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מרת רוח [AND THEY WERE] A VEXATION OF SPIRIT — the expression means opposing the spirit of a person. The first word is of the same root as (Deuteronomy 9:24), “Ye have been rebellious (ממרים)”: all their actions tended to be a grief

ויקח אשה את יהודית....ותהיין מורת אוח, seeing that Rivkah is reported in 27,46 as becoming fed up with her life if she would have to live to see Yaakov also marry a Canaanite girl, the Torah had to explain what had produced such a prejudice in Rivkah against the local girls.
מורת רוח, the construction of the word מורת, with the vowel patach under the letter ר needs to be understood by comparing it to the root עשה, also a root ending with the letter ה. In Psalms 148,8 we have the formulation ossah devaro, which is feminine, seeing it describes the activity of the רוח סערה, a stormy wind, which is feminine. The construct form of the word ossah there would be ossat, Similarly, the word מורת in our verse is a construct form of the feminine form of the word מורה, not with the vowel segol under the letter ר but with the vowel kametz. [as in numerous similar nouns that appear sometimes as feminine and sometimes as masculine. Ed.] The word מורה meaning being contrary, rebellious, also appears in a slightly different form, i.e. ממרה as for instance, in Joshua 1,18 ימרה את פיך, “someone who will rebel against your orders.” When it appears in a genitive, construct form, it becomes morat. In Proverbs 14,10 we encounter a similar construction (though it is written with the vowel kametz under the letter מ) The verse reads: אבל לב יודעת מרת נפשו, “a heart knows its soul’s bitterness.” The use of the chataf kametz under the letter מ there converts the word from adjective to being a noun. It is derived from מררות, “something bitter.” (compare Deuteronomy 32,32) In our verse here the word מורת is not a noun but a construct form of a verb, similar to Lamentations 1,20 כי מרה מריתי, “for I am experiencing a great deal of distress.” Here (in our verse) the vowel cholem instead of kametz as in Lamentations, is a manifestation of the abbreviated, chataf vowel often found with the middle letter of the root

ותהיין מורת רוח, they became like a razor and a knife, shortening the lives of both Yitzchok and Rivkah. The expression מורת is the same as in Judges 13,5 where the angel told the wife of Manoach that the as yet unborn Shimshon must be a Nazirite and ומןרה לא יעלה על על ראשו, no “hair-trimming tool must touch his head.” Even now Yitzchok did not realise the extent of his son Esau’s wickedness. He did not protest his behaviour with a single word. This led to his ultimate error in setting out to bestow the blessing on his son Esau. This, in turn, [i.e. Esau first having been promised a blessing and then not getting it Ed.], led to Esau getting the blessing or advice that he would live (be successful) by his sword. In spite of this blessing he still hated his brother to the extent that Yaakov had to flee for his very life to another country in order to get away from his murderous intentions.

ותהיין מורת רוח, they angered their in-laws and opposed them in every way. They even reversed the customs practiced by Rivkah in her household.

ותהיינה מורת רוח, “Their conduct caused both Yitzchok and Rivkah mental anguish.” The Torah writes this so as to explain that due to their not visiting Yitzchok and Rivkah often, it is not surprising that they were not on hand to reveal Yaakov’s masquerading as Esau.

An expression meaning: a spirit of rebellion, as in: “You were rebellious.” For if it meant מרירות (bitterness), it would not have a ת in the construct state, since the root would be מרר. Whereas the root of ממרים is מרה, and the ת of the construct state replaces the ה, since it is the third letter of the root. מרת רוח conveys that each of Eisov’s wives possessed a rebellious spirit, whereas bitterness does not relate to one’s spirit.

מרה ,מורת רוח, Grundbedeutung: entgegengefahren, daher מוֹרָה Scheermesser, das im rechten Winkel gegen das Haar fahren muß. (Ähnlich מול gegen und beschneiden.) מרה auf Gemüt und Handlungsweise übertragen, heißt demnach: gerade etwas darum wollen oder nicht wollen, weil es der andere nicht will oder will. Sie waren beiden, Jizchak und Rebekka, trotzig entgegen, obgleich diese sonst in ihren Sympathien nicht übereinstimmten, und zwar bedeutsam Jizchak zuerst. Dass Schwiegertochter und Schwiegermutter sich nicht ganz vertragen, ist nichts so Ungewöhnliches, zumal wenn die letztere auch dem Sohne nicht ganz hold ist. So aber heißt es ליצחק zuerst; denn es war hier nicht ein Gegensatz in gleichgültigen Dingen. Sie waren ein vollendetes Widerspiel gegen den Geist, der in Jizchak und Rebekka lebte.

ותהיין מורת רוח, “both of these daughtersinlaw became sources of frustration to both Yitzchok and Rivkah. We see this from Rivkah’s justifying her wishing to take a wife from her family (27,46) by telling her husband that if Yaakov were to take wife from the local Hittite population she would get fed up with her very life. What can describe more graphically her and her husband’s frustration at the choice of wives Esau had made? Moreover, it is likely that if these daughtersinlaw had been compatible with them they would all of them have lived in one house. The fact that they did not live under one roof is clear, as Yaakov would never have gotten away with deceiving his father by pretending to be Esau if Esau’s wives had lived in the same house! He had expelled them from his house on account of their conduct. [I find this argument very weak, as in Genesis 2,24 already the Torah describes a son marrying and setting up house for himself and his wife as being the norm and not the exception. Ed.]

ליצחק ולרבקה TO ISAAC AND REBEKAH, because they worshipped idols (Genesis Rabbah 65:4).

מרת, a noun, just as מרת נפש in Proverbs 14,10. The root of the word is מרר, embitter, the only difference between the word here and that in Proverbs being the vowel under the letter מ. Here we have the vowel cholem, whereas in Proverbs it is written with a kametz chataf, abbreviated vowel kametz. It is also possible that the root of the word here is מרה, in the sense of Isaiah 63,10 מרו ועצבו את רוח קדשו, “they rebelled, and grieved His Holy Spirit.” This too is a variation of the theme of bitterness. If we accept this word as the root of the word מרת in our verse, the meaning would be that these women actively engaged in causing anger, frustration to Yitzchok and Rivkah. The whole story would then have as its purpose to show how disdainful Esau was of the sensitivities of his parents. He did not even protest his wives’ behaviour or move them out of the patriarchal home.

Because they worshiped idols. It seems that Rashi deduced this since Scripture mentions Yitzchok before Rivkah, to say that the pain was greater for Yitzchok. [Perforce,] this was because all his life he was not accustomed to idol worship. But Rivkah was accustomed to her father’s and brother’s idolatry.

Diese beiden Verse sind eine höchst bedeutsame Einleitung zu der nun folgenden Geschichte.

ליצחק ולרבקה, “to Yitzchok and to Rivkah.” According to our sages in B’reshit Rabbah 65,4, Yitzchok was the first to experience this dissatisfaction with Esau’s wives’ conduct. It is explained that the reason is psychological. Rivkah, who had grown up in an environment of pagans, did not become affronted so easily by Hittite girls not yet having abandoned every nuance of their former pagan backgrounds, whereas Yitzchok, used be surrounded only to holiness,at least in his father’s house and his wife’s housewas far more sensitive to this. [Another exegesis: Normally, women spend most of their time in the home and therefore become aware of what other women in their homes do. Men, whose lifestyle usually requires them to spend more time outdoors, are not privy to what goes on inside the house. Yitzchok, being blind, and therefore housebound, not being preoccupied with mundane activities in the kitchen, etc., had a keener sense of hearing and overheard more inappropriate remarks made by his daughter in law than did Rivkah.]