THE BEGINNING:
B'REYSHITH (Genesis) Part 1 (1-33)
     
Introduction

Holy Land Photo Album

Maps of Israel

Genesis

Genesis Part 2

Exodus

Exodus Part 2

Leviticus

Appointments with YAHWEH

A Place for YAHWEH's Name

  
The Creation of the World
CHAPTER 1

1. Originally, Elohim brought the heavens and earth into existence [out of nothing].

2. But the earth became a ruin and an empty desolation, with darkness over the surface of the scene of disaster; and a mighty wind was fluttering intensely over the surface of the waters.

Yeshayahu 45:18 tells us that Yahweh did NOT create the earth a ruin, so we know something changed. What probably happened between verses 1 and 2 is the rebellion and judgment of Satan as described in Yeshayahu 14:12-17.

3. Then Elohim said, "Let there be light", and light came into existence.

4. And Elohim noticed that the light was good, so Elohim made a distinction between the light and the darkness.

Elohim began making distinctions, so that some things could be holy; if there is nothing to be set apart from, nothing can be special.

5. And Elohim called the light "day", and the darkness He called "night". And the evening and the morning [together] made one day.

When we think like a Hebrew, the day begins at sundown, with the evening first.

* * *

6. Then Elohim said, "Let there come to be a space between the waters; let it divide the waters above [it] from the waters below [it]."

7. And Elohim organized this expanse and divided the waters that were under it from the waters that were above it, and so it came to pass.

This space seems to have been something that is not there in the same form today. It was a place, perhaps like an icy window above the atmosphere, where extra water was held in reserve for a special event that Elohim needed it for. It would also produce a stable, "hothouse" climate, even-tempered throughout the world, which made possible the people in the next few chapters to live much longer than people do today.

8. And Elohim called the expanse "Heavens", and there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

* * *

9. Then Elohim said, "Let the waters from under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let dry land appear." And that is what came to be.

10. And Elohim called the dry land "Earth", and the gathering of waters He called "the Sea", and Elohim saw that it was right.

11. Then Elohim said, "Let the Earth bring forth tender sprouts, green plants that yield seed, and fruit trees that produce fruit like themselves (whichever seed is in them) on the earth. And so it was.

12. And the earth bore tender sprouts, the herb yielding seed according to its own kind, and the tree that produces its fruit which has its own seed in it, according to its species. And Elohim saw that it was right.

13. And the evening and the morning became a third day.


14. Then Elohim said, "Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.

Signs: distinguishing marks (see 15:5; Psalm 19:1; Rev. 12:1). The moon is included. The Sabbath is also called a "sign" (Ex. 31:13). The word "seasons" here actually means "appointments" in Hebrew. (Lev. 23:2) The heavenly bodies were given not as things to be worshipped, but as reminders to keep YAHWEH's appointments. (See "Appointments with YAHWEH" page)

15. "And let them come to be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to illuminate the earth", and this is exactly what happened.

16. Moreover, Elohim appointed the two great luminaries, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and also the stars.

17. And Elohim set them in the space of the skies to give light on the earth,

18. to regulate the day and night, and to make a distinction between the light and the darkness; and Elohim saw that it was right.

19. And the evening and the morning became the fourth day.

* * *

20. And Elohim said, "Let the waters teem with an abundance of lively animals, and let birds fly over the face of the expanse of the heavens.

21. Elohim also created the great reptiles, and every amphibian with which the waters swarmed, each according to its category, and every kind of winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was right.

22. And Elohim blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the sea, and let the birds multiply on the earth."

23. And there were evening and morning, the fifth day.

* * *

24. And Elohim said, "Let the earth bring forth living animals that are suitable for it: four-legged creatures, creeping things, and the earth's living things from it, each [making more of] its own kind. And so it happened.

25. And Elohim fashioned from the earth its living things, and likewise the beasts, as well as everything that moves on the ground, each reproducing true to its own kind. And Elohim saw that it was right.

26. And Elohim said, "Let's make Mankind in as a picture of Us, similar to Us, and let them lead the fish of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts, and all the earth, and all the living things that crawl upon the earth."

