Jacob's blessings and visions

Summary. This essay examines the blessings given to Jacob by his father Isaac and by God, and the two visions he experienced, one of a ladder going up to heaven and the other when an angel of God wrestles with him during the night. These visions promise him protection and assure him of his ultimate success despite his lack of physical power. God’s name Elohim delineates the place of Jacob and his descendants among the community of nations. God’s name El Shadai bestows upon him and later his descendants the blessing of fertility. The concept that the deeds of the forefathers are a sign or portent to their children is a crucial one for understanding the Torah’s descriptions of the events in Jacob’s life.

Isaac’s second blessing to Jacob

Rebecca’s scheming has worked out exactly as she intended. Isaac has appreciated the inevitability of the future nations fathered by Jacob and Esau being in conflict with each other. An important assignment yet remaining is for Jacob to find a wife for himself and begin building the nation promised to his father and grandfather.

Before fleeing from the threat of Esau, Jacob receives one further blessing from his father. In that the journey before him will begin the actualization of prophecies made to his ancestors, it is appropriate that this blessing contains promises made by God to Abraham. Common words in the two blessings are shown in capitals.

Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and instructed him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the home of Betuel, your mother's father, and take yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. May EL SHADAI bless you MAKE YOU FRUITFUL AND MAKE YOU NUMEROUS, and may you be a congregation of peoples. AND MAY HE GIVE YOU the blessing of Abraham to you and to your descendants with you, that you may inherit (lerishtecha) THE LAND OF YOUR SOJOURNINGS (eretz megureacha), which ELOHIM gave to Abraham" (Genesis 28:1-4).

This blessing contains wording similar to the Covenant of Circumcision, a prior prophecy given to Abraham also through His names El Shaddai and Elohim. It reads as follows:

Avram was ninety-nine years old, and YHWH appeared to Avram and said to him, "I am EL SHADAI; walk before Me and be wholehearted. I shall give My covenant between Me and you, AND I SHALL MULTIPLY YOU EXCEEDINGLY MUCH." And Avram fell upon his face, and ELOHIM spoke to him, saying: "Behold, this is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of many nations. And your name shall no longer be called 'Avram'; your name shall be 'Avraham,' for I have made you the father of many nations. And I SHALL MAKE YOU MOST EXCEEDINGLY FRUITFUL (vehifreit oscho), and I will make nations of you, and kings shall emerge from you. And I shall establish My covenant between Me and you, and your descendants after you, in their generations, as an eternal covenant, to be Elohim for you, and for your descendants after you. AND I SHALL GIVE YOU – and your descendants after you – the LAND OF YOUR SOJOURNINGS; all of the land of Canaan, as an eternal possession (la’achuzat) (לַאֲחֻזַּ֖ת) and I shall be their Elohim" (Genesis 17:1-8).

The meaning of the name El Shadai was discussed in a previous chapter regarding the Covenant of Circumcision, and the case was made that this name encompasses an aspect of God related to fertility.2 At first glance this sounds like a pagan idea, in that pagans invariably had gods governing fertility. Nevertheless, a fertility aspect to the One God also makes sense, and as Jacob is being sent away to build up the tribes of Israel it is appropriate for his father to invoke this aspect of God.

It is doubtful that Isaac has the power to dispense blessing on behalf of God. What he can do is request from God that the blessing he is about to give be actualized — “May God . . “ As Jacob will soon discover, God Himself will soon do exactly this.

A ladder reaching up to heaven

Jacob is on his way to Haran, penniless, and fleeing from the anger of his brother Esau who has threatened to kill him. He sleeps out in the open in a “place,” which he later names Beth-El, and there he experiences a vision of a ladder reaching up to the heavens and upon which angels of Elohim are ascending and descending:

Jacob departed from Beersheba and went to Haran. He encountered the place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took from the stones of the place, which he arranged around his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamt, and behold! A ladder was set earthward and its top reached heavenward; and behold! Angels of Elohim were ascending and descending on it. And behold! YHWH was standing upon it/him. . . (Genesis 28:10-13).

The Torah offers no explanation for the meaning of this vision and many interpretations have been proposed.3

Rashi, based on a midrash, introduces the concept of personal, protective angels, and suggests that the angels ascending were those who had completed their task of protecting Jacob in Canaan, while those descending were angels assigned to accompany him outside the land of Israel.4 Jacob will encounter such angels again as he is about enter Israel at Machanayim after spending 20 years in Padam Aram in Mesopotamia. In that instance, the angels had come to escort him back into the Land of Israel, while the others remained behind.5 This would have emphasized to Jacob, and now to us, the specialness of the Land of Israel.3

Jacob went on his way and angels of Elohim encountered him. Jacob said when he saw them: “This is a camp of Elohim.” And he called the name of that place Machanayim [literarily, a pair of camps] (Genesis 32:2-3).

One can argue with this explanation of guardian angels. Machanayim was close to the border of the land of Canaan, but Beth-El is but 12 miles from Jerusalem and still within the heartland of the country. There are many angels on this ladder, while Jacob will only require one or two. Moreover, the angels he sees are called “angels of Elohim,” and Jacob will call this place “beit Elohim,” or house or abode of Elohim. If they were protective angels, it is more logical they would be called angels of YHWH.

