• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 27:1-46
• Prophets (P): Malachi 1:1-8
• Apostolic (A): Hebrews 11:20; Hebrews 12:14-17; 2 Corinthians 1:15-22
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 26:1 – 27:18

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• 1 Kings 12:13-15 (T)
• Numbers 20:14-21 (T)
• 2 Kings 8:20-22 (T)
• 2 Chronicles 21:1-20 (T)
• Ezekiel 35:1-15 (T)
• Obadiah 1:1-21 (T)
• Amos 1:11-12 (T)
• Genesis 24:2-4 (T)
• Genesis 25:25-26 (T)
• Hosea 12:2-4, 12 (T)
• Genesis 25:29-34 (T)
• Hebrews 11:1-2, 6, 20 (T)
• Hebrews 12:16-17 (T)
• 2 Kings 8:20-22  (T)
• 2 Chronicles 28:14-21 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Jubilees 25:1-23 (T)
• 1 Esdras 4:42-57 (T)
• Genesis 27:1-29 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus, 1.18.5-6 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

27:1 When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son?” He said to him, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “See now, I am old. I don't know the day of my death. 3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and get me wild game. 4 Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.” 5 Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for wild game, and to bring it. 6 Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7 ‘Bring me wild game, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you to the face of YHWH to the face of my death.' 8 Now therefore, my son, hear in my voice according to that which I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and get me two good young goats from there. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. 10 You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you to the face of his death.” 11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only hear in my voice, and go get them for me.” 14 He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved. 15 Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. 16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. 17 She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. 18 He came to his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my wild game, that your soul may bless me.” 20 Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He said, “Because YHWH your Elohim gave me success.” 21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He didn't recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.” 25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's wild game, that my soul may bless you.” He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank. 26 His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.” 27 He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a [full]^(LXX) field which YHWH has blessed. 28 [The Elohim]^(MTT) give you of the dew of the heavens, of the fatness of the land, and plenty of grain and new wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.” 30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the face of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son's wild game, that your soul may bless me.” 32 Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Isaac trembled a great trembling and many more, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken wild game, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, my father.” 35 He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.” 36 He said, “Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing.” He said, “Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then will I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have just one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father!” [And Isaac being vexed,]^(LXX) Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. 39 Isaac his father answered him, “Behold, your dwelling will be of the fatness of the land, and of the dew of the heavens from above. 40 You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you will shake his yoke from off your neck.” 41 Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 The words of Esau, her elder son, were made known to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, hear in my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. 44 Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away— 45 until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?” 46 Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”

Prophets Portion (P)

Apostolic Portion (A)

Hebrews 11:20 In faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.

Hebrews 12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, 15 looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of Elohim, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it, 16 lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold [his own]^(mss) birthright for one meal. 17 For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance though he sought it diligently with tears.

2 Corinthians 1:15 In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit, 16 and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea. 17 When I therefore planned this, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?” 18 But as Elohim is faithful, our word toward you [is]^(mss) not “Yes and no.” 19 For the Son of Elohim, Yeshua the Messiah, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.” 20 For however many are the promises of Elohim, in [Messiah]^(Syr) is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of Elohim through us. 21 Now he who establishes us with you in Messiah and anointed us is Elohim, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

