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110-481: It constitutes Genesis 25:19–28:9. The parashah is made up of 5,426 Hebrew letters, 1,432 Hebrew words, 106 verses , and 173 lines in a Torah Scroll ( סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה ‎, Sefer Torah ). Jews read it the sixth Sabbath after Simchat Torah , generally in November, or rarely in early December. In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings ( עליות ‎, aliyot ). In

220-464: A great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises he will never destroy the world with water again, making a rainbow as a symbol of his promise . God sees humankind cooperating to build a great tower city, the Tower of Babel , and divides humanity with many languages and sets them apart with confusion. Then, a generation line from Shem to Abram is described. Abram,

330-725: A blessing for Esau, but Isaac answered that he had made Jacob master over him and sustained him with grain and wine, and asked what, then, he could still do for Esau. Esau wept and pressed Isaac to bless him, too, so Isaac blessed him to enjoy the fat of the earth and the dew of heaven, to live by his sword and to serve his brother, but also to break his yoke. Esau harbored a grudge against Jacob, and told himself that he would kill Jacob upon Isaac's death. When Esau's words reached Rebekah, she told Jacob to flee to Haran and her brother Laban and remain there until Esau's fury subsided and Rebekah fetched him from there, so that Rebekah would not lose both sons in one day. Rebekah told Isaac her disgust with

440-461: A bowl of stew. His mother, Rebekah, ensures Jacob rightly gains his father's blessing as the firstborn son and inheritor. At 77 years of age, Jacob leaves his parents and later seeks a wife and meets Rachel at a well. He goes to her father, his uncle , where he works for a total of 14 years to earn his wives, Rachel and Leah . Jacob's name is changed to Israel after his wrestle with an angel , and by his wives and their handmaidens he has twelve sons,

550-636: A camel and told Jacob, "I will open my mouth and you continuously pour." A Midrash taught that Jacob dedicated himself to acquiring the birthright because before the Tabernacle was established, private altars were permitted and service was performed by the firstborn, and Jacob did not want Esau to conduct the sacrificial services. Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek Γένεσις , Génesis ; Biblical Hebrew : בְּרֵאשִׁית ‎ , romanized:  Bərēʾšīṯ , lit.   'In [the] beginning'; Latin : Liber Genesis )

660-561: A long period of time. The involvement of multiple authors is suggested by internal contradictions within the text. For example, Genesis includes two creation narratives . By the early 1860s, the leading theory for the Pentateuch's composition was the old supplementary hypothesis. This theory held that the earliest portions, the so-called Book of Origins (containing Genesis 1 and most of the priestly laws in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers),

770-500: A male heir, and the story is constantly complicated by the fact that each prospective mother— Sarah , Rebekah and Rachel —is barren. The ancestors, however, retain their faith in God and God in each case gives a son—in Jacob's case, twelve sons, the foundation of the chosen Israelites . Each succeeding generation of the three promises attains a more rich fulfilment, until through Joseph "all

880-479: A man descended from Noah, is instructed by God to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan . There, God makes a promise to Abram, promising that his descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, but that people will suffer oppression in a foreign land for four hundred years, after which they will inherit the land "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates ". Abram's name

990-525: A number of variations and revisions of the documentary hypothesis have been proposed. The new supplementary hypothesis posits three main sources for the Pentateuch: J, D, and P. The E source is considered no more than a variation of J, and P is considered a body of revisions and expansions to the J (or "non-Priestly") material. The Deuteronomistic source does not appear in Genesis. More recent thinking

1100-560: A pillar of salt for going against his word. Lot's daughters, concerned that they are fugitives who will never find husbands, get Lot drunk so they can become pregnant by him, and give birth to the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites . Abraham and Sarah go to the Philistine town of Gerar , pretending to be brother and sister (they are half-siblings). The King of Gerar takes Sarah for his wife, but God warns him to return her (as she

1210-424: A prophet was formerly called a seer." Hosea taught that God once punished Jacob for his conduct, requiting him for his deeds, including that (as reported in Genesis 25:26) in the womb he tried to supplant his brother. In Genesis 26:4, God reminded Isaac that God had promised Abraham that God would make his heirs as numerous as the stars. In Genesis 15:5, God promised that Abraham's descendants would as numerous as

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1320-533: A righteous person who is the child of a wicked person (Rebekah daughter of Bethuel). Rabbi Isaac taught that the Patriarchs and Matriarchs were infertile because God longs to hear the prayer of the righteous. Reading Genesis 25:20, "Isaac . . . took Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife," Rabbi Isaac asked: Since the verse already said that Rebekah

1430-509: A single law code accepted by the entire community. The two powerful groups making up the community—the priestly families who controlled the Second Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the "elders" and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had "given" them the land—were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own "history of origins". However,

1540-608: A special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob). In Judaism , the theological importance of Genesis centres on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land . The name Genesis is from the Latin Vulgate , in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek Γένεσις , meaning 'origin'; Biblical Hebrew : בְּרֵאשִׁית , romanized:  Bərēʾšīṯ , 'In [the] beginning'. Genesis

1650-559: A transitive verb.) Rabbi Berekiah and Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Ḥama ben Ḥaninah thus explained that Rebekah was remembered with the blessing of children only after Isaac prayed for her, so that the heathens in Rebekah's family might not say that their prayer in Genesis 24:60 caused that result. Rather, God answered Isaac's prayer, as Genesis 25:21 reports, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife . . . and his wife Rebekah conceived." It

