and Shiloh, and ‎then they turned and went thence on their way.‎

And also the cave of Machpelah which was in Hebron, and which Abraham had bought from ‎Ephron, Jacob took for the possession of a burial ground for himself and his seed forever. And ‎Jacob wrote down all of these transactions into a book of sale and he sealed it and had it ‎testified to by trustworthy witnesses concerning everything. And these are the words which ‎Jacob wrote into the book, saying: The land of Canaan and all the cities of the Hittites and of ‎the Hivites, and of the Jebusites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and of the Gergasites, of all ‎the seven nations from the river of Egypt even unto the river Euphrates, and the entire city of ‎Hebron, to-wit, Kirjath-arba, and the cave that is in it, all these Jacob hath bought of Esau his ‎brother for value received, to possess and to inherit it for himself and his sons and his seed ‎after him forever. And Jacob took the book of sale, and the seal, the laws and the statutes, ‎and the public documents, and he placed them into an earthen vessel so that it be preserved ‎for many days, and he gave it into the hands of his sons. And Esau took all that his father had ‎left after his death, men and servants and camels and asses and oxen and sheep and gold and ‎silver and precious stones, all the wealth that belonged to Isaac, the son of Abraham. And Esau ‎left not the least thing of all the great wealth but he took it all, and he went into the land of ‎Seir, the Horite, and he returned with his sons and procured pos sessions in the midst of the ‎sons of Seir. And Esau never returned unto the land of Canaan after this day. And all the land ‎of Canaan was an inheritance to the sons of Israel forever, and Esau and his sons possessed ‎the mountain of Seir.‎

[(Gen. 35:9:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN.] This text is related (to Job 22:28): WHEN YOU DECREE SOMETHING, IT SHALL COME TO PASS FOR YOU. < The passage > speaks about Jacob. (Ibid., cont.:) [AND LIGHT SHALL SHINE UPON YOUR WAYS. UPON] two WAYS. When he went away from his father's house, the Holy One revealed himself to him. What is written (in Gen. 28:13)? AND BEHOLD, THE LORD STOOD OVER HIM AND SAID. Also, when he returned, what is written (in 35:9)? NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN. What is the meaning of AGAIN? R. Judah said: He said to him: Once AGAIN I am revealing myself to you. The Holy One revealed himself to him five times, which corresponds to the five blessings with which his father had blessed him; and they are as follows (according to Gen. 28:3f): (1) < MAY > GOD ALMIGHTY < BLESS YOU, (2) MAKE YOU FRUITFUL, AND (3) MULTIPLY YOU, (4) SO THAT YOU MAY BECOME A CONGREGATION OF PEOPLES >; (5) AND MAY HE GRANT YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM…. Here are five blessings. And < God > revealed himself to him:

< Once > When he went away from his father's house, as stated (in Gen. 28:13): AND BEHOLD, THE LORD STOOD OVER HIM.
Once with Laban (in Gen. 31:3): < THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO JACOB > : RETURN UNTO THE LAND OF YOUR ANCESTORS.
Once (in Gen. 35:1): < THEN GOD SAID UNTO JACOB >: ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL.
Once (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN.
And once (in Gen. 46:2,4): THEN GOD SPOKE TO ISRAEL AND SAID…. I MYSELF WILL GO DOWN WITH YOU….

< Once > When he went away from his father's house, as stated (in Gen. 28:13): AND BEHOLD, THE LORD STOOD OVER HIM.
Once with Laban (in Gen. 31:3): < THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO JACOB > : RETURN UNTO THE LAND OF YOUR ANCESTORS.
Once (in Gen. 35:1): < THEN GOD SAID UNTO JACOB >: ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL.
Once (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN.
And once (in Gen. 46:2,4): THEN GOD SPOKE TO ISRAEL AND SAID…. I MYSELF WILL GO DOWN WITH YOU….

Another interpretation (of Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN. What is the meaning of AGAIN? I am never AGAIN {causing my name to rest upon} [joining my name to] a human except < to be called > (as in Exod. 3:6) THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. Once AGAIN I am revealing myself to him.⁸⁶Gen. R. 82:3.