There is no prior mention in the Torah of protective angels, although there is mention of angels engaged in specific missions. Abraham mentions to his servant Eliezer on sending him to Padam Aram to find a wife for his son, Isaac: “He [YHWH] will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there” (Genesis 24:7).6

An alternative explanation I much favor is that of Nachmanides who writes that this vision is revealing to Jacob the presence of Divine providence in this world:

[God] showed [Jacob] in a prophetic dream that everything done on earth is done through the hand of the angels and everything they do is by the Supreme One’s decree upon them. For the angels of God, whom YHWH sends to travel throughout the earth, do not do anything minor or major before returning to present themselves before the Lord of all the land . . . 7

Jacob’s vision of angels is the clearest exposition in the Torah of the concept of Divine providence. At the time the Torah was given this would have been a radical idea. The pagans of the ancient world envisaged a clear separation between the activities of the gods and that of humans. Gods were part of nature and could influence mankind’s affairs by producing storms, floods, sickness, and fertility. They had no interest, though, in the affairs of individuals.

But why would angels first ascend to heaven and then descend to earth? Should they not first receive their directives from heaven and then descend to accomplish their missions? This leads to a fascinating idea — that the main abode of the angels of Elohim is not in the heavens but here on earth!

Events in this world are not random but directed by God and angels are a means by which Elohim directs His will on earth. It is on earth that the angels of Elohim are engaged. They go up the ladder to receive their instructions from God but then return to earth to carry out their activities.

Back to Jacob. Commentators have noted the words “A ladder was set earthward” (Genesis 28:12) rather than being on the ground, implying that the ladder originated in heaven and extended down towards the earth. The phrase “And behold! YHWH was standing upon it/him (olov). . .” is ambiguous since the Hebrew olov can be translated in either of two ways — YHWH was standing above him, i.e., above Jacob’s head, or YHWH was standing above it, namely the ladder. Rashi is of the opinion that God was standing directly over Jacob, while Nachmanides suggests that YHWH was standing on top of the ladder.8 I suggest that the opinion of Rashi fits more into the significance of this vision, although I prefer the explanation of Nachmanides regarding the function of the ladder (see above). This is because YHWH is the God of close relationships and it is appropriate that He stand directly above Jacob and not far in the heavens on top of a ladder.

YHWH now ratifies the blessing made by Isaac. Specifically, He assures Jacob that he will inherit the mantle of Abraham. YHWH’s speech contains words that He previously conveyed to Abraham at the beginning of Abraham’s mission.9 These common words are indicated in capital letters in the following three quotations.

First the speech that YHWH gave by the ladder:

And behold, YHWH stood over him and He said: "I am YHWH, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. THE LAND UPON WHICH YOU ARE LAYING — TO YOU I WILL GIVE IT, AND TO YOUR DESCENDANTS. YOUR OFFSPRING SHALL BE AS THE DUST OF THE EARTH, and you shall spread out WESTWARD, EASTWARD, NORTHWARD AND SOUTHWARD; and THROUGH YOU SHALL ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED" (Genesis 28:13-14).

Abraham received two communications from YHWH at the beginning of his mission. The first was when he was living in Haran in Mesopotamia and was told to leave his homeland to become a great nation and a source of blessing to all humanity. It reads as follows:

YHWH said to Avram, "Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; AND THROUGH YOU SHALL ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED" (Genesis 12:1-3)

The second blessing was when Abraham returned from Egypt to the land of Canaan after relocating there during a famine. He arrived at the area between Beth-El and Ai. His nephew Lot, who until that time was considered his heir, separated from him and left for the city of Sodom. He thereby dissociated himself from the material and spiritual inheritance of his uncle:

YHWH said to Avram, after Lot had parted from him. "Lift up your eyes and see, from the place where you are – NORTHWARD, SOUTHWARD, EASTWARD AND WESTWARD. FOR ALL THE LAND WHICH YOU SEE — TO YOU I WILL GIVE IT, AND TO YOUR DESCENDANTS, FOREVER. I SHALL MAKE YOUR OFFSPRING AS THE DUST OF THE EARTH, that if one can count the dust of the earth — then your offspring too shall be counted. Arise, walk about in the land, throughout its length and breadth, for to you I will give it.” (Genesis 13:14-17).

These blessings by YHWH will finally be confirmed by YHWH two chapters later in the form of a covenant, the Covenant between the Pieces, when Abraham asks God the question — what will be the circumstances that I will inherit the land?

YHWH has now bestowed upon Jacob the blessings previously given to Abraham and has thereby placed Jacob in the direct transmission of Abraham’s heritage. He now also promises to protect him and bring him back to the Land of Israel. In this way he is assured that he will have far more than the general providence provided to mankind by Elohim, but rather the personal protection of YHWH:

Behold I AM WITH YOU, and I will guard you wherever you go. And I will return you to this soil, for I will not forsake you until I have done what I have spoken to you (Genesis 28:15).

At this point Jacob makes a vow:

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said: “Surely YHWH is in this place and I did not know!” And he became frightened and said: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of Elohim and this is the gate of heaven. Jacob arose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put at his head and set it as a pillar; and he poured oil on its top. He named that place Beit-El, though Luz had been the city's name originally (Genesis 28:16-19).

And he said further:

If (im) (אִם) Elohim WILL BE WITH ME, and He will guard me on this way that I am going, and He will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and I will return in peace to my father’s house, then YHWH will be a God to me — and this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall become a house of Elohim, and whatever You shall give me I shall tithe to you (Genesis 28:20-21).

Nachmanides explains that the word im (אִם) “if” does not express doubt but has the meaning of when, and he provides other examples from the Torah with this meaning.10 Jacob’s vows are directly related to God’s promises. His words “And He will guard me on this way that I am going” relate to God’s promise “And I will guard you wherever you go.” He asks only for life’s necessities and not for luxuries. The words “And He will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear” correspond to God’s promise “For I will not forsake you.”11

What does Jacob mean that he will set up a “house of Elohim”? Rashi and Onkelos suggest not so much “a house” but that the pillar he erects will become a center for worshipping God, and this will be evident when Jacob returns to Beth-El to fulfill his vows.12 When the Torah is given, there will be a biblical prohibition against the use of matzevot or pillars (Deuteronomy 16:22), and Beth-El will need to function through its reputation alone and not its monuments.