1760-537: Is circumcision ; and the last, which does not appear until the Book of Exodus, is with Israel alone, and its sign is Sabbath . A great leader mediates each covenant ( Noah , Abraham, Moses), and at each stage God progressively reveals himself by his name ( Elohim with Noah, El Shaddai with Abraham, Yahweh with Moses). Throughout Genesis, various figures engage in deception or trickery to survive or prosper. Biblical scholar David M. Carr notes that such stories reflect

1870-510: Is about to lay the knife upon his son, "the Angel of the Lord" restrains him, promising him again innumerable descendants. On the death of Sarah, Abraham purchases Machpelah (believed to be modern Hebron ) for a family tomb and sends his servant to Mesopotamia to find among his relations a wife for Isaac; after proving herself worthy, Rebekah becomes Isaac's betrothed. Keturah , Abraham's other wife, births more children, among whose descendants are

1980-671: Is also known as a Sidra (or Sedra / s ɛ d r ə / ). The parashah is a section of the Torah (Five Books of Moses) used in Jewish liturgy during a particular week. There are 54 weekly parshas, or parashiyot in Hebrew, and the full cycle is read over the course of one Jewish year. The first 12 of the 54 come from the Book of Genesis, and they are: Phicol Phicol , also spelled Phichol ( KJV ) or Phikol , ( Hebrew : פִיכֹל , meaning "great"; Latin : Phicol )

2090-544: Is changed to "Israel", and through the agency of his son Joseph , the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus (departure). The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, successively narrowing in scope from all humankind (the covenant with Noah ) to

2200-399: Is changed to 'Abraham' and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah (meaning 'princess'), and God says that all males should be circumcised as a sign of his promise to Abraham. Due to her old age, Sarah tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar , as a second wife (to bear a child). Through Hagar, Abraham fathers Ishmael . God then plans to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for

2310-432: Is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the ancestral history (chapters 12–50). The primeval history sets out the author's concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for humans, but when man corrupts it with sin, God decides to destroy his creation, sparing only the righteous Noah and his family to re-establish

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2420-570: Is eliminated. This antiquity was needed to prove the worth of Israel's traditions to the nations (the neighbours of the Jews in the early Persian province of Judea), and to reconcile and unite the various factions within Israel itself. Describing the work of the biblical authors, John Van Seters wrote that lacking many historical traditions and none from the distant past, "They had to use myths and legends for earlier periods. In order to make sense out of

2530-416: Is interpreted by Christians as the " fall of man " into sin . Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel . Cain works in the garden, and Abel works with meat; they both offer offerings to God one day, and God does not accept Cain's offering but does accept Abel's. This causes Cain to resent Abel, and Cain ends up murdering him. God then curses Cain . Eve bears another son, Seth , to take Abel's place in accordance to

2640-476: Is normally excluded). Since the name YHWH had not been revealed to them, they worshipped El in his various manifestations. (It is, however, worth noting that in the Jahwist source, the patriarchs refer to deity by the name YHWH, for example in Genesis 15.) Through the patriarchs, God announces the election of Israel, that is, he chooses Israel to be his special people and commits himself to their future. God tells

2750-441: Is really Abraham's wife) and he obeys. God sends Sarah a son and tells her she should name him Isaac ; through him will be the establishment of the covenant (promise). Sarah then drives Ishmael and his mother Hagar out into the wilderness (because Ishmael is not her real son and Hagar is a slave), but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation. Then, God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac . As Abraham

2860-653: Is that J dates from either just before or during the Babylonian Exile, and the Priestly final edition was made late in the Exilic period or soon after. The almost complete absence of all the characters and incidents mentioned in primeval history from the rest of the Hebrew Bible has led a sizeable minority of scholars to conclude that these chapters were composed much later than those that follow, possibly in

2970-600: Is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament . Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word , Bereshit ( 'In the beginning' ). Genesis purports to be an account of the creation of the world , the early history of humanity, and the origins of the Jewish people . Genesis is part of the Torah or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Tradition credits Moses as

3080-426: Is written תוֹמִ֖ם ‎, defectively (without an א ‎ or a י ‎), whereas in Genesis 38:27, regarding Peretz and Zeraḥ, the word "twins" is written תְאוֹמִ֖ים ‎, more completely (with an א ‎ and a י ‎), a Midrash taught that the text signals that Peretz and Zeraḥ were both righteous, but Jacob was righteous and Esau was wicked. Reading the words of Genesis 25:27, "And Esau

3190-695: The Babylonian Exile ( c.  598 BC  – c.   538 BC ). At the end of the 19th century, most scholars adopted the documentary hypothesis . This theory held that the five books of the Pentateuch came from four sources: the Yahwist (abbreviated as J), the Elohist (E), the Deuteronomist (D) and the Priestly source (P). Each source was held to tell the same basic story, with

3300-550: The Garden of Eden . In the second chapter, God commanded the man that he is free to eat from any tree, including the tree of life, except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil . Later, in chapter 3, a serpent , portrayed as a deceptive creature or trickster , convinces Eve to eat the fruit. She then convinces Adam to eat it, whereupon God throws them out and punishes them—Adam was punished with getting what he needs only by sweat and work, and Eve to giving birth in pain. This

