(Gen. 27:3:) NOW THEN, PLEASE TAKE YOUR IMPLEMENTS, YOUR QUIVER AND YOUR BOW, AND GO OUT TO THE FIELD . R. Isaac the Smith said: [YOUR IMPLEMENTS] alludes to the Kingdom of Babylon.³² Thus it is stated (in Dan. 1:2): THEN THE LORD GAVE KING JEHOIAKIM OF JUDAH INTO HIS HAND, WITH SOME OF THE IMPLEMENTS FROM THE HOUSE OF GOD. YOUR QUIVER (teli) alludes to [the kingdom of] Media. Thus it is stated (in Esth. 9:25): SO THEY (the Medes and the Persians) HANGED (talu) HIM (Haman) AND HIS SONS ON THE TREE. AND YOUR BOW alludes to Greece.³³. Thus it is stated (in Zech. 9:13): FOR I WILL BEND JUDAH TO ME; A BOW I WILL FILL WITH EPHRAIM; I WILL STIR UP YOUR CHILDREN, O ZION, AGAINST THE CHILDREN OF GREECE . AND GO OUT TO THE FIELD alludes to Edom.³⁴ Thus it is stated (in Gen. 32:4 [3]): TO THE LAND OF SEIR, THE FIELD OF EDOM.

footnotes: ³² Gen. R. 63:13. ³³ Gk.: iones ³⁴ Edom had become a common code word for Rome.

(Gen. 27:4f.:) AND MAKE ME DELICACIES…. NOW REBEKAH HAD BEEN LISTENING…. [THEN ESAU WENT TO THE FIELD]. When he had caught some deer and bound them, the angel went to set them free and drive them away.³⁵., Gen. 6:11. Again he caught them, but the angel set them free. And why so? Simply to drag out the hours until Jacob would go. So he would go, make the meal , enter in with his father, eat, and receive the blessings. Ergo (in Gen. 27:5): THEN ESAU WENT TO THE FIELD TO CATCH GAME TO BRING HOME .

footnotes: ³⁵ Gen. R. 67:2; see Tanh

(Gen. 27:6, 8, 9:) AND REBEKAH SPOKE UNTO JACOB…. AND NOW MY SON, HEED ME IN WHAT I CHARGE YOU . PLEASE GO TO THE FLOCK…. As soon as Esau had gone to get the venison , he (Jacob) went to his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:18 19): THEN HE WENT UNTO HIS FATHER…. AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS FATHER: I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN …. So he blessed him (in Gen. 27:27). Even though you may say Jacob lied, he did not lie. Balaam said (in Numb. 23:21): NO ONE HAS BEHELD FALSEHOOD IN JACOB. [He said] merely (in Gen. 27:19 . 20): I am Jacob; ESAU [IS] YOUR FIRST-BORN….³⁶ PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP AND EAT …. THEN ISAAC SAID UNTO HIS SON: HOW IS IT THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK … ? He said to him (in Gen. 27:20, cont.): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. Then in addition he said to him:³⁷ When you were bound upon the altar, the angel said (in Gen. 22:12): DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST THE LAD. Perhaps there was something there. The Holy One only caused a sacrificial animal to sprout forth for your sake, as stated (in Gen. 22:13): THEN ABRAHAM LIFTED HIS EYES TO LOOK, AND THERE WAS A RAM BEHIND HIM …. So also he said (here in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME.³⁸ Now, when Isaac heard him say: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, he said: This is not Esau. He said: Esau never mentions THE LORD YOUR GOD. He said to him (in vss. 21f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, MY SON…. SO JACOB CAME NEARER TO HIS FATHER ISAAC…. He said to him: Behold, in voice you are Jacob;³⁹ BUT (in vs. 22, cont.) THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. R. Judah bar Il'ay said:⁴⁰. 4:8 (68d); Git. 57b; Gen. R. 65:21. In former generations one would ask: What is the meaning (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB? The voice of the Emperor⁴¹. Hadrian, who [killed] eight thousand myriads (80,000,000) in Bethther.⁴² (New York: Macmillan, 1968. R. Johanan said: The voice of Jacob was crying out over what the hands of Esau did to him in Bethther.

footnotes: ³⁶ It is possible to interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: IT IS I. ESAU IS YOUR FIRST-BORN. Cf. Gen. R. 65:18. ³⁷ Cf. Gen. R. 65:19. ³⁸ Gen. R. 65:19 argues a fortiori that, if God would bless Isaac by making a sacrifice appear at the time of the binding, he certainly would expedite matters in preparing this meal. ³⁹ Buber notes that his text here is garbled and suggests the reading translated here from MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma. ⁴⁰ yTa‘an ⁴¹ Lat.: Caesar ⁴² This town in Southern Israel is also known as Bithter or Bettar. The present Greek spelling is that adopted by Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah in The Macmillan Bible Atlas

(Gen. 27:23:) SO HE DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM BECAUSE HIS HANDS WERE HAIRY LIKE THE HANDS OF HIS BROTHER ESAU . He (Isaac) foresaw that the wicked ones were going to arise from him; and he did not want to bless him {since he foresaw Jakum.⁴³ When Jerusalem was conquered, the world said: They are afraid to enter into the Temple. What did he do? He entered and brought out the menorah. When Isaac saw him, he did not want to bless Jacob on his account. SO HE DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM}. When he foresaw that he would repent, there immediately follows (in vs. 27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS CLOTHES AND BLESSED HIM…. When Jacob entered, the Garden of Eden (i.e., Paradise) entered with him, as stated (ibid., cont.): LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD WHICH THE LORD HAS BLESSED. When Esau entered, Gehinnom entered with him. Thus it is stated (in vs. 33): WHO IS EPHO?⁴⁴ Now EPHO can only be Gehinnom, since it is stated (in Is. 22:16): THAT YOU HAVE HEWN A TOMB HERE (poh) FOR YOURSELF.

footnotes: ⁴³ I.e., Jakum of Seroroth. See Gen. R. 65:22; cf. M. Ps. 11:7. ⁴⁴ The natural translation is: WHO THEN?

Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:27): LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD.⁴⁵ He foresaw that he was going to build Zion and offer sacrifices in its midst; so he blessed him. Now A FIELD can only be Zion, since it is stated (in Micah 3:12): ZION SHALL BE PLOWED AS A FIELD. (Gen. 27:27, cont.:) A FIELD WHICH THE LORD HAS BLESSED. That is what he wrote about (in Ps. 133:3): LIKE THE DEW OF HERMON WHICH COMES DOWN UPON THE HILLS OF ZION .

footnotes: ⁴⁵ See Gen. R. 65:23.