In the vow Jacob makes after his vision of a ladder, he uses mainly the name of God Elohim. This was also the case for the blessing that Isaac bestowed upon Jacob before he left for Padan Aram, and was the same name of God used in Abraham’s Covenant of Circumcision. It was “angels of Elohim” that Jacob saw in his dream. It will be Elohim who will be with him in his travels outside the land of Canaan, and it will be a “house of Elohim” that Jacob wishes to set up when he returns to Canaan. Finally, when he returns to Israel from Mesopotamia, the Torah uses the name Elohim in his nighttime struggle with an angel and also when he eventually goes to Beth El to fulfill his vows.

In Padan Aram, Jacob marries Laban’s two daughters and build up a family. During this time, he was very aware that Elohim was with him, especially in situations that had the potential to be unfavorable. When he remonstrates with Laban when caught trying to flee back to the Land of Israel after twenty years he says: “Were it not that the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac WERE WITH ME, you would surely have sent me away empty handed. Elohim saw my wretchedness . . . ” (Genesis 31:42). The phrase “were with me” is the same phrase that Jacob had used when making a vow to Elohim in Beth El.

All these Elohim-verses relate to Jacob’s place, as well as that of the Israelite nation, among the nations of the world, rather than relating to God’s individual relationship with Jacob and each of his future descendants. Moreover, the demonstration of Elohim’s providence to Jacob is a necessary step towards the concept of Elohim’s national providence. With their awareness that God cared for their forefathers, the Children of Israel can fully trust that He will act similarly for the nation as a whole in their interactions with the community of nations.

Where was the “place”?

The Torah writes that:

He [Jacob] encountered “the place” (bamakom) (בַּמָּקוֹם). …..And Jacob departed from Beersheba and went to Haran. He encountered “the place” (bamokom) (בַּמָּקוֹם) and spent the night there because the sun had set ….“ (Genesis 28:8-11)

Not a place, but “the place.” It would seem as if the Torah assumes that the reader already knows the location of “the place” being discussed.

Nevertheless, the location of “the place” will soon be specifically identified. The Torah continues:

Jacob woke from his sleep and said: “Surely YHWH is in this place (bamakom hazeh) and I did not know it.” And he became frightened and said: How awesome is this place (hamakom haze) (הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה)! This is none other than the abode of Elohim and this is the gate of the heavens. Jacob arose early in the morning and took the stone that he had placed around his head and set it as a pillar; and he poured oil on its top. And he called the name of that place (hamakom hahu) (הַמָּקוֹםהַהוּא) Beth-el; however, Luz was the city’s name originally (Genesis 28:16-19).

Rashi reminds us that the words “the place” have been mentioned previously in the Akeida story where the word “place” is mentioned four times.13 In this story, it is also identified as being in the “land of Moriah”:

Go to the land of Moriah and bring him up there as an offering upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you. So Abraham arose ……… and went to the place (hamokom) (הַמָּקוֹם) of which God had spoken to him. On the third day, Abraham raised his eyes and he saw the place (hamokom) from afar (Genesis 22:4).

And soon:

They arrived at the place (hamokom) of which God had spoken to him. (Genesis 22:9)

“That place” now becomes immortalized when Abraham provides it with a name:

And Abraham called the name of that place (hamakom hahu) (הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא) “YHWH will see (yire) (יִרְאֶה).” (Genesis 22:14)

The location of Mount Moriah is never identified in the Torah, but there is a strong Jewish tradition that its location is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The book of Chronicles tells us:

And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where He had appeared to his father David, in the place which David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite (Chronicles 2:3:1).

Nevertheless, the opinion that Solomon’s Temple was constructed on Mount Moriah is not accepted by all authorities. The Greek Septuagint translates the “land of Moriah” in the Akeida story as “the highland,” and the “Mount of Moriah” in the book of Chronicles as “the Mount of Moriah," thus severing the link between Jerusalem and the Akeida story.

Moreover, the words “the place” are mentioned even earlier in the Abraham story, when Abraham returns from Egypt:

He proceeded on his journeys from the south to Beth-El to the place where his tent had been at first, between Beth-El and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first, and there Abram called upon the name of God (Genesis 13:3-4).

Of interest is that “the place” in this sentence is already called Beth-El, even though it has not yet been called as such by Jacob. It would seem that already from the time of Abraham this location had the reputation of being a place for communication with God. It is also at this time that Lot separates from Abraham to live in Sodom:

YHWH said to Abram after Lot had parted from him: “Raise now your eyes and look out from the place where you are now — northward, southward, eastward and westward. For all the land that you see, to you will I give it, and to your descendants forever (Genesis 13:14-16).

Rashi was well aware of the problem in linking Mount Moriah, Beth-El and Jerusalem and he supports this tradition by quoting a midrash that the foot of the ladder was in Beersheba, its upper end in Beth-El and the middle section of its incline was over Jerusalem.

The Amora R’ Elazar said in the name of R’ Yose ben Zimra. This ladder was standing with its feet in Beer-sheba, and the middle of its incline reached opposite [i.e., over] the Temple (Beis HaMikdash). For Beer-sheba stands in the southern part of the territory of the Tribe of Judah and Jerusalem is in its northern part on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin. And Beth-el was in the northern part of Benjamin’s territory on the border between Benjamin and the sons of Joseph. It is thus found a ladder whose feet are in Beer-sheba and whose upper end in is Beth El, the middle of its incline (length) reaches opposite [i.e., over] Jerusalem.14

This is a highly interpretative explanation since there is no mention in the Torah that Jacob’s ladder was set at in incline. Moreover, if this were indeed the case, it is strange that Jacob names “that place” Beth-el, meaning the House of God, when the House of God is really in Jerusalem.