3410-519: The Masoretic Text of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ), Parashat Toledot has two "open portion" ( פתוחה ‎, petuchah ) divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter פ ‎ ( peh )). Parashat Toledot has three "closed portion" ( סתומה ‎, setumah ) divisions (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter ס ‎ ( samekh )), that further divide

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3520-602: The Midianites . Abraham dies at a prosperous old age and his family lays him to rest in Hebron (Machpelah). Isaac's wife Rebekah gives birth to the twins Esau (meaning 'velvet'), father of the Edomites , and Jacob (meaning 'supplanter' or 'follower'). Esau was a couple of seconds older as he had come out of the womb first, and was going to become the heir; however, through carelessness, he sold his birthright to Jacob for

3630-413: The Torah's author . It was probably composed around the 5th century BC , although some scholars believe that primeval history (chapters 1–11), may have been composed and added as late as the 3rd century BC. Based on scientific interpretation of archaeological , genetic , and linguistic evidence, some mainstream Bible scholars consider Genesis to be primarily mythological rather than historical . It

3740-593: The Victorian crisis of faith as evidence mounted that the Earth was far older than six thousand years. It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion , popularly referred to as a parashah , to be read during Jewish prayer services on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays. The full name, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ , Parashat ha-Shavua , is popularly abbreviated to parashah (also parshah / p ɑː r ʃ ə / or parsha ), and

3850-420: The land of Goshen . Jacob calls his sons to his bedside and reveals their future before he dies. Joseph lives to old age and tells his brothers before his death that if God leads them out of the country, then they should take his bones with them. In 1978, David Clines published The Theme of the Pentateuch . Considered influential as one of the first authors to take up the question of the overarching theme of

3960-519: The pharaoh of Egypt asks him to interpret a dream he had about an upcoming famine, which Joseph does through God. He is then made second in command of Egypt by the grateful pharaoh, and later on, he is reunited with his father and brothers, who fail to recognize him and plead for food as the famine had reached Canaan as well. After much manipulation to see if they still hate him, Joseph reveals himself, forgives them for their actions, and lets them and their households into Egypt, where Pharaoh assigns to them

4070-448: The 16th to the 19th century treated the book of Genesis as factual. As evidence in the fields of paleontology , geology and other sciences was uncovered, scholars tried to fit these discoveries into the Genesis creation account. For example, Johann Jakob Scheuchzer in the 18th century believed that fossils were the remains of creatures killed during the flood. This literal understanding of Genesis fell out of favor with scholars during

4180-533: The 3rd century BC. As for why the book was created, a theory which has gained considerable interest, although still controversial, is that of Persian imperial authorisation. This proposes that the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire , after their conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, agreed to grant Jerusalem a large measure of local autonomy within the empire, but required the local authorities to produce

4290-629: The Disguised Jacob Isaac Blessing Jacob on Departure God Blessing Jacob at Bethel The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud : A Midrash cited Genesis 25:19 to illustrate that there is double rejoicing in the case of a righteous one who is the child of a righteous one. Rabbi Levi taught that Isaac's face looked so exactly like Abraham's that everyone said (in

4400-646: The God of his father Isaac," and not to the God of Abraham and Isaac. Bar Kappara discussed the question with Rabbi Jose bar Patros. One of them said that Jacob declared that as Isaac had been eager for his food (for, as Genesis 25:28 reports, Isaac loved Esau because Esau brought Isaac venison), so Jacob was eager for his food (and thus was headed to Egypt to avoid the famine). The other explained that as Isaac had distinguished between his sons (as Genesis 25:28 reports, loving Esau more than Jacob), so Jacob would distinguish among his sons (going to Egypt for Joseph's account alone). But then Jacob noted on reconsideration that Isaac

4510-464: The Israelites until they were then as numerous as the stars. In Deuteronomy 10:22, Moses reported that God had made the Israelites as numerous as the stars. And Deuteronomy 28:62 foretold that the Israelites would be reduced in number after having been as numerous as the stars. God's reference to Abraham as "my servant" ( עַבְדִּי ‎, avdi ) in Genesis 26:24 is echoed in God's application of

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4620-402: The Lord by name. And Isaac pitched his tent there and his servants began digging a well. Then Abimelech, Ahuzzath his councilor, and Phicol his general came to Isaac, and Isaac asked them why they had come, since they had driven Isaac away. They answered that they now recognized that God had been with Isaac, and sought a treaty that neither would harm the other. The fourth reading ends here. In

4730-465: The Lord let Himself be entreated by him ," but rather should read, "And the Lord let Himself be entreated by them " (as Isaac's prayer was on behalf of them both). But the Gemara explained that Genesis 25:21 reads, "And the Lord let Himself be entreated by him ," because the prayer of a righteous person who is the child of a righteous person (Isaac son of Abraham) is even more effective than the prayer of

4840-491: The Pentateuch, Clines' conclusion was that the overall theme is "the partial fulfilment—which implies also the partial nonfulfillment—of the promise to or blessing of the Patriarchs". (By calling the fulfilment "partial", Clines was drawing attention to the fact that at the end of Deuteronomy the people of Israel are still outside Canaan.) The patriarchs , or ancestors, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Joseph