Us: Elohim is a plural word with singular verbs. Yahweh's word, which was to be embodied as a man later in time (Yochanan 1:14), is not entirely separable from "the" Elohim, who has no beginning or end. Philo called Him the "Second Yahweh", yet in another way there is only one Yahweh. The Messiah was in a lower position than His Father, whom no one could ever see and survive. He is called Yahweh's Branch or His Arm, and makes known to us as much about the Father as our weak bodies can tolerate. (Yochanan 1:18) So Y'shua can indeed say "He who has seen me has seen the Father" yet still be another person sent by the Father, who worships the Father as his Elohim and promises to one day raise us to his level. (1 Yochanan 3:2)

27. So Elohim created Man in His own image. In the image of Elohim He created him; He created them male and female.

28. And Elohim blessed them, and told them, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and bring it into subjection to yourselves, and rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and over all living things that
crawl on the earth."

29. And Elohim said, "Here, I have given you every seed-bearing herb on the face of the earth, and every tree on which there is seed-bearing fruit; this will be your food.

At first, people were not permitted to eat meat, and it appears we will return to such a condition in the "time of the restitution of all things" (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 11:1-9).

30. "Also, to every earthly creature, and to every bird of the heavens, and to every creeping thing in which there is a living soul, [I have given] every green plant for consuming." And so it was.

31. And Elohim looked at everything He had made, and, sure enough, it was just right. And evening and morning became a sixth day.

It was just right due to the creation of Adam.



Adam and Chavvah, the First People

CHAPTER 2

1. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, along with everything that issues from them.

2. On the seventh day, Elohim completed the work that He had been constructing: He stopped His work on the seventh day.

The Sabbath is a very important time to stop learning and teach. That way we are serving others, which is allowable on this day. “Work" here can also be translated "message", because Yahweh’s creation is our teacher. If we take this break, we are refreshed, and are able to work more fruitfully when we begin working again.

3. And Elohim gave the seventh day His blessing and set it apart from the others, since on this day He had rested from the work involved in creating and appointing everything.

The Sabbath was established as a holy day from the very beginning of the world.

[YEAR 1 / 4000 BC]

4. This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the Day when Yahweh Elohim set them in readiness,

5. and there was not yet any shrub of the field upon the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprung up, for YAHWEH Elohim had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the soil.

6. But a mist ascended from the earth and watered all the face of the ground.

7. And YAHWEH Elohim formed the man [adam] from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.

This “living soul” is higher than the kind of appetites that drive the other creatures. It is sometimes called the "second soul", now said to be lent to us only on the Sabbath day so we can communicate more easily with Yahweh. When the Messiah brings His Kingdom, it may be restored to us in a more complete way.

8. And YAHWEH Elohim planted a garden in Eden from the east, and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

Eden means delight.

9. And YAHWEH Elohim made trees spring up from the ground--every kind that is beautiful and pleasant to eat. The Tree of Life was in the middle of the garden, and so was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

10. And a river went out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it was divided and became four heads.

Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 44 tells us that a river will one day again flow from the Messiah's throne in Jerusalem and divide into two flows, eastward and westward.

11. The name of the first was Pishon ["one that spreads out "]. (It is the one that makes a circle all the way around the land of Havilah, where there is gold,

12. and the gold of that land is good; there are also bdellium gum resin and onyx stones there.)

13. And the name of the second river is Gihon ["Gushing forth"]. (It is the one that surrounds the whole land of Kush).

14. And the name of the third is Hiddeqel ["rapid"] (it is the one going east of Assyria), and the fourth river is the Ferath ["Fruitfulness"].

The Hiddeqel is the Hebrew name for the Tigris. Ferath is the Hebrew name for Euphrates. The meanings of the names of the four rivers (increase, bursting forth, rapid, fruitfulness) all refer to the only command that had been given to mankind thus far—to be fruitful and multiply.

15. And YAHWEH Elohim took the man and put him into the garden of Eden, to cultivate it and care for it.

16. And YAHWEH Elohim gave the man orders, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree in the garden,

17. "but of the Tree of the [Experiential] Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you will certainly die."

Can you see how this command is similar to the command to stop working one day each week?

18. And YAHWEH Elohim said, "It is not right for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited for him."

19. And out of the ground YAHWEH Elohim fashioned every living being of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought each to the man, to see what he would call it.

20. And the man gave names to every animal and bird of the heavens, and every being that lives in the field, but for Adam, no helper suited to him could be found.

21. And YAHWEH Elohim caused a deep numbing to fall upon the man, and he fell asleep. And He took [out] one of his ribs [sides]. Then He closed up its place with flesh.

In Romans 11:8 Paul quotes another verse that says the same kind of "deep sleep" came over Israel so that the Messiah's "bride"could be formed.