The selection of Jerusalem by King David as the site for the Temple occurred relatively late in biblical history. The Ark of the Covenant was initially placed by Joshua in the Tabernacle at Shiloh “And the entire community of the Children of Israel assembled at Shilo and erected the Sanctuary there” (Joshua18:1). Shilo is about 10 miles from Beth-El. The Tabernacle was in Beth-El during the time of the Judges, although for how long is unclear from this passage about the sequelae to the near-annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin by the combined tribes of Israel:

Bnei Yisrael and all the nation went up and came to Beth-El, and they wept [about the casualties fighting the tribe of Benjamin] and sat there before God and fasted on that day until the evening, and they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. And Bnei Yisrael asked of God, for there the Ark of God’s Covenant was in those days. And Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron, stood before Him in those days (Judges 20:26-28).

The Ark was captured by the Philistines from Shilo at the time of Eli the High Priest. When it was eventually returned to the Israelites, it was kept at Kiryat Ye’arim, and from there, King David brought it to Jerusalem.

After the division of the united monarchy, King Jeroboam I of the Northern Kingdom of Israel established Beth-El as one of his two primary centers of worship, together with Dan where the tribe of Dan was residing. To consolidate his rule and discourage the northern tribes from traveling to the Temple in Jerusalem in the country of Judah, he set up a golden calf at these two locations. Thus, Beth El now became a center of idol worship, although it had monotheistic overtones in that the golden calf was meant to represent the monotheistic God.

It would seem that Beth-El had the reputation of being a holy site from the time of the forefathers, although it was never consistently the site of the Tabernacle. Despite Rashi’s explanation it seems unlikely that the site of “the place” of Jacob’s dream and “the place” of the Akeida were both on the Temple Mount. It seems fairly clear from the Torah that the place of Jacob’s dream was Beth-El, and it is possible that the location of the Akeida was in Beth-El too.

Alternatively, “the place” of the Akeida was the Temple Mount, and the words “the place” refer to two different locations. Although Jacob comes upon “the place” in Beth-El fortuitously, this is not surprising given that this location was close to the main road leading from Beersheba to the north of Israel.

Having said this, the Torah assigns no permanence to where “the place” of the tribe’s central sanctuary should be. As we are later told in the book of Deuteronomy:

Then it shall be that the place which YHWH your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there, there shall you bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the offering of you hand (Deuteronomy 12:11).

“The place” is wherever God chooses it to be, and the Torah leaves considerable flexibility in where this central place of worship should be.

The Akeida prepares the Jewish nation for the concept that God will involve Himself in choosing His one place of worship and “will see” to it that eventually there will be one “the place” where His holiness will reside among it:

And Abraham called the name of that place “YHWH will see,” as it is said this day: “On the mountain YHWH will be seen” (Genesis 22:14).

Throughout First Temple times there were local altars. The kings of Judah found it very difficult to close these down, and only the kings Hezekiah and Josiah were able to accomplish this. It is not hard to imagine why it was so difficult. The priests benefited materially from local sacrifices. The people may also have felt it difficult to confine their spirituality to just a few times a year during the pilgrimage festivals. It was not until Second Temple times that one begins to see synagogues in Israel, although their main function was as a place for Torah study.

The situation as it stands today is summarized by Maimonides in his Mishneh Torah:

Once the Temple was built in Jerusalem, it became forbidden to build a sanctuary for YHWH or to offer sacrifices in any other place. There is no Sanctuary for all generations except in Jerusalem and [specifically] on Mt Moriah, as [I Chronicles 22:1] states: “And David declared: “This is the House of YHWH, HaElohim and this is the alter for the burnt offerings of Israel, and [Psalms 132:14] states: “This is My resting place forever.”15

One may debate where Mount Moriah is and whether the Book of Chronicles has been completely objective in its statement about Mount Moriah, but in the final analysis, the place chosen by God for the future will be nowhere but Jerusalem.

Wrestling to the dawn

Isaac was a man of peace and spirituality who nevertheless appreciated the power of the sword brought to the family by Esau. However, Isaac’s attempt to co-opt these strengths for the Abrahamic tradition was not to be. The twins were destined to be two nations apart, and even in conflict.

Jacob is now on his way back to his parent’s home after an absence of 20 years. He is married with two wives, two concubines and 11 children, and his favorite wife is pregnant with a child who will be called Benjamin. The tension in the story builds up as Jacob sends messengers to his brother announcing that he is on his way to meet him. The messengers return with the disturbing news that Esau is making his way towards him with 400 men. Jacob now greatly fears for his life and that of his family. He prays to God, separates his camp into two, lest one be stricken, thereby leaving the other camp the opportunity to flee, and he prepares expensive gifts for his brother.

Jewish sages are puzzled by Jacob’s actions. Why did he arrange this meeting in the first place? Why court trouble?

An answer may be that Jacob intended returning to his father in Hebron, which is not that distant from Edom. If Jacob had gone to Hebron without acknowledging his brother, Esau could have arranged a marauding party and massacred Jacob’s entire family. One way or another his brother had to be faced.

Before even being aware that Esau is arriving with a large group of warriors, Jacob sets the tone for this reunion by instructing his messengers to say the following:

Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir, to the field of Edom. He charged them saying: “This shall you say to my master, to Esau: ‘So said your servant Jacob. . . .” (Genesis 32:4-5).

Jacob is the servant and Esau the master.