And on the fifth day the sons of Jacob heard that the inhabitants of Gaash had assembled ‎against them to battle, because they had slain their king and their princes. For they had ‎fourteen princes in the city of Gaash, and the sons of Jacob had killed them all in the first ‎encounter. And on that day the sons of Jacob put on their instruments of war, and they ‎advanced to battle against the inhabitants of Gaash. And in Gaash lived a very powerful ‎people, of the sons of the Amorites, and Gaash was a city stronger and more fortified than any ‎of the cities of the Amorites, and it had three walls. And when the sons of Jacob came to ‎Gaash they found the gates of the city locked, and about five hundred men standing upon the ‎outer wall. And a numerous people, even like the sand upon the sea shore, lay in ambush for ‎the sons of Jacob, outside of the city and in its rear. And when the sons of Jacob came near to ‎open the gates of the city, behold, those people that lay in ambush in the rear of the city, ‎came forth from their places and they surrounded the sons of Jacob, so that they were all in ‎the midst of the people of Gaash and they were attacked from either side. And the men that ‎stood upon the wall cast down upon them arrows and stones. And when Judah saw that the ‎people of Gaash were too many for them he uttered a terrible and tremendous shout, and all ‎the men of Gaash were frightened through the noise of Judah’s shrieking, and the strength of ‎his shouting caused many to fall from the wall, and all those that were in the city and those ‎outside thereof were in fear of their lives. And the sons of Jacob once more approached the ‎gates of the city, and the men of Gaash cast upon them stones and arrows from the top of the ‎wall, and made them to flee from the gate. And the sons of Jacob turned against those men of ‎Gaash that were outside of the city and they smote them in a horrible manner, as if they were ‎smiting against pumpkins, and none of them could stand against the sons of Jacob, for they ‎were frightened and terrified by Judah’s shouting. And the sons of Jacob killed all those men ‎that were outside of the city and then they attempted again to enter the city, and to fight ‎under the walls of the city, but they succeeded not. For all the inhabitants of Gaash, that were ‎in the city, had surrounded the walls on either side and the sons of Jacob could not come near ‎the city to fight with them. And as the sons of Jacob approached one corner, to fight under the ‎wall, the people threw upon them arrows and stones like a rain storm, and they fled from ‎under the wall.‎

(Gen. 35:9:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN. What is written next (in vs. 11)? AND GOD SAID TO HIM: I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY. You are an omen for your children. When I came to you, I came laden with blessings. So, when I come to your children, I will come laden with blessings, as stated (in Exod. 20:21 [24]): IN EVERY PLACE WHERE I CAUSE MY NAME TO BE MENTIONED, I WILL COME UNTO YOU AND BLESS YOU. Ergo (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN, < WHEN HE CAME FROM PADDANARAM, AND BLESSED HIM >. And not to Jacob only < did he do so >, but also to our father Abraham. What is written (about Abraham in Gen. 18:1)? THEN THE LORD APPEARED UNTO HIM … < AS HE SAT >….⁸⁷Above, 4:4; Gen. R. 48:7; PRK 5:8. The Holy One was standing, as it were, while he was sitting. He wanted to stand. The Holy One said to him: Sit down! By your life, you are an omen for your children. Just as you sit while I stand; {according to what is stated (in Ps. 82:1): GOD STANDS IN THE DIVINE CONGREGATION} so also shall your children sit in synagogues and academies while I stand, as it were, according to what is stated (in Ps. 82:1): GOD STANDS IN THE DIVINE CONGREGATION. Here also (at Paddan-Aram in Gen. 35:9) the Holy One said to Jacob: You are an omen to your children. Just as in your case, when I came to you, I came laden with blessings; < so > also in the case of your children, when I reveal myself to them, I will be laden with blessings. As soon as the Tabernacle had been built, what is written (in Numb. 7:1, 4): SO IT CAME TO PASS THAT ON THE DAY THAT MOSES HAD FINISHED SETTING UP THE TABERNACLE, < HAD ANOINTED IT AND SANCTIFIED IT…THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES >. Now, when work on it was finished, the Holy One said: I have made an agreement with them. When I reveal myself to them, I will be laden with blessings. What did the Holy One do? He blessed them and later revealed himself to them. What is written about the priestly blessing (in Numb. 6:24-26)? THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU; THE LORD MAKE HIS FACE SHINE UPON YOU AND BE GRACIOUS TO YOU; THE LORD LIFT UP HIS FACE UNTO YOU AND GRANT YOU PEACE. Then, later (in Numb. 7:1, 4): SO IT CAME TO PASS THAT ON THE DAY THAT MOSES HAD FINISHED SETTING UP THE TABERNACLE … < THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES >.

And when the people of Gaash saw that the sons of Jacob could not prevail, they taunted the ‎sons of Jacob, saying: What hath happened to you in the war that you cannot succeed. Can ‎you do to the mighty city of Gaash as you have done to the other cities of the Amorites which ‎are less powerful? Verily to those feeble ones amongst us you could do those things to slay ‎them in the gates of the city, for they had no strength, when you terrified them with your ‎powerful shrieking, but will you be able to fight in this place? Verily here you must die all of ‎you, and we will avenge on you the cause of the cities which you have destroyed. And the ‎inhabitants of Gaash taunted the sons of Jacob greatly cursing their God, and still casting ‎stones and arrows upon them from the wall. And when Judah and his brothers heard these ‎words, their anger was greatly excited, and Judah became zealous of his God concerning that ‎matter and he called out saying: Oh Lord help us and our brethren. And he ran from the ‎distance, sword in hand, and by reason of his great strength he sprang from the ground and ‎mounted the wall and his sword fell from his hand. And Judah shouted tremendously upon ‎the wall, so that many of the men that were upon the wall were terrified, and fell down from ‎the wall and died, and those remain ing upon the wall, seeing Judah’s strength were greatly ‎afraid of their lives and they fled into the city to save themselves. And some of them, seeing ‎that Judah had no sword, became emboldened and they approached to slay him and to throw ‎him from the wall to his brothers. And twenty men of the city came to their assistance, and ‎they surrounded Judah, shouting at him and coming near him with drawn swords. And Judah ‎became terrified and he cried out to his brothers from the top of the wall. And Jacob and his ‎sons drew the bows from under the wall and slew three men upon the top of the wall. And ‎Judah continued crying, and he exclaimed: Oh Lord help us, oh Lord save us. And his loud ‎crying upon the wall was heard at a great distance. And after thus crying, Judah shouted once ‎more and the men around him were greatly terrified at Judah’s voice, and they threw away ‎the swords from their hands and fled. And Judah seized the swords which they had thrown ‎away and he fought with them and slew twenty of their men that were upon the wall. And ‎about eighty men and women ascended the wall, surrounding Judah; but the Lord filled their ‎hearts with fear of Judah and they dared not approach him.