26:1 And in the seventh year of this week Isaac called Esau, his elder son, and said unto him: “I am old, my son, and behold my eyes are dim in seeing, and I know not the day of my death. 2. And now take thy hunting weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and hunt and catch me (wild game), my son, and make me savoury meat, such as my soul loveth, and bring it to me that I may eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die.” 3. But Rebecca heard Isaac speaking to Esau. 4. And Esau went forth early to the field to hunt and catch and bring home to his father. 5. And Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and said unto him: “Behold, I heard Isaac, thy father, speak unto Esau, thy brother, saying: ‘Hunt for me, and make me savoury meat, and bring (it) to me that I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before I die.’ 6. And now, my son, obey my voice in that which I command thee: Go to thy flock and fetch me two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth, and thou shalt bring (it) to thy father that he may eat and bless thee before the Lord before he die, and that thou mayst be blessed.” 7. And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: “Mother, I will not withhold anything which my father would eat, and which would please him: only I fear, my mother, that he will recognise my voice and wish to touch me. 8. And thou knowest that I am smooth, and Esau, my brother, is hairy, and I will appear before his eyes as an evildoer, and will do a deed which he had not commanded me, and he will be wroth with me, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing.” 9. And Rebecca, his mother, said unto him: “Upon me be thy curse, my son, only obey my voice.” 10. And Jacob obeyed the voice of Rebecca, his mother, and went and fetched two good and fat kids of the goats, and brought them to his mother, and his mother made them (savoury meat) such as he loved. 11. And Rebecca took the goodly raiment of Esau, her elder son, which was with her in the house, and she clothed Jacob, her younger son, (with them), and she put the skins of the kids upon his hands and on the exposed parts of his neck. 12. And she gave the meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob. 13. And Jacob went in to his father and said: “I am thy son: I have done according as thou badest me: arise and sit and eat of that which I have caught, father, that thy soul may bless me.” 14. And Isaac said to his son: “How hast thou found so quickly, my son?” 15. And Jacob said: “Because (the Lord) thy Elohim caused me to find.” 16. And Isaac said unto him: “Come near, that I may feel thee, my son, if thou art my son Esau or not.” 17. And Jacob went near to Isaac, his father, and he felt him and said: 18. “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau,” and he discerned him not, because it was a dispensation from the heavens to remove his power of perception and Isaac discerned not, for his hands were hairy as (his brother) Esau’s, so that he blessed him. 19. And he said: “Art thou my son Esau?” and he said: “I am thy son and he said, “Bring near to me that I may eat of that which thou hast caught, my son, that my soul may bless thee.” 20. And he brought near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine and he drank. 21. And Isaac, his father, said unto him: “Come near and kiss me, my son.” And he came near and kissed him. 22. And he smelled the smell of his raiment, and he blessed him and said: “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a (full) field which the Lord hath blessed. 23. And may the Lord give thee of the dew of the heavens And of the dew of the land, and plenty of corn and oil: Let nations serve thee, And peoples bow down to thee. 24. Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee; And may all the blessings wherewith the Lord hath blessed me and blessed Abraham, my father, Be imparted to thee and to thy seed for ever. Cursed be he that curseth thee, And blessed be he that blesseth thee.”