Jacob now returns to the other side of the Jabbok River. Isolated from his party, he encounters a “man” who wrestles with him the entire night:

And Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When he perceived that he could not overcome him, he struck the ball of his thighbone; and the ball of Jacob’s thighbone became dislocated as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn has broken.” And he [Jacob] said, “I will not let not let you go unless you have blessed me.” He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” He said, “No longer will it be said that your name is Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven (sarita) (שָׂרִיתָ) with Elohim and with men and you have prevailed.” Then Jacob inquired, and he said, “Tell, if you please, your name.” And he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel - “For I have seen Elohim face to face and yet my life was spared.” The sun shone for him as he passed Penuel and he was limping on his hip. Therefore, the children of Israel do not eat the displaced sinew (gid hanashe) on the hip socket to this day because he struck Jacob’s hip socket on the displaced sinew (gid hanashe) (Genesis 32:25-30).

This encounter is clearly symbolic, but it leaves us with numerous questions. Who is this “man”? He has the physical form of a man, but is also recognized by Jacob as being “Divine.” What is the meaning of this struggle? What is the significance of Jacob’s name change? What is the importance of his limping? And what is the significance of the Jewish people refraining from eating the gid hanashe, the tendon of the sciatic nerve?

Rashbam makes the interesting, but speculative, suggestion that Jacob was fleeing from his brother and the role of the angel was to prevent him avoiding his brother.16

Rashi brings the midrashic view that Jacob was wrestling with the guardian angel of Esau.17 This could explain how the tension that has been building up in the story so quickly dissipates, and why Esau, arriving with 400 men and displaying warlike intent, breaks down in weeping when he sees his brother. It is as if a mystical force, Esau’s guardian angel, has reversed Esau’s aggressive intent.

Rashi also explains that the blessing the “man” dispensed was a ratification of the blessing that Jacob obtained by trickery from his father.17 The angel of Esau now willingly concedes that this blessing is rightfully his — “and he blessed him there” (Genesis 32:30).

With Rashi’s explanation the story has come full circle. Jacob has emerged victorious and with full mastery against Esau, and even with his brother’s approval.

Yet there are significant problems with this interpretation. As I discussed in the vision of the ladder, the idea of personal angels is not mentioned in the Torah, and it would be strange for the Torah to utilize this notion without an explicitly identifiable example.

An alternative explanation is that this “man” is a messenger or an angel sent by God to reassure Jacob regarding his struggle with his brother. This wrestling match will demonstrate to Jacob his ability to survive. Not only that, but with the arrival of the dawn he has prevailed. If he could overcome an angel, a mere human being such as Esau would certainly not be able to harm him.18

The gid hanashe is the symbol of the Jew’s physical survival in his struggle with the descendants of Esau and all future adversaries.19

The Sefer Hachinuch, a compendium of Torah law that aims to provide reasons for the Torah’s commands, discusses these concepts, although within the framework of messianic ideas:

At the root of this precept [of the gid hanashe] lies the purpose that Jewry should have a hint that even though they will endure great tribulations in the exiles at the hands of the nations and the descendants of Esau, they should remain assured that they will not perish, but their progeny and name will endure forever, and a redeemer will come and deliver them from the oppressor’s hand.

Remembering this matter always through the precept, which will serve as a reminder, they will stand firm in their faith and righteousness forever.20

R' Samson Raphael Hirsch sees in this wrestling match, and specifically the symbol of gid hanashe, the attempt of the spirit of Esau to prevent the Jewish people from “walking” through history, although he will still be able to hamstring him:

After all this, the meaning of the prohibition cannot be doubted. The spirit of Esau will not be able to conquer Jacob nor to throw him down throughout the whole fight against him during the long ages of darkness on earth, but will be able to hamstring him, to prevent him standing firmly on both feet. Without a firm stand and walk, does Jacob go through history. . . . Whenever they sit down to table, the admonition from the story of the wanderings of their life shall come to them, that they are cheerfully to renounce this tendon, this submission of their strength to Esau, realize that their existence, and the continuation of their existence is not dependent on it, that they are not to feel that without it, that they are less protected and less certain of enduring throughout the ages because they are not armed with the sword like Esau, yea, cannot even take a firm step on earth.”21

The name Yisro’el

The name Jacob (Ya’acov in Hebrew) comes from the word heel and relates to the heel of Esau that Jacob gripped during the twin delivery:

After that his brother emerged with his hand grasping onto the heel ( ba’ekev) (בַּעֲקֵ֣ב) of Esau, and he called his name Jacob (Ya’akov) (יַעֲקֹ֑ב) (Genesis 25:26).

This root also has the meaning of trickery and deceit.

Rashi comments about the angel informing Jacob about his name change to Israel (Yisroel in Hebrew):

No longer will it be said that the blessings came to you through treachery (be’akva) (בעקבה) and deceit, but rather through authority (bisrara) (בשררה) and in full view, and your destiny shall be that the Holy One, Blessed is He, will reveal Himself to you in Beth-El and change your name and there he shall bless you, and I shall be there and I shall concede to you with regard to them.22

Another suggestion is that the word Yisroel comes from the three-letter root שרה (sin resh he), which can be translated as to struggle, strive or contend. The relevant sentence is therefore frequently translated as follows:

He [the angel] said, “No longer will it be said that your name is Jacob, but Israel (Yisroel) (יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל), for you have striven (sorito) (שָׂרִיתָ) with Elohim and with men and you have prevailed (Genesis 32:29).

Jacob has prevailed against Laban and also against “the man” of his nighttime struggle, whom he realizes is Divine. This provides assurances to him that he will also prevail against his brother Esau. It follows from this sentence that the name Yisroel means “one who struggles against God and men.”

Yet this is strange. Are the Jewish people really struggling against God?