4950-527: The Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text. Genesis is an example of a work in the "antiquities" genre, as the Romans knew it, a popular genre telling of the appearance of humans and their ancestors and heroes, with elaborate genealogies and chronologies fleshed out with stories and anecdotes. Notable examples are found in

5060-504: The Phicol mentioned in Genesis 21:22, 32 is in relation to an agreement between Abraham and Abimelech. Therefore, the name Phicol may be a namesake handed down through a generation or possibly even the name of a title (both are referred to as "commander of the army"), such as Abimelech . This biographical article about a person notable in connection with Judaism is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This biography of

5170-682: The age of the world since creation. This Anno Mundi system of counting years is the basis of the Hebrew calendar and Byzantine calendar . Counts differ somewhat, but they generally place the age of the Earth at about six thousand years. During the Protestant Reformation , rivalry between Catholic and Protestant Christians led to a closer study of the Bible and a competition to take its words more seriously. Thus, scholars in Europe from

5280-574: The analysis of the Abraham cycle, the Jacob cycle, and the Joseph cycle, and the Yahwist and Priestly sources . The problem lies in finding a way to unite the patriarchal theme of the divine promise to the stories of Genesis 1–11 (the primeval history ) with their theme of God's forgiveness in the face of man's evil nature. One solution is to see the patriarchal stories as resulting from God's decision not to remain alienated from humankind: God creates

5390-489: The ancestors of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and a daughter, Dinah . Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, rapes Dinah and asks his father to get Dinah for him as his wife, according to Chapter 34. Jacob agrees to the marriage but requires that all the males of Hamor's tribe be circumcised, including Hamor and Shechem. After this was performed and all the men were still weak, Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi murdered all

5500-400: The book into the following sections: It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, and most modern commentators divide it into two parts based on the subject matter, a primeval history (chapters 1–11) and a patriarchal history (chapters 12–50). While the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding

5610-435: The children whom God would grant him would come from this righteous woman, and Rebekah prayed likewise. Reading the words, "Because she was barren," in Genesis 25:21, Rabbi Judan said in the name of Resh Lakish that Rebekah lacked an ovary , whereupon God fashioned one for her. And reading the words, "And the Lord let Himself be entreated ( וַיֵּעָתֶר ‎, vayei'ater ) of him," in Genesis 25:21, Rabbi Levi compared this to

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5720-532: The day recounted in Genesis 25:29–34. Rabbi Joḥanan deduced from the similar use of the words "the field" in Genesis 25:29 and in connection with the betrothed maiden in Deuteronomy 22:27 that Esau dishonored a betrothed maiden. Rabbi Joḥanan deduced from the similar use of the word "faint" in Genesis 25:29 and in connection with murderers in Jeremiah 4:31 that Esau committed a murder. Rabbi Joḥanan deduced from

5830-480: The end of chapter 26. As the reading continues in chapter 27, when Isaac was old and his sight had dimmed, he called Esau and asked him to hunt some game and prepare a dish, so that Isaac might give him his innermost blessing before he died. Rebekah had been listening, and when Esau departed, she instructed Jacob to fetch her two choice kids so that she might prepare a dish that Jacob could take to Isaac and receive his blessing. Jacob complained to Rebekah that since Esau

5940-472: The entire book. The primeval history has a symmetrical structure hinging on the flood story (chapters 6–9) with the events before the flood mirrored by the events after. The ancestral history is structured around the three patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Joseph. The stories of Isaac arguably do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob. The Genesis creation narrative comprises two different stories;

6050-584: The fifth reading, Isaac threw a feast for the Philistines, and the next morning, they exchanged oaths and the Philistines departed from him in peace. Later in the day, Isaac's servants told him that they had found water, and Isaac named the well Shibah, so that place became known as Beersheba. A closed portion ends here. In the continuation of the reading, when Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women, Judith and Basemath , causing bitterness for Isaac and Rebekah. Another closed portion ends here with

6160-478: The first blessing is one of material wellbeing and dominance, only the second and third blessings convey fertility and the Land of Israel. The first and the third blessings explicitly designate Jacob as the conveyor of blessing, although arguably the second blessing does that as well by giving Jacob "the blessing of Abraham." (See Genesis 12:2–3.) Only the third blessing promises God's Presence with Jacob. Isaac Blessing

6270-461: The first two chapters roughly correspond to these. In the first, Elohim , the generic Hebrew word for God, creates the heavens and the earth including humankind, in six days, and rests on the seventh . In the second, God, now referred to as " Yahweh Elohim" (rendered as "the L ORD God" in English translations), creates two individuals, Adam and Eve , as the first man and woman, and places them in

6380-436: The game and Jacob served him the kids and wine. Isaac bade his son to come close and kiss him, and Isaac smelled his clothes, remarking that he smelled like the fields. The fifth reading ends here. In the sixth reading, Isaac blessed Jacob, asking God to give him abundance, make peoples serve him, make him master over his brothers, curse those who cursed him, and bless those who blessed him. Just as Jacob left, Esau returned from

6490-426: The generations", with the first use of the phrase referring to the "generations of heaven and earth" and the remainder marking individuals. The toledot formula, occurring eleven times in the book of Genesis, serves as a heading which marks a transition to a new subject. The creation account of Genesis 1 functions as a prologue for the whole book and is not introduced with a toledot . The toledot divide