25:1 And in the second year of this week in this jubilee, [2109 A.M.] Rebecca called Jacob her son, and spake unto him, saying: “My son, do not take thee a wife of the daughters of Canaan, as Esau, thy brother, who took him two wives of the daughters of Canaan, and they have embittered my soul with all their unclean deeds: for all their deeds are fornication and coveting, and there is no righteousness with them, for (their deeds) are evil. 2. And I, my son, love thee exceedingly, and my heart and my affection bless thee every hour of the day and watch of the night. 3. And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and do the will of thy mother, and do not take thee a wife of the daughters of this land, but only of the house of my father, and of my father’s kindred. Thou wilt take thee a wife of the house of my father, and the Most High Elohim will bless thee, and thy children will be a righteous generation and a holy seed.” 4. And then spake Jacob to Rebecca, his mother, and said unto her: “Behold, mother, I am nine weeks of years old, and I neither know nor have I touched any woman, nor have I betrothed myself to any, nor even think of taking me a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 5. For I remember, mother, the words of Abraham, our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, but to take me a wife from the seed of my father’s house and from my kindred. 6. I have heard before that daughters have been born to Laban, thy brother, and I have set my heart on them to take a wife from amongst them. 7. And for this reason I have guarded myself in my spirit against sinning or being corrupted in all my ways throughout all the days of my life; for with regard to coveting and fornication, Abraham, my father, gave me many commands. 8. And, despite all that he hath commanded me, these two and twenty years my brother hath striven with me, and spoken frequently to me and said: ‘My brother, take to wife a sister of my two wives’; but I refuse to do as he hath done. 9. I swear before thee, mother, that all the days of my life I will not take me a wife from the daughters of the seed of Canaan, and I will not act wickedly as my brother hath done. 10. Fear not, mother; be assured that I will do thy will and walk in uprightness, and not corrupt my ways for ever.” 11. And thereupon she lifted up her face to the heavens and extended the fingers of her hands, and opened her mouth and blessed the Most High Elohim, who had created the heavens and the land, and she gave Him thanks and praise. 12. And she said: “Blessed be the Lord Elohim, and may His holy name be blessed for ever and ever, who hath given me Jacob as a pure son and a holy seed; for He is Thine, and Thine will his seed be continually and throughout all the generations for evermore. 13. Bless him, O Lord, and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that I may bless him.” 14. And at that hour, when the spirit of righteousness descended into her mouth, she placed both her hands on the head of Jacob, and said: 15. “Blessed art thou, Lord of righteousness and Elohim of the ages; And may He bless thee beyond all the generations of men. May He give thee, my son, the path of righteousness, And reveal righteousness to thy seed. 16. And may He make thy sons many during thy life, And may they arise according to the number of the new moons of the year. And may their sons become many and great beyond the stars of the heavens, And their numbers be more than the sand of the sea. 17. And may He give them this goodly land–as He said He would give it to Abraham and to his seed after him always — And may they hold it as a possession for ever. 18. And may I see (born) unto thee, my son, blessed children during my life, And a blessed and holy seed may all thy seed be. 19. And as thou hast refreshed thy mother’s spirit during †my† life, The womb of her that bare thee blesseth thee, [My affection] and my breasts bless thee And my mouth and my tongue praise thee greatly. 20. Increase and spread over the land, And may thy seed be perfect in the joy of the heavens and land for ever; And may thy seed rejoice, And on the great day of peace may it have peace. 21. And may thy name and thy seed endure to all the ages, And may the Most High Elohim be their Elohim, And may the Elohim of righteousness dwell with them, And by them may His sanctuary be built unto all the ages. 22. Blessed be he that blesseth thee, And all flesh that curseth thee falsely may it be cursed.” 23. And she kissed him, and said to him “May the Lord of the world love thee As the heart of thy mother and her affection rejoice in thee and bless thee.” And she ceased from blessing.

