Portion VAYETZEY (28:10 - 32:2)
28:10. When Yaaqov had left [va-yetzey] Beer-Sheva and was walking toward Charan,

By going to the place Avraham stopped en route to the Land until his f ather died, Yaaqov was retracing his grandfather Avraham's steps, getting in touch with his heritage. The first leg of the journey brings him to the place his father was offered up on the altar.

11. he encountered the place and stopped there to spend the night, because the sun had gone [down]. And he took [one] of the stones of the place and established a place for his head. Then he lay down in that place.

Reached the place: This is not a "chance" encounter or something he just stumbled upon; YHWH had it all planned. "Place" appears here three times--a sign of great emphasis. "The place" is often a shorthand for "the place where I have set My Name", and indeed it turns out to be the Temple Mount itself (v. 17). The stones may have been from the very altar on which Yitzhaq was offered as an "ascending". Established a place for his head: i.e., used it as a pillow, but this word connotes “that which has dominion", and thus establishes him as the one who will continue the lineage of Messiah (see v. 14). This scenario foreshadows Messiah's glorious resting-place (22:4; Yeshayahu/Isaiah 11:10)--a Temple built of "living stones" (1 Kefa/Peter 2:4-8),-a place for Y'shua, its Head, who has already been established as the foundation and cornerstone on which the remainder rests. (1 Cor. 3:10-17; Eph. 2:20-22; 4:15-16) Lay down: as in English, the term is often used of sexual union. Of course this did not literally happen here, but it does indicate that the encounter was an intimate one from which YHWH began the next stage of selecting His own spiritual "bride", Israel. In many ancient tombs a specially-shaped place was cut as a place to lay the head of the deceased. So Yaaqov is symbolically dying, following in his father's footsteps (for this was "the place" his father had been offered up to YHWH), and foreshadowing Y'shua's resurrection, because the word for "place" is from the root word meaning "rising up".

12. And he had a dream: behold, a stairway was established earthward, its top reaching the heavens --and behold, the messengers of Elohim were ascending and descending on it!

Stairway: based on the word for "lifting up", it is related to a name used of YHWH 54 times El Elyon: the highest Elohim. Reaching the heavens: Was this the reality counterfeited at the stepped Tower of Bavel (11:4)? That one was earth-based, but though this one was "fixed in place" onto the earth, it began in heaven, much like the stairways that fold down from an airliner. The word for a "burnt offering", which YHWH told Avraham to offer Yitzhaq as, can also mean a staircase, so his family was actually forming this staircase, which would culminate in Y'shua, who is called the "mediator between YHWH (often euphemized as ‘heaven') and humanity" (1 Tim. 2:5) and "the one who came down from heaven." (Yochanan 3:13) This site is "a city that is compact [joined] together" (Ps. 122:3), and thus is called the "place where earth and heaven meet". Scientists now speak of "layered space": several levels of reality existing at the same point in space. In another dimension, this correlates with the many staircases leading to the Temple that would stand in this very place. (v. 17) Top: really the word for "head" here. In Jewish mysticism, the "body" of the reconstituted Adam (of which Messiah, the "last Adam", is the Head, or first part) is called "the stairway". Y'shua alluded to Himself being this very approach to YHWH in Yochanan/John 1:51. Messengers: could read "angels", and indeed the one that met Avraham at this very spot must have been that. But the same word means any type of message-bearer, and most often refers to us as His servants as well. Ascending and descending: the Levites took their turns ascending to the Temple to minister to YHWH, then went back down into the rest of the Land to teach the rest of the Nation. (cf. Matt. 22:37-40)

13. And behold, YHWH stood at its top and said, "I am YHWH, the Elohim of your ancestor Avraham, and the Elohim of Yitzhaq. I will give to you and your descendants the Land on which you are lying.

14. "And your descendants shall be as many as the dust of the earth, and you will spread out [forcefully] to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and into you and your Seed shall all the families of the earth be grafted.

Families: Everywhere else this promise is given, except the first time YHWH spoke to Avram in ch. 12, it says "nations" instead. But here is the reason a genealogical search for the descendants of the tribes of Israel should not be done along the lines of certain ethnic groupings, since every family on earth has been mixed with his seed. (Compare how YHWH will regather them to the Land, Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 3:14.)

15. "And behold, I am with you, and I will guard you in every place to which you may go, and I will bring you back to this Land, because I will not forsake you—not until I have done everything I have told you."

Compare 26:24. "Until I have done...": up to and including that time.

16. Then Yaaqov awoke from his sleep and said, "Truly YHWH is in this place, and I did not know it!"

YHWH: An Aramaic targum says "the glory of YHWH", which is taken to mean the Messiah.

17. And he was awestruck, and said, "How awesome this place is! This is none other than the house of Elohim; this is the very gate of Heaven!"

Awestruck: filled with the deepest respect. A Midrash says that the true heavenly temple always stood there, situated "opposite", above, or corresponding to, the ones later built there. Heb. 8:2-5 states that the pattern Moshe saw on Sinai--Ex. 25:9, 40--was actually present in heaven first. 1 Chron. 28:19 reveals that Elohim gave David the exact blueprints for Shlomo to build from. Remember also that Y'shua called himself "the door" (Yoch. 10:7-9).

18. So Yaaqov got up early in the morning and took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil on top of it.

Memorial pillar: here, an unaltered stone. It was thus a dual picture of Messiah, the "anointed one", who was not altered as the first Adam was; cf. 1 Cor. 10:4.

19. And he named that place "The House of Elohim" [Beyth-El], though the city's original name had been Luz.

This was not the city later named Beyth-El; the ambiguity may have been what later led Yaravam/Jeroboam to choose Beyth-El as an alternative worship site (1 Kings 12:29), which displeased Elohim. Luz: means an incline,
perversion, or a nut-bearing tree. (30:37)

20. And Yaaqov made a vow, saying, "If Elohim is indeed with me and keeps me safe on this journey on which I am walking, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear,

If Elohim is indeed with me: i.e., if this was not just a dream. Bread and clothing: a foreshadowing of his descendants who would be given "manna" on their journeyings, in which their clothing would not wear out. Tradition says that the dowry he took along for the wife he was to find in Charan was lost or stolen on the way.Bread and clothing: compare Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 61:10-11.

21. "and I return in peace to my father's household, then YHWH shall be my Elohim,

This test was not so much a doubt of the Elohim of his fathers, but rather "testing the spirits" (1 Yochanan 4:1) to be sure this was really the one He said He was.

22. "and this stone which I have set up as a memorial pillar shall indeed become the house of Elohim, and of all which You shall give me, I will tithe one tenth to You."

Set up: Yaaqov thus laid the cornerstone for the Temple, which is Y'shua, the Anointed One. (Eph. 2:20) Tithe: to give back a tenth as a tribute. Non-agricultural tithes were never actually required, but if they come from the heart, they are a wonderful expression of thanks. Tithe one tenth: or repeatedly tithe.


CHAPTER 29

1. So Yaaqov lifted up his feet and went to the land of the sons of the east.

Lifted up his feet: Yaaqov had just "planted his feet" on Mt. Moryah with a vow, wanting to make sure he would return there. To obey his parents he had to temporarily pull himself loose from this holy place where his father had laid down his life. In a way he was living out the lives of his two ancestors so that he, too, could cross over into the Land again and be a Hebrew in that sense as well. Sons of the east: could be read "Children of the ancient" or "eternal", or those who preceded him (his ancestors). The "sons of antiquity" to whom he was particularly going were the descendants of Aram, the son of Shem, which probably explains why they, like their fellow Aramean Bilaam, knew YHWH's name and were often even His prophets. Yet they made room for other elohim, and had a taste for riches.

2. And he looked, and behold, there was a well in the field. And behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, because they would water the flocks from that well. Now the stone over the well's mouth was large.

He probably became excited when he saw the well, knowing the story of how his father's wife was found. This was undoubtedly the same well at which his father's servant had met his mother.

3. When all the flocks would be assembled there, they would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in place over the mouth of the well.

4. Yaaqov said to them, "My brothers, where are you from?" And they said, "We are from Charan."

My brothers: a Middle Eastern way of greeting strangers that creates rapport. But in this case, they literally were his relatives. And since they were tending sheep and attempting to water them at a well (which was what his father spent his life digging), he felt a special sense of kinship with them.

5. He said to them, "Do you know Lavan the descendant of Nachor?" And they said, "Yes, we know him."

6. So he asked them, "Is he well?" and they said, "He is well, but look, here comes his daughter Rachel [right now] with the sheep!"

I.e., she can tell you all about him herself!

7. But he said, "Look, it's still broad daylight; it isn't time to gather the livestock in yet! Why don't you water the sheep and then feed them?"

8. But they said, "We can't do that until all the flocks are gathered and they roll the stone away from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep."

Perhaps they needed the strength of all the shepherds, or even the oxen, to pull the stone from the opening. The root word in Hebrew for flocks means to keep rank. The root meaning of the word for well is "to explain or make clear". In the previous passage a stone was a picture of the Messiah. So the underlying picture is of the Messiah being given such an enlarged position that it obscures the clarity of the water (a frequent idiom for the Torah) and prevents the flocks (whose root meaning is “ranks”) from the water they know they need, so the "armies" are falling asleep. Many are waiting for Y'shua to come "like a thief in the night" to clear up all our questions about understanding the Scriptures. But 1 Thess. 5 tells us not to wait until the night, because we are children of the day; we already have a shepherd

9. While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with the sheep which were her father's, because she was a shepherdess.

Y'shua cursed the fig tree that had leaves but did not bear fruit since it was not the right season. (Mark 11:13ff) The whole house of Israel ("all the flocks") were not yet gathered, so he could not yet take his bride (cf. Song of Songs 2:13), for they had been scattered among the idolaters (Hos. 9:10). First Y'shua had to roll away the stone (Mark 16:4). He then sent his followers to gather all the flocks (Yoch. 10:16). Yitzhaq and Moshe also found their brides tending flocks at wells. In a way, Y'shua did too, as the woman he spoke to at a well (Yochanan 4) was probably one of the first "lost sheep of the House of Israel" to whom he revealed his role. While he was still speaking: the same pattern as when the servant of Avraham found Rivqah before he finished his prayer. (Compare Yeshayahu 65:24)

10. And it so happened that when Yaaqov saw Rachel, the daughter of Lavan, his mother's brother, and the sheep belonging to Lavan, his mother's brother, he came forward and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of Lavan, his mother's brother.

Yaaqov was strengthened when he saw his bride approaching, and the other shepherds were not needed after all. He had gone up to the Temple Mount and set up the stone, establishing his understanding about the Messiah; now he descends and serves his brethren and the flocks by "bringing clarity" as the Levites did with the learning they had gained during their tours of duty at the Temple. The woman at the well (Yochanan 4) also came at high noon for water, and Y'shua told her that the one she was waiting for was already here to provide the clarification she needed, for salvation is of Yehudah--those who worship whom they know. He also told His disciples on that occasion not to wait four more months for the harvest, since some fields were ready for harvest (perhaps paralleling the barley and wheat harvests). Though the stone was rolled away from Y'shua's tomb and the Northern Kingdom received Him as Messiah, there was still a blindness since Efrayim's sentence was not yet up. In the prophets, the "House of Yaaqov" refers to Yehudah, so there is a foreshadowing here of our own day when Yehudah, who, though rejecting Y'shua and being leavened by the Pharisaical Rabbinic teachings, still preserved the Torah, festivals, Sabbaths, understandings of kosher and niddah, etc., and have brought clarity to our flock, since turning Messiah into the Greek "Christ" had kept us from seeing many aspects of who He is. The threefold emphasis on Lavan being "his mother's brother" hints at his similarity to her. Every time the phrase "your mother" appears in the prophets, it always refers to an idolatrous woman whose children, nonetheless, were beloved of YHWH, and whom He hoped would also repent. (cf. Rev. 2:21)

11. Then Yaaqov kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept.

She was beautiful, but at this point it would probably be a Mideastern-style kiss of greeting for one's relatives.

12. And Yaaqov told Rachel that he was a close relative of her father's--that he was Rivqah's son--and she ran and told her father.

Rivqah was known there; Yitzhaq was known only by name. Yaaqov was also his mother's favorite, not his father's, and so was in some sense more "her son" than his. But since the family had blessed Rivqah with the hope of fertility when she left (24:60), this was especially significant, because they were seeing the first evidence that their blessing had taken root.

13. Now when Lavan heard the report about Yaaqov, his sister's son, he ran to meet him, embraced him, and took him to his house. And he recounted all these events to Lavan.

Yaaqov did not embrace Lavan back. In fact, though many embraced him, the only ones he was ever said to embrace were Rachel (v. 11) and his two grandsons (48:8ff), a picture of commitment to holiness in a world where many would use the righteous for their own purposes. Lavan indeed turned out to be interested in him not because he was a relative but because he could be "brought into his house" to serve his own purposes. Y'shua Himself was betrayed with a kiss. (Mk. 14:44) Paul warned not to lay hands on anyone too quickly (1 Tim. 5:22), for this confers authority and is a very solemn matter. We should also be careful about whom we allow to lay hands on us or anoint us for service, for first of all they must have the real authority to do so, but they may also have the wrong motives. They may want to "eat our sheep" rather than taking care of them for us. (Yirmiyahu 23)

14. Then Lavan said to him, "You are indeed my bone and my flesh!" And he stayed with him for a whole month.

My bone and my flesh: This reminds us of Adam and Chavvah. Both words emphasize the natural sameness with Lavan, who hopes Yaaqov will be simply an extension of himself. He assumes that Yaaqov is there to work for him, rather than having a life of his own. This represents how the institutional church now seems to honor Israel, yet co-opts it for its own purposes.

15. But then Lavan said to Yaaqov, "Just because you are my relative, should you work for me without pay? Name what your wages should be."

He sounds noble, but Yaaqov's mother had only told him to stay a short time, and his father had told him to get a bride from there but then return. Y'shua, too, was co-opted by the Gentiles from among whom He had “come” to gather His bride, and ended up serving the purposes of that household instead.

16. Now Lavan had two daughters; the older one's name was Leah, and the younger's name was Rachel,

Leah means "wild cow" or "weary". Rachel means "ewe", but it is based on the word for "journeyer", since perhaps the female of the herd is more capable of migration. But also, her elder son became a sojourner and her
second son was born during a journey.

17. and Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was both shapely in form and lovely in appearance.

Eyes were weak: frail, delicate, or, she was tender-eyed, but that was the only beautiful thing about her. Also, as Rivqah was Sarah's niece, so Rachel was Rivqah's niece. If the pattern held, Leah, being the elder, would
be slated to marry Esau, and tradition says she had heard what kind of man he was and her eyes were weary from weeping about this.