(Gen. 35:11:) AND GOD SAID < TO HIM >: I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY … [AND KINGS SHALL COME OUT OF YOUR LOINS]. The sages have said: On the basis of this text Abner drew an interpretation, as a result of which he enthroned Saul's son Ishbosheth,⁸⁸Gen. R. 82:4. namely, that Benjamin was going to produce two kings, since < God > had said to him: AND KINGS (in the plural) SHALL COME OUT OF YOUR LOINS.⁸⁹Abner’s argument was that, as a promise, the passage refers to the future and that the next event mentioned (in vss. 16-18) is the birth of Jacob’s last son, Benjamin. Now until then only Saul had arisen (as a king out of Benjamin). He therefore enthroned Saul's son Ishbosheth. And not only that, but also in < the incident of > the concubine at Gibeah (Jud. 19-21), {< the Israelites > had readmitted him (i.e., Benjamin)}. R. Samuel bar Nahman said: < They did so > on the basis of this text. When they had opposed him, they had said (in Jud. 21:1): NONE OF US SHALL GIVE HIS DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGE TO BENJAMIN. Thus they had banished him, but they later repented and accepted him. They said: If he were not more exalted than the heavens, the Holy One would not have said to our father Jacob (in Gen. 35:11), when he came < back > to the land from abroad: AND KINGS SHALL COME OUT OF YOUR LOINS. Thus on the basis of this text they readmitted him.

And when the people upon the ‎wall saw that twenty of their men were dead, they rushed all toward Judah with their drawn ‎swords, but they could not approach him for fear of his great strength. And one of the most ‎powerful men, by the name of Arud came near striking with his sword at Judah’s head, but ‎Judah placed his shield quickly against his head and the sword struck the shield and flew in ‎twain. And the powerful man, after having struck Judah, ran for his life, and he slipped and fell ‎from the wall amongst the sons of Jacob under the wall, and the sons of Jacob smote him and ‎killed him. And Judah’s head pained him from the blow of that heroic man, and he was nearly ‎dead from that blow. And Judah cried out in the agony of his pain, and when Dan heard him his ‎anger kindled within him. And Dan also took a run from the distance and sprang from the ‎ground upon the wall with his great strength and burning wrath. And when Dan mounted the ‎wall all the men upon it that surrounded Judah fled hastily, and ascended the second wall, ‎throwing stones and arrows at Judah and Dan from the second wall, in order to drive them ‎away. And the arrows and stones struck Dan and Judah, and they were almost slain upon the ‎wall, and whithersoever they turned they were attacked by stones and arrows from the ‎second wall. And Jacob and his sons were still at the entrance of the city, under the first wall, ‎but they could not use their bows against the people of the city, for they could not be seen by ‎them from the second wall. And when Dan and Judah saw that they could no longer stand the ‎attack of the stones and arrows from the second wall, they both jumped over to the top of the ‎second wall. And when the people of the city, upon the second wall, saw that Dan and Judah ‎were amongst them they cried out in their fear and descended between the walls. And Jacob ‎and his sons heard the shouting from the people of the city, and they were in great anxiety ‎concerning Dan and Judah on they second wall, whom they could not see. And Naphtali went ‎with his strength, excited by wrath, and he jumped upon the first wall, to ascertain the cause ‎of that great shouting heard from the city. And meantime Issachar and Zebulun approached to ‎break the doors of the city, and they opened the gates and entered the city. And Naphtali ‎sprang from the first wall to the second wall and came to his brothers' assistance. And when ‎the people of Gaash, that were upon the second wall, saw that Naphtali was the third one ‎who had come to assist his brothers, they fled and descended into the city,‎