6600-498: The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and claimed them for their own, so Isaac named those wells Esek and Sitnah. Isaac moved on and dug a third well, and they did not quarrel over it, so he named it Rehoboth . The third reading ends here. In the fourth reading, Isaac went to Beersheba , and that night God appeared to Isaac, telling Isaac not to fear, for God was with him, and would bless him and increase his offspring for Abraham's sake. So Isaac built an altar and invoked

6710-537: The hunt, prepared a dish for Isaac, and asked Isaac for his blessing. Isaac asked who he was, and Esau said that it was he. Isaac trembled and asked who it was then who had served him, received his blessing, and now must remain blessed. Esau burst into sobbing, and asked Isaac to bless him too, but Isaac answered that Jacob had taken Esau's blessing with guile. Esau asked whether Jacob had been so named that he might supplant Esau twice, first taking his birthright and now his blessing. Esau asked Isaac whether he had not reserved

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6820-402: The idea that Jacob might marry a Hittite woman, so Isaac sent for Jacob, blessed him, and instructed him not to take a Canaanite wife, but to go to Padan-aram and the house of Bethuel to take a wife from among Laban's daughters. And Isaac blessed Jacob with fertility and the blessing of Abraham, that he might possess the land that God had assigned to Abraham. The sixth reading ends here. In

6930-510: The land that God would show him, for God would remain with him, bless him, and assign the land to him and his numerous heirs, as God had sworn to Abraham , who had obeyed God and kept God's commandments. The first reading ends here. In the second reading, Isaac settled in Gerar, and when the men of Gerar asked Isaac about his beautiful wife, he said that she was his sister out of fear that the men might kill him on account of her. But looking out of

7040-423: The lentil has no mouth (no groove like other legumes), so the mourner has no mouth to talk but sits silently. Others explained that just as the lentil is round, so mourning comes round to all people. A Midrash also taught that these lentils had aspects of both mourning and rejoicing—mourning because Abraham died, and rejoicing because Jacob secured the birthright. Rabbi Joḥanan taught that Esau committed five sins on

7150-687: The males. Jacob complained that their act would mean retribution by others, namely the Canaanites and Perizzites. Jacob and his tribe took all the Hivite women and children as well as livestock and other property for themselves. Joseph , Jacob's favourite son of the twelve, makes his brothers jealous (especially because of special gifts Jacob gave him) and because of that jealousy they sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt . Joseph endures many trials including being innocently sentenced to jail but he stays faithful to God. After several years, he prospers there after

7260-581: The medium of an angel. Rabbi Ba bar Kahana said that God’s word came to her through an intermediary. Rabbi Haggai said in Rabbi Isaac's name that Rebekah was a prophet, as were all of the matriarchs. The Rabbis of the Talmud read Edom to stand for Rome . Thus, Rav Naḥman bar Isaac interpreted the words, "and the one people shall be stronger than the other people," in Genesis 25:23 to teach that at any one time, one of Israel and Rome will be ascendant, and

7370-888: The name of Rabbi Ḥama ben Ḥaninah taught that God answered Isaac's prayer for children in Genesis 25:21, rather than the prayer of Rebekah's family in Genesis 24:60. Rabbi Berekiah in Rabbi Levi's name read Job 29:13 to say, "The blessing of the destroyer ( אֹבֵד ‎, oved ) came upon me," and interpreted "The blessing of the destroyer ( אֹבֵד ‎, oved )" to allude to Laban the Syrian. Rabbi Berekiah in Rabbi Levi's name thus read Deuteronomy 26:5 to say, "An Aramean (Laban) sought to destroy ( אֹבֵד ‎, oved ) my father (Jacob)." (Thus Laban sought to destroy Jacob by, perhaps among other things, cheating Jacob out of payment for his work, as Jacob recounted in Genesis 31:40–42. This interpretation thus reads אֹבֵד ‎, oved , as

7480-596: The other will be subjugated. Reading the words of Genesis 25:23, "Two nations ( גּוֹיִם ‎, goyim ) are in your womb," the Gemara suggested that one not read the word as גּוֹיִם ‎, goyim , "nations," but as גֵּיִים ‎, gayim , "proud ones." And Rav Judah said that Rav said that this verse was fulfilled in two great individuals who descended from Rebekah—Antoninus (who descended from Esau) and Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi (who descended from Jacob), both of whose tables, because of their wealth, never lacked for radishes, lettuce, or cucumbers—either in summer or in

7590-416: The other, and the older would serve the younger. When Rebekah gave birth, the first twin emerged red and hairy, so they named him Esau, and his brother emerged holding Esau's heel, so they named him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born. Esau became a skillful hunter and outdoorsman, but Jacob was a mild man and camp-bound. Isaac favored Esau for his game, but Rebekah favored Jacob. Once when Jacob

7700-407: The parashah according to the following schedule: The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources: Genesis 25:26 reports that Rebekah "went to inquire ( לִדְרֹשׁ ‎, lidrosh ) of the Lord." 1 Samuel 9:9 explains, "Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire ( לִדְרוֹשׁ ‎, lidrosh ) of God, he said: 'Come and let us go to the seer'; for he who is now called

7810-409: The patriarchs that he will be faithful to their descendants (i.e. to Israel), and Israel is expected to have faith in God and his promise. ("Faith" in the context of Genesis and the Hebrew Bible means an agreement to the promissory relationship, not a body of a belief.) The promise itself has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land. The fulfilment of the promise to each patriarch depends on having