18. And Yaaqov loved Rachel, and said, "I will work for you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel!"

19. And Lavan said, "Well, it is better that I give her to you than to another man; stay here and live with me!"

The "other man" theme links us to the "nearer kinsman" of Naomi (Ruth 3:12ff), especially since he also ends up with more than he bargained for.

20. So Yaaqov served seven years for the sake of Rachel, but because of his love for her, they seemed to him like only a few days.

Y'shua willingly dwelt "among the Gentiles" for a great length of time in order to procure his bride.

21. Then Yaaqov said to Lavan, "Give me my wife—since the days of my term have been completed—and let me go into her."

22. So Lavan gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.

This "feast" is a drinking party, not the type of feast later celebrated at the Temple. Lavan had a reason for this:

23. But when evening had come, he went and got his daughter Leah and brought her to him, and he went into her.

She was thoroughly veiled and the room was dark, and apparently he got Yaaqov drunk. Since he was always speaking of "our customs", and Yaaqov did not know them well, he could easily have told him that it was customary here for the bridegroom to drink twice as much as the others! Nowadays, because of this, at every Jewish wedding the groom lifts the veil just to be sure before they are pronounced married! By marrying both sisters, however, Yaaqov confirms yet again that he has inherited Esau's rights as well as his own.

24. Lavan also gave Zilpah, his slavegirl, to his daughter Leah as a maidservant.

25. Now when the morning came, lo and behold, it was Leah there with him! So he said to Lavan, "What have you done to me? Didn't I serve with you for Rachel? Then why have you tricked me?"

Perhaps this is why Lavan wanted to be sure there were enough strong men on hand (v. 22)--so he would be prepared to handle the wrath of a man who had singlehandedly moved the stone from the well. As we saw in ch. 24, Lavan appears to be a decent man (his name meaning "white", a symbol of righteousness), yet is greedy--a picture of the institutional church, which is related to Israel, yet does not completely share its values, being part pagan. It has used a similar "bait and switch" tactic on us by promising a rose garden and freedom from the Torah, but by doing so proves it is not the same congregation Y'shua promised to call out, but an elaborate counterfeit woven around it that has developed into something other than what we bargained for--a business.

26. And Lavan said, "It is not done this way in our place, marrying off the younger before the firstborn.

In our place: i.e., it is not our culture's custom. Since Yaaqov had told him all that had happened (v. 13), Lavan could have been insinuating, "We know that YOU have no regard for seniority in YOUR household, but don't think you're going to get away with that here!" (Yaaqov, being the younger, had preteneded to be the elder, an dthe deception came back upon him.

27. "But just fulfill this one's week, and then we will also give you that other one, in exchange for the service you will render to me for yet another seven years."

We will give you: yet he had to work for this "gift"--another indication of Lavan's sense of his own generosity. He gave him the equivalent of a credit card. "This one's week": the week of rejoicing with her husband, to which every bride is entitled. What the Messiah really wanted was a united Israel, and He longed to bring the real treasure (Yerushalayim) under His wings (Matt. 23:37). But He must wait until this "other flock" (Yochanan 10:16), to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Efrayim) who is called YHWH's firstborn, is gathered before that wedding.

28. So Yaaqov did so; he fulfilled the week of "this one", then Lavan gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

But we can also reverse the metaphor: Yaaqov's life is in a way a foreshadowing of that of all of his descendants. Ephraim--Rachel's descendant--is said to be the one YHWH especially longs for (Yirmeyahu/Jer. 31:20), but His redemption had to be "to the Yehudi [son of Leah] first" (Rom. 1:16; 2:10), and indeed it was (as all those described in Acts of the Envoys chapter 2 were Jews). But though the royal line was promised to Yehudah, the first king of Israel was actually one of Rachel's descendants.

29. And Lavan gave his slavegirl Bilhah to Rachel as a handmaid for her.

30. Thus he also went into Rachel; moreover, he loved Rachel more than Leah, so he served him yet another seven years.

31. But when YHWH saw that Leah was less favored, He opened her womb (while Rachel remained childless).

Less favored: literally, hated. While Yehudah has provided Y'shua with comparatively fewer "children" than the northern Kingdom and the Gentiles among whom they are mingled, her time will come. Childless: literally, barren or sterile. The actual root word means "plucked up" like a field with nothing left to harvest. Yeshayahu 64:10-12 describes Yerushalayim as a barren place until the end of the age. The fullness of the Gentiles must finish coming in first, just as Leah had to finish having her children before Rachel could.

32. So Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Re'uven, because she said, "YHWH has indeed noticed my humiliation, because now my husband will love me!"

Re'uven: "Look! A son!" A wife who provided her husband with a male heir was more valued in that society. Humiliation: or misery.

33. Then she conceived again, and bore Yaaqov a second son, and said, "Surely YHWH has heard that I am hated, and has given this one to me also." So she named him Shim'on.

Shim'on: An intensive form of "shema", to hear: she was heard.

34. And she conceived yet again, and bore a son. And she said, "Now, this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons. So he was named Levi.

Three sons: a symbol of completeness. "Levi means "my joining"(attachment) or "confirmer of my companionship"; his tribe would "join" all Israel to Elohim, for they would be the priests. But the root meaning is to twine together, and since he is the third son, this forms a threefold cord. Levi's descendants would be a holier people within a holy nation, just as Israel is in a separate class from all nations. He was named: or "he named him"--unlike the rest, whom the mothers named. He was YHWH, because she had not credited YHWH as she had for the first two sons, so she had in essence stolen him from YHWH, so YHWH required him back. He did not belong to her, so she could not name him. He would not actually claim the sons of Levi for himself until the Exodus, when He took them as substitutes for all the firstborn of Israel, and attached them to His Temple service.

35. And she conceived once more and gave birth to a son, and she said, "This time let me be sure to give thanks to YHWH." Therefore she named him Yehudah, and after that she stopped having children.

She learned her lesson. Yehudah means "thanksgiving" or "praise". His descendants are those specifically called "Jews" (Yehudi). Thus Paul extends this to say that anyone who is a praiser of YHWH is a "Jew".


CHAPTER 30

1. When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Yaaqov any children, she envied her sister. So she told Yaaqov, "Give me sons; if you don't, I will die!"

Polygamy is not explicitly forbidden in the Scriptures (except in the case of congregational elders), as Elohim foresaw that in some circumstances, unmarried women who outnumbered men would be uncared for. But by means of the accounts of where it did take place, a fair warning is given of the detrimental effects of such an arrangement. And later, marrying two sisters was indeed forbidden. (Lev. 18:18) I will die: How ironic that she should die in giving birth to her second son. But she did have a posterity, whereas if she did not, she would indeed be extinct, because the seed carries on the individual's existence in a very real way. As it is, there were later prophecies about Rachel still weeping for her children (Yirmiyahu 31:15), though she herself had long been dead.

2. Then Yaaqov's anger glowed at Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the position of Elohim, who has kept back from you the fruit of the womb?"

3. But she said, "Here's my maidservant Bilhah. Go into her and let her bear upon my knees. Then I too will be built up--through her!"

Upon my knees: she literally sat this way, as thus it would appear as if the child was being born from Rachel as well, and symbolized her adoption or ownership of the child. Built up: i.e., perpetuated.

4. So she gave him her maidservant Bilhah as a wife, and Yaaqov went into her.

Though a wife, she was still a slave. (Compare Exodus 21.)

5. And Bilhah conceived and bore a son to Yaaqov.

In terms of the allegory of their later descendants, these two handmaid-wives probably relate to those referred to as "Yehudah and the children of Israel, his companions, and ...Yoseyf, the house of Israel, and his companions" (Y'chezq'el 37:16)--two "nations", each with their affiliates, which will become one community.

6. So Rachel said, "Elohim has given His ruling and has proven to have listened to my voice, and has given me a son!" So she named him Dan ["Judgment/Verdict"].

Dan means judgment or verdict. YHWH had accepted her prayer, thus "judging" in her favor. But in a way she was being judged as well, fo rthough this son was legally hers, Yaaqov never recognized him as his firstborn. In fact, even YHWH's opinion of Dan appears ambivalent throughout history. Rachel followed Sarai's bad example, and the effect again was detrimental, because Dan is the "snake-in-the-grass" tribe (49:17) from which the counterfeit Messiah will come, and who will not be included in the 144,000 witnesses during the birthpangs of the Messiah. Being not truly her child, he may represent the concept of "spiritual Israel", in which the church vied with physical Israel for recognition as YHWH's favorite.

7. Then Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again, and bore Yaaqov a second son,

8. so Rachel said, "With wrestling contests of Elohim have I wrestled with my sister, and, indeed, I have succeeded! So she named him Nafthali.

Wrestling contests of Elohim: an idiom for heroic ("godlike") struggles. Nafthali means "My wrestling" (or maneuvering): based on a word for "twisting"; perhaps "born by a roundabout way". These children had to live with the names that reflected their mothers' running feud. But a greater battle was being won as YHWH was building of them a supernatural nation that would win the title to the earth back for mankind.

9. When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children, she fetched Zilpah, her maidservant, and gave her to Yaaqov as a wife.

10. And Leah's slavegirl Zilpah bore a son to Yaaqov.

11. So Leah said, "What good luck!" So she named him Gad.

Again, the firstborn of the slave-girl shares a name--and a philosophy--with a pagan god. She has acknowledged YHWH, but why should we assume she worships Him exclusively? She still lives in her father's house in more ways than one. Charan is the half-way city--the family of Avram's stopping point between full-scale paganism and the Promised Land, and thus a picture of today's half-Israelite, half-pagan church. The part of the family that remained here when Avram moved on still could not give up their idols. Gad (pronounced like "God" in American English) sounds just like the word for "fortune" (luck), which is one reason we should not substitute it for YHWH's name. We are commanded not to even have the names of pagan deities on our lips (Exodus 23:13), and Gad is listed as just that in Yeshayahu/Isaiah 65:11. He was known as Ba'al-Gad (or "Lord God") in Yehoshua 11:17. His feast-day, perpetuated through adoption of its practices in Christianized Europe when they could not rid the common people of their feast of Saturnalia, is what has become modern-day Christmas. Some believe the Norsemen, who count "Gud" as their deity, are descendants of Gad, and thus this name for the creator may have stemmed from a form of ancestor worship. Gad can mean "a troop", based on the word for "attack" or "crowd upon", so perhaps she was also counting him as another soldier in her battle against her sister. But indeed, it turned out that the Roman army chose Gad as their deity--the god of aggression. They changed the name of this religion to Mithraism. And "luck" has nothing to do with YHWH, but is the attitude of Amaleq, who believed everything was according to chance. YHWH's providence is very deliberate, as in 25:21.

12. Then Zilpah, Leah's slavegirl, bore a second son to Yaaqov,

13. and Leah said, "I am blessed! For the daughters [of Kanaan] shall call me happy." So she named him Asher ["Happy"].

I am blessed: Literally, "In my happiness!" But Asher is based on a verb meaning to go straight ahead and make progress, which should shape our definition of what happiness really is--not based, as in English, on
"happenstance", which is like "luck". Our concepts should be based on Hebrew-oriented terminology.

14. Now in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuven went out and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

Days: the Septuagint says only" day" -- possibly specifically Shavuoth, which is at the wheat harvest, when the "counting of the measure" is complete. Perhaps she thought this was an especially auspicious time to conceive, superstitious as she was. Mandrakes: or "love apples", a fragrant plant thought to be an aphrodisiac to promote fertility since they resemble a phallus. The name in Hebrew is a dual form of the word for "beloved", i.e., meant to endear the "victim" to oneself. But verse 17 reveals the real source of her success.

15. But she asked her, "Is it a trivial thing that you took my husband? And now you want to take my son's mandrakes too?!" So Rachel said, "Okay, so he'll lie with you tonight instead of me, in exchange for your son's
mandrakes."

16. When Yaaqov came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him, and she said, "You must come into me, because I have indeed hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her during that night,

Come into me: or come in unto me, in my tent; each wife would have a separate one.

17. and Elohim listened to Leah; she conceived and bore Yaaqov a fifth son.

18. Then Leah said, "The Lord has given me what I earned when I gave my slavegirl to my husband." So she named her son Yissakhar.

Yissakhar means "There is recompense/reward" or "he was hired".

19. Leah then conceived again and bore a sixth son to Yaaqov.

20. So Leah said, "Elohim has presented me with a good endowment. This time my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zevulun.

"Endowment": or dowry; "the better portion". Dwell with me: i.e., settle permanently in my tent, exalting me--make me his favorite. Apparently he normally stayed with Rachel, only making forays into Leah's tent. Zevulun thus means "Exalted dwelling" or "habitation"; it was his tribal land (in and around Natzereth) which the Messiah would inhabit! Thus ten of Yaaqov's sons were not born to his favorite wife Rachel. Since Levi was dedicated specifically to the service of YHWH's sanctuary, he could be called the tithe.

21. And afterwards she also gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

Dinah is the feminine form of Dan, also meaning "judgment".

22. Then Elohim remembered Rachel, and hearkened to her, and opened her womb,

Remembered: not that He had forgotten her, but now He intervened on her behalf. But as the seventh child of Leah, a female whose name meant judgment, she was in a sense a reminder to YHWH of a judgment He had placed on another woman, Rachel (v.6).

23. and she conceived and bore a son, and said, "Elohim has taken away my disgrace!"

Taken away my disgrace: or gathered in my betrothal. Her full marriage could now take effect, as Leah's "seven" had been fulfilled, not just in days or years, but in the number of children as well. Rachel's children, chiefly Efrayim, who mixed with the Gentiles, thus took on themselves the judgment of a form of illegitimacy. They began their rebellion by setting up an idol in, of all places, Dan. (2 Kings 10:29) YHWH gave them time to repent, but had already said that if they did not, He would make their sentence seven times as long. (Lev. 26:18) This became necessary, but He said that when that sentence was up, they would again be called "my people" when they turned back to His covenant. (Outlined most clearly in the book of Hoshea, this is also alluded to by many other prophets, and many of Y'shua's parables.) This is beginning to happen in our day! YHWH has taken away our disgrace, the reproach of being considered Gentiles instead of Israel, and brought His firstborn back to full status, not simply as “married” to Him, but as actually being fruitful for the sake of Israel.