R’ Jonathan Sacks eloquently explains how this can be so:

To be a Jew means to live within the tension between heaven and earth, creation and revelation, the world that is and the world we are called on to make; between exile and home, and between the universality of the human condition and the particularity of Jewish identity. Jews don’t stand still except when standing before God. The universe, from galaxies to subatomic particles, is in constant motion, and so is the Jewish soul.23

However, there are alternative translations of the root שרה (sara). The Second Temple interpreter Onkelos interprets this word as “you have become mighty.” In which case this sentence would read: “For you have become mighty before God and men and you have prevailed.”

In a similar vein, others see the root as being sin resh, or sar, translated as a prince or superior (this having the same derivation as the word shah, a sovereign of Iran). Yisroel thus means that you are a prince or ruler before God, or even a prince or ruler with God. In actuality, it is impossible to tell who is the main subject, whether Jacob or God. R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch interprets the name Yisroel as “God is the All-conquering One.”24 One might even say that the Jewish people are in a partnership together with God and both have superiority together.

In contrast to Abraham whose original name Avram was changed to a completely new name, Jacob’s original name will still remain. This is because Jacob encompasses two aspects — the heel, or the outwitting and wiliness that are part of his character, and the aspect of superiority that is now acknowledged by the angel. It is not that one has given way to the other. To an extent, they both exist. To be Jewish in a world in which one’s adversaries have power means that sometimes the Jew has to use guile, and even outright lies. At times he may need to denigrate himself before his enemy. The Torah never asked the Jewish people to deal with their enemies with suicidal candor and truth. But in the end they will prevail, and even come out on top.

There is a wordplay in this passage that can be easily missed. The river that Jacob previously forded with his family and crossed again to be alone with himself was the Jabbok River (יַבֹּֽק). The Jabbok River is an east-west river that needs to be forded before crossing the north-south river, the Jordan River, which marks the border of the land of Canaan. The Hebrew verb for the phrase “and a man wrestled:” (ibid 32:25) is veye’avek (וַיֵּאָבֵ֥ק). These two words sound very similar. It as if the passage is pointing out that the land of Canaan will be inherited by the descendants of Jacob only with struggle. No one would argue with this today!

Jacob reconciles with his brother

Jacob has been assured by God of His protection and that he will be able to survive against stronger forces, such as those of his brother. There is now only one way for Jacob to assuage Esau’s anger and this is to establish a new relationship with him by seeking forgiveness for his past actions. Jacob has to acknowledge that he wronged his brother and that Esau is indeed his master.

In the following soliloquy that takes place even before he is informed that Esau is coming towards him with an army, Jacob voices his desire to reestablish a relationship with Esau, a relationship which will be greased with gifts and in which Esau will have the upper hand. He tells his servants:

And say: “Behold your servant Jacob is behind us, for he said [to himself]: “I will wipe away his anger/face (achapra panav) (אֲכַפְּרָ֣ה פָנָ֗יו) with the offering that proceeds me, and afterwards I will see his face (ereh panav) (אֶרְאֶ֣ה פָנָ֔יו), perhaps he will accept me (yisa panav) (יִשָּׂ֥א פָנָֽי) (Genesis 32:21).

This sentence is full of words that are usually associated with repentance — “I will wipe away his anger,” “perhaps he will accept me.”25 In this next passage, Jacob completely ingratiates himself before Esau:

Jacob raised his eyes and saw — behold, Esau was coming and with him were four hundred men — so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. He put the maidservants and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. Then he himself went on ahead of them and bowed earthwards seven times until he reached his brother (Genesis 33:1-4).

Jacob bows to his brother seven times. This implies absolute homage, akin to the homage due to a god. In fact, Jacob admits as such when he says to Esau: “inasmuch as I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of Elohim” (Genesis 33:10).

The Amarna Letters are 14th century BCE diplomatic correspondences to the Egyptian pharaoh, and it was a standard formula of submission for vassals to write: "I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, my god, my sun, seven times and seven times." These words appear multiple times, especially from Canaanite rulers. A clear example is in letter EA 288 sent from Abdi-Heba from Jerusalem:

"To the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, the Sun from the sky: [Thus says] Abdi-Heba, your servant. At the feet of the king, my lord, seven times and seven times I fall."

Following Jacob’s bowing to his brother, his handmaids, his wives and their children also bow down to Esau:

Then the handmaidens came forward — they and their children — and they bowed down. Leah, too, came forward with her children and they bowed down; and afterwards, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down (Genesis 33:6-7).

One is reminded at this stage of the blessing bestowed upon Jacob by his father, the one intended for Esau:

“May the nations serve you, and may peoples bow down to you; may you be a lord over your brethren, and may your mother's sons bow down to you” (Genesis 27:28).

From his words to his brother, it seems very much as if Jacob is returning to Esau the blessing he obtained by trickery:

But Jacob said: “Please do not [refuse my gifts]! If I have now found favor in your eyes, then accept my tribute (minchati) (מִנְחָתִי) from me, inasmuch as I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of Elohim, and you have been appeased by me. Please accept my homage/tribute/blessing (birchati) (בִּרְכָתִי) which was brought to you, inasmuch as Elohim has been gracious to me and inasmuch as I have everything.” He urged him and he accepted (Genesis 33:10-11).

Jacob urges Esau to accept his large gift and “birchati.” This word can have several meanings. Nachmanides suggests that it has the meaning here of my tribute.26 There is also its literal meaning of “my blessing.” Jacob could be hinting to his brother, or even explicitly telling him, that he is restoring to him the blessing he wrongfully took from him twenty years previously.

But how could Jacob give up his privilege of dominion in this way? One answer is that he had no choice. Esau was armed and was even accompanied by an army. He, Jacob, was powerless and defenseless.

However, there could be another answer.