26:25 And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing his son Jacob, and Jacob had gone forth from Isaac his father, Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting. 26. And he also made savoury meat, and brought (it) to his father, and said unto his father: “Let my father arise, and eat of my wild game that thy soul may bless me.” 27. And Isaac, his father, said unto him: “Who art thou?” And he said unto him: “I am thy first born, thy son Esau: I have done as thou hast commanded me.” 28. And Isaac was very greatly astonished, and said: “Who is he that hath hunted and caught and brought (it) to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him: (and) he will be blessed, and all his seed for ever.” 29. And it came to pass when Esau heard the words of his father Isaac that he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said unto his father: “Bless me, (even) me also, father.” 30. And he said unto him: “Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing.” And he said: “Now I know why his name is named Jacob: behold, he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he hath taken away my blessing.” 31. And he said: “Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me, father?” and Isaac answered and said unto Esau: “Behold, I have made him thy lord, And all his brethren have I given to him for servants, And with plenty of corn and wine and oil have I strengthened him: And what now will I do for thee, my son?” 32. And Esau said to Isaac, his father: “Hast thou but one blessing, O father? Bless me, (even) me also, father”: And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 33. And Isaac answered and said unto him: “Behold, far from the dew of the land will be thy dwelling, And far from the dew of the heavens from above. 34. And by thy sword wilt thou live, And thou wilt serve thy brother. And it will come to pass when thou becomest great, And dost shake his yoke from off thy neck, Thou wilt sin a complete sin unto death, And thy seed will be rooted out from under the heavens.” 35. And Esau kept threatening Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him, and he said in his heart: “May the days of mourning for my father now come, so that I may slay my brother Jacob.” 27:1 And the words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebecca in a dream, and Rebecca sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: 2. “Behold Esau thy brother will take vengeance on thee so as to kill thee. 3. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise and flee thou to Laban, my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him a few days until thy brother’s anger turneth away, and he remove his anger from thee, and forget all that thou hast done; then I will send and fetch thee from thence.” 4. And Jacob said: “I am not afraid; if he wisheth to kill me, I will kill him.” 5. But she said unto him: “Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one day.” 6. And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: “Behold, thou knowest that my father hath become old, and doth not see because his eyes are dull, and if I leave him it will be evil in his eyes, because I leave him and go away from you, and my father will be angry, and will curse me. I will not go; when he sendeth me, then only will I go.” 7. And Rebecca said to Jacob: “I will go in and speak to him, and he will send thee away.” 8. And Rebecca went in and said to Isaac: “I loathe my life because of the two daughters of Heth, whom Esau hath taken him as wives; and if Jacob take a wife from among the daughters of the land such as these, for what purpose do I further live; for the daughters of Canaan are evil.” 9. And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and admonished him and said unto him: 10. “Do not take thee a wife of any of the daughters of Canaan; arise and go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother’s father, and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother’s brother. 11. And El Shaddai bless thee and increase and multiply thee that thou mayest become a company of nations, and give thee the blessings of my father Abraham, to thee and to thy seed after thee, that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings and all the land which Elohim gave to Abraham: go, my son, in peace.” 12. And Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Mesopotamia, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob’s mother. 13. And it came to pass after Jacob had arisen to go to Mesopotamia that the spirit of Rebecca was grieved after her son, and she wept. 14. And Isaac said to Rebecca: “My sister, weep not on account of Jacob, my son; for he goeth in peace, and in peace will he return. 15. The Most High Elohim will preserve him from all evil, and will be with him; for He will not forsake him all his days; 16. For I know that his ways will be prospered in all things wherever he goeth, until he return in peace to us, and we see him in peace. 17. Fear not on his account my sister, for he is on the upright path and he is a perfect man: and he is faithful and will not perish. Weep not.” 18. And Isaac comforted Rebecca on account of her son Jacob, and blessed him.

Related Scriptures

12:13 The king answered the people roughly, and abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, 14 and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” 15 So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was a thing brought about from YHWH, that he might establish his word, which YHWH spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

20:14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “Your brother Israel says: You know all the travail that has happened to us; 15 how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers. 16 When we cried to YHWH, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the edge of your border. 17 “Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink from the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway. We will not turn away to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.” 18 Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you.” 19 The sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway; and if we drink your water, I and my livestock, then I will give its price. Only let me, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.” 20 He said, “You will not pass through.” Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.

8:20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 21 Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents. 22 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

21:1 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David’s city, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver, of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the reign to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. 4 Now when Jehoram had risen up over the reign of his father, and had strengthened himself, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. 5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did Ahab’s house; for he had Ahab’s daughter as his wife. He did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH. 7 However YHWH would not destroy David’s house, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons all the days. 8 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 9 Then Jehoram went there with his captains and all his chariots with him. He rose up by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, along with the captains of the chariots. 10 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken YHWH, the Elohim of his fathers.11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem whore, and led Judah astray. 12 A letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “YHWH, the Elohim of David your father, says, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to whore like Ahab’s house did, and also have slain your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than yourself, 14 behold, YHWH will strike your people with a great plague, including your sons, your wives, and all your possessions; 15 and you will have great sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels fall out by reason of the sickness, day by day.’ ”16 YHWH stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians who are beside the Ethiopians; 17 and they came up against Judah, broke into it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, including his sons and his wives; so that there was no son left him, except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.18 After all this YHWH struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. 19 In process of time, at the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died of severe diseases. His people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers. 20 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He departed without being missed; and they buried him in David’s city, but not in the tombs of the kings.