24. So she named him Yoseyf ["May he add"], saying, "May YHWH add yet another son to me."

He did indeed, but Yoseyf also added to the people of Israel by means of his two sons who gave Yitzhaq another tribe, but one of them disobediently "mixed with the nations" and by doing so was instrumental in the grafting of multitudes of Gentiles into Yaaqov's seed (Rom. 11:12, 25). We can also read his name as "YHWH will gather" (relating the reference to seed and harvest to Yezre'el--Elohim will sow, Hoshea 2:22) or "YHWH will count (him)" and not let one of his rightful descendants fall to the ground. (Amos 9:9) The regathered s'firot of the Ancient Adam also stem from his name, which is the root for the derived English word "cipher". On another level, once Yoseyf (the firstfruits, symbolizing the barley harvest) was born, Rachel knew there would be "another harvest" as well, symbolized by the wheat harvest, the grain that is not so "rough" and for which darnel can be mistaken since there is more compromise with what the world considers more progressive. (Mat. 13:25-40)

25. Now when Rachel had borne Yoseyf, Yaaqov said to Lavan, "Send me off so that I may go to my place and my own land.

This happens after between 14 and 20 years (31:38) with Lavan, prefiguring Y'shua being away from His homeland, seeking out His bride among the nations. But His chief responsibility is to his family back home, Israel, and he says, "Let My people go." His parents were old and needed him. If remaining in the church requires that we forsake Israel, no benefit we could derive or contribute can be ethically acceptable. Why does he feel ready after Yoseyf is born? Because there is now a firstborn from his true wife, from whom the fullness of the nations (48:19) will come. There is a son born to carry on the promise to Avraham and Yitzhaq. His will also be the largest “house” among Yaaqov’s sons. My place: Mount Moryah.

26. "Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know with what kind of service I have served you."

27. But Lavan said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, I have learned by divination that YHWH has blessed me on account of you."

On account of you: only since you came. Yaaqov had been given a land by Elohim, and though Gentiles might benefit from his sojourn among them. It would not be proper for them to keep him back from his inheritance. His
mindset is still that all of these things happened for his own benefit--they are all his! Yet though he gives credit to YHWH, he is still mixing religions when he uses divination, which is an abomination to YHWH.

28. Moreover, he said, "Propose to me whatever wage you want, and I will give it to you."

Propose: literally, stab: “Tell me what the damages will be!” He represents the church that, when it sees it is about to lose the cream of its crop who realize their energies need to go into Israel, is willing to allow us to do Passover seders in the church, have Christian Jews come in and teach as a token recognition, or let us use their buildings on Saturdays when they do not need them, just so they can maintain our constituency, since it is the Israelites in the church who have been the ones to accomplish most of the worthwhile work.

29. But he replied, "You know how I have served you, and what has transpired, while your livestock have been with me,

30. "for you had little before I came, but now it has broken forth into a multitude, and YHWH has blessed you wherever I went. But when indeed shall I build up my own house?"

Wherever I went: literally, "at my foot". He is saying, "So I've made you rich; then you can get along without me!" The church, too, has grown rich, having been blessed because it is based on Israel. But what will it be
once Israel is called back out into its own Land? If it has truly learned from the relationship, it should have "sufficient oil" to make it on its own (Matt. 25:8), but apparently, like Lavan, it has been a parasite rather than
a well-nursed child. Build up my own house: stop working for someone else and amass an inheritance for my own family. It is only because of the Northern Kingdom being "lost" among the nations that the latter were able to hear the Glad News of the Kingdom, in the process of the Son of Man's going out to "seek and save" His lost sheep who were scattered among them. Now they are being called back to the Land which, because the covenant is renewed for them, is again their heritage.

31. But still he said, "What shall I give you?" Yaaqov replied, "Don't give me a speck [of anything]. If you will just do this one thing for me, I will stay on, feed your flock and pasture it:

Don’t give me: i.e., I am not asking for a handout. Besides, he knows that what comes from Lavan will be tainted anyway; it will be a blemish (another meaning of the word here for “speck”).

32. "I will pass through your whole flock today, taking from there every speckled and spotted sheep, and every black sheep among the lambs, and those that are speckled or spotted among the young goats—these shall be my wages.

Why did he choose these? The real answer is in the meanings of the words: "Streaked" is based on the word for "tied" or "bound", reminiscent of the threefold cord of the two houses of Israel and Y'shua (Eccles. 4:12). Spotted: patched, or of diverse colors, since his children would one day be mingled with other nations (Hos. 7:8; Amos 9:9). These are the ones symbolized by Ruth's "nearer kinsman" not wishing to claim for redemption because of her "mottled" pedigree. They were the ones he knew nobody else wanted anyway, and Lavan would not be upset to lose them. But as the antetype of Boaz, Y'shua is willing to redeem them. Young: he left the older ones, perhaps knowing that a long journey was ahead of him very soon.

33. "This way my honesty will be self-evident in the days to come: whenever you go over my wages, right in front of your eyes, every one with me that is not speckled or spotted among the young goats, or black among the lambs, can be considered stolen."

34. So Lavan said, "Let it be as you say."

He struck the deal very quickly, perhaps being unable to believe Yaaqov would make such a ridiculous choice. All he wanted were what Lavan considered the mis-breeds, because they were not "all white" as his name said he was.

35. And on that same day he removed all the streaked and spotted he-goats, every one with white in it, and every black one among the lambs, and he put them in the care of his sons.

Though the text is ambiguous, it appears that Lavan himself did what Yaaqov asked to do (v. 32), perhaps still wanting to be in control.

36. And he put three days' journey between himself and Yaaqov, while Yaaqov was still pasturing Lavan's remaining flocks.

Lavan kept Yaaqov's flocks far from his own, still thinking Yaaqov might attempt to cheat him, though he never had done so, since that was his own mindset. But this is a picture of the first harvest (see note on v. 24), in which the firstfruits of YHWH's regathered Israel are taken out of the church completely, while others are left there to be included in the second harvest, where there are still tares to be sorted out. (Note the clarity about this in Rev. 12:5-17.) This distancing would turn out to be to Yaaqov's advantage later. (31:19-23) Three days' journey is how far Avraham traveled to sacrifice Yitzhaq, the distance from Egypt to the Red Sea, and the length of time Y'shua stayed in the tomb, so it is symbolic of a death experience. It correlates with having to leave father and mother to follow Y’shua. (Luke 14:26) In our day it often means leaving them behind in the church they are used to (like the older flock animals in v. 32) while we pursue the highest road to uncompromising holiness.

37. But for himself,Yaaqov took white rods of a fresh poplar tree, as well as the hazel and laurel, and he peeled white stripes in them, laying bare the white part of the rods.

Septuagint: "As he drew off the green, the white stripe which he had made appeared alternate."

38. And he set the rods which he had peeled by the gutters—by the troughs where the flocks came to drink—opposite [facing] the flocks, and they became stimulated [to mate] when they came to drink.

It is unclear exactly how the rods affected the sheep; perhaps they emitted some herbal aroma that caused them to be in heat. In any case, Elohim's hand was in it to build up Yaaqov's house. The lesson for us is on a level deeper than the literal. A poplar tree is livneh in Hebrew, which is related to Lavan’s name (meaning white), and thus represents the church. Hazel (or possibly another type of nut-bearing tree) is the same as the name of the city of Luz in 28:19, and thus represents the site that would later be the Temple Mount. Laurel (or chestnut) is from a word meaning "bare bones" or "basics", but also subtle or cunning. It is used in Prov. 15:5; 19:25 as meaning prudent or learning from others' mistakes. Ps. 18:24 says that to the crooked YHWH appears perverse. He allowed them to see beneath the surface, so each rod could be seen for what it was. So the allegorical level shows that at the place where the water was made available, he made a comparison between the church, the Temple, and the “basics” (the pure milk of the word, which is the plain commandments of Elohim, 1 Kefa/Peter 2:2; Heb. 5:12). When we do this, it becomes obvious that the church is full of greed and power-hunger like Lavan, nor does it fit with the “basics”, having rejected the Torah, while the Temple (the place of YHWH's presence) fits them perfectly. Thus bringing YHWH's firstfruits back out of the institutional church (which is using up energies that should be devoted to Israel) must be done in an honest manner, yet "cunningly" (wise as serpents yet innocent as doves) using the "water of the Word"--proving from Scripture itself that they belong not to the paganized, half-Christian structure, but to Israel after all. Zecharyah 11:4ff also juxtaposes the imagery of broken rods, feeding the flock, wages, broken brotherhood, and the reclaiming of all that is rightfully Yaaqov's.

39. And the flocks bore striped, speckled, and spotted offspring!

The additional animals that were born fitting the categories he had selected would also be his. The prophetic "spirit of Yaaqov" is now setting up these rods, because we see many churches (Lavan's flocks) beginning to teach the festivals and even turn to observing the Sabbath and using YHWH's true name. This will bring about a separation in which some recognize they are Israel and leave, while others remain where they are comfortable.

40. Then Yaaqov separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the striped ones and toward every black one in Lavan's flocks. And he set his own herds by themselves, and did not set them among Lavan's flock.

Though there was still a place for Lavan's flocks in YHWH's overall plan (ch. 31), Yaaqov would not allow the two to mingle, lest they become lost in the wrong crowd. The purity of the first harvest must be preserved for the best results for Israel's welfare.

41. And whenever the robust flocks were mating, Yaaqov would set the rods in front of the eyes of the flock at the troughs, so that they would mate by the rods.

Robust: or early-bearing, or those that conceived easily. The root meaning is “bound together”. At this point, the truth is shown only to those who exhibit a ready desire for intimacy with YHWH. 2 Shmuel 22:17-32 and Psalm 18 speak of being rewarded according tour righteousness, even though it was a gift given to us. Note that he did not distinguish at this point between the sheep and the goats; that is for the later harvest. (Mat. 25:31-46)

42. But he did not set them in front of the weak flocks, so it turned out that the weak ones became Lavan's, whereas the strong became Yaaqov's.

Yoseyf has been born, the prefiguring of the "fullness of the Gentiles" coming in. (Rom. 11:25) The partial blindness is removed, but only for some of the flocks at first. We only reveal the truth about who Lavan is to the strong, who will be ready to be bound together in intimacy with YHWH. The weak who lag behind the rest--those who are slow to leave paganism behind, who respond to the truth about our Hebraic roots, but continue to mix it with churchly things, who do not have the extra oil (Mat. 25:8) or do not put to use the instruction that they are offered--are the ones that Amaleq attacks. (Exodus 17) These are left for the next harvest. But notice that none of the plain animals are being born anymore; once the truth is out, no one can remain completely like Lavan. The tares are burned up, and only Israel will remain; there will be no more church once the Kingdom begins, only firstfruits and the rest of Y'shua's subjects.

43. And the man grew very much wealthier, and he had many flocks, and slavegirls, and male slaves, and camels, and donkeys.


CHAPTER 31

1. But he overheard Lavan's sons saying these words: "Yaaqov has taken away everything that belonged to our father, and he has gotten his wealth from what was our father's!"

This same accusation was made by Hitler, and is still made of Yaaqov's descendants (Yehudah/the Jews in particular, since they are more recognizable), but the deeper picture is that Yaaqov's descendant, the Messiah, has gained for Elohim's family many people who once belonged to the conniving "father of lies". The institutional church is also likely to say this as more and more people within it realize they really belong to Israel. Yaaqov's actions here are instructive in teaching them how to respond to the jealous pressure to stay.

2. Yaaqov also noticed that Lavan's disposition toward him was indeed not like it had been in earlier days.

3. Then YHWH said to Yaaqov, "Go back to the land of your ancestors, and to your blood relatives, and I will be with you."

Yaaqov had already had this notion, but now it is confirmed to have come from his spirit and not his flesh. Blood relatives: or the land of your birth. He had been living with distant cousins, but YHWH narrowed the focus of which relatives he was most responsible to: the Hebrews, who are willing to cross over. Likewise, many in recent years have heard a call in their hearts back to the Promised Land, but when reasoned with, thought themselves presumptuous for even thinking they were worthy of such a privilege. But then, when the time of exile was completed, the revelation began spreading forth that this inner tug was actually the call of a heritage that was our own after all, because of YHWH's countless promises to bring the exiles back home.

4. So Yaaqov sent and summoned Rachel and Leah to the field where the flocks were,

They were still living with Lavan, and had to be called to come join Yaaqov where he was with his sons. Even so, Yaaqov's descendants are being summoned out of our tents--the heritage of our religious institutions--to where the "sheep" are being gathered to make the trek back to where our Shepherd will meet us.

5. and said to them, "I can see that your father's disposition is not the same toward me as it was in days past. But the Elohim of my father has been with me.

We have already seen how quickly some nations that once welcomed the Jews could turn on them; it seems that there will yet be a time when both houses of Israel will likewise become unwanted in the lands where they have been sojourning (while they were meant to be exiles, carrying the knowledge of YHWH to the ends of the earth), even though they have done their best to "seek the welfare of their place of exile" (cf. Yirmeyah 29:7):

6. "And you know that I have worked for your father with all my might,

7. "yet your father has tricked me, changing my wages ten times. But Elohim has not let him do evil to me.

Tricked me: or "cheated me". Changing my wages: finding loopholes in his promises. Ten times was the last straw for Yaaqov, just as YHWH Himself would decide to bar the generation that left Egypt from entering the Promised Land because they put Him to the test ten times. (Numbers 14:22-23)

8. "If he would stipulate: 'The speckled animals shall be your wages', then the whole flock gave birth to speckled offspring; but if he would say, 'The striped ones shall be your wages', then all the flocks gave birth to striped.

9. "Thus Elohim has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me.

10. "And once when the flocks were in heat, I raised my eyes and saw in a dream that, lo and behold, all the rams that were mounting the flocks of ewes were striped, speckled, and dappled.

The Hebrew word for rams can also mean leaders of the people, so this is a prophecy that after the comparison of the temple with the church is placed before them (see note on 30:38), the new disciples that are made will belong to Yaaqov as well.

11. "And the Angel of Elohim said to me in a dream: 'Yaaqov!' So I said, 'Here I am!'

12. "And he said, 'Please raise your eyes and notice all the rams mounting the flock: they are striped, speckled, and dappled, because I have noticed all that Lavan has been doing to you.

13. "'I am the El of Beyth-El, the place where you anointed the pillar and vowed a vow to Me. Now then, arise and go back to the land of your relatives."

The Septuagint adds, "and I will be with you." This is the portion read in synagogues the week before Yom Truah (Rosh haShanah), which foreshadows the removal of the bride of Messiah and the resurrection of the dead with the command to arise. And indeed it is the Messiah Himself (the messenger of Elohim, v. 11) who is telling Yaaqov this. Many times He has spoken for YHWH in the first person, as He also did when in the flesh. Yaaqov promised the anointed stone would become YHWH's house, and Y'shua did identify Himself with the Temple. (Yoch. 2:19) So He is the one who is telling us it is time to return to our Israelite roots.

14. Then Rachel and Leah answered, saying to him, "Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father's household?

Our father's household: whatever represents itself as pure but is selfish. This was the family that started to become Hebrews, but settled down before the journey was complete, while Avraham traveled on. They represent those who think the church was meant to be something permanent rather than a temporary shelter during our exile. It was Yaaqov's job to take them the rest of the way. He assumed it would take a lot of persuasion to convince them to leave, but they were ready, even if it was for pragmantic reasons. In a way they still had their father's concern about possessions. In the latter days, we are told, YHWH will pull the northern Kingdom back from the foreign lands where they have been banished because of their wrongdoing, and people from the Gentiles will come with them, saying, "Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, futility, and things that are of no profit." (Yirmeyahu/ Jeremiah 16:12-21) Many are already saying this. So we must be careful not to carry any of these things out with us. (See v. 19.)