Another interpretation (of Gen. 35:11): I AM GOD ALMIGHTY. Aquila translated (in his Greek version): I AM TRUSTWORTHY TO REPAY TO EVERYONE ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS.⁹⁰Apart from this reference in the Buber Tanhuma, all other evidence indicates that Aquila regularly translated GOD ALMIGHTY (El Shadday) with the Greek words ischyros and hikanos, which mean “mighty” and “sufficient.” So Joseph Reider and Nigel Turner, An Index to Aquila (“Supplements to Vetus Testamentum,” 12; Leiden: Brill, 1966), s.v., hikanos, ischyros, El, and Shadday; so also Gen. R. 46:3, as interpreted by Reider, Prolegomena to a Greek-Hebrew and Hebrew-Greek Index to Aquila, 1913 Dropsie College Ph.D. thesis (Philadelphia: Dropsie, 1916), p. 152.

and Jacob with all of his young men came over them in the city. And Judah and Dan and ‎Naphtali also descended from the wall into the city and they pursued the inhabitants of the ‎city. And when the inhabitants of the city had all descended, the sons of Jacob came over ‎them from all sides, and being surrounded and attacked from front and rear, the sons of Jacob ‎smote them terribly, and they killed of them about twenty thousand men and women; not ‎one could stand against the sons of Jacob. And the blood flowed terribly through the city even ‎like a brook of water, and it flowed out of the city reaching the desert of Beth horin. And when ‎the people of Beth-horin saw at the distance the blood flowing from the city of Gaash, seventy ‎of their men ran to see the blood, and they reached the place whence it had come. And they ‎traced the blood to the walls of the city of Gaash, and they saw the blood issuing from the city ‎and they heard the terrible crying from the inhabitants of Gaash which ascended unto heaven, ‎while the blood was always increasing and flowing like a brook of water. And the people said: ‎Verily that is the work of the Hebrews who are still waging war against all the cities of the ‎Amorites. And these men ran back hastily to Beth horin grasping their weapons and crying out ‎to the inhabitants of Beth-horin to girt on their instruments of war and to come and fight ‎against the sons of Jacob. And when the sons of Jacob had finished smiting the people of ‎Gaash, they marched through the city to take spoil from the slain. And when they came into ‎the heart of the city they were met by three mighty men who had no swords in their hands. ‎And one of those three men seized upon Zebulun, whom he saw to be a lad and of small ‎stature, and dashed him against the ground with all his might. And Jacob ran to him with his ‎sword and smote him below the loins cutting him in twain, and the body fell upon Zebulun. ‎And the second of those powerful men approached Jacob to fell him to the ground, but Jacob ‎turned and shouted at him, and Simeon and Levi came and smote him upon the hips with their ‎swords and felled him to the ground.‎‏ ‏And the powerful man rose from the ground with all his ‎might excited by wrath, but ere he stood upon his feet Judah came and struck him with his ‎sword over the head, and his skull was split and he died.‎‏ ‏And when the third powerful man ‎saw that his companions were slain, he ran away from the sons of Jacob.‎‏ ‏And the sons of ‎Jacob pursued him through the city,‎

(Exodus 14:30) "And Israel saw Egypt dead on the shore of the sea": For four reasons: That they not say: Just as we came up on this side, so they came up on another side (and will pursue us); so that the Egyptians not say: Just as we were lost in the sea, so Israel was lost in the sea; so that Israel take the spoils, the Egyptians being laden with silver, gold, and precious stones and pearls; so that Israel regard them and see them dying, and rebuke them, viz. (Psalms 50:22) "I will rebuke you and lay it before your eyes," (Michah 7:10) "Then my foe will see, and shame will cover her." It is written "dead on the shore of the sea." Now were they dead? The intent is dead and not dead, i.e., "dying," as in (Genesis 35:18) "and it was as her soul departed when she died." Now was she dead? The intent is dead and not dead, i.e., "dying." Variantly: "And Israel saw Egypt dead": different types of death, one worse than the other, their having been smitten with different plagues in the sea.

And thus is it written (Ibid. 35:22) "And it was, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuven went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard." When Jacob heard this, he shuddered and said: Can it be that there is "base matter" in my sons! — until he was told by the L-rd that Reuven had repented, as it is written (Ibid.) "And the sons of Jacob were twelve" (including Reuven.) We are hereby taught that Reuven afflicted himself all of his days because of that act, until Moses accepted his penitence, viz. (Devarim 33:6) "Reuven shall live (in this world) and he shall not die" (in the world to come).

And the sons of Jacob were greatly afraid of those men, for they had never tried to fight in the ‎dark, and they were greatly terrified.‎‏ ‏And the sons of Jacob cried unto the Lord, saying: Oh ‎Lord grant us thy help and deliverance, that we should not die by the hands of these ‎uncircumcised ones.‎‏ ‏And the Lord heard the prayer of the sons of Jacob, and he caused great ‎terror and confusion to possess the people of Beth-horin, and they fought in the darkness of ‎night one against the other, and they slew one another in great numbers.‎‏ ‏And when the sons ‎of Jacob ascertained that the Lord hath caused a spirit of confusion to come among those men ‎and that they were fighting among themselves, each one against his neighbor, they passed ‎out from among the ranks of the people of Beth-horin, and they descended the heights and ‎marched on even further, and they rested there securely that night with all their young men.‎‏ ‏And the men of Beth-horin kept on fighting all night one against his brother and one against his ‎neighbor, and they were crying aloud all over the height, so that the noise was heard at a ‎distance and the earth shook at their shouting, for they were more powerful than any other ‎people of the earth; and all the inhabitants of the cities of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and ‎the Amorites, and the Hivites, and all the kings of Canaan as well as those dwelling on the ‎other side of the Jordan, heard the terrible shouting on that night, and they said: Verily, those ‎are the battles of the Hebrews which they are fighting with the seven cities that approached ‎them, and who can stand up against these Hebrews? And all the inhabitants of Canaan, and all ‎those dwelling on the other side of the Jordan were greatly afraid of the sons of Jacob,