22. Then YAHWEH Elohim built up the side that He had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to the man.

23. And the man said, "[This time] At last, this is now bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh! For this one, the name shall be 'Woman', because this one has been taken out of man!"

In Hebrew, bone can also mean "part of the same thing".

24. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cling closely to his wife, and the two of them shall be turned into one [unit of] flesh.

The image of Elohim was divided, and one person could no longer be a complete picture of Elohim unless he was joined together with another. In Luke 14:26 Y'shua the Messiah also tells us we may have to leave our parents and follow him so that together we can become his bride.

25. And both the man and his wife were naked, yet they did not feel ashamed.

They were innocent and still saw everything Yahweh gave them as wonderful. But this was about to change...


CHAPTER 3

1. Now the serpent was more crafty [subtle] than every [other] living creature of the field which YAHWEH Elohim had made. And he said to the woman, "Is it really true that Elohim has said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of
the garden'?"

The serpent was not yet the same as a snake, but a dazzlingly impressive creature at that time (See Yehezqel/Ezekiel 28, and compare the beautiful covering it once had with the New Yerushalayim, which is called Yahweh's bride. (Revelation 21) The story of Queens Vashti and Hadassah (Esther) is another picture of how one bride of the King was replaced by another when she rebelled. The woman here does not seem surprised that the serpent speaks, so at that time there may have been nothing unusual about talking animals. But this one seems to have been possessed by Satan (the Adversary), the former chief angel who had become Elohim's enemy and was now jealous of humanity's being given the rulership of earth, which it had once possessed. It exaggerated the rule that Yahweh had given.

2. And the woman told the serpent, "We may eat from the trees of the garden,

3. "but from the tree which is in the center of the garden, Elohim has said, "You shall not eat from it, nor shall you reach out to touch it, or else you'll die."

She added a "fence" to what Elohim said, making it seem that our loving Father was more strict than He really was, and therefore making us forget all that He does let us do. Now, since she did not die when she touched the fruit, she may have thought there would be no harm in eating it either. The tabernacle would later be a similar "off-limits" place in the center of the camp of Israel.

4. And the serpent said to the woman, "You won't really die as in 'death',

5. "because Elohim knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Elohim--understanding good and evil.

This was only a half-truth. While Elohim does understand evil better than anyone, He has never experienced it in the way Adam's race does now.

6. So since it seemed to the woman that the tree was good for food, that its appearance made her want it, and that the tree was very valuable since it could make her understand more, she took some of its fruit and ate it, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Satan took advantage of the part of the woman that could make her an understanding mother, but her husband knew better. He had been put in authority over her to protect her where she was weak, so he was more guilty. (1 Timothy 2:14)

7. And the eyes of both of them were indeed opened, but [only in such a way that] they realized that they were naked. And they sewed together leaves from a fig tree, and made for themselves loin coverings.

Now they know they were missing something. At this point, they lost some aspects of being the picture of Elohim, so there may have been a noticeable change in their appearance, which was once mostly light. Satan's rule of the earth had been legally removed from him and given to Adam, but now that Adam had dropped it, it became Satan's again, because the devil is called the “prince of this world”. But the Kingdom of Elohim could not be given to Satan; it was withdrawn to heaven until another innocent Man could win it back. (See 3:15.)

8. And they heard the sound of YAHWEH Elohim walking around in the garden in the breezy part of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the face of YAHWEH Elohim among the trees of the garden.

9. And YAHWEH Elohim called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"

10. And he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself."

11. And He said, "Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree I gave you orders about so that you wouldn't eat it?"

12. And the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me--she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

13. So YAHWEH Elohim said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent lured me, and I ate."

14. So YAHWEH Elohim said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any beast, and more than any animal of the field. You will go around on your belly, and eat dust all the days of your life.

Before this, the serpent probably had wings, since the Adversary is said to have formerly been "the anointed kheruv that covers" (Yehezqel/ Ezekiel. 28:14). Chinese images of dragons also sometimes appear with an apple in hand!

15. "And I will make you the woman's enemy, and your descendants the enemy of her Descendant: He will bruise your head, though you shall bruise His heel."

When He was being crucified, the Messiah’s heel would literally have been worn away as he pushed himself up to breathe. The seed normally comes from the man, but Messiah did not have the seed of man in him. Only by being the "seed of woman" apart from a man (being born from a virgin) could the Messiah be truly the Second Adam, making it possible for the complete picture of Elohim to be restored to humanity after He successfully passed the same tests Adam failed. When Satan killed this innocent Man, he lost his legal right to rule the earth, for he had become a murderer by killing the Messiah, whom he had no right to kill. So the legal ownership of the earth could be given back to a Man.