15. "Aren't we counted by him as if we were foreigners [anyway], since he has sold us and even used up all our money,

16. "and since all the wealth that Elohim has taken from our father is going to us and our sons anyway? So now do everything Elohim has told you!"

I.e., There is nothing left for us here. After having used us to drive a hard bargain and extract 14 years of free labor from you, he could have at least used the value of your work as our dowry, but that never entered his mind. What kind of father is that?

17. So Yaaqov rose up and lifted his sons and wives onto the camels.

The Torah would later stipulate that a slave was to go free after six years of service. Yaaqov's first 14 years were the dowry for his wives, but the last six had been servitude to Lavan. So now YHWH tells him his time has been served. If a slave had been given a wife by his master, he could not take her or their children with him when he went free. (Ex. 21:2-4) He could see that a slave is what Lavan thought he was, so Yaaqov felt he had to sneak away in order to take his family along. (Lavan still considered them his property--v. 43.)

18. And he drove ahead of him all the livestock and took all the property that he had acquired in Paddan-Aram, and set off for the land of Kanaan, to come back to his father Yitzhaq.


19. (Now when Lavan had gone off to shear his sheep, Rachel carried had away the household idols that belonged to her father.)

Fleecing the flock was not Yaaqov's work; the firstborn are not to be sheared (Deut. 15:19). It is those who will not receive correction that are to be cut off. (Yirmiyahu 7:26ff) Lavan probably did not even want Yaaqov nearby to see how much profit he was making from the flocks Yaaqov had raised. Ownership of the household idols, in that society, implied leadership of the family. They assured the husband of a married daughter of the right to her father's property; they implied conferrance of title. "Idols" here is trafim, which means "healers". Whatever we invest power in assumes a power over us because we allow it to. She was willing to leave, but she took along the worst reminder of her father's house. YHWH may tolerate some confusion in the church about who is to be worshipped (v. 24), but such things have no place in Israel. Her grandson Efrayim's descendants were still inclined toward idols. (We see them used in Israel often throughout Kings and Chronicles.) Because she is our mother, we are still prone to idolatry. Many who come out of the church still bring some of its idolatry with them. It is a different thing in each person’s case. They be misunderstandings of Scripture based on reawding the New Testament without the context of the "Old", etc. Unlike YHWH, who "takes our blood but gives the plasma back", idols simply rob us and do not provide anything in return. That is why the prophets call them "things of vanity".

20. Thus Yaaqov outwitted the heart of Lavan, because he had not told him that he was about to flee.

Six years earlier he had made the mistake of telling him that he wanted to leave, just as many who hear the call back to Israel ask their pastor about it, when in most cases he is the very one who wants to hold onto them. This time he does not give him the upper hand.

21. Then he and all that were his made their escape: he rose up and crossed the [Euphrates] River, and set his face to the hills of Gil'ad.

Gil'ad: just this side of the Yarden River, southeast of the Sea of Galilee, it was not technically part of the Promised Land, but the tribe of Menashe did claim it under Yehoshua's conquest. Notice that he made a series of crossings. The Euphrates represented the break from Lavan, but still he was not home yet. His real goal was Beyth El. They had left for somewhat selfish reasons; they still had to put self away.

22. Now on the third day word reached Lavan that Yaaqov had fled.

23. And he took his relatives with him and pursued him seven days' journey, and overtook him in the hills of Gil'ad.

So Yaaqov had traveled ten days, having had a three-day head start (30:36). But the seven days' journey represents those in the church who are willing to go as far as changing over from Sunday to Sabbath to keep the "cream-of-the-crop" Israelites in their congregations. Lavan had even crossed the Eurphrates, though his heart remained on the other side. (v. 55)

24. But Elohim came to Lavan the Aramean that night in a dream, and said to him, "Be careful not to speak to Yaaqov either for better or for worse."

Elohim: the name emphasizing His justice. YHWH was willing to speak to this man who worshipped trafim. He does reveal Himself to those in the church and does miracles for them. He put up with the mixture of pagan and Hebrew ways for some time. But notice he did not hear from YHWH until it was dark, which is the only time many in the church call on Him. But Israel has to keep moving on as more revelation comes, and cannot stay where it once was. Thus what Lavan and the trafim represent to us changes with each step we take closer to the Temple. Yesterday it was the church. Today it may even be some within Israel who want to control us. Not to speak for better or for worse: An idiom his father had also used. He was neither to try to persuade him to stay nor revile him for leaving. Yaaqov did not want him to give him anything either, knowing that what he had just was not for him.

25. Now Yaaqov had pitched his tent in the hills when Lavan caught up with him, so Lavan and his relatives pitched their tents in the hills of Gil'ad.

26. Then Lavan said to Yaaqov, "What have you done? You have outwitted my heart and driven my daughters like prisoners of war!

This parallels the accusation many in the church make that those who are called back into Israel must be being brainwashed by a cult. He still thought his daughters belonged to him, when they really belonged to YHWH.

27. "Why did you have to run away stealthily, and trick me? Had you but told me, I would have even sent you off with festivity and singing, with tambourine and harp!

28. "And you haven't let me kiss my grandsons and daughters [good-bye]. Now you realize you have been foolish to do this!

29. "It is well within the power of my hand to do harm to all of you, but the Elohim of your fathers spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful that you don't speak to Yaaqov either for better or for worse.'

Your fathers: He forgets that his own grandfather was actually called out with Avraham as well, but he no longer identifies with YHWH as his own.

30. "And now I am sure you left because you yearned longingly for your father's home. But why did you have to steal my gods?"

Yearned longingly: can also mean "turned pale". Spiritually he is starving, like many who get their start in the church and learn up to a point, but then need more than it can give because it has disconnected itself from its roots. His Father's house is where the meatier nourishment is. (See also v. 40.) But why: I.e., "Why steal mine, if you have such a powerful Elohim already? If you're going back to another father's household, why do you need the protectors of my household as well?" (See note on v. 19.) This robbery of something highly prized in his household kept Yaaqov connected to Lavan and gave Lavan the right to pursue him and learn all his private business.

31. And Yaaqov answered, saying to Lavan, "I left secretly because I was afraid, because I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force.

32. "But as for the household idols, whoever you find them with shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, search [to see] if anything of yours is here with me, and take it back for yourself." (He did not know that
Rachel had stolen them.)

Shall not live: or, shall die before his time, not necessarily on the spot. Indeed, this held true. The prophetic spirit passes to the one with the right of the firstborn (Yoseyf was the next seer in the family). So what he said would come true. He unwittingly sentenced his favorite wife to death.

33. So Lavan went into Yaaqov's tent, then into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two slavegirls, but he found nothing.

34. But Rachel had taken the household idols and put them into the camel's packsaddle, and sat down on top of them. So Lavan groped around the whole tent, but still he found nothing.

The Northern Kingdom is also "stealing" Y'shua from the Gentiles, taking away from them the "God" they worshiped and restoring him to his proper place of honor yet also finally in subjection to the Father.

35. And she said to her father, "Don't let there be anger in the eyes of my master because I cannot rise in your presence, for the way of women is upon me." So he searched but could not find the idols.

Rise: i.e., in respect for her father. (Lev. 19:32) She got out of an impossible situation by claiming to be in the time of purgation. Men would not have contact with women during their ritual impurity. To touch anything on which she sat would render him "unclean" also. Letting camel saddles double as chairs also gave the travelers one less thing to carry. But she also desecrated the idols by thus sitting on them.

36. Then Yaaqov became angry, and he complained to Lavan. Yaaqov responded by saying to Lavan, "How have I wronged you, and what is my sin, that you have pursued after me so hotly?

37. "For you have rummaged through all my furniture. Have you found any of the articles from your house? If so, set it here in front of my relatives and yours, and let them adjudicate between the two of us!

The articles from your house: compare "in that day, the sins of Israel will be sought, but not found." (Yirm./Jer. 50:20). Also, nothing that Yaaqov truly needs originated in the church; if it did, we won't take it from
them. We will take back with us only what was Israel's before the Gentiles added their ways to the flock.

38. "Look here! I was with you for twenty years! Your ewes and your she-goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten any of the rams of your flock.

39. "What was torn by the beasts of the field I did not bring to you [as food]; I replaced it. You exacted it from me, whether it was stolen by day or at night.

I replaced it: i.e., from my own flocks. At night: when I could not have reasonably been considered at fault.

40. "I stayed [on guard] in the field by day and the heat consumed me, and the frost did too by night, and my sleep fled from [and eluded] my eyes.

41. "This was how it was for my twenty years in your household: I served you fourteen years in exchange for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times!

42. "Unless the Elohim of my father—the Elohim of Avraham and the 'Fear of Yitzhaq'—had been for me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed indeed. My affliction and the toil of my palms Elohim has noticed, and last night He delivered the verdict."

Fear: or Awesome One. Yaaqov adds this to remind Lavan that He is the one who controls life and death. Otherwise he would have cheated Yaaqov even more than he did. But Yaaqov reveals here that even if no one accompanied him, he still would have returned to the Land.

43. But Lavan answered by saying to Yaaqov, "The women are my daughters! Your sons are my descendants, too, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see, it belongs to me or my daughters! What could I do to these women today, or to the offspring they have borne?

I.e., "Why would I be interested in harming them? Yes, I'd rather have them back! But to injure them would be my own loss too!'

44. "So come now, let's you and me make a treaty, and let it be for a witness between you and me."

45. So Yaaqov took a stone, and erected it as a memorial.

46. And Yaaqov said to his kinsmen, "Gather up stones." So they got stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap.

In Middle Eastern culture, no one eats together unless they are at peace, so this symbolized a truce, though an uneasy one.

47. And Lavan called it Yeghar-Sahedutha, while Yaaqov called it Gal-Ed,

Both names they gave mean "Mound of the Testimony". But note that although they are talking about the same thing, and they have lived together so long, they are speaking a different language. Likewise, Israelites and true Gentile believers seem to manage to get completely different meanings from the same Scriptures, showing that they belong to two different harvests. One is satisfied with the Greek view, while the other, once he remembers who he is, and to whose household he really belongs, must do everything in Hebraic terms: Y’shua, not Jesus, YHWH, not the Lord, etc. Notice that Yaaqov’s title is simple, while Lavan’s is long and complicated. Yaaqov’s grandfather Avraham built such mounds of testimony, so he was familiar with such a memorial, while to Lavan the concept seems foreign, and he has to say it by way of a roundabout explanation. If Yaaqov, called home after twenty years, prefigures Y'shua bringing his "twofold bride" back home, then this represents his being seen again for what he truly is--a Hebrew Messiah, though he has been thought of as "ruler of the Gentiles" for twenty centuries. The church has derived much of its power and authority from its spiritualization of what are simple commands in Hebrew. The church's initiates seem to have an insider's influence over these mystified forces, just as a computer programmer makes so much money today because he can make a process most people don't understand to work. It is not magical, but it seems that way to those who cannot harness it on their own, so they grant special privileges to those who can. In the movies we see this double standard: a gangster wouldn't dare murder someone in a church! Yet Y'shua tells us that to swear by the altar in the Temple should not carry any more weight that a simple “yes”. He wants to walk with us and dwell among us. That is an awesome thing, but there is nothing complicated about it. The word is not far away, up in heaven or across the sea, but very near to us. (Deut. 30)

48. And Lavan said, "This mound is a witness between you and me today"; that is why he named it "Gal-Ed"

It was common to call any nearby object as a witness when making a covenant--even the sun and moon--as guarantors, with the idea that they would bring retribution on a party who broke the treaty. Gal-Ed is spelled exactly like Gil'ad in Hebrew, with different vowel points, so the latter probably stemmed from this event.

49. and also Mitzpah ["Guardpost"], for he said, "May YHWH be on the lookout between you and me, though each of us be out of his fellow [covenanter]'s sight.

The word for fellow here means "one from the same flock". Indeed Y'shua said he had other sheep that were not from the flock of Yehudah. Each flock is hidden away from the other. This calls to mind the shutting of the door on the five virgins--apparently believers--who nonetheless did not have enough oil (illumination by the Spirit of Holiness). See also Psalm 91 and Yeshayahu/Isaiah 26:20. This separation between Lavan and Yaaqov had been necessary in chapter 30 as well. A vineyard is not to be planted with two kinds of seed. (Deut. 22:9-11) They will do better separately. Lavan would have to use his own resources now instead of Yaaqov's, which would develop his strengths as well.

50. "If you will not mistreat my daughters, nor take other wives in addition to them, not a man is with us; but remember, Elohim is a witness between me and you."

Not a man is with us: i.e., even when there is no one nearby to remind us not to harm each other.

51. Moreover, Lavan said to Yaaqov, "Behold this heap, and behold this pillar which I have set down between you and me.

52. "This heap is a witness, and the pillar is also a witness. As for me, I will not cross over beyond this heap to you, and as for you, you will not cross over this heap or this pillar to me for any evil purpose;

The only way to have peace between the two was to never come near each other again. This is why the Holy Land has borders: it must be defined, because the less-than-holy may be tolerated in some other places, but here it
is not acceptable.

53. "Let the Elohim of Avraham--the Elohim of Nachor, and the Elohim of their father--be the judge between us." And Yaaqov swore by the Awe of his father Yitzhaq.

Their father: Terach, who actually took Avram with him when he departed from Ur, but could not be persuaded to go any further than where his son died.

54. And Yaaqov offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to eat a meal, so they ate together on the mountain.

See note on 33:17.

55. [32:1 in Hebrew] And Lavan got up early in the morning and kissed his sons and daughters good-bye and blessed them. Then Lavan departed and returned to his own place.


CHAPTER 32

1. Yaaqov also went on his way, and the messengers of Elohim met him.

His road led away from Lavan, his paganism, and the place he had acquired his wealth, and toward the Land promised him by YHWH. Only those who belonged to him remained. It had become very clear that he and Lavan could not dwell together, as Avraham with Lot. Each left the other in YHWH's hands. (Compare Romans 14:4-5. The two houses of Israel must be reunited, but if there are fearers of YHWH outside on whom He chooses to have mercy, that is His business; we, however, must do what we know He has commanded, and not turn aside from it or compromise on our own part.)

2. And when he saw them, Yaaqov said, "This is the camp of Elohim!" So he called that place Machanayim.

Machanayim: "A double camp"--his own and the spiritual one that was shadowing him and had been manifest to him here, as the earthly Temple was a shadow of the one in heaven, the two meeting at the "city that is joined
together". But the message they brought must been that his brother was coming to meet him:

Portion VAYISHLACH (32:3 - 36:43)

32:3. Then Yaaqov sent [yishlach] messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, in the region of Edom.