for they said: Behold, as they have done to these cities they may do also unto us, for who can ‎withstand their exceeding strength ? And the great shouting of the Horinites in that night grew always ‎louder, and they smote each other until morning, and a great many of them were slain.‎‏ ‏And in the ‎morning at the dawn of day, the sons of Jacob rose up and ascended the height and they smote the ‎remaining ones of the Horinites in a terrible manner, and they were all killed upon the height.‎‏ ‏And on ‎the sixth day the people of Canaan saw from the distance all the in habitants of Beth-horin slain and ‎scattered about upon the height like so many dead lambs and goats.‎‏ ‏And the sons of Jacob went to ‎Beth-horin and they found the city full of people, even like the sand of the sea, and they fought them, ‎and the sons of Jacob smote them until evening.‎‏ ‏And the sons of Jacob did unto Beth horin as they ‎had done to Tapuach, and to Gaash, and to Hazar and to Sarton and to Shiloh, and they took the spoil ‎of Beth-horin together with the spoils of the other cities, and they went back to their place in ‎Shechem on that day.‎‏ ‏And the sons of Jacob had reached their home in the city of Shechem on the ‎sixth day, and they remained outside of the city, resting themselves from the fight, and they tarried ‎there that night.‎‏ ‏And all their servants, and all the spoils taken from the cities they left outside of ‎Shechem, for they said: Perhaps there are some other ones yet to come and fight against us, to ‎besiege us in Shechem.‎‏ ‏And Jacob with his sons and their servants, remained on that day and on the ‎day following, in the section of the field which Jacob had bought from Hamor for five shekels, and all ‎their spoil was with them, abundant like the sand of the sea shore. And all the inhabitants of the land ‎saw them from the distance, and they were all afraid of the sons of Jacob after they could do these ‎things, the like of which no king had ever done since times of yore. And the seven kings of the ‎Canaanites concluded to make peace with the sons of Jacob, for they were in great fear of their lives. ‎And on the same day, which was the seventh day, Japhia king of Hebron sent secretly his messengers ‎to the king of Ai, and to the king of Gibeon, and to the king of Shalem, and to the king of Adulam, and ‎to the king of Lahush, and to the king of Hazar, and to all the Canaanitish kings that were under their ‎hands, say ing: Come up to me that we go to the sons of Jacob and I will make with them a covenant of ‎peace, lest your lands will be made waste by their swords, as it hath been done with the city of ‎Shechem and the surrounding cities of which you have heard and seen. And if you come to me do not ‎come with many men, but let each of the kings come with three of his chief princes and with every ‎prince three of his servants. And come all of you to Hebron and we will go together to the sons of ‎Jacob, and entreat them to establish with us a covenant of peace. And all these kings did according to ‎the message of the king of Hebron, for they were all subject to his power and order, and all the kings ‎of Canaan assembled to go to the sons of Jacob, and to make peace with them. And the sons of Jacob ‎returned into the section of the field before Shechem, for they did not trust in the words of the kings ‎of the land. And the sons of Jacob tarried ten days in the portion of the field, but no one came to make ‎war against them, and when they saw that there was no probability of war, they assembled and ‎returned into the city of Shechem. And the sons of Jacob dwelt in Shechem. And all the kings of the ‎Amorites assembled at the end of forty days from all their places, and they came to Japhia king of ‎Hebron. And the kings that came to Hebron, to make peace with the sons of Jacob, were twenty-one ‎kings, and the num ber of princes that came with them was sixty-three and their men one hundred ‎and eighty-nine, and all of them camped upon Mount Hebron, and the king of Hebron met them with ‎three princes and nine men, and these kings concluded to go to the sons of Jacob to make peace with ‎them. And they said unto the king of Hebron: Go thou, with thy men before us, and speak in our ‎behalf unto the sons of Jacob, and we will come after wards and submit to thy words. And the king of ‎Hebron did so. And when the sons of Jacob heard that all the kings of Canaan had assembled ‎themselves and camped in Hebron, they sent four of their servants as spies, saying: Go ye and spy ‎those kings and observe and examine their men, whether they be few or many, and if they be few in ‎numbers then count them all and return unto us. And the servants of Jacob went in secrecy unto ‎those kings, and did as they were commanded by the sons of Jacob. And they returned on the same ‎day, saying: We have come unto those kings and they are but few in numbers, and we counted them ‎and there are of them only two hundred and eighty-six, the kings and their men. And the sons of ‎Jacob said: If they are only few in numbers then we will not go out to them all of us. And in the ‎morning the sons of Jacob arose and they selected sixty-two of their men and ten of Jacob’s sons ‎went forth with them. And they girt on their instruments of war, for they said: They are coming to ‎battle with us, as they knew not that they came to sue for peace.‎

