Genesis 36

This chapter is mostly genealogy, so I’d like to take a moment to look at the different ways Judaism views the story of Jacob, a story which will take us to the end of Bereishit (Genesis). Kabbalistic traditions are definitely in the minority amongst Jews, but I found the Kabbalah perspective interesting, and included it here.

From the point of view of the Jewish tradition, it is not the historical Jacob (if there is one) that matters most, but Jacob as he appears in Genesis as the progenitor of the twelve tribes of Israel. It is believed to be a moot point whether or not the narrator(s) of Genesis approve of Jacob’s actions and behavior. There is certainly much Jewish commentary that disapproves of Jacob’s deceptions, and his claim to birthright. However, in rabbinic literature, Jacob is made to represent the Jewish people as a whole, and the conflict between Jacob and Esau has been interpreted as the love-hate relationship between Rome and the Jews. Later in history, this relationship is seen as a symbol of the relationship between Christianity (Esau) and Judaism (Jacob).

In Kabbalistic doctrine of the Sefirot, and the Zohar text, each of the patriarchs represent one of the ten Sefirot. Abraham is the “pillar of loving-kindness”; Isaac, “the pillar of judgement”; and Jacob the “pillar of truth”, since truth is arrived at when apparently contradictory principles are reconciled.

The Kabbalah Sefirot.

Biblical Geneaology

Going back to the genealogy, we find that Esau’s wives don’t match up with previous chapters. In Genesis 26, Esau marries Judith and Basemath. In Genesis 28 he marries Ishmael’s daughter Mahalath.

Now, in Genesis 36, the order of the names of the wives is Adah, Aholibamah, and Basemath. Basemath is stated to be the daughter of Ishmael, whereas in Genesis 28, Basemath was a Hittite, and Mahalath was a daughter of Ishmael.

Confused? Yep, me too.

Many Christian commentators hold the view that yes, there are variations that are not easily accounted for, but they are not important enough to waste time thinking about. In other words, just sweep these inconsistencies under the rug and forget about it.

One aspect of the genealogy that stands out is Amalek, one of the chiefs of Edom descended from Eliphaz, firstborn son of Esau. If we recall, back in Genesis 14, the Amalekites were destroyed back during the time of Abraham. But here, turns out the founder of the Amalekites is Abraham’s great-grandson, who was not alive all those years ago! Quite a conundrum.

Genesis 32

Fords of the Jabbok, the supposed location of Mahanaim and Peniel/Penuel.
From bibleplaces.com 

Genesis 32

Genesis 32: 3, NIV Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to Seir, the country of Edom.

It seems as if Esau has moved to a new home in the time that Jacob has been gone. Seir refers to the mountain range that covered most of Edom. In the biblical record, Esau’s descendants settle on this land after displacing the Horites. Archaeological references have the earliest settlements appearing in the Iron Age, and date to the 9^th century BCE, and that Edom did not become a complex society and kingdom until the 8^th century BCE.

We find Jacob praying to God in this chapter, after he hears that Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. We don’t see Jacob praying in many other instances, and now he is praying for selfish reasons; he believes Esau is coming to kill him. Jacob wants God to save him from his brother, the same brother he deceived, tricked, and cheated multiple times.

Jacob fights with an angel of God, and wins. It is interesting when you compare this interaction with Abraham and Lot, who immediately fall down on their faces when in the presence of an angel.

After this wrestling match, God renames Jacob Israel, which means “he struggles with God”. Oddly, skimming ahead, he is still called Jacob in later chapters of the Bible, unlike his grandfather Abraham after his name change.

Commandment 3/613 Laws in the Torah (Gen. 32:33) Not to eat the sinew of the thigh. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon [by God].

New words:

Mahanaim – (“This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.) Mahanaim is mentioned 13 times in the Old Testament (but no where else), and means “two camps”. It is believed to lie about ten miles east of the Jordan River. In this area there are two large tells that face each other with the Jabbok river flowing between them. The tells are now named Tall adh-Dhahab East and Tall adh-Dhahab West. Some biblical scholars believe them to be Mahanaim and Penuel. While this has never been proven, there is an archaeological site at Tall adh-Dhahab West, since 2006, when building remains from the Hellenistic and Roman era were found, believed to be part of a monumental building of Herod the Great (73-4 BCE).