Messengers: perhaps those who had just met him? Edom is southeast of the Dead Sea. On the way from Gil'ad to Hevron, where he had left his father, Yaaqov would not have to pass through Seir. The messengers must have told him that his brother was there, and though he had been able to put his fears of Esau out of his mind for twenty years, he now knew he had to again face what he had done to him. Some of the messengers may have been his righteous and evil inclinations, which fight against one another (Rom. 7-8), alternately witnessing for and against him. (Rom. 2:15) So the double camp was like his own soul at this time--a single camp but with internal conflict.

4. And he gave them orders, saying, "You shall say to my master (to Esau), 'Your servant Yaaqov says this: I have lived with Lavan as an outsider, and remained there until now.

Lived as an outsider: or sojourned. The numerical value of this word is 613, the total number of positive and negative commands in the Torah. The rabbis consider Edom (Esau) to be figurative of the Roman Catholic Church. And we h ave already seen that Lavan is similar. They have much in common. Lavan was his provider to some degree, though he proved an enemy, much as the church that nurtured us to a point then wanted to withhold our further growth. But now he is presenting this to Esau as credentials. Esau is still the son of Yitzhaq and has some promises from Elohim, but Yaaqov instinctively recognizes that at this point he needs to keep his distance. Living with Lavan had prepared him to know how to deal with Esau.

5. "'Yet now my condition is such that I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female slaves. And I have sent word to tell my lord this, in order to find favor in your sight.'"

He thought Esau would respect him more if he mentioned his possessions, since Esau was that kind of man. Yet he is also making it clear to Esau that he has plenty, and is not out to get anything more from him.

6. But when the messengers returned to Yaaqov, they said, "We managed to reach your brother, and he is coming to meet you—but 400 men are with him!"

Meet: a different word from that in v. 1. Here it has more of the sense of a surprise, and running up against a wall. 400 men: Every time this phrase appears in Scripture it is in a military context. The Hebrew letter with the value of 400 is tav, and it means a "mark" set on the forehead. (Yehezqel 9:4-6) YHWH also had set a mark on Qayin, an elder brother who had murdered his younger brother. When Yaaqov, a man of studies, heard about his elder brother coming with 400 men, what else could he expect but that he wanted to kill him?

7. Then Yaaqov was afraid; indeed, he was greatly distressed. So he divided the people who were with him—as well as the flocks, herds, and camels—into two companies.

Afraid: not as much of Esau as of YHWH, since though he has seen that YHWH is with him, and has His promises, he still senses a need for forgiveness for what he did to Esau. (v. 20) "Two companies": from the same root as Machanayim (the "double camp" in v. 2). It has a military nuance to it in Hebrew as in English. Both camps of YHWH have to be together, or they are weakened. The two parts of Yaaqov can function separately, for a time, as the two kingdoms of Israel later would be. Y'shua said "He who does not gather with ME scatters"; but also "He who is not against you is for you."

8. And he said, "If Esau comes upon the one company and attacks it, then [at least] the company that is left will escape."

9. Then Yaaqov said, "O Elohim of my ancestor Avraham, and Elohim of my father Yitzhaq, O YHWH, You are the One who said to me, 'Go back to your land and your relatives, and I will deal well with you'.

"God helps those who help themselves" is not biblical, but the concept is reiterated that after one prays, acknowledging the need for His intervention, we take whatever steps we can to show that we trust Him to act. YHWH would not divide the Reed Sea until Moshe set foot in, nor did Y'richo's walls fall down until Yehoshua and the nation marched around it. While careful not to rush ahead of YHWH, once He says to move, start the process, however inadequate our resources, and He will ensure our success. How can we expect Him to fight for us if we are not serious about moving forward toward the goal? Here Yaaqov finally recognizes Him as YHWH; invoking him as the Elohim of another is no longer adequate, as He is in a true crisis.

10. "I am not worthy of any of the mercies and faithfulness that you have shown to Your servant, for I crossed over this Yarden with only my walking-stick, and now I have become two companies!

If he were alone, he would not care so much about what happened to him, but now he had much more to lose. Yaaqov's pride was diminished by his regrets about his actions toward Esau, but Yoseyf's glory will be like the horns of the unicorns (Deut. 33:17) and at that time it will not make him a corrupted person because he will have learned its proper place in the scheme of righteousness. Zecharyah 11 speaks of a stick divided into two companies, which Yehezqel 37 says YHWH will bring back into one.

11. "Now deliver me, I beg You, from the hand of my brother (from the hand of Esau) because I am afraid he might come and attack me, mother to children!

Mother is singular, yet he had four mothers with him. His heart was inclined only to one wife. But this also parallels Hoshea 2, in which both mother and children are called to account for their guilt when YHWH meets them like a wall from which they, too, cannot escape.

12. "You also said, 'I will certainly deal well with you, and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea which is too much to count--because they are so many!'"

If the mother and children are killed, where will these descendants come from?

13. And he remained there that night, then selected a present for his brother Esau from what had come into his possession:

Remained: can also mean complained. Didn't YHWH say He would protect Yaaqov? Yet he now has misgivings because of how things look. That night: "ha laila ha-hu", which recalls the equivalent phrase "ha laila ha-zeh" (this night) used so much during Passover, which is the only festival specifying a particular commemoration at night. And "pass over" is just what he and his family were doing. But first he has to face the world (the spirit of Esau) with no one to back him up, so he tries to appease Esau (v. 20) with the kind of wealth he likes--animals. He ends up feeling like he has to give away his flocks--those that are under his care--to one who will not care for them, but will drive them hard. (33:13) Yet if it comes to a choice between possessions and his heritage, the animals are not as important as the family. He feels he is “rendering unto Caesar” what belongs to him, for Esau is a man of the field.

14. 200 she-goats and 20 he-goats;
200 ewes and 20 rams;

15. 30 nursing camels with their 30 colts;
40 cows and 10 bulls;
20 she-asses and 10 young [or rare Lybian] donkeys.

There were 550 animals in all. Interestingly, Edom's kingdom would begin in the year the last of Yaaqov's sons died, 550 years before Israel's under Saul. So he was actually in a sense giving the birthright back to Esau for that amount of time. Some link Edom with the Palestinians of today (especially as used in Ovadyah 18), in which case we could definitely draw a parallel of modern Israel giving them more power than they would have originally demanded.

16. And he put each drove separately into the custody of his servants, and he told his servants, "Cross over ahead of me, drove by drove, leaving a space between them."

A space: so that they would arrive in wave after wave of gifts and soften Esau's heart, if possible. "Cross over": ivru, from the same root from which "Hebrew" comes. None of those in his entourage had crossed the Yarden before, so he now made "Hebrews" out of them; he remained for one more experience on his journey to identification with his ancestors.

17. And he gave the ones in front orders, saying, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'Who are you with? Where are you going? And to whom do these ones in front of you belong?',

18. "Then tell him, 'To your servant Yaaqov. This is a gift being sent to my master (to Esau) and he himself is right behind us!'"

19. And he gave the same orders to the second and third, and all the ones driving the herds, saying, "This is what you shall say to Esau when you encounter him,

20. "and you shall also say, 'Look! Your brother Yaaqov is following us.'" For he said to himself, "I will appease his anger with the gift that arrives before me, and after that I will be able to look him in the face; maybe he
will forgive me."

Appease: literally, cover, the same word used for atonement offerings in the Temple. They do not remove sin, but give us a point of closure for our guilt, and through a definite act put us in a place of being ready to accept forgiveness. Yaaqov was always expecting to be punished for what he did, and now he expects that judgmenbt to fall on his family as well. His thought was that maybe he just deserved whatever might happen to him, not recognizing that it was YHWH’s choice that removed the birthright from Esau and gave it to the one who pleased Him better, and that it is YHWH's worthiness that counts, not his own.

21. And the tribute passed on ahead of him, but he remained in the camp that night.

22. But he got up later that same night and took his two wives, his two servant-girls, and his eleven boys, and crossed the ford of the Yabboq.

The Yabboq flows westward through Gil'ad into the Yarden halfway between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. Later it would be the northern border of the lands of Moav and then of Ammon. Yabboq means "emptying out", and this is truly what happened to Yaaqov here. He left his old self behind and gained a new identity. (v. 28) At this point it appears that it was under Esau's control, showing just how powerful he had become, as this is a great distance from the land of Seir proper.

23. Now he brought them there and sent them across the river, and sent all that belonged to him over along with them.

He removed from himself everything that mattered to him, and spent one final night in an alien land. He could not go any further until he dealt with this one pressing matter. Just before his "passover", this was his "Gath Shmaney", when he would be stretched to his limits as Y'shua was the night before a Passover many years later..

24. And Yaaqov was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the ascending of the dawn.

He was alone (compare Numbers 23:9), yet he wrestled with someone. How could this be? The numerical value of "alone" is 613--the number of commandments in the Torah, YHWH's word. So he was wrestling with Y'shua, the living Word that would later become flesh, but often appeared in the form of a man prior to this. In 48:16, this "man" is called an angel, and Y'shua as this "man" was often called the "Angel of YHWH". He was also wrestling with himself (his own inclinations, Rom. 7). He had to come to terms with what he truly believed: what kind of man was he, now that he was all alone against the world unless he would have faith that this Elohim was truly who He said He was? Was he really the right one to receive the birthright? Was he really ready to be the leader of a nation? He was wrestling with the spirit of his twin Esau, the philosophy of caring only for one's belly, which now threatened him in a very real way as everything hung in the balance. Would he become like him? Or would he remain Yaaqov? Neither. He would become a third option. Tradition says this angel was Samael--"the poison of the Elohim"--the evil inclination (the flesh), an adversary (Heb., "satan") who was connected with Esau/Edom (much like the angelic Princes of Persia and Greece mentioned by Daniel). Further, he was wrestling with Adam, the prototypical man, and also with the second Adam who awaited Yaaqov's cooperation in order to be reconstituted through his descendant, the Messiah. And he was wrestling with Elohim Himself (see below). All of this took place in the spirit realm, whether or not anyone else was physically present. And all of these aspects of his wrestling are really one and the same. Dawn means "that which is sought" in Hebrew. He wanted to wrestle until what he was seeking came to light. But it can also mean "blackness". As he fought against selfishness, the "black cloud was lifted", and his earnest seeking reached the heavenlies. Angels also strengthened Y'shua after his wrestling.

25. When He saw that He was not prevailing over him, He touched him on the socket of his hip, and Yaaqov's hip-socket was dislocated while he grappled with him.

Touched: struck, violently gripped.

26. Then He said, "Let go of Me, because the morning has dawned." But he said, "I will not let You go until You bless me!"

Let Me go: lit., "send Me away". Dawn is the time for something new to begin, and for yesterday to become past history. And Yaaqov knew he could not see His face and live. Yet He wanted to receive the blessing the right (legitimate) way this time. Until: or "unless". But the pronouns here are deliberately ambiguous. We can read them as Yaaqov speaking first or as the "man" speaking first. Bless means to bend the knee to, so until Yaaqov “knuckled under” and confessed what he had been doing, he could not be sent into the Land. But the angel also blessed him.

27. So He said to him, "What is your name?" And he said , "Yaaqov."

This was a confession: "I'm a swindler after all." This is the first time he is recorded as ever using his own name (of which he may have been ashamed). Even his mother never used it in the recorded text. And his descendants through Efrayim also cannot return to their homeland until they admit that they have been partly pagan (Yirmeyahu/Jer. 16:9; 31:19)

28. Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be Yaaqov, but Isra-El, because you have striven with both Elohim and men, and have prevailed."

No longer: when you live up to it, that is. Yaaqov's name was changed. Israel means "Striving (persistently exerting oneself) with Elohim" or "One who has overcome and become a prince with Elohim". (Y'shua said we could sit with Him on His throne if we overcome, Rev. 3:21.) The confession was the prevailing, just as Gid'on's action, though done in fear, was recognized by YHWH as strength. (Judg. 6:14) Prevailed: conquered or become able (i.e., to be a prince of a new nation). He was no longer fooling himself as to who he was. ("If we judge ourselves rightly, we would not need to be judged." --1 Cor. 11:31) YHWH also dealt with him, and his identity changed. There was now an entity called "Israel", the one big exception to the rule that "under the sun, all is vanity". He allowed to be born in him a rebirth for all of mankind, a direction and goal for history, and a remedy for all the evils of the whole world. The undoing of the curse on Adam's race took another major leap forward. YHWH's response to Efrayim's admission is similar. (Yirm. 31:20) YHWH wants us to become one man again, and to become indeed what "messengers" in our own day are revealing we really are: Israel. We may still see how far we have to go to be what we are meant to be, but when YHWH looks at us, He sees a beloved son, who is not lacking in anything. The obstacle is in our own heads and hearts. Double-mindedness (depicted by the double camp he saw) Striven with men: Lavan, Esau, and Yaaqov's own flesh.

29. And Yaaqov inquired and said, "Now You divulge Your name, please." But He said, "Why do you [still need to] ask about My name?" Then He blessed him there.

Manoach, the father of Shimshon (Samson), also asked this question of YHWH's messenger, and received the same answer, with the added detail, "because it is wonderful" (or "beyond your comprehension", Judg. 13:15ff)
Messiah's name is also called "wonderful" (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 9:6). Another reason he may not have received an answer is that even YHWH is a name for only that part of His infinitude that He can reveal to us. There is more to Him that we cannot know, and indeed, as Paul says in I Cor. 13, all that we know is "in part", that is, by partitioning and distinguishing things from one another. However, YHWH is "echad"--one, unified, indivisible, the "all in all", so how can His truest name be known? But He does reveal Himself by His attributes and in the fullest sense possible, in His "Word", Y'shua the Messiah, also who called himself his Father's messenger. In Hebrew mysticism, YHWH can be represented as a man's body, and each part or attribute is connected to a different name. The Head, of course, is Y'shua, the first part of the restoration of His image to mankind. By tradition, when YHWH's complete name (over 200 letters long) is discovered, Messiah will come! Psalm 139 ties several aspects of this together: When YHWH's hand was laid on him, David said that the way YHWH knew him was beyond his understanding--or too wonderful for him. Even if he descended into She'ol (the place of the dead), He was somehow there! This was only possible through Y'shua's death, but the word she'ol is based on the word "to ask". Yaaqov battled his evil inclination, but that too could have good results if he, unlike Qayin, mastered it. It is there for us to inquire what it is there for, but not to participate in; to learn from, but not to serve. We should be glad it is within us to drive us toward being our best by the knowledge of what we could otherwise be. Thus the messenger from YHWH reveals to us who we really are--and that messenger could be anyone.

30. And Yaaqov named the place P'ni-El ["Face of Elohim"], "because I saw Elohim face to face, and yet my life was spared."