7920-497: The promises given at 3:15, 20. After many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by human sin and Nephilim , and God wants to wipe out humanity for their wickedness. However, Noah is righteous and blameless. So first, he instructs the Noah to build an ark and put examples of all the animals on it, seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean. Then God sends

8030-412: The rainy season. Reading the words of Genesis 25:23, "Two peoples shall be separated from your body," a Midrash taught that Jacob was born circumcised. Rabbi Huna interpreted the words of Genesis 25:23, "the older shall serve the younger," to mean that if Jacob merited, then Esau would serve, but if not, then Esau would be served. Noting that in Genesis 25:24, regarding Jacob and Esau, the word "twins"

8140-579: The relationship between man and God. The ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel , God's chosen people . At God's command, Noah's descendant Abraham journeys from his birthplace (described as Ur of the Chaldeans and whose identification with Sumerian Ur is tentative in modern scholarship ) into the God-given land of Canaan , where he dwells as a sojourner , as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob . Jacob's name

8250-460: The same term to Moses , Caleb , David , Isaiah , Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Israel , Nebuchadnezzar , Zerubbabel , the Branch, and Job . In Genesis 27–28, Jacob receives three blessings: (1) by Isaac when Jacob is disguised as Esau in Genesis 27:28–29, (2) by Isaac when Jacob is departing for Haran in Genesis 28:3–4, and (3) by God in Jacob's dream at Bethel in Genesis 28:13–15. Whereas

8360-610: The second open portion. The first open portion divides the first reading. The second open portion spans the balance of the parashah. Two closed portion divisions further divide the fifth reading, setting apart the discussion of Esau's marriage to the two Hittite women. In the first reading, Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, and when the couple proved unable to conceive , Isaac pleaded with God on Rebekah's behalf, and God allowed Rebekah to conceive . As twins struggled in her womb, she inquired of God, who answered her that two separate nations were in her womb, one mightier than

8470-547: The seventh reading, when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and charged him not to take a Canaanite wife, Esau realized that the Canaanite women displeased Isaac, and Esau married Ishmael 's daughter Mahalath . The seventh reading, a closed portion, the closing maftir ( מפטיר ‎) reading of Genesis 28:7–9, and the parashah all end here. Jews who read the Torah according to the triennial cycle of Torah reading read

8580-513: The similar use of the word "this" in Genesis 25:32 and in the words "This is my God" in Exodus 15:2 that Esau denied belief in God. Rabbi Joḥanan deduced from Esau's words, "Behold, I am on the way to die," in Genesis 25:32 that Esau denied the resurrection of the dead. And for Esau's fifth sin, Rabbi Joḥanan cited Genesis 25:34, that "Esau despised his birthright." Reading Genesis 25:30, "Esau said to Jacob: 'Feed me now from that red, red dish,'" Rabbi Ze’eira said that Esau opened his mouth wide like

8690-415: The sins of their people. Abraham protests, but fails to get God to agree not to destroy the cities (reasoning with Abraham that not even ten righteous persons were found there; and among the righteous was Abraham's nephew Lot ). Angels save Abraham's nephew Lot (who was living there at the same time) and his family, but his wife looks back on the destruction, (even though God commanded not to) and turns into

8800-680: The son of Rabbi Gedaliah concluded that God decided to reward Esau for this. When Jacob offered Esau gifts, Esau answered Jacob in Genesis 33:9, "I have enough ( רָב ‎, rav ); do not trouble yourself." So God declared that with the same expression that Esau thus paid respect to Jacob, God would command Jacob's descendants not to trouble Esau's descendants, and thus God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 2:3, "You have circled this mountain ( הָר ‎, har ) long enough ( רַב ‎, rav )." Bar Kappara and Rabbi Jose bar Patros referred to Genesis 25:28 to explain why, in Genesis 46:1, just before heading down to Egypt, Jacob "offered sacrifices to

8910-515: The son of a king who was digging through to his father to receive a pound of gold from him, and thus the king dug from inside while his son dug from outside. The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana taught that Rebekah was one of seven barren women about whom Psalm 113:9 says (speaking of God), "He . . . makes the barren woman to dwell in her house as a joyful mother of children." The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana also listed Sarah , Rachel , Leah , Manoah 's wife, Hannah , and Zion . The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana taught that

9020-512: The sources later combined by various editors. Scholars were able to distinguish sources based on the designations for God. For example, the Yahwist source uses Yahweh, while the Elohistic and Priestly sources use Elohim. Scholars also use repeated and duplicate stories to identify separate sources. In Genesis, these include the two creation stories, three different wife–sister narratives , and

9130-517: The stars of heaven. Similarly, in Genesis 22:17, God promised that Abraham's descendants would as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore. In Genesis 32:13, Jacob reminded God that God had promised that Jacob's descendants would be as numerous as the sands. In Exodus 32:13, Moses reminded God that God had promised to make the Patriarch's descendants as numerous as the stars. In Deuteronomy 1:10, Moses reported that God had multiplied

9240-698: The text of surviving copies varies. There are four major groupings of surviving manuscripts: the Masoretic Text , the Samaritan Pentateuch (in Samaritan script ), the Septuagint (a Greek translation), and fragments of Genesis found in the Dead Sea Scrolls . The Dead Sea Scrolls are oldest but cover only a small proportion of the book. Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase elleh toledot , meaning "these are