And the sons of Jacob with their servants went to the gates of Shechem to meet those kings, ‎and Jacob their father was with them. And when they came forth from the city, behold the ‎king of Hebron with three of his princes and nine men came up the road towards the sons of ‎Jacob; and the sons of Jacob lifted up their eyes and they saw from the distance Japhia, king of ‎Hebron, with his princes coming against them. And the sons of Jacob posted themselves on ‎the place of the gates of Shechem and did not advance. And the king of Hebron continued ‎coming nearer to the sons of Jacob, he and his princes, until they had reached them, and he ‎and his princes bowed down to the ground before the sons of Jacob, and the king of Hebron ‎and his princes seated themselves before Jacob and his sons, and the sons of Jacob said unto ‎him: What hast thou with us, oh king of Hebron; wherefore comest thou unto us to-day, and ‎what desirest thou of us? And the king of Hebron said unto Jacob: I pray thee, my lord, all the ‎kings of the Canaanites have come unto thee to-day to sue for peace. And when the sons of ‎Jacob heard these words they would not incline to them, for they had no faith in his words, for ‎they imagined the king of Hebron spoke unto them with deceit. And the king of Hebron ‎noticed in the words of Jacob's sons that they believed him not and he drew nigh unto Jacob, ‎saying: I pray thee, my lord, but verily these kings came for peace unto you, for they did not ‎come with all their men, nor have they any weapons upon their per sons, as they came to sue ‎for peace of my lord and his sons. And the sons of Jacob replied unto the king of Hebron, ‎saying: Send thou thy messengers that those kings come before us alone and if they appear ‎without instruments of war then we will be convinced that they have come for peace. And ‎Japhia dispatched one of his men, and all the kings came before the sons of Jacob, and they ‎bowed down before the sons of Jacob to the ground and they seated themselves before ‎Jacob and his sons and they spoke unto them, saying: We have heard of all that ye have done ‎unto the kings of the Amorites, with your strong swords and with your powerful arms so that ‎no man could stand against you and we were in great fear of you for our lives lest we fare like ‎unto them, and therefore we have come unto you to establish a covenant of peace between ‎us. And now do grant us such a covenant of peace and of truth that you will not touch us even ‎as we have never touched you. And the sons of Jacob knew now beyond doubt that they ‎came to sue for peace, and the sons of Jacob hearkened unto them and they formed a treaty ‎of peace with them. And all the sons of Jacob swore unto them never to touch them and all ‎the kings swore likewise to the sons of Jacob. And the sons of Jacob made them their subjects ‎from that day on.‎