35:1 Moreover the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and tell it, ‘The Lord YHWH says: “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you. I will make you a desolation and an astonishment. 4 I will lay your cities waste, and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am YHWH.5 “Because you have had a perpetual hostility, and have given over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end; 6 therefore, as I live,” says the Lord YHWH, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood will pursue you. Since you have not hated blood, therefore blood will pursue you. 7 Thus I will make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation. I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns. 8 I will fill its mountains with its slain. The slain with the sword will fall in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses. 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am YHWH.10 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries will be mine, and we will possess it,’ whereas YHWH was there: 11 therefore, as I live,” says the Lord YHWH, “I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. 12 You will know that I, YHWH, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They have been laid desolate. They have been given to us to devour.’ 13 You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me. I have heard it.” 14 The Lord YHWH says: “When the whole land rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it. Then they will know that I am YHWH.’ ”

1:1 The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord YHWH says about Edom. We have heard news from YHWH, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, “Arise, and let’s rise up against her in battle. 2 Behold, I have made you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ 4 Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says YHWH. 5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, what disaster awaits you—wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes? 6 How Esau will be ransacked! How his hidden treasures are sought out! 7 All the men of your alliance have brought you on your way, even to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you. Friends who eat your bread lay a snare under you. There is no understanding in him.” 8 “Won’t I in that day”, says YHWH, “destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mountain of Esau? 9 Your mighty men, Teman, will be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. 10 For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off forever. 11 In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them. 12 But don’t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don’t rejoice over the sons of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don’t speak proudly in the day of distress. 13 Don’t enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don’t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity. 14 Don’t stand in the crossroads to cut off those of his who escape. Don’t deliver up those of his who remain in the day of distress. 15 For the day of YHWH is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head. 16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. Yes, they will drink, swallow down, and will be as though they had not been. 17 But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions. 18 The house of Jacob will be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble. They will burn among them and devour them. There will not be any remaining to the house of Esau.” Indeed, YHWH has spoken. 19 Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20 The captives of this army of the sons of Israel, who are among the Canaanites, will possess even to Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will possess the cities of the Negev. 21 Saviors will go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the reign will be YHWH’s.

1:11 YHWH says: “For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity, and his anger raged continually, and he kept his wrath forever; 12 but I will send a fire on Teman, and it will devour the palaces of Bozrah.”

Genesis 24:2-4 (T)

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. 3 I will make you swear by YHWH, the Elohim of the heavens and the Elohim of the land, that you will not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. 4 But you will go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

25:25 The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau. 26 After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

12:2 YHWH also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him. 3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with Elohim. 4 Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us…12 Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.

25:29 Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with some of that red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 Jacob said, “First, sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

11:1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. 2 For by this, the elders obtained witness…6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to Elohim must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him…20 In faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.

8:20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 21 Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him; and he rose up by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him with the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents. 22 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

2 Chronicles 28:14-21 (T)

28:14 So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the princes and all the assembly. 15 The men who have been mentioned by name rose up and took the captives, and with the plunder clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them, gave them sandals, gave them something to eat and to drink, anointed them, carried all the feeble of them on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria. 16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him. 17 For again the Edomites had come and struck Judah, and carried away captives. 18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and also Gimzo and its villages; and they lived there. 19 For YHWH brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, because he acted without restraint in Judah and trespassed severely against YHWH. 20 Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came to him and gave him trouble, but didn’t strengthen him. 21 For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of YHWH, and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria; but it didn’t help him.

