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Post by alon on Apr 23, 2022 7:33:57 GMT -8
This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Genesis 31:3-32:2
Haftara- Jeremiah 30:10-16
D’rash: Many wonder how Ya’aqov, presented with perhaps some validity (though I think commonly emphasized far too much) in churches as a thief, liar, usurper, and non-confrontational weakling could have been a patriarch of Yisroel. However in this chapter we will begin to see he has grown:
Genesis 31: 1-3 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth.” And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
Now, after 20 years service to Lavan, Ya’aqov and his family are preparing to return to Eretz Yisroel, the land promised him and his fathers, as well as his offspring. Note he did not act rashly this time, but waited on God for his direction. The words of Adonai here echo those spoken to Ya’aqov at Beit’el (Bethel): “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen 28:15). Also, the complaint of the Sons of Lavan echo the accusations of Esav (Gen 27:36). Lavan now was treating him with (probably) jealousy and suspicion instead of esteem. However this time Ya’aqov (as we’ll see) will stand and answer the charges, be vindicated both by Lavan and God, and make a somewhat tense but binding peace with his uncle.
Lavan had tried to trick Ya’aqov, keeping him there to defraud him further. But God had blessed him:
Genesis 30: 5b-9 But the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
Recall Ya’aqov tried what was probably a superstitious trick on Lavan with sticks at the watering place. However here he gives credit where it is due, to God. God vindicated him and his service to Lavan by making Lavan the more prosperous. He also watches over Ya’aqov and makes him prosperous. God always keeps His promises.
Continuing last week’s theme of פרץ parats, breaking out or expanding, Ya’aqov’s complaints against Lavan are more than what we’ve been previously told. But when he later confronts Lavan, he does not dispute these charges.
Genesis 31:11-16 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
Here God Himself vindicates Ya’aqov, as do his wives. Rachel and Le’ah speak of the bride price given by the groom to the father and then as a dowry to the bride. This Lavan had used up in the form of Ya’aqov’s service to him and nothing was given the wives in their turn. They well knew their father, and readily agreed to go. Their exodus from a place once of security and deliverance but now where they were constrained and used, evokes pictures of the Hebrews later exodus from Egypt:
“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.” (Gen 46:3-4 ).
Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, … And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:7-8a,9-10).
Genesis 31:17-20 So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole גָּנַב gânav her father's household gods. And Jacob tricked [stole גָּנַב gânav the heart of] Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee.
גָּנַב gânav- A primitive root; to thieve (literally or figuratively); to deceive: - carry away, secretly bring, get by stealth; steal (away), do quietly, secretly; without notice.
So גְנֹב ganav does not always mean something morally wrong; as when Ya’aqov leaves stealthily with all he has, thus denying his father-inlaw the opportunity to compel him to stay, or to take what he has earned.
There are some linguistic comparisons in our reading: Lavan לָבָן, "white" sounds like the Hebrew לָבָ lev, "heart," and אֲרַמִּי armi, "Aramean" sounds like רמה rimah, another term meaning “deceived.” These point out the ironies in the text and the themes of “stealing” and “deception.”
Lavan, who had made a practice of keeping his herds three days away from those of Ya’aqov was unaware of his leaving. He was shearing, a labor intensive undertaking requiring all who could be spared from other duties. It also involved feeding the men and camp chores, so the women would have been there as well. This would have been a good opportunity for Ya’aqov to leave without notice.
Genesis 31:21 He (Ya’aqov) fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates [the River], and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
It was three days before Lavan knew Ya’aqov had left:
Genesis 31:22-23 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead.
But we can’t outrun our problems. Lavan pursued and eventually catches Ya’aqov:
Genesis 31:25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me [stole my heart] and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly and trick me [steal my heart], and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.