My life was spared: literally, "my soul has been snatched away unto deliverance". His former identity as one whose name is related to "heel" would put him in direct line for being bruised in the destriction of the serpent. (Gen. 3:15) He still was bruised (v. 32), but not destroyed. By changing Yaaqov's name, the angel changed his identity. Yaaqov owed Esau something, but Israel did not. So he was not free.

31. And the sun rose upon him as he crossed over P'nu-El , but he was limping on account of his hip.

P'nu-El-- an alternate, less personal rendering of P'ni-El. ("Turn your face toward Elohim" or "His face toward Elohim" in contrast to "My face toward Elohim".) Hip: the sinew which was benumbed. His walk (Hebraically, a
metaphor for how one lives) was permanently altered. Once you come up against the true Word, the real Torah (Y'shua), you have to weigh everything else in light of Him. Nothing can ever be the same afterwards. Yet, like Paul's thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7), now that he had been given extraordinary revelation, he had to have a constant reminder that he, as himself, was not worthy of it.

32. (This is why the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of an animal's thigh which is over the hip-socket, because He touched Yaaqov's hip-socket on the sinew of the thigh.)

The sinew: the sciatic nerve. This is a vivid reminder that our walk, too, has been changed, as we, too, are Israel.


CHAPTER 33

1. Then Yaaqov raised his eyes and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, accompanied by 400 men! So he divided the children to both Leah and Rachel, as well as to the two slave-girls.

Raised his eyes: often an idiom for seeing as in a vision. I.e., Yaaqov came to a clear understanding that although he had already fought this battle with the evil inclination (whom Esau also represents as the twin of the one now declared righteous), Esau was still coming. Only now he had a weapon with which to brace for him: his new name.

2. And he put the slave-girls and their children first, and Leah and her children next behind them, then Rachel and Yoseyf last.

Whom he kept safest shows who was most important to him. His setting Yoseyf in a separate category from his other children would turn out to be a lifelong pattern. He knew from his fathers that other men might want to take their wives. According to the pattern by which the matriarchs had married, Leah should have been Esau's wife anyway, so he may have reasoned that if Esau wanted to take his wife, he was willing to give up Leah, since he put her ahead of Rachel.

3. And he went over ahead of them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he had come all the way to where his brother was.

He was not capitulating to the evil inclination, but neither did he pretend it was not there. He recognized its power, and kept his eye on it. It is a witness of what is true about us, but we can use those negative traits against it and thus defeat it.

4. But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they both wept.

Notice that he did not embrace Esau back. He was very selective in whom he showed affection to--only Rachel and her sons, and later Yoseyf's sons. The evil inclination may take either a positive or negative face, but its intent is always to undermine confidence in YHWH. First it may tell us that we really do not need to be forgiven, but after we defeat that side of it, it comes back and tells us that we are not really forgiven after all. In the Hebrew text, there are two "tooth-marks" above the word "embraced", which the Rabbis say indicates that he really meant to bite him, much like Judas' kiss. But because, after years in the field, tending animals, he looked and smelled exactly like Esau, who thought he had conquered him because now they appeared to be the same kind of men. Both wept: compare 33:10; Zech. 12:10.

5. And he looked up and saw the women and children, and he said, "Who are these with you?" And he said, "The children with whom Elohim has graciously favored your servant."

6. Then the slave-girls came forward (they and their children) and bowed [in respect].

7. Next Leah and her children came up and bowed, and after this, Yoseyf and Rachel came near and bowed.

Unlike verse 2, Yoseyf is now ahead of Rachel. Though probably still only a toddler, he was already acting according to his calling as a provider, protector, and defender of Israel. His descendants are also called to act on behalf of their "mother". (Hoshea 2:2ff) Edom is another name for Esau, and Yoseyf's descendants will play a special role in Edom's final defeat. (Ovadyah 18)

8. And he said, "Whose is all this company which I met?" And he said, "It was to gain favor in my master's sight."

9. But Esau said, "I have plenty, my brother! Let what you have be kept for yourself."

Plenty: literally, in excess. I.e., "You have become materially wealthy like me; stay that way!"

10. But Yaaqov replied, "No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, take my present from my hands! For I have seen your face, and it was as if I were seeing the face of Elohim--and you have received me favorably.

From my hands: If I am going to have possessions, they will be those YHWH has granted me, and I will not empower the demon Security, because I know it is an enemy and a liar. As if seeing the face of Elohim: At that time, he was also relieved because his life was spared. (32:30) In any case, what he did give his brother--the "remnant of Edom" will again be possessed by Yaaqov's descendants (Amos 9:12).

11. "Please take my token of blessing which has been brought to you, because Elohim has been gracious to me, and I have everything." And he urged him, so he accepted.

Everything: as contrasted with Esau's "plenty" (v. 9).

12. Then he said, "Let's keep moving--and I'll go before you."

Go before you: i.e., lead the way. There was somewhere he still wanted to take Yaaqov, but Yaaqov had learned his lesson about who he really was, and knew he could no longer follow someone else's agenda.

13. But he told him, "My master is aware that the children are still tender, and the flocks and herds with me are nursing. If they are overdriven even for one day, the flocks will all die.

The evil inclination indeed knows our weak spots. Yaaqov wisely does not lead them into temptation--i.e., taking them where only the more mature can survive. He is not thinking of himself, but of them, and we too must make our choices based not only on what will affect us, but on what will affect those who take us as their examples. Paul also spoke of deferring to the "speed" of the "weaker brothers"--staying back with them to teach at their pace and help them catch up. (Romans 14) If they could take our liberties as an excuse to become slack, we must not use those liberties. (Gal. 5:13) And we must not forget that we are all weak in one area or another. (Gal. 6:1)

14. "Please let my master go on ahead of his servant, and I will make my way by stages as it is comfortable according to the pace the stock that are before me can take, and whatever pace the children are ready for, until I reach my lord at Mount Seir."

Y'shua did something reminiscent of this when He said, "I'm not going to the feast [yet]; you go on ahead." And indeed He will follow later. When Yaaqov does reach Edom's territory in the latter days, however, the results will not be beneficial to Esau, as this portion's parallel "haftarah" (the book of Ovadyah) reveals. Whatever pace the children are ready for: compare Zech. 2:11; 8:23.

15. So Esau said, "Please, let me leave with you some of the people that are with me." But he said, "To what purpose? Just let me find favor in the eyes of my master."

Leave with you: or station, permanently attach, assign to you. I.e., "Let me put some spies in your camp so I can see if you are really what you seem to be." If we hang onto any of the pagan principles that had mixed themselves in with the church, the evil inclination will still have us where it wants us. No, we are Israel, and we are not walking by anyone else's rules; we have our own path to take. What he tells him, though, is, "What need is there? Please indulge me just this once", and thus escapes any obligation to Esau.

16. So Esau started that day on his way back to Mount Seir.

Like Lavan, he recognized that YHWH was indeed with Yaaqov, and let him go. Seir means "goat". Started back: literally, he turned, or "repented on his way to the goats". (Goats juxtaposed with repentance clearly suggest Yom Kippur, when one repents and becomes either one of the two identical goats or the other, like the twins Yaaqov and Esau). Symbolically, here, Esau became Yaaqov. If we repent at the right season, we can go on to the next festival, the season of our joy (Sukkoth):

17. But Yaaqov traveled on to Sukkoth, and built himself a house, and made temporary shelters for his livestock; that is why he named the place Sukkoth.

Sukkoth means "booths", "sheds, "stables", or "temporary dwellings". Why did he call it this, instead of, for example, "Beyth-Yaaqov"? Sukkoth is also the Festival that falls on the 15th day of the first civil month--directly across earth's orbit from Passover, the 15th of the other first month (that is, on the religious calendar), and recalls the temporary dwellings in the wilderness with Moshe after the Passover. But it also pictures the future day when it will be safe again to dwell in open structures. In Hebrew, we would say that Y'shua was born in a sukkah (singular form, used also of "stable" or "manger"), and there is much evidence that He may have been born during that festival. Today we hear the ownership of the "West Bank" disputed; Sukkoth would later be King David's "East Bank" military headquarters.

18. When Yaaqov arrived safely at the city of Sh'khem (which is in the land of Kanaan), upon coming from Paddan-Aram, he encamped within sight of the city.

He had built a permanent dwelling at Sukkoth, yet continued to live as a sojourner. Israel dwells in tents so that it can move when the Ark of the Covenant moves. He left a "house of promise" at Sukkoth, which symbolizes the final ingathering of the whole nation. "Safely" here means in completeness. Y'shua is preparing a place for us which we will inhabit once the Kingdom is fully established. But how can we live in paneled houses while YHWH's House is not yet restored? (Haggai 1:4) As the other Y'hoshua would tell Yaaqov's descendants, the tribes of Reuven and Gad, who wanted to settle on that side of the Yarden since it was a place for livestock, they still had other duties to fulfill within the Land proper before they could settle down. Sh'khem was his entry point into the Land, and Y'shua used it to open His mission to the "lost sheep of the House of Israel" by seeking His "bride" first at Yaaqov's well in this town (Yochanan 4), just as Moshe, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov had done.

19. And he bought that parcel of land upon which he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Chamor, the father of Sh'khem, for 100 coins.

100 coins: or possibly, pearls or lambs. Yaaqov bought the place where Yoseyf's tomb is, and thus his descendants still own it, though the Palestinians are trying to drive them away.

20. And he set up an altar there, and called it "El Elohey-Yisra'el".

Set up: or established; El Elohey-Yisrael: "El is the Elohim of Israel", or, Mighty is the Elohim of Israel.


CHAPTER 34

1. Now Dinah (the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Yaaqov) went out to learn about the daughters of the Land.

Perhaps she just wanted to see what kind of clothes they wore, as would interest a girl of her age (by the foregoing chronology she is certainly under ten years old). Instead of staying and caring for her own people, her curiosity about "the ways of the Gentiles" became her downfall. In the same way, Yerushalayim (also described as a daughter in Yeshayahu 10:32) today is making her decisions not based on what is best for the nation, but what the rest of the world thinks. Their opinion does not matter; Israel is called to be a set-apart nation, and to be the influencer, not the influenced.

2. And Sh'khem, the son of Chamor the Chivvite, the prince of the region, saw her, took her by force, and lay with her, violating her.

Sh'khem menas a shoulder or the part of the back that bears a burden. Chamor means "donkey". So both of them are bearers of burdens. Violating her: literally, "he humbled her." Likewise, everyone wants a piece of Yerushalayim, but by owning parts of it they defile it. Dinah is the feminine form of the word Dan (judge). When those who do not understand true justice want to control the court system, they also bring corruption.

3. But his soul clung to Dinah, the daughter of Yaaqov, and he loved the girl and spoke to her heart.

Spoke to her heart: spoke soothing words, appealed to her emotions, comforted her with words of peace.

4. And Sh'khem said this to Chamor, his father: "Get me this girl to be my wife!"

5. Then Yaaqov heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah, but his sons were out in the field with the livestock, so Yaaqov kept quiet until they had come in.

Defiled: rendered her unclean, which in Scripture is a picture of selfishness. By taking away her innocence, this uncircumcised man made her self-conscious. His daughter: whereas in v. 1 she was described as Leah's, now that a man has his eye on her, he takes chief responsibility.

6. When Chamor (Sh'khem's father) had come out of the city to Yaaqov to discuss the matter with him,

7. Yaaqov's sons arrived back from the field. When they heard what had happened, they were distressed and extremely angry, because he had done an outrage to Israel by lying with Yaaqov's daughter—such a thing [as] should not be done!

Distressed: deeply offended. An outrage: folly; a stupid, senseless, disgraceful act. It was senseless partly because she was so young. While this may have been tolerated among other peoples, it went against what was proper for the holiest.

8. Then Chamor spoke with them, saying, "My son Sh'khem's soul is bound [attached] to your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.

9. Then you all can form an alliance with us through intermarrying with us: give us your daughters, and take our daughters for yourselves.

10. "Dwell with us, too, and the whole land will be before [open to] you; settle in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it!"

This would give them an instant "in" with the people over whom Chamor was prince. He offers them wealth as an incentive.

11. Sh'khem also said to her father and her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you tell me, I will give.

12. "Pile on me ever so high a bride price or a present, and I will give you whatever you say; just give me the girl as a wife!"

"The girl": a letter is missing from the Hebrew spelling here, indicating that though he made it sound like she was still a "maiden", she was not. Bride price: It was not as though they were paying for her as chattel; women
in that society had a much higher standing (Prov. 31). But the family was compensated for raising her to be a good wife, and since they would have one less pair of hands to help in their own household. She was given a dowry by which to survive in case she were to be divorced or widowed.

13. But the sons of Yaaqov replied to Sh'khem and his father Chamor in a misleading way since he had defiled their sister Dinah:

In a misleading way: cleverly, shrewdly, even deceitfully, just like their father had. But Rahav, who lied to Israel's enemies, was called righteous, so we cannot fault them for tricking a people who had already wronged them.

14. They told them, "We couldn't do such a thing--give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for this would be a disgrace to us.

15. "Only on this condition would we consent to you: if you will become as we are, having every male among you circumcised,

Like those who were influencing the non-Jewish Galatians, they said, "Be circumcised and you will be one of us." Even the rabbinic authorities agree with Paul's insistence that circumcision is not the first step to becoming YHWH's people.

16. "Then we would give you our daughters, or take your daughters unto ourselves, and would live with you and become like one people."

One people: a single socioeconomic entity. But they really wanted these men to feel pain for what they had done to Dinah. "Our daughters" (plural)? There was only one. But the servants they brought back from Lavan would have had some children as well, and they also expected this to go on for several generations.

17. "If you will not agree to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and leave."

They thought this would be too high a price and discourage Sh'khem. They underestimated the enemy. A simple "no" would have been better. They had no more obligation to them than Israel of today has to negotiate with terrorists. Later YHWH would mandate that Israel must not make a treaty with the inhabitants of Kanaan. (Ex. 23:32; Deut. 7:2) They made things more difficult for themselves.

18. But their proposal seemed reasonable to Chamor and his son Sh'khem,

19. and the young man did not delay in doing the thing, because he enjoyed Yaaqov's daughter so much, and he carried more weight than all [the rest of] his father's household.

20. So Chamor and his son Sh'khem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke with the men of their city, saying,

The gate: where the city elders made legal decisions.

21. "These men are peaceable toward us, so let them live in the land and trade in it, because, look! The land has opened its hands wide to them! Let's take their daughters for ourselves as wives, and let's give them our daughters as wives--

22. "except that only on these terms will the men consent to become one with us: that every male among us be circumcised as they are.

23. "Won't their livestock and their property and their beasts of burden then become ours? Let us just consent to them, and they will settle among us."