Additional Readings​

4:42 Then said the king to him, Ask what you will more than is appointed in writing, and we will give it you, inasmuch as you are found wisest; and you will sit next me, and will be called my cousin. 43 Then said he to the king, Remember your vow, which you did vow to build Jerusalem, in the day when you came to your reign, 44 and to send away all the vessels that were taken out of Jerusalem, which Cyrus set apart, when he vowed to destroy Babylon, and vowed to send them again there. 45 You did also vow to build up the temple, which the Edomites burned when Judea was made desolate by the Kasdim. 46 And now, O lord the king, this is that which I require, and which I desire of you, and this is the princely generosity that will proceed from you: I pray therefore that you make good the vow, the performance whereof you have vowed to the King of the heavens with your own mouth. 47 Then Darius the king stood up, and kissed him, and wrote letters for him to all the treasurers and governors and captains and local governors, that they should safely bring on their way both him, and all those that should go up with him to build Jerusalem. 48 He wrote letters also to all the governors that were in Coelesyria and Phoenicia, and to them in Libanus, that they should bring cedar wood from Libanus to Jerusalem, and that they should build the city with him. 49 Moreover he wrote for all the Jews that should go out of his realm up into Jewry, concerning their freedom, that no officer, no governor, no local governor, nor treasurer, should forcibly enter into their doors; 50 and that all the country which they occupied should be free to them without tribute; and that the Edomites should give over the villages of the Jews which then they held: 51 and that there should be yearly given twenty talents to the building of the temple, until the time that it were built; 52 and other ten talents yearly, for burnt offerings to be presented upon the altar every day, as they had a commandment to offer seventeen: 53 and that all those who should come from Babylonia to build the city should have their freedom, as well they as their posterity, and all the priests that came. 54 He wrote also to give them their charges, and the priests’ vestments wherein they minister; 55 and for the Levites he wrote that their charges should be given them until the day that the house were finished, and Jerusalem built up. 56 And he commanded to give to all that kept the city lands and wages. 57 He sent away also all the vessels from Babylon, that Cyrus had set apart; and all that Cyrus had given in commandment, he charged also to be done, and sent to Jerusalem.

Genesis 27:1-46 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 27 And it was when Izhak was old and his eyes were darkened from seeing,–because when his father was binding him he had seen the Throne of Glory, and from that time his eyes had begun to darken,–that he called Esau his elder son, on the fourteenth of Nisan, and said to him, My son, behold, this night they on high praise the Lord of the world, and the treasures of the dew are opened in it. And he said, Behold, I am.

And he said, Behold, now I am old; I know not the day of my death: but now take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow; and go forth into the field, and take me wild game, and make me food such as I love, and bring to me, and I will eat, that my soul may bless thee ere I die.

And Rivekah heard by the Holy Spirit as Izhak spake with Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to take wild game to bring it. And Rivekah spake to Jakob her son, saying, Behold, this night those on high praise the Lord of the world, and the treasures of the dew are opened in it; and I have heard thy father speaking with Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me wild game, and make me food, and I will bless thee in the face of the Lord before I die. And now my son receive from me what I command thee: Go now to the house of the flock, and take me from thence two fat kids of the goats; one for the pascha, and one for the oblation of the feast; and I will make of them food for thy father such as he loveth. And thou shalt carry to thy father, and he will eat, that he may bless thee before his death.

And because Jakob was afraid to sin, fearing lest his father might curse him, he said, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes like one who derideth him, and bring upon me a curse and not a blessing.

And she said, If with blessings he bless thee, they will be upon thee and upon thy sons; and if with curses he should curse thee, they will be upon me and upon my soul: therefore receive from me, and go and take for me.

And he went and took, and brought to his mother; and his mother made food such as his father loved. And Rivekah took the pleasant vestments of Esau her elder son which had formerly been Adam’s; but which that day Esau had not worn, but they remained with her in the house, and (with them) she dressed Jakob her younger son. And the skins of the kids she laid upon his hands and the smooth parts of his neck. And the food and the bread she had made she set in the hand of Jakob her son.