9350-424: The third reading, Isaac grew very wealthy, to the envy of the Philistines. The Philistines stopped up all the wells that Abraham's servants had dug, and Abimelech sent Isaac away, for his household had become too big. So Isaac left to settle in the wadi of Gerar, where he dug anew the wells that Abraham's servants had dug and called them by the same names that his father had. But when Isaac's servants dug two new wells,

9460-515: The two versions of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael into the desert. According to the documentary hypothesis, J was produced during the 9th century BC in the southern Kingdom of Judah and was believed to be the earliest source. E was written in the northern Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BC. D was written in Judah in the 7th century BC and associated with the religious reforms of King Josiah c.  625 BC . The latest source

9570-463: The variety of different and often conflicting versions of stories, and to relate the stories to each other, they fitted them into a genealogical chronology." Tremper Longman describes Genesis as theological history: "the fact that these events took place is assumed, and not argued. The concern of the text is not to prove the history but rather to impress the reader with the theological significance of these acts". The original manuscripts are lost, and

9680-503: The vulnerability felt by ancient Israelites and that "such stories can be a major way of gaining hope and resisting domination". Examples include: In both Judaism and Christianity , a genre of literature emerged dedicated to interpreting and commenting on the Genesis creation narrative, known as the Hexaemeron . By totaling the spans of time in the genealogies of Genesis, religious authorities have calculated what they consider to be

9790-477: The window, Abimelech saw Isaac fondling Rebekah, and Abimelech summoned Isaac to complain that Isaac had called her his sister. Isaac explained that he had done so to save his life. Abimelech complained that one of the people might have lain with her, and Isaac would have brought guilt upon the Philistines, and Abimelech charged the people not to molest Isaac or Rebekah, on pain of death. God blessed Isaac, who reaped bountiful harvests. The second reading ends here. In

9900-463: The words "And Isaac entreated ( וַיֶּעְתַּר ‎, vaye'tar ) the Lord" in Genesis 25:21 to mean that Isaac poured out petitions in abundance (as in Aramaic , עתר ‎, ' tar , means "wealth"). The Midrash taught that the words "for ( לְנֹכַח ‎, lenokhach ) his wife" taught that Isaac prostrated himself in one spot and Rebekah in another (opposite him), and he prayed to God that all

10010-472: The words of Genesis 25:19), "Abraham fathered Isaac." Rabbi Judah taught that Rebekah was barren for 20 years. After 20 years, Isaac took Rebekah to Mount Moriah, to the place where he had been bound, and he prayed on her behalf concerning conception, as Genesis 25:21 says, "And Isaac entreated the Lord." Rava argued that one may deduce from Isaac's example that a man may remain for 20 years with an infertile wife. For of Isaac, Genesis 25:20 says, "And Isaac

10120-433: The words of Psalm 113:9, "He . . . makes the barren woman to dwell in her house," apply to Rebekah, for Genesis 25:21 reports that "Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren." And the words of Psalm 113:9, "a joyful mother of children," apply to Rebekah, as well, for Genesis 25:21 also reports that "the Lord let Himself be entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived." Rabbi Berekiah and Rabbi Levi in

10230-444: The words of Song of Songs 2:2). Noting that the three-letter root עתר ‎ used in Genesis 25:21 can mean either "entreat" or "pitchfork," Rabbi Eleazar (or others say Rabbi Isaac or Resh Lakish ) taught that the prayers of the righteous are like a pitchfork. Just as the pitchfork turns grain from place to place in a barn, so the prayers of the righteous turn the mind of God from harshness to mercy. Rabbi Joḥanan interpreted

10340-529: The words, "and she went to inquire of the Lord," in Genesis 25:22, a Midrash wondered how Rebekah asked God about her pregnancy, and whether there were synagogues and houses of study in those days. The Midrash taught that Rebekah went to the school of Shem and Eber to inquire. The Midrash concluded that to visit a Sage is like visiting the Divine Presence. Reading Genesis 25:23, "the Lord said to her," Rabbi Iddi taught that God spoke to her through

10450-485: The work of Greek historians of the 6th century BC: their intention was to connect notable families of their own day to a distant and heroic past, and in doing so they did not distinguish between myth , legend , and facts. Professor Jean-Louis Ska of the Pontifical Biblical Institute calls the basic rule of the antiquarian historian the "law of conservation": everything old is valuable, nothing

10560-515: The world and humans, humans rebel, and God "elects" (chooses) Abraham. To this basic plot (which comes from the Yahwist), the Priestly source has added a series of covenants dividing history into stages, each with its own distinctive "sign". The first covenant is between God and all living creatures, and is marked by the sign of the rainbow; the second is with the descendants of Abraham ( Ishmaelites and others as well as Israelites), and its sign

10670-401: The world" attains salvation from famine, and by bringing the children of Israel down to Egypt he becomes the means through which the promise can be fulfilled. Scholars generally agree that the theme of divine promise unites the patriarchal cycles, but many would dispute the efficacy of trying to examine Genesis' theology by pursuing a single overarching theme, instead citing as more productive

10780-406: Was "from Padan Aram," why does the verse also say "sister of Laban the Aramean ( הָאֲרַמִּי ‎, ha-arami )"? Rabbi Isaac concluded that the verse thus teaches that her father was a charlatan ( רַמַּאי ‎, ramai ), her brother was a charlatan, and the residents of Padan Aram were charlatans, but Rebekah was a righteous woman who emerged from their midst like a "lily among the thorns" (in