Could it be that Jacob is back to his old tricks again? Jacob cannot give back the privileges of the firstborn. It was revealed to Rebecca in an oracle that he would be dominant. The birthright was given to him by Esau in his youth. It was also bestowed upon him by his father, who then told Esau that it could not be retracted. An angel of Elohim has just conferred upon him prevailing and superiority. Everything he was now saying was to get Esau off his back. They were words with no meaning. Another not-quite-straight statement immediately follows:

And he [Esau] said, “Travel on and let us go – I will proceed alongside you.” But he [Jacob] said to him: “My lord knows that the children are tender, and the nursing flocks and cattle are upon me; and they will drive them hard for one day, then all the flocks will die. Let my lord go ahead of his servant; I will make my way at my slow pace according to the gait of the work that is before me and to the gait of the children until I come to my lord at Seir” (Genesis 33:13-14).

Jacob had no intention of following Esau to Edom. (Genesis 33:17). Soon after saying these words, he had crossed the Jordan and was in the highlands of Canaan — “Then Jacob journeyed to Succoth. . . Jacob came intact to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan.” (Genesis 13:17-18)

Fulfilling his vow

Arriving in Israel, Jacob erected an altar in Shechem, as did his grandfather Abraham when he first arrived in Canaan. Jacob also settled there.

The Jewish sages fault Jacob for not going immediately to Beth-El to fulfill his vow. If he had done this, a midrash suggests, the rape of his daughter Dina would have been avoided.27 In any case, Jacob is reminded by God that it is time to fulfill his vow.

And Elohim said to Jacob: “Arise — go up to Beth-El and dwell there, and make an altar there to God (El) Who appeared to you when you fled from Esau your brother” (Genesis 35:1).

After removing all foreign deities in his family’s possession, Jacob fulfilled God’s request:

And Jacob came to Luz in the land of Canaan — it is Beth-El — he and all the people who were with him. And he built an altar there and called the place El-Beth-El, for it was there that Elohim revealed Himself to him during his flight from his brother (Genesis 35:6-7).

Jacob has fulfilled his vow by erecting an altar, or a “house of Elohim,” at Beth-El. However, the aspect of God related to El Shadai has more information for him:

And Elohim appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padam Aram, and He blessed him: Then Elohim said to him: “Your name is Jacob. Your name will no longer be called Jacob but Israel shall be your name. Thus, He called his name Israel. And Elohim said to him: I am EL SHADAI. BE FRUTFUL AND MULTIPLY; a nation and a congregation of NATIONS shall descend from you, and KINGS shall issue from your loins. The land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac I WILL GIVE TO YOU; and to your offspring after you I will give THE LAND. Then Elohim ascended from upon him in the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar at the place where He had spoken with him — a pillar of stone — and he poured a libation upon it, and poured oil upon it. Then Jacob called the name of the place where Elohim had spoken to him Beth El (Genesis 35:9-14).

One again notes the similarities between this blessing and that given by God to Abraham in the Covenant of Circumcision and this is quoted again for comparisons:

Avram was ninety-nine years old, and YHWH appeared to Avram and said to him, "I am EL SHADAI; walk before Me and be wholehearted. I shall give My covenant between Me and you, AND I SHALL MULTIPLY YOU EXCEEDINGLY MUCH." And Avram fell upon his face, and ELOHIM spoke to him, saying: "Behold, this is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of many nations. And your name shall no longer be called 'Avram'; your name shall be 'Avraham,' for I have made you the father of many nations. And I SHALL MAKE YOU MOST EXCEEDINGLY FRUITFUL (vehifreit oscho), and I will make NATIONS of you, and KINGS shall emerge from you. And I shall establish My covenant between Me and you, and your descendants after you, in their generations, as an eternal covenant, to be Elohim for you, and for your descendants after you. AND I SHALL GIVE YOU – and your descendants after you – the LAND OF YOUR SOJOURNINGS; all of the land of Canaan, as an eternal possession (la’achuzat) (לַאֲחֻזַּ֖ת) and I shall be their Elohim" (Genesis 17:1-8).

Both blessings are given under the names El Shadai and Elohim, since they are both about Israel’s place among the nations. In both passages there is a name change — in the Covenant of Circumcision, Abram’s name is changed to Abraham. In the struggle in the dark and in this final blessing, Jacob is renamed Israel. Both passages relate to fertility, to nations, to kings, and the land. In both the Covenant of Circumcision and in this passage, Elohim “ascended from him” when He had finished His revelation.

What does this ascent mean? Perhaps it is because the aspect of God associated with the name Elohim is more remote to Jacob than that of YHWH. The presence of YHWH on top of him by the ladder is tangible to Jacob and his descendants, but the presence of Elohim is distant and far in the firmament.

God has fulfilled His part of the agreement. He has protected Jacob and brought him back to the land of Canaan, as He will do for his descendants, the future tribes of Israel. Jacob now fulfills his part of the agreement by offering a sacrifice in Beth-El in the place he had previously considered the gate of heaven. Finally, in “the place,” (ibid 35; verses 13 and 15), i.e., in Beth-El, Jacob erects a pillar of stone, a matzeva, as he did after experiencing the vision of angels on a ladder.

In sum, these stories and their blessings remind the Jewish people that they have three secret weapons that have nothing to do with militarism. These are the promises by God that he will ensure their survival, the promise of fertility, and the use of wiliness.

The Jewish people are a nation of child-bearers, even in the face of adversity. It happened first in Egypt — “The children of Israel were fruitful, teemed, increased, and became strong” (Exodus 1:7), and has continued throughout Jewish history. The Jewish population explosion in Eastern Europe and its subsequent emigration was responsible for much of the Jewish population of America and Israel. The third secret weapon is wiliness. They have had to be tricky to avoid disaster. Even today, it is brains as well as brawn that win the wars of the Israel Defense Forces.