Rabbi Ze’eira began: “My lyre is for mourning, and my flute is for the voice of weepers” (Job 30:31). There it is taught: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as joyous for Israel as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur, on which the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in white borrowed garments so as not to embarrass one who did not have one. All the garments require immersion. The daughters of Israel would go out in them and dance in the vineyards.¹²⁷Mishna Taanit 4:8. It is taught: One who did not have a wife would turn to there. What would they say? ‘Young man, lift your eyes and see what you are choosing for yourself. Do not look at beauty, look at lineage.’ Likewise it says: “Emerge, daughters of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, and on the day of the rejoicing of his heart” (Song of Songs 3:11). “The day of his wedding” – this is the giving of the Torah. “The day of the rejoicing of his heart” – this is the building of the Temple, may it be built speedily in our days.
Granted Yom Kippur, as it is a day of pardon and forgiveness for Israel, the day on which the last tablets were given. However, what is the fifteenth of Av? Rabbi Yaakov bar Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Asi: It is the ideal time for chopping trees, as all the trees chopped on it do not produce a worm, and it is taught: Any wood in which a worm is found is disqualified from being atop the altar.¹²⁸Mishna Midot 2:5. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana and Rabbi Asi said in the name of Ulla in the name of Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi]: It was then that Hoshea ben Ela canceled the sentries that Yerovam ben Nevat had deployed on the roads.¹²⁹Yerovam, king of Israel, appointed sentries to prevent the residents of his kingdom from ascending to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festivals. Rav Kahana asked before Rav: Is it possible that he did all this good and it is written in his regard: “Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, ascended against him, [and Hoshea became his servant]” (II Kings 17:3)? Rather, it is because he removed the collar from his neck and placed it on the neck of the masses, and he did not say: All the people should ascend and pray, but rather, anyone who wishes to ascend let him ascend.¹³⁰Hoshea was punished, and the rest of his kingdom was punished as well (see II Kings 17:6), because he did not encourage them to ascend to Jerusalem and most of the people did not actually ascend. Previously it had been the king’s fault that the people did not ascend, as they could not go because of the sentries; subsequently it was the people’s fault, and therefore the entire kingdom was punished.
Rabbi Shmuel bat Naḥmani [said], and some say it in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Yitzḥak: [The fifteenth of Av is] the day the tribes were permitted to enter into marriage with one another, as it is stated: “And every daughter who inherits an inheritance [from the tribes of the children of Israel shall be a wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father]” (Numbers 36:8), and it is written: “And no inheritance shall pass from tribe to another tribe…” (Numbers 36:9). Is it possible for a daughter to inherit [from] two tribes? Rather, say on this basis, her father was from one tribe and her mother from another tribe.¹³¹The verse refers to a daughter who inherits “from the tribes of the children of Israel,” implying that her parents were from different tribes. But then the verse goes on to state that a woman cannot marry a man from a different tribe. The Sages understood this to mean that it was only in the first generation when Israel entered the land that women could not marry men from other tribes. The date when it was officially determined that from then on it was permissible was the fifteenth of Av.
The Rabbis said: [It is] the day the tribe of Benjamin was permitted to enter the congregation, as it is written: “Cursed is one who gives a woman to Benjamin” (Judges 21:18). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: They read a verse and drew them near, they read a verse and distanced them. They read a verse and drew them near: “A nation and an assembly of nations shall be from you” (Genesis 35:11).¹³²When God promised this to Jacob, Benjamin had not yet been born, meaning that it was necessary to ensure that Benjamin would procreate. They read a verse and distanced them: “Ephraim and Manasseh will be like Reuben and Simeon for me” (Genesis 48:5) – as they are not considered with their brothers.¹³³The total of twelve tribes could be achieved without Benjamin, with the addition of Ephraim and Manasseh. Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: It was the day that the tribes were permitted [to marry each other].
Rav Matna said: It was the day that the slain of Beitar were allowed to be buried. Rabbi Eliezer the Great said: It is reasonable on the fifteenth; from that point on, the intensity of the sun wanes and they would no longer chop wood for the arrangement. Rabbi Menasya said: They called it the day of the breaking of the scythe. From that point on: One who adds, adds, and one who does not add, will be gathered.¹³⁴From this point on, the nights begin to be lengthy. Since night is a good time for Torah study, the midrash states that years of life will be added for one who adds to his hours of Torah study. One who does not will die young.
Rabbi Avin and Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is the day that the digging for those who died in the wilderness was halted. Rabbi Levi said: Every eve of the ninth of Av, Moses would dispatch a herald to the entire camp, saying: ‘Go out and dig,’ and they would go out and dig graves and sleep in them. In the morning, he would dispatch a herald saying: ‘Rise and separate the dead from the living,’ and they would stand and take themselves out. Fifteen thousand and more were subtracted,¹³⁵Each year for a total of six hundred thousand. In the fortieth year, the last one, they did so and found themselves intact. They said: It appears that we were mistaken in our calculation, and they did the same on the tenth, the eleventh, the twelfth, the thirteenth, and the fourteenth. When the moon was full, they said: It appears that the Holy One blessed be He abrogated the decree from upon us, and they then rendered it a holiday. But due to their iniquities, mourning beset this world with the destruction of the Temple twice. That is what is written: “My lyre is for mourning, and my flute is for the voice of weepers” (Job 30:31). “The people wept that night” (Numbers 14:1) – when they were exiled, Jeremiah began lamenting over them: “How does…sit solitary?” (Lamentations 1:1).

And afterwards these kings appeared before Jacob with their men, and gifts were in their ‎hands for Jacob and his sons, and they bowed down to the ground before Jacob and his sons. ‎And these kings urged the sons of Jacob and entreated them to restore to the seven cities of ‎the Amorites all the spoil they had taken from them. And Jacob’s sons did so, and they ‎returned all the captives and all the spoil they had taken, and they sent them away and each ‎returned to his city. And the kings bowed down once more before Jacob and his sons and they ‎gave them many more gifts in those days. And the sons of Jacob sent away these kings and ‎their men and they left in peace for their cities, and Jacob and his sons returned likewise unto ‎their place in Shechem. And from that day on there was peace between the sons of Jacob and ‎the kings of the Canaanites, until the children of Israel came into Canaan to inherit it. ‎

Now Jacob knew nothing of all this, and he said: Anyone who has stolen thy Teraphim shall die before his proper time; and the utterance of a righteous person is like the speech from the mouth of an angel, and (Rachel) bare and died, as it is said, "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, for she died" (Gen. 35:18).

Simeon and Levi were moved by a great zeal on account of the immorality, as it is said, "And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" (Gen. 34:31). And each man took his sword and slew all the men of Shechem. When Jacob heard thereof, he became sorely afraid. For he said: Now all the people of the land will hear, and they will gather together against me || and smite me. He began to curse the wrath of his sons, as it is said, "Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce" (Gen. 49:7); and he also cursed their sword in the Greek language, for he said: "Weapons of violence are their swords" (Gen. 49:5). All the kings of the earth heard (thereof) and feared very much, saying: If two sons of Jacob have done all these great things, if they all band themselves together, they will be able to destroy the world. And the dread of the Holy One, blessed be He, fell upon them, as it is said, "And the terror of God was upon the cities,… and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob" (Gen. 35:5).