And he entered unto his father, and said, My father. And he said, Behold me: who art thou, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou spakest with me. Arise now, sit and eat of my wild game, that thy soul may bless me. And Izhak said to his son, What is this that thou hast found so soon, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy Elohim had prepared it before me. And Izhak said to Jakob, Come near now, and I will feel thee, my son, whether thou be my son Esau or not. And Jakob drew near to Izhak his father, who touched him, and said, This voice is the voice of Jakob, nevertheless the feeling of the hands is as the feeling of the hands of Esau. But he recognized him not, because his hands were hairy as the hands of Esau his brother, and he blessed him. And he said, But art thou my son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Draw near, and I will eat of my son’s wild game, that my soul may bless thee. And he approached him, and he ate; and he had no wine; but an angel prepared it for him, from the wine which had been kept in its grapes from the days of the beginning of the world; and he gave it into Jakob’s hand, and Jakob brought it to his father, and he drank. And Izhak his father said, Draw near now, and kiss me, my son; and Jakob drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his vestments, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of the fragrant incense which is to be offered on the mountain of the house of the sanctuary, which will be called a field which the Lord hath blessed, and that He hath chosen, that therein His Shekinah might dwell.

Therefore the Word of the Lord give thee of the good dews which descend from the heavens, and of the good fountains that spring up, and make the herbage of the earth to grow from beneath, and plenty of provision and wine. Let peoples be subject to thee, all the sons of Esau, and reigns bend before thee, all the sons of Keturah; a chief and a ruler be thou over thy brethren, and let the sons of thy mother salute thee. Let them who curse thee, my son, be accursed as Bileam bar Beor; and them who bless thee be blessed as Mosheh the prophet, the scribe of Israel. [JERUSALEM. Let peoples serve before thee, all the sons of Esau: all kings be subject to thee, all the sons of Ishmael: be thou a chief and a ruler over the sons of Keturah: all the sons of Laban the brother of thy mother will come before thee and salute thee. Whoso curseth thee, Jakob, my son, will be accursed as Bileam ben Beor; and whoso blesseth thee will be blessed as Mosheh the prophet and scribe of Israel.]

And it was when Izhak had finished blessing Jakob, and Jakob had only gone out about two handbreadths from Izhak his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And the Word of the Lord had impeded him from taking clean wild game; but he had found a certain dog, and killed him, and made food of him, and brought to his father, and said to his father, Arise, my father, and eat of my wild game, that thy soul may bless me.

And Izhak his father said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy firstborn, Esau. And Izhak was moved with great agitation when he heard the voice of Esau, and the smell of his food rose in his nostrils as the smell of the burning of Gehennam; and he said, Who is he who hath got wild game, and come to me, and I have eaten of all which he brought me before thou camest, and I have blessed him, and he shall, too, be blessed?

When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a cry exceeding great and bitter, and said to his father, Bless me, me also, my father! And he said, Thy brother hath come with subtilty, and hath received from me thy blessing. And he said, His name is truly called Jakob; for he hath dealt treacherously with me these two times: my birthright he took, and, behold, now he hath received my blessing! And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Izhak answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have appointed him a ruler over thee, and all his brethren have I made to be his servants, and with provision and wine have I sustained him: and now go, leave me; for what can I do for thee, my son? And Esau answered his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

And Izhak answered and said to Esau, Behold, among the good fruits of the earth will be thy habitation, and with the dews of the heavens from above. And upon thy sword shalt thou depend, entering at every place: yet thou shalt be supple and credulous, and be in subjection to thy brother; but it will be that when his sons become evil, and fall from keeping the commandments of the law, thou shalt break his yoke of servitude from off thy neck. [JERUSALEM. And by thy weapons thou shalt live, and before thy brother be subject. And it will be when the sons of Jakob labour in the law, and guard the commandments, they will set the yoke of subjection on thy neck; but when the sons of Jakob withdraw themselves and study not the law, nor guard the commandments, behold, then shalt thou break their yoke of subjection from off thy neck.]

And Esau kept hatred in his heart against Jakob his brother, on account of the order of blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, I will not do as Kain did, who slew Habel in the life (time) of his father, for which his father begat Sheth, but will wait till the time when the days of mourning for the death of my father come, and then will I kill Jakob my brother, and will be found the killer and the heir.