A final point. Could a human being have composed all these stories thousands of years ago? In theory, yes. But in practice, it is highly doubtful. These stories contain layer upon layer of profundity. Plus, they are not only history but also prophecy about the survival of Jacob and the survival of the Jewish people both in and outside Israel. Ma’aseh avos siman labonim — the deeds of the forefathers are a sign or portent to their children.

References:

The earliest explicit mention of this principle is in the midrash Bereishit Rabbah 40:6, discussing Avraham’s descent to Egypt ‑ “Everything that happened to the fathers is a sign to the children.” Rashi frequently invokes this principle in his Torah commentary. An example is on Genesis 12:6 “And the Canaanite was then in the land,” Rashi writes: “Everything that happened to the patriarchs is a sign for their children.”Nachmanides elaborates on this principle at length, especially in his commentary to Genesis 12:6, 12:10 and elsewhere, and regards it as a guiding principle for reading the Book of Genesis. For example, he regards Jacob’s struggles with Laban and Esau as indicative of Israel’s struggles with surrounding nations. He writes: “All of this comes to hint that future generations will undergo what happened in this story. For everything that happened to our father with Esau his brother will continually happen to us with the children of Esau.”
Section Five. Prelude to Successful Action in A Commentary on the Book of Exodus by Umberto Moshe David Cassuto, p78. Varda Books, Skokie, Illinois 2005. Also, Covenant and Fertility in Abram to Abraham. Also, A Literary Analysis of the Abraham Narrative by Jonathan Grossman, p224, Peter Lang AG, Bern Switzerland.
A nice summary is provided in Bereishis . A New Translation with a Commentary Anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources volume 1(b) by R’ Meir Zlotowwitz, Mesorah Publications Ltd, p1224-1227. The best-known midrashic explanation is that Jacob was shown the angels of the four kingdoms which would successively ascend to subjugate Israel and then descend from power. The Rambam in The Guide for the Perplexed explains that the ladder symbolizes the vehicle which may be climbed by all who wish to attain a knowledge of Him Who is permanently above the summit of the ladder.
Rashi to Genesis 28:13 based on Bereishit Rabbah 68:12.
Rashi to Genesis 32:2 based on Midrash Tanchuma, Vayishlach. An alternative explanation is provided by Radak, who suggests that one of the two camps consisted of angels and the other of Jacob and his entourage.
Nevertheless, there does seem to be in the Torah the concept of a protective angel for the Israelite nation. After the people left Egypt and they came to the Reed Sea: “The angel of Elohim who had been going in front of the Children of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud travelled from in front of them and went behind them” (Exodus 14:16). God also tells Moses after the episode of the golden calf: “YHWH said to Moses: ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I shall erase him from My book. And now go, lead the people to that which I have spoken to you. Behold, My angel shall go before you, and on a day that I make an accounting, I shall bring their sin to account against them’” (Exodus 32:33-34).
Nachmanides Commentary to the Torah on Genesis 28:12-13.
Rashi and Nachmanides to Genesis 28:13
Three Different Blessings by Rav Tamir Granot in the Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash, Parshat HaShavua, Yeshivat Har Etzion (http://www.vbm-torah.org/archive/parsha66/06-66toldot.htm) and Torah Mietzion. New Readings in Tanach. Bereshit eds Rav Ezra Bick and Rav Yaakov Beasley p271, First Edition, 2011, Maggid Books, A Division of Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd.
Nachmanides to Genesis 28:20.
Rashi to Genesis 28:20.
Rashi to 28:11.
Rashi to Genesis 28:22.
Rashi to Genesis 28:17 based on Bereishit Rabbah 69:7.
Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Beit Habechirah 1:1.
Rashbam to Genesis 32:25.
Rashi to Genesis 32:25 based on Bereishis Rabbah 77:3 and Tanchuma 8. This explanation is probably based on the fact that Jacob uses the word berachtani, which is the past tense of to bless, rather than the future tense tevoracheini. Alternatively, the endorsement of Jacob’s right to the blessing is evident from the angel’s response.
Rashbam to Genesis 32:27. Also Nachmanides to Genesis 32:26.
The gid hanasheh means literally the sinew that jumped, and is so called because it jumped and was displaced from its proper position. Two primary tissues are forbidden for consumption in the hind quarter of an animal. This is consumption of the inner sinew, the sciatic nerve, near the bone is forbidden by Torah law. The outer sinew, the common peroneal nerve, which is near the flesh is forbidden by the sages (BT Chullin 91a). Because purging of this tissue is costly and laborious, most slaughterhouses sell the entire hindquarter to non-Jews. In Israel, it is more common to purge the hindquarters.
Sefer HaHinuch, mitzvah #3.
Commentary to the Torah of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on Genesis 32:33.
Rashi to Genesis 32:29.
“The Jewish Journey” in Covenant and Conversation. Thoughts on the Weekly Parsha by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.
Commentary to the Torah of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on Genesis 32:29.
“And Jacob was left alone” by Rav Chanock Waxman in Torah Mietzion. New Readings in Tanach. Bereshit, eds. Rav Ezra, Bick and Rav Yaakov Beasley p319, First Edition, 2011, Maggid Books, A Division of Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd.
Nachmanides Commentary to the Torah on Genesis 33:11.
Rabbi Pinchas in the name of Rabbi Ḥanin said: Because our father Jacob delayed and postponed his vow, he was punished. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You were delayed in fulfilling your vow — behold, your daughter Dina will be punished (through her violation) (Bereishis Rabba 81:2). See also Tanchuma, Parashat Vayishlach 8