Ya’aqov had apparently violated a custom in leaving as he did. However it is doubtful Lavan would have sent him away as he said. More likely he'd have prevented Ya’aqov from leaving. Lavan caught up to Ya’aqov in the hill country of Gilead, however Ya’aqov’s God still protected him:
Genesis 31:24,29 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” … It is in my (Lavan’s) power to do you harm. But the God of your [plural] father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
Lavan however rightfully wondered why Ya’aqov, who worshiped only the God of Israel would steal his household gods.
Genesis 31:30-32 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?” Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
Ya’aqov, unaware Rachel had stolen the idols made a very grave promise. We are not told why she took them, however this would have been a serious affront, with possible spiritual and temporal consequences to Lavan. And Ya’aqov’s words could have had very serious consequences for Rachel. According to a midrash (Gen Rab 74-4) it was Ya’aqov’s words here that brought a curse on Rachel, causing her early death (Gen 35:16-20). Midrashim are stories meant to teach us lessons, not as gospel. The lesson here is obviously our words can have grievous consequences. But at the time she escaped detection and possibly death, though that may be questionable:
Genesis 31:33-35 So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.
We are again not told if this was a trick, or if she was actually menstruating. Note however the irony here which makes a mockery of Lavan’s greed and avarice as he digs through the possessions of his own relations for the תְּרָפִים terâphı̂ym (graven images, or idols). Here too we see Ya’aqov dealing directly and fearlessly with Lavan:
Genesis 31:36-42 (redacted) …“What is my offense? What is my sin, …? For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found … These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. What was torn by wild beasts I … bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen … by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. … I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of … Abraham … had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”
Looking at this meeting we now see Ya’aqov as moral, honest, and steadfast in his service to Lavan. His conscience was clear as he enumerates the hardships of his service and the wrongs done him in return. He also points out that if not for his God’s intervention his uncle would even now take all he had. The men however do come to a somewhat ill-disposed agreement and then go their ways.
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV; JPS Study Bible; Stone TNK Notes; CJB Study Bible/Dr Stern; W. Wiersbe; Dr. Eli of the Israel Bible Center; Robert Alter in Genesis; several reference books; my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Gen 32:3-33:17
Haftara- Obad 1:1-15
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
Parashah- Genesis 31:3-32:2
Haftara- Jeremiah 30:10-16
D’rash: Many wonder how Ya’aqov, presented with perhaps some validity (though I think commonly emphasized far too much) in churches as a thief, liar, usurper, and non-confrontational weakling could have been a patriarch of Yisroel. However in this chapter we will begin to see he has grown:
Genesis 31: 1-3 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth.” And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
Now, after 20 years service to Lavan, Ya’aqov and his family are preparing to return to Eretz Yisroel, the land promised him and his fathers, as well as his offspring. Note he did not act rashly this time, but waited on God for his direction. The words of Adonai here echo those spoken to Ya’aqov at Beit’el (Bethel): “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen 28:15). Also, the complaint of the Sons of Lavan echo the accusations of Esav (Gen 27:36). Lavan now was treating him with (probably) jealousy and suspicion instead of esteem. However this time Ya’aqov (as we’ll see) will stand and answer the charges, be vindicated both by Lavan and God, and make a somewhat tense but binding peace with his uncle.
Lavan had tried to trick Ya’aqov, keeping him there to defraud him further. But God had blessed him:
Genesis 30: 5b-9 But the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
Recall Ya’aqov tried what was probably a superstitious trick on Lavan with sticks at the watering place. However here he gives credit where it is due, to God. God vindicated him and his service to Lavan by making Lavan the more prosperous. He also watches over Ya’aqov and makes him prosperous. God always keeps His promises.
Continuing last week’s theme of פרץ parats, breaking out or expanding, Ya’aqov’s complaints against Lavan are more than what we’ve been previously told. But when he later confronts Lavan, he does not dispute these charges.
Genesis 31:11-16 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
Here God Himself vindicates Ya’aqov, as do his wives. Rachel and Le’ah speak of the bride price given by the groom to the father and then as a dowry to the bride. This Lavan had used up in the form of Ya’aqov’s service to him and nothing was given the wives in their turn. They well knew their father, and readily agreed to go. Their exodus from a place once of security and deliverance but now where they were constrained and used, evokes pictures of the Hebrews later exodus from Egypt:
“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.” (Gen 46:3-4 ).
Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, … And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:7-8a,9-10).
Genesis 31:17-20 So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole גָּנַב gânav her father's household gods. And Jacob tricked [stole גָּנַב gânav the heart of] Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee.
גָּנַב gânav- A primitive root; to thieve (literally or figuratively); to deceive: - carry away, secretly bring, get by stealth; steal (away), do quietly, secretly; without notice.
So גְנֹב ganav does not always mean something morally wrong; as when Ya’aqov leaves stealthily with all he has, thus denying his father-inlaw the opportunity to compel him to stay, or to take what he has earned.
There are some linguistic comparisons in our reading: Lavan לָבָן, "white" sounds like the Hebrew לָבָ lev, "heart," and אֲרַמִּי armi, "Aramean" sounds like רמה rimah, another term meaning “deceived.” These point out the ironies in the text and the themes of “stealing” and “deception.”
Lavan, who had made a practice of keeping his herds three days away from those of Ya’aqov was unaware of his leaving. He was shearing, a labor intensive undertaking requiring all who could be spared from other duties. It also involved feeding the men and camp chores, so the women would have been there as well. This would have been a good opportunity for Ya’aqov to leave without notice.
Genesis 31:21 He (Ya’aqov) fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates [the River], and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
It was three days before Lavan knew Ya’aqov had left:
Genesis 31:22-23 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead.
But we can’t outrun our problems. Lavan pursued and eventually catches Ya’aqov:
Genesis 31:25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me [stole my heart] and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly and trick me [steal my heart], and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.
Ya’aqov had apparently violated a custom in leaving as he did. However it is doubtful Lavan would have sent him away as he said. More likely he'd have prevented Ya’aqov from leaving. Lavan caught up to Ya’aqov in the hill country of Gilead, however Ya’aqov’s God still protected him:
Genesis 31:24,29 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” … It is in my (Lavan’s) power to do you harm. But the God of your [plural] father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
Lavan however rightfully wondered why Ya’aqov, who worshiped only the God of Israel would steal his household gods.
Genesis 31:30-32 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?” Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
Ya’aqov, unaware Rachel had stolen the idols made a very grave promise. We are not told why she took them, however this would have been a serious affront, with possible spiritual and temporal consequences to Lavan. And Ya’aqov’s words could have had very serious consequences for Rachel. According to a midrash (Gen Rab 74-4) it was Ya’aqov’s words here that brought a curse on Rachel, causing her early death (Gen 35:16-20). Midrashim are stories meant to teach us lessons, not as gospel. The lesson here is obviously our words can have grievous consequences. But at the time she escaped detection and possibly death, though that may be questionable:
Genesis 31:33-35 So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.
We are again not told if this was a trick, or if she was actually menstruating. Note however the irony here which makes a mockery of Lavan’s greed and avarice as he digs through the possessions of his own relations for the תְּרָפִים terâphı̂ym (graven images, or idols). Here too we see Ya’aqov dealing directly and fearlessly with Lavan:
Genesis 31:36-42 (redacted) …“What is my offense? What is my sin, …? For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found … These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. What was torn by wild beasts I … bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen … by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. … I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of … Abraham … had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”
Looking at this meeting we now see Ya’aqov as moral, honest, and steadfast in his service to Lavan. His conscience was clear as he enumerates the hardships of his service and the wrongs done him in return. He also points out that if not for his God’s intervention his uncle would even now take all he had. The men however do come to a somewhat ill-disposed agreement and then go their ways.
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV; JPS Study Bible; Stone TNK Notes; CJB Study Bible/Dr Stern; W. Wiersbe; Dr. Eli of the Israel Bible Center; Robert Alter in Genesis; several reference books; my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Gen 32:3-33:17
Haftara- Obad 1:1-15
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