Jacob took his sons and his grandsons, and his wives, and he went to Kirjath Arba (so as to be) near Isaac his father. And he found there Esau and his sons and his wives dwelling in the tents of Isaac. And he spread his tent apart from him; and Isaac saw Jacob, his wives, his daughters, and all that belonged to him, and he rejoiced in his heart exceedingly. Concerning him the Scripture saith, "Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, peace be upon Israel" (Ps. 128:6).

Rabbi Levi said: In the hour of the ingathering of Isaac, he left his cattle and his possessions, and all that he had, to his two sons; therefore they both rendered loving-kindness (to him), as it is said, "And Esau and Jacob his sons buried him" (Gen. 35:29).

Rabbi Ishmael said: Every son of the old age || is beloved of his father, as it is said, "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age" (Gen. 37:3). Was he then the son of his old age? Was not Benjamin the son of his old age? But owing to the fact that (Jacob) saw by his prophetic power that (Joseph) would rule in the future, therefore he loved him more than all his sons. And they envied him with a great envy, as it is said, "And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they hated him" (ibid. 4). Further, because he saw in his dream that in the future he would rule, and he told his father, and they envied him yet more and more, as it is said, "And they hated him yet the more" (ibid. 8). Moreover, he saw the sons of his father's concubines eating the flesh of the roes and the flesh of the sheep whilst they were alive, and he brought a reproach against them before Jacob their father, so that they could not see his face any more (in peace), as it is said, "And they could not speak peaceably unto him" (ibid. 4). Jacob said to Joseph: Joseph, my son ! Verily I have (waited) many days without hearing of the welfare of thy brethren, and of the welfare of the flock, as it is said, "Go now, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flock" (ibid. 14). And the lad was wandering in the field, and the angel Gabriel met him, as it is said, "And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field" (ibid. 15). (The word) "man" (here in this context) is Gabriel only, as it is said, "The man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision" (Dan. 9:21).

...Bar Kappara said, "Anyone who calls Abraham, 'Abram,' transgresses a negative commandment." R. Levi said, "[Both] a positive commandment and a negative commandment: 'Neither shall your name any more be called Abram,' is with a negative commandment; 'but thy name shall be Abraham,' is with a positive commandment." But behold the men of the Great Assembly called him Abram - "You are the Lord, God, who chose Abram" (Nehemiah 9:7)!?

And he did not listen to her to lie down with her - in this world. 'To be with her' in Gehena, in the world to come. And another opinion: 'He did not listen to her' he did not even touch her bed. A certain Roman Matron asked Rabbi Yosi: Is it really possible that Yosef, a young man of 17 resisted all his heat and did this? Rabbi Yosi took out the book of Bereshit and began reading for her the stories of Reuven and Bilhah, Yehudah and Tamar, and said: 'if with those, adults and under their father's authority the Scripture did not hide their misdeed, with this one, not an adult and by himself, all the more so it would have revealed the misdeed!

(Devarim 33:6) "Reuven shall live and he shall not die": How is this related to what precedes [("together, the tribes of Israel")]? This is analogous to (the situation of) a king, who visits his sons on occasion. When he takes leave of them, they and his kinsmen come to escort him. He says to them: "My sons, is there anything that you need? Is there anything on your mind?" They answer: "Father, there is nothing that we need and nothing that we desire of you but that you forgive our big brother." If not for the tribes' (intercession), the L-rd would not have forgiven Reuven (for the episode of Bilhah [viz. Bereshith 35:22]) — wherefore it is written (at this point) "together, the tribes of Israel."

"His (Shimon's) hands did battle for him," as it is written (Bereshith 34:25) "And there took, two sons of Jacob, Shimon and Levi, etc." "And You shall be a help against his foes": as in (Ibid. 35:5) "And they journeyed, and the terror of G-d was on the cities around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob."

We are hereby taught that the Temple is built in the portion of Benjamin and like the head of an ox extends from the portion of Benjamin to that of Judah, as it is written "and between his (Benjamin's) shoulders (in a slight depression on the highest part of Benjamin's land) does it (the Temple) rest." As to its being written (Bereshith 49:10) "The scepter shall not depart from Judah," that refers to the chamber of hewn stone (in the Temple), which is in the portion of Judah, viz. (Psalms 78:67-68) "And He rejected the tent of Joseph and did not choose the tent of Ephraim. He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loves." But the Temple was in the portion of Benjamin, viz. (Bereshith 35:19) "And Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Efrath, which is Bethlehem."

Variantly: "He shall be desired of his brothers": When Reuven performed that act (viz. Bereshith 35:22), Asher went and related it to his brothers, who rebuked him, saying "Our brother, is this how you speak of our big brother?" And when Reuven admitted his deed, they were reconciled with him (Asher) — wherefore it is written "He shall be desired of his brothers."