They offered Yaaqov their wealth, but their true motives are showing. They really want Yaaqov's wealth. Or was this simply a bribe on Chamor's part to make the men willing?

24. So all those who went out of the gate of the city listened to Chamor and his son Sh'khem, and every male (everyone who went out through the city's gate) was circumcised.

Everyone who went through the gate: possibly the vassal peasants who lived outside the city, or all who wished to leave the city.

25. But it so happened that on the third day (when they were in their greatest pain) two of Yaaqov's sons, Shim'on and Levi (Dinah's [full] brothers), each got out his sword, and came upon the city confidently, and killed every male.

Confidently: raising no one's suspicions, as they were now to become relatives; or the term may mean "unawares" (undetected) or simply, boldly. Killed: not the Hebrew word for murdered. These people deserved to die for what they had done or allowed to be done based on their unacceptable standards. Shim'on means "hearing very well (and supremely obedient)", and Levi means "joined to Me". When Yaaqov did not do what was right, these two knew what had to be done to avenge their sister's honor.

26. They even killed Chamor and Sh'khem at swordpoint. Then they took Dinah from Sh'khem's house and left.

The root word of Chamor means "heap", and is related to the term "chomer", a measurement of which an eyfah (which symbolizes a complete congregation) is a tithe. Thus a chomer symbolizes the whole world. As the whole world, which seeks to unite but not on the basis of YHWH's truth continues to turn against Israel, it will be the responsibility of those who truly hear YHWH and those who are attached to Him to end the reign of the "world" and its system. At swordpoint: literally, "by the mouth of the sword". It appears that Dinah had never come home, but either due to her disgrace or being held hostage, she remained in Sh'khem's household.

27. Yaaqov's sons came to strip the slain, and they plundered the city because they had defiled their sister.

They: only one had, but as their prince he represented the whole community.

28. They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, and whatever was in the city, and whatever was in the field;

29. thus they seized all their wealth, took captive all their little ones and their wives, and looted all that was in the house.

They did take what the men of the city had promised anyway. (v. 21) Our mission is to rescue many from teachers who have proven to have false motives, and make them part of Israel as they were meant to be.

30. But Yaaqov told Shim'on and Levi, "You have gotten me in trouble by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land (the Kanaanites and the Perizzites). I am so few in number; if they unite against me, I and my household will be annihilated!"

Making me odious: or obnoxious, i.e., giving me a bad name. Note that his name Yaaqov is used again, showing that he has lapsed into thinking of things from the natural, fleshly standpoint (Everything is first person: "What will happen to ME?"), rather than a spiritual one, symbolized when his name "Israel" is used. They do not even answer this aspect of his complaint. If weknow better, we never have an obligation to compromise. There may be consequences, but there is never no way out. If he does not consider his Elohim adequate to protect him, what else can they say?

31. But they replied, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?"

He was still seeing himself as an individual; his sons were thinking of themselves corporately, as a people. They were acting for each other. This was not a crime only against Dinah, but against all Israel--a people among
whom such a thing should not be done (v. 7), whether or not it was common anywhere else. They saw this before he did. They thought more highly of her dignity than to let such a wrong go unpunished, and didn't seem to care what the consequences might be. This ended the discussion, yet Yaaqov always considered it an extreme act (49:5ff). But YHWH vouched for them being in the right by keeping others from attacking them. (35:5) Perhaps they too wished to be rid of this child-molesting people. We, too, need to rebuke those who hold back from doing what is right because it will not make us popular with others. Telling the church that she is royalty, yet has been defiled by paganism, will not endear us to them, but it is true love and true kindness. Thinking otherwise is the result of church politics that are based on power and control, not on YHWH's word. Telling the truth may cost you family, friends, money, and certainly respect, but if YHWH is not in these alliances, they are useless anyway. The "Gospel" many are taught is that "Jesus" is embracing "Chamor" (the whole world). This is not wisdom (our sister, as per Prov. 7). He said He came for a select few. Old ideas and church ideals constantly want to have a say in what Israel is to turn out to be like. As wisely as serpents, we, like Yaaqov's sons, must make war on those who have defiled Y'shua's true wisdom.





CHAPTER 35

1. Then Elohim said to Yaaqov, "Arise and go up to Beyth-El, and settle there, and make an altar there to the Elohim who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau".

Right after Yaaqov is shown to really be most concerned about his safety and reputation, YHWH tells him to arise (which also means to prove, confirm, and establish himself), and elevate himself. At the same place his father had been an elevation offering, he is told to die to his old self, Yaaqov. The altar must always be built before the Temple.

2. So Yaaqov told his household and all those who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods which are in your midst, and purify yourselves, and change your clothing,

All those who were with him: including the women and children from Sh’khem. Foreign gods: those Rachel stole from her father, and perhaps some they acquired when plundering Sh'khem; YHWH's altar was to be shared by no other. In your midst: at root, the word means, in the bisecting. Foreign gods will divide us; there will be no unity for his people as long as they remain. Purify yourselves (with water) and change your clothing: a prototype for what the priests had to do in the Temple before beginning any new task, especially the high priest on Yom Kippur; this was also like what Yaaqov’s descendants would do on the first Shavuoth when they approached Mt. Sinai, where YHWH would give the Torah. (Ex. 19:10-15) The root meaning of “purify” is to brighten or become light. The particular word here for clothing means that which takes the shape of the wearer, and thus resembles him. His descendants today also need to become light and change what we resemble. (Compare 1 Yochanan 3:2; 2 Cor. 3:18) As they still had items carried along out from Lavan’s house, we must also put away the vestiges of not only Gentile ways, but church ways as well, and be fully Israel. Y’shua provides us with new clothes to change into, but we still must put them on to be accepted at His banquet. (Mat. 22:10ff)

3. "and let us arise and go up to Beyth-El, and I will make an altar there to El—the One who answered me in the day of my distress. He was also with me on the journey on which I went."

With me: as my support. The day of my distress: This is a prophetic link with "the time of Yaaqov's trouble" (Yirmeyahu 30:1-7), when both "camps" of his descendants come back into the Land and are in dire straits, yet are rescued from them.

4. So they gave all the foreign gods that were in their possession to Yaaqov; they also gave him the earrings that were in their ears, and Yaaqov buried them under the oak tree that was at Sh'khem.

Rachel had to now reveal what she had brought from her father's house. (31:32) Earrings: used as amulets for idol-worship. They symbolize that which prevents us from hearing YHWH's voice clearly, as well as the adornment of self. Having one's ear pierced later meant being a loyal servant. (Ex. 21:6ff) So these earrings bespeak the former loyalties of those now becoming Israelites, while she is in fact married to Another. Oak: or terebinth, held sacred by Kanaanite tree worshippers . It is sometimes translated the turpentine tree, and turpentine comes from the pine tree. This would possibly explain the continuing connection between the evergreen tree and idolatry, as seen at Christmas, etc. However, humans were sometimes buried under them (v. 8) and prophets were often seen sitting under them. There was a perceived connection between them and divine oracles. Why did he bury them rather than destroying them? Was he leaving himself an "out" just in case following YHWH didn't work? This "burial" uses the word for "concealed" rather than piled up in a memorial mound. Later in the valleys of Qidron and Hinnom (Ge-Henna) outside Yerushalayim, there were similar dumping-grounds for idols.

5. Then they pulled up their stakes and set off. And the terror of Elohim came upon the cities that were all around them; they did not pursue the sons of Yaaqov.

None of the boys could have been much more than twelve years old, considering that Yaaqov had been gone twenty years and the first seven he worked for Lavan before being given a wife. Perhaps this is another reason
his people were so feared.

6. So Yaaqov arrived at Luz (which is in the land of Kanaan)--that is, Beyth-El--he and all the people with him as well.

7. And he built an altar there, and called the place El Beyth-El, because it was there that Elohim had revealed Himself to him when he had fled from his brother.

El Beyth-El: "The El of the House of Elohim". When alone and outward-bound, Yaaqov had set up a single "cornerstone" there for the Temple that would one day be on this site (28:18), representing his own commitment to YHWH. As a single man, he had been "saved", but there remained a community to be built for the glory of YHWH's Name. Now that he is a clan and on the way to becoming a nation, he now has enough "building materials" (on which the word "stone" is based in Hebrew) to make a whole altar, showing that he is no longer a loner before Elohim. He was bringing the tithe he had promised twenty years before that.

8. Rivqah's nurse Devorah also died there, and was buried below Beyth-El, beneath the oak, so he named it "the Oak of Weeping".

Devorah: tradition says Rivqah had sent her with Yaaqov as proof to her family that he really was Rivqah's son. She had provided nourishment to his mother, yet still she had to be put away because she came from Paddan-Aram. He could not go on building the altar without he beig community after will him. Devorah means a bee, and bees naturally are a well-organized congregation. So she represents a congregation which benefits Israel in many ways but is not itself Israel. The church, though at one time it nourished us, is fading from this role, so that Israel can

9. Now Elohim had appeared to Yaaqov again when he had come out of Paddan-Aram, and blessed him.

10. And Elohim had said to him, "Your name is Yaaqov, but you shall no longer [always] be called Yaaqov; rather, Israel shall be your name." Thus He named him Israel.

Wasn't he already named Israel? (32:28) The messenger had done his job. He was given a promise of being called Israel. Spiritually, he already was Israel, as for those who place their confidence in Messiah, "by one offering he has[already] forever perfected those who are [still] being made holy" (Heb. 10:14) But, as another Yaaqov ("James") says, it is because of our visible deeds that we are declared to be righteous; though "the Man" (who at least represents Y'shua) had already called him Israel, YHWH Himself did not recognize Yaaqov as Israel until he had changed his walk, learned what it meant to be Israel, became established, offered himself on the altar, and gotten rid of his family's idols. It was a process to grow into the person represented by this name.

11. And Elohim said to him, "I am El Shaddai; be fruitful and multiply. A nation and an assembly of nations shall come from you, and kings shall issue from your loins,

Now that he is addressed as Israel, the first command given to him is the same as the first given to Adam and Chavvah. This is the beginning of a new creation, because through this nation, mankind would be restored and the world "repaired". Her, in both mystical and literal senses, the procreative organs are associated in mystical terms with the idea of a "foundation". And Yaaqov did procreate once more shortly hereafter. The root of the name "Shaddai" may be traceable to "devastation" and "ruin". Yaaqov is warned that now that much has been given to him, much is required of him, and he must take his new role seriously or a worse prospect of judgment may await him. (Hebrews 6:4-8) Or it may be from the word for "breasts", and indeed it is linked here to nurturing children. It is interesting that He reveals Himself as such right after Rivqah's wet nurse (who perhaps had nursed Yaaqov) died. Multiply: or increase, a different thing from merely becoming fruitful. The particular nation would then be divided into two, and because one kingdom would go astray from the covenant and be scattered among and mixed with the other nations, an eclectic company from many nations could also be attached to Yaaqov and be drawn in to share in his inheritance. Assembly: or congregation; in the Septuagint it is synagogue. Nations: or Gentiles. Imagine ...a synagogue of Gentiles! Yet this is exactly what Yaaqov promised Yoseyf's sons Efrayim and Menashe would be! (He passed this promise on to them.)

12. "and the Land which I gave to Avraham and Yitzhaq, I will give to you, and I will give the Land to your seed after you."

The promise narrows further from the descendants of Avraham and Yitzhaq to Yaaqov. This is part of the arising of verse 1, and here YHWH confirms to him that he is indeed the firstborn, the inheritor of what He had promised to his father. Yaaqov had never been sure if he deserved this or if he had only stolen it, so YHWH lets him know that He had done the right thing. Now not even Edom (ancestor of many of today's Arabs, through intermarriage with Yishmael's seed) has any claim to this Land. To acknowledge this is the only solution for the Middle East peace crisis. Today we have arrived back at this inner stirring in regard to our Land, but first, like Yaaqov, we must die to all that is foreign. The indiviual “grains of sand” who make up the Land must be collected back out, and we must attain the spiritual plane of being Israel, a people united under YHWH's control.

13. Then Elohim ascended from him at the place where He had spoken with him,

14. and Yaaqov set up a memorial pillar (one made of stone) in the place where He had spoken with him, and he poured a drink offering on top of it, and anointed it with oil.

Messiah is called an anointed stone, and Yaaqov "set him up": in a very real sense, his obedience made it possible for him to be born.

15. And Yaaqov called the place where Elohim had spoken with him "Beyth-El".

He had already realized that this is what it was on his outgoing journey to Paddan-Aram. (28:17-19) Now he reconfirmed it as such, just as Yitzhaq had renamed his father's wells by their same names after they had been filled and dug again.

16. Now they pulled up from Beyth-El, and while there was still a considerable stretch of land to go before they came to Efrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had great difficulty in the delivery of her baby.

Considerable stretch: a kibrah, an uncertain measurement, but the LXX takes it as a "horse-run", i.e, not more than 10 miles, the distance a horse could normally run at one time. The root word of "stretch" means to bind or weave together. Efrath means "fruitfulness". So an alternate reading is, there was already a witness of the binding together of the Land for fruitfulness. This foreshadows the harvest at which Boaz redeemed Ruth at this same site (Ruth 4:11), and the Messiah's birth in Beyth-Lechem, Efrath (Micha 5:2). This is one way in which “before she went into labor, she gave birth” (Yeshayahu 66:7), for Messiah came long before the time called the Birthpangs of the Messiah, which we are only now entering. It is only a few miles south of Jerusalem, adding credibility to the idea that this Beyth-El was the site of the Temple Mount. After we study the Temple to learn about dying to self, there is still a measure (a setting in place of the gifts by which YHWH makes the whole congregation fruitful through each of us) before we actually arrive there. The time for her fruitfulness was near, but her descendants would not become "doubly fruitful" until the "son who adds" (Yoseyf) had a son named "doubly fruitful" (Efrayim). Great difficulty: probably precipitated by their having to pick up stakes and leave Sh'khem so quickly. Perhaps he blamed Shim'on and Levi for her death, as he apparently never forgave their behavior there.

17. And it came to pass that, when her labor became most difficult, the midwife told her, "Don't be afraid, because this child is also a son for you!"

Don't be afraid: i.e., "Rest assured in the fact that your desire that Elohim "add another" is being fulfilled." We, too, must not be afraid to bring the House of Israel out of the church, its temporary place of nurturing, so that it can become YHWH’s son in a fuller way. It was a breach birth, because she could tell that he was male before he was fully born. Thus he was born feet first, which is probably why she died--a symbol of what is happening to the paganized church as her children come out of her to walk in the biblical festivals, which is what "feet" symbolize (as in the three "pilgrim festivals", literally called "feet" in Ex. 23:14). His antetype Y'shua also prophesied (Rev. 2-3) that those who did not overcome and come out from under the influence of the harlot or kept tolerating compromise would have their menorah removed from its place.

18. But what happened was that as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she named him Ben-Oni, but his father called him Binyamin instead.