10890-649: Was 40 years old when he took Rebekah . . . to be his wife," and Genesis 25:26 says, "And Isaac was 60 years old when she bore them." Rav Naḥman replied that Isaac was infertile (and he knew that the couple was childless because of him). Rabbi Isaac deduced that Isaac was infertile from Genesis 25:21, which says, "And Isaac entreated the Lord opposite his wife." Rabbi Isaac noted that Genesis 25:21 does not say " for his wife" but " opposite his wife" and deduced from this that both were infertile (as Isaac had to pray for himself as well as Rebekah). The Gemara countered that if this were so, then Genesis 25:21 should not read, "And

11000-407: Was Esau and asked for Isaac's blessing. Isaac asked him how he had succeeded so quickly, and he said that God had granted him good fortune. Isaac asked Jacob to come closer that Isaac might feel him to determine whether he was really Esau. Isaac felt him and wondered that the voice was Jacob's, but the hands were Esau's. Isaac questioned if it was really Esau, and when Jacob assured him, Isaac asked for

11110-467: Was P, which was written during the 5th century in Babylon . Based on these dates, Genesis and the rest of the Pentateuch did not reach its final, present-day form until after the Babylonian Exile. Julius Wellhausen argued that the Pentateuch was finalized in the time of Ezra . Ezra 7 :14 records that Ezra traveled from Babylon to Jerusalem in 458 BC with God's law in his hand. Wellhausen argued that this

11220-420: Was a Philistine military leader. Phicol was the chief captain of the army of Abimelech , the Philistine king of Gerar . He entered into an alliance with Abraham with reference to a certain well which, from this circumstance, was called Beersheba , "the well of the oath" ( Genesis 21:22,32; 26:26). The Phicol mentioned in Genesis 26:26 is in relation to an agreement between Isaac and Abimelech, whereas

11330-693: Was a cunning hunter," a Midrash taught that Esau ensnared people by their words. Reading the words, "and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents," the Midrash taught that Jacob dwelt in two tents, the academy of Shem and the academy of Eber. And reading the words of Genesis 25:28, "And Rebekah loved Jacob," the Midrash taught that the more Rebekah heard Jacob's voice (engaged in study), the stronger her love grew for him. Rabbi Ḥaninah taught that Esau paid great attention to his parent ( horo ), his father, whom he supplied with meals, as Genesis 25:28 reports, "Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison." Rabbi Samuel

11440-425: Was composed in the time of King Solomon by a priest or Levite . This author used the Hebrew word elohim for God. This original work was expanded in the 8th century BC, with the name Yahweh used for God. In the 7th century BC, during the time of Jeremiah , the final parts of the Pentateuch were added, specifically the main parts of Deuteronomy. This would mean the Pentateuch achieved its final form before

11550-597: Was cooking, Esau returned to the camp famished and demanded some of Jacob's red stew. Jacob demanded that Esau first sell him his birthright, and Esau did so with an oath, spurning his birthright. The first open portion ends here with the end of chapter 25. As the reading continues in chapter 26, another famine struck the land, and Isaac went to the house of the Philistine King Abimelech in Gerar . God told Isaac not to go down to Egypt , but to stay in

11660-400: Was hairy, Isaac might touch him, discover him to be a trickster, and curse him. But Rebekah called the curse upon herself, insisting that Jacob do as she directed. So Jacob got the kids, and Rebekah prepared a dish, had Jacob put on Esau's best clothes, and covered Jacob's hands and neck with the kid's skins. When Jacob went to Isaac, he asked which of his sons had arrived, and Jacob said that he

11770-402: Was responsible for only one soul, whereas Jacob was responsible for 70 souls. A Tanna taught in a Baraita that the day recounted in Genesis 25:29–34 on which Esau spurned his birthright was also the day on which Abraham died, and Jacob was cooking lentils to comfort Isaac. In the Land of Israel, they taught in the name of Rabbah bar Mari that it was appropriate to cook lentils because just as

11880-659: Was taught in Rabbi Nehemiah 's name that Rebekah merited that the twelve tribes should spring directly from her. Reading the words of Genesis 25:22, "and the children struggled together with in her," a Midrash taught that they sought to run within her. When she stood near synagogues or schools, Jacob struggled to come out, while when she passed idolatrous temples, Esau struggled to come out. Reading Rebekah's lament in Genesis 25:22, "why am I like this?" Rabbi Isaac taught that Rebekah went to other women's houses and asked them whether they had experienced such suffering. Reading

11990-403: Was the newly compiled Pentateuch. Nehemiah 8 – 10 , according to Wellhausen, describes the publication and public acceptance of this new law code c.  444 BC . There was now a large gap between the earliest sources of the Pentateuch and the period they claimed to describe, which ended c.  1200 BC . Most scholars held to the documentary hypothesis until the 1980s. Since then,

12100-462: Was written anonymously, but both Jewish and Christian religious tradition attributes the entire Pentateuch —Genesis, Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy —to Moses . During the Enlightenment , the philosophers Benedict Spinoza and Thomas Hobbes questioned Mosaic authorship . In the 17th century, Richard Simon proposed that the Pentateuch was written by multiple authors over

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