And the words of Esau her elder son, who thought in his heart to kill Jakob, were shown by the Holy Spirit to Rivekah, and she sent, and called Jakob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, Esau thy brother lieth in wait for thee, and plotteth against thee to kill thee. And now, my son, hearken to me: arise, escape for thy life, and go unto Laban my brother, at Haran, and dwell with him a few days, until the wrath of thy brother be abated, until thy brother’s anger have quieted from thee, and he have forgotten what thou hast done to him; and I will send and take thee from thence. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day: thou being slain, and he driven forth, as Hava was bereaved of Habel, whom Kain slew, and both were removed from before Adam and Hava all the days of the life of Adam and Hava? [JERUSALEM. Until the time when the bitterness of thy brother will be turned away from thee.]

And Rivekah said to Izhak, I am afflicted in my life on account of the indignity of the daughters of Heth. If Jakob take a wicked wife from the daughters of Heth, such as these of the daughters of the people of the land, what will life be to me?

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus, 1.18.5-6; 1.18.7-8 (T)

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

1.18.5. But when he was old, and could not see at all, he called Esau to him, and told him, that besides his blindness, and the disorder of his eyes, his very old age hindered him from his worship of Elohim [by slaughter]; he bid him therefore to go out a hunting, and when he had caught as much wild game as he could, to prepare him a supper that after this he might make supplication to God, to be to him a supporter and an assister during the whole time of his life; saying, that it was uncertain when he should die, and that he was desirous, by prayers for him, to procure, beforehand, Elohim to be merciful to him.

1.18.6. Accordingly, Esau went out a hunting. But Rebeka thinking it proper to have the supplication made for obtaining the favor of Elohim to Jacob, and that without the consent of Isaac, bid him kill kids of the goats, and prepare a supper. So Jacob obeyed his mother, according to all her instructions. Now when the supper was got ready, he took a goat’s skin, and put it about his arm, that by reason of its hairy roughness, he might by his father be believed to be Esau; for they being twins, and in all things else alike, differed only in this thing. This was done out of his fear, that before his father had made his supplications, he should be caught in his evil practice, and lest he should, on the contrary, provoke his father to curse him. So he brought in the supper to his father. Isaac perceivest to be Esau.” So suspecting no deceit, he ate the supper, and betook himself to his prayers and intercessions with God; and said, “O Lord of all ages, and Creator of all substance; for it was thou that didst propose to my father great plenty of good things, and hast vouchsafed to bestow on me what I have; and hast promised to my posterity to be their kind supporter, and to bestow on them still greater blessings; do thou therefore confirm these thy promises, and do not overlook me, because of my present weak condition, on account of which I most earnestly pray to thee. Be gracious to this my son; and preserve him and keep him from every thing that is evil. Give him a happy life, and the possession of as many good things as thy power is able to bestow. Make him terrible to his enemies, and honorable and beloved among his friends.”

1.18.7. Thus did Isaac pray to God, thinking his prayers had been made for Esau. He had but just finished them, when Esau came in from hunting. And when Isaac perceived his mistake, he was silent: but Esau required that he might be made partaker of the like blessing from his father that his brother had partook of; but his father refused it, because all his prayers had been spent upon Jacob: so Esau lamented the mistake. However, his father being grieved at his weeping, said, that “he should excel in hunting and strength of body, in arms, and all such sorts of work; and should obtain glory for ever on those accounts, he and his posterity after him; but still should serve his brother.”

1.18.8. Now the mother delivered Jacob, when she was afraid that his brother would inflict some punishment upon him because of the mistake about the prayers of Isaac; for she persuaded her husband to take a wife for Jacob out of Mesopotamia, of her own kindred, Esau having married already Basemmath, the daughter of Ismael, without his father’s consent; for Isaac did not like the Canaanites, so that he disapproved of Esau’s former marriages, which made him take Basemmath to wife, in order to please him; and indeed he had a great affection for her.