She also died because Yaaqov prophesied it due to her association with idolatry; the same must happen to the parts of the church that remain in idolatry. Yet we do see Rachel show up again at the time of Y'shua's birth. (Mat. 2:18) This ties in with YHWH's statement that the Northern Kingdom was no longer His wife, yet she would become so again after a long delay. (Hos. 2-3) Ben-Oni: Son of my agony/misfortune/trouble/sorrow. Binyamin: Son of the right hand, i.e., his favorite wife Rachel, or, Son of days (i.e., my old age). Y’shua is also called a man of sorrows, YHWH’s right, and the one whom the Ancient of Days gave a throne at His right hand. The Birthpangs of the Messiah are also a time of great trouble and upheaval, in which the old order dies, but they brig the Messiah to prominence and His Kingdom to actuality on the physical earth. Part of the tribe of Binyamin stayed with Yehudah, and part did not. The Temple Mount and more of Yerushalayim actually belong to his tribal land. (1 Shmuel 10:2)

19. And Rachel died and was buried on the way to Efrath, that is, Beyth-Lechem.

By tradition she was only 36 years old. The small nation of Israel was indeed on its way to fruitfulness, which is embodied in two ways by Beyth-Lechem. David, Israel's first truly-rightful king (that is, from the tribe of Yehudah, who was promised the throne) as well as her Messiah were both born there. Beyth-Lechem means "house of bread" (or, more anciently, simply "food"--i.e., the staple), and indeed, the Messiah called himself the "bread of life".

20. And Yaaqov set up a monument over her grave; that is the marker of Rachel's grave to this day.

And thus it remains, now with a more elaborate mausoleum near the entrance to Beyth-Lechem, and it is one of the most hotly-disputed sites in the war with the Palestinians..

21. Then Israel pulled up stakes and pitched his tent [far] beyond the Tower of the Flocks.

When Yaaqov buried what he cherished most from Lavan's house, after the birth pangs of the last of his children, his community is able to act as Israel. The Mishnah says this tower was the boundary of a perimeter around Yerushalayim within which all lambs to be slain for the daily Temple sacrifice (by the priests) had to be born--a major reeason it is also mentioned in Micha 4:8 in conjunction with the more precise location of "the first dominion". This could refer to the birth of David, the first king in the line promised to Yehudah (and the first king at all came from Binyamin, who was just born here, and who was Rachel's descendant); it could also refer to its being the birthplace of Messiah (the king) at his first coming. The Aramaic targum identifies it as the place where Messiah would reveal Himself at the end of days. That Yaaqov stretched his tent "beyond it" may allude to the directive given to Messiah in Yeshayahu/Isaiah 54:2, 3. It also means going beyond the fact of Messiah’s coming to the purpose for which He came—that we could be a united Israel and a real physical kingdom again.

22. But this is what happened while Israel was living in that region: Reuven went and had relations with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard [about] it.

As he heard about Dinah's rape before any of his sons came home, it seems he "heard" because he was a prophet. This cost Reuven his birthright. (49:3,4) A man again takes his father’s wife in 1 Corinthians.

23. Thus the sons of Yaaqov were twelve; the sons of Leah were:
Reuven, Yaaqov's firstborn;
then Shim'on and Levi,
Yehudah, Issachar, and Zevulun;

24. The sons of Rachel: Yoseyf and Binyamin;

25. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant: Dan and Nafthali;

26. The sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant: Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Yaaqov, who were born to him in Paddan-Aram.

Binyamin was not born in Paddan-Aram, but was probably conceived there.

27. Then Yaaqov came to Yitzhaq his father at Mamre (Kiryath-Arba, which is Hevron), where Avraham and Yitzhaq had lived.

28. And the days of Yitzhaq were 180 years,

29. then Yitzhaq expired and died, and was gathered to his people, old and having fulfilled his days. And his sons Esau and Yaaqov buried him.


CHAPTER 36

1. Now these are the genealogies of Esau (who is [also called] Edom).

We have seen that as twins, Esau depicts the evil inclination, and Yaaqov the inclination to do right. To the Rabbis, Edom is both the literal and symbolic father of Rome (v. 43). Notice in how many ways this son of Yitzhaq who marries pagan wives parallels the church. Most of us entered it for selfish reasons—so we would not perish. While this is legitimate at first, it is inadequate in the long run. Yet as Peter warned, the church has twisted Paul’s teachings to appear lawless (anti-Torah), so that those in it could continue to serve self. King Herod was half-Idumean (Edomite) and half-Jewish, and remained a paranoid fence-sitter all his life. As the quintessential politician, always one step ahead of changes in Roman powers through bribery, He greatly embellished YHWH’s Temple, but built pagan temples for his other constituency, even having pigs sacrificed for their sakes. But as we saw on the deeper-level reading of 33:16-17, Esau must repent in order for Yaaqov to journey on. I.e., those in the church who truly belong to YHWH must change their course in order for Israel (His greater wish, a unified people among whom He can make His home) to be brought to maturity.

2. Esau took his wives from the daughters of Kanaan—Adah, the daughter of Eylon the Chittite; Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Tziv'on the Chivvite;

Adah means "ornament"; Eylon, "mighty oak". Whereas Yaaqov got rid of pagan ornaments under a mighty oak, Esau joined himself to them. Oholibamah means “my tent is a cultic platform”; i.e., she symbolizes pagan worship and knowledge. No wonder Yitzhaq and Rivqah recognized that it would be the end of the line for their family if Yaaqov also married such women, and sent him to other Semitic women, also daughteyrs of Ever, and Hebrews in that sense. (Hebrew, or Ivrit, stems from the name Ever.) Anah ("answer/poor") was a man; Rashi explains that Tziv'on adulterously cohabited with his daughter-in-law, and so was the actual father, while Anah was her assumed/legal father. Tziv'on: "colored" or "dyed".

3. he also married Bas'math the daughter of Ishmael (the sister of Nevayoth).

Bas'math: "Spicy fragrance". See 26:34; 28:8.

4. And Adah bore Elifaz to Esau, and Bas'math bore Re'u-El [Raguel].

Elifaz: "My Elohim is refined gold"—another indication that Esau’s family represents the church, which became the richest organization on earth through its political intrigues and compromises; Re'u-El: "friend of Elohim".

5. And Oholibamah bore Ye'ush, Ya'alam, and Qorach: these were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Kanaan.

Ye'ush: or Ye'ish, "assembler"; Ya'alam: "concealed"; Qorach: "bald".

6. Then Esau took his wives, his sons and daughters, and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and beasts of burden, and all the property which he had acquired in the land of Kanaan, and moved from his brother Yaaqov's presence into another land—

Members: literally, "souls". Moved: foreshadowing what will happen to any Edomites who survive the slaughter described in Ovadyah 18. This also pictures the church after the era of persecution, when in order to become the unifying factor of the Roman Empire, cut all its ties to Yaaqov (its Hebraic roots), even forbidding the practice of holy days YHWH had commanded.

7. for their possessions had become too abundant for them to dwell together, and the land of their sojournings could not support them because of all the livestock they had.

This is a reiteration of what happened with Avraham and Lot. Sojournings: Esau did not consider the Land his own, but even Yaaqov was still only living there; it was really not his own in the fullest sense until his descendants dispossessed it; the sins of the Emorites were not yet complete. (15:16) The more we recognize that we are Israel, the less common ground we find with the “brother” entity we now realize is Edom.

8. Then Esau settled in the mountain range of Seir (Esau who is Edom, that is).

Esau who is Edom: reiterated so that there is no doubt who Edom is, because this indicates that nation’s character.

9. And these were the genealogies of Esau, the father of the people of Edom on Mount Seir:

10. The names of Esau's sons were:
Elifaz the son of Adah, [one] wife of Esau,
[and] Re'u-El the son of Bas'math, [another] wife of Esau;


11. And the sons of Elifaz [Iyov/Job 2:11] were:
Theyman [southward, on the right side, the Hebrew name for Yemen],
Omar [eloquent speaker],
Tzefo [spy or watchtower],
Ga'tham [a burnt valley], and
Qenaz [hunter].

12. and Thimna was a concubine to Elifaz, son of Esau, and she bore to him Amaleq; these were the descendants of Esau's wife Adah.

Descendants: grandsons. Though Thimna ["restrained"] was from a royal family (v. 22), she preferred to become even a concubine to a descendant of Avraham. Yet her mother was a Chorite, whose land Edom had seized. Amaleq ["valley-dweller"] was to become Israel's--and Elohim's--arch-enemy; Ex. 17:16. Again, the theme plays out that his mother is not a wife in the full sense of the word, but more of a slave-woman. True to this scenario, Amaleq attacked the weak, sickly, and slack. Failure to destroy this nation spelled the demise of King Sha’ul’s reign. It survived to produce Haman. As a strong parallel, Hitler’s birthplace was in the Roman Church. We need to look for the final attack of Amaleq to come not so much from a government as from the church.

13. And the sons of Re'u-El were:
Nahath [quiet rest],
Zerach [rising],
Shammah [astonishment, horror], and
Mizzah [fainting from fear].

These were the descendants of Esau's wife Bas'math.

14. And these were the descendants of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Tziv'on—Esau's wife: she bore
Ye'ush,
Ya'lam, and
Qorach.

15. These were the chiefs of the descendants of Esau:

Chiefs: chieftains, patriarchs, uncrowned heads among them.

Of the sons of Elifaz, Esau's firstborn:
Chief Theyman,
Chief Omar,
Chief Kenaz,
16. Chief Qorach,
Chief Ga'tam, and
Chief Amaleq.

These were the chiefs of Elifaz in the land of Edom; these were the descendants of Esau's wife Adah.

17. And these were the sons of Re'u-El, Esau's son:
Chief Nahath,
Chief Zerah,
Chief Shammah, and
Chief Mizzah.

These were the chiefs of Re'u-El in the land of Edom; these were the descendants of Bas'math, Esau's wife.

18. And the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah:
Chief Ye'ush,
Chief Yalam, and
Chief Qorach.

These were the chiefs of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah—Esau's wife.

19. These were the descendants of Esau (who is Edom), and these were their chiefs.

“Esau, who is Edom" is repeated three times. It is important to know whom we are up against.

20. These [next] were the sons of Seir the Chorite, who lived in the same land:
Lotan [covering],
Shoval [flowing (skirt)],
Tziv'on [dyed with color],
Anah [response],
21. Dishon [thresher],
Etzer [stored-up treasure], and
Diyshan [antelope or mountain goat];
these were the chiefs of the Chorites—the sons of Seir—in the land of Edom.

Chorite: from Mt. Chor, near Petra. Literally a "cave dweller". Same
land: Edom, where Esau also settled.

22. And the sons of Lotan were:
Chori [my cave] and
Heymam [exterminating, confusion],
and Lotan's sister was Thimna.

23. And these were Shoval's sons:
Alwan [tall],
Manachath [rest],
Eyval [bare stone mountain],
Sh'fo [bold or wind-swept], and
Ownam [strong, vigorous].

24. And these were the sons of Tziv'on: Ayah and Anah. (He is the Anah who found the hot springs in the desert while he was feeding the donkeys for his father Tziv'on.)

Found the hot springs...donkeys: or, who discovered how to breed mules.

25. And these were the sons of Anah:

Dishon,
and Oholibamah was the daughter of Anah. [Be'eri, 26:34]

26. And these were the sons of Dishon:
Chemdan [desire, delight],
Eshban [fire of discernment],
Yithran [having an advantage] and
Kh'ran [lyre].

27. These were the sons of Etzer:

Bilhan [their troubling],
Zaavan [quaking from terror], and
Aqan [sharp-sighted].

28. These were the sons of Diyshan:
Uwtz [wooded or counselor] and
Aran [overcome with joy].

29. These were the chiefs of the Chorites:
Chief Lotan,
Chief Shoval,
Chief Tziv'on,
Chief Anah,
30. Chief Dishon,
Chief Etzer, and
Chief Diyshan.

These were the chieftains of the Chorites, chief by chief, in the land of Seir.

31. And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before there was any king reigning over the children of Israel:

32. Bela the son of Be'or reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhavah.

Bela means "devouring". The prophet Bilaam, who knew for whom he worked, but used his influence against Israel, was also a son of Be'or. Dinhavah means "Give judgment!"

33. When Bela died, Yovav the son of Zerah from Botzrah reigned in his place.

Botzrah, an Edomite city southeast of the Dead Sea, will figure prominently in the Messiah's return with power and glory: Yeshayahu/Isaiah 34:6; 63:1; Yirmiyahu/Jeremiah 48:24; 49:13; Amos 1:12.

34. When Yovav died, Chusham from the land of the Theymanites reigned in his place.

Yovav: could possibly be translated "Father Iyov (Job)". Chusham means "haste".

35. When Chusham died, Hadad the son of B'dad, who struck down Midyan in the fields of Moav, reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Aviyth.

Hadad means "mighty"; B'dad, "solitary" or "isolated". Aviyth means "distorted ruins".

36. When Hadad died, Samlah from Masreqah reigned in his place.

Samlah means "outer garment"; Masreqah, "vineyard of noble vines".

37. When Samlah died, Sha'ul from Rechovoth on the [Euphrates] River reigned in his place.

So there was a King Sha'ul before Israel's. His name means "asked for". Rechovoth means "wide open spaces".

38. When Sha'ul died, Ba'al-Chanan the son of Akhbor reigned in his place.

Ba'al-Chanan: "Ba'al (the lord) showed favor"; this is the first mention of the Ba’als in Scripture. Akhbor: "mouse".

39. When Ba'al-Chanan the son of Akhbor died, Hadar reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Pa'u; his wife's name was Mehetavel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mey-Zahav

Pa'u means "crying out"; Mehetavel: "pleasing to El"; Matred: "pushing forward" or "chasing"; Mey-Zahav: waters of gold, or "the goldsmith".

40. So these are the names of the chiefs of those who came from Esau, according to their families and regions, by name:

Chief Thimna [restrained],
Chief Alvah [injustice],
Chief Yetheth [nail],
41. Chief Oholibamah [my tent is a cultic platform],
Chief Elah [an oak],
Chief Piynon [darkness],
42. Chief Q'naz [hunter],
Chief Teyman [south],
Chief Mivtzar [fortified],
43. Chief Magdi-El [El is my excellence], and
Chief Iyram [urbane].

These were the chiefs of Edom (that is Esau, the father of the Edomites), according to their settlements, in the land of their possession.

This fourth time, Esau is called the father (the builder of the house) of the Edomites. Like these very opposite twins, two “men” are being built, one a Body of whom Messiah is the head, and another pseudo-unified entity of whom Babylon is the head. The Messiah spoke of two houses being built, one on a solid foundation and th eother on mere sand. Magdi-El is the traditional ancestor of the Romans, leaving no doubt as to which house Esau was building.

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