16. To the woman He said, "I will greatly increase your pain and your [frequency of] conception; in pain you will bear sons, and your husband shall be your desire, but he will have authority over you.

17. And He said to the man, "Because you have listened to your wife's voice and eaten from the tree that I told you not to eat from, the ground will be cursed because of you; you shall eat from it only through hard work all the days of your life.

18. "And it shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you, and you shall eat the herbs through [the hard work of] growing crops.

Elohim's mercy does shine through because He still provided food, but it would no longer come as easily or as happily as the life Adam had known in the garden.

19. "By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground--for out of it you have been taken, because you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Linen garments, which symbolize purity, do not produce sweat, and that is what will be given to holy people when they are raised from the dead. The intensity of the Messiah's sweat (Luk. 22:44) made the true bread available to us. (Yochanan 6:50ff)

20. And the man called his wife's name Chavvah, because she became the mother of all who are alive.

Chavvah is from the word "chai", meaning "life" or "alive".

21. And YAHWEH made garments of skin for the man and his wife, and thus He clothed them.

This may have been the skin of an animal that He slaughtered so its blood could take the place of their having to die. But what used to run through their veins was more like light, and their bodies held a glow that is now missing from us. Blood carries the soul in it (Leviticus 17:11), and is the corrupted form of this light which carried a picture of Elohim in a much more complete way. The words for "light" and "skin" sound the same in Hebrew ("or"), though they have a different spelling. So we their lack of "‘or" was covered up with "or", the kind of skin we now have.

22. Then YAHWEH Elohim said, "Look! the man has become like one of Us, able to know good and evil, therefore, so he doesn't stretch forth his hand and take from the Tree of Life also, and eat, and live forever—"

23. YAHWEH Elohim sent him out of the Garden of Eden as well, to work the ground out of which he was taken,

Before, Adam could have direct communication with YAHWEH, but Adam wanted to be able to be like Yahweh without having to go to Him for answers. So now the communication line was cut. Now only Yahweh's Word came to mankind, because His direct visible presence would destroy us.

24. and He forced the man out and stationed the kheruvim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword whirling around, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

Kheruvim are a class of angels that guard holy places (like the holiest part of the Temple, which is the way YAHWEH gave us to get back to the Tree of Life). They are more like “winged sphinxes” than the baby "cherubs" of European art, though they are also innocent like children. Yahweh was merciful in not allowing mankind's bodies to become immortal by eating of the Tree of Life while they were still in their fallen condition. He gave them hope of regaining their lost condition after they died physically. (Rev. 22:2 tells us that the restored Tree of Life will heal the nations.) The land has changed in the cataclysms that have occurred since, so the Hiddeqel and Ferath rivers are now several hundred miles further east, but the Gihon still originates just east of Jerusalem, the place Yahweh later chose to put His Temple. So Eden may have been right there. "Yerushalayim is a city joined together" (Psalm 122:3) which some say means it is "the place where heaven and earth meet". Revelation 21 speaks of a Heavenly Jerusalem, and Hebrews 9:8-24 tells us that the Temple on earth was a copy or shadow of the one above it. So at this very same location, Yahweh showed His greatest pictures of buying us back: the provision of a ram in place of Yitzhaq (22:8-14) and the Temple sacrifices (an exact replica of what is in heaven, Heb. 8:5). And He finally solved the sin problem once and for all on another "tree" (Y'shua's crucifixion stake) at the very site of Eden itself. He ordered that pictures of kheruvim should be woven into the veil guarding the way to the Holy of Holies, to strengthen this reminder of what the Temple was all about. The main gate to the Temple was visible from another garden east of the city, Gath Shemaney, where the real battle for the restoration of Adam was won (Markos 14:32-36), and angels also participated in that dramatic event. The eastern gate to Jerusalem is also now blocked off. (See picture above.) The Temple was usually entered from the south after a ritual washing, through long tunnels and across a wide courtyard. The main gate to Eden is closed off, but there is another way back to fellowship with Yahweh, although it also means taking the long way around. We need to turn away from our sins, be cleansed by Y'shua's blood, get rid of our selfishness, and learn the right patterns of life through the Torah.


CHAPTER 4

1. And the man knew his wife Chavvah, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Qayin, and said, "I have gotten a man with [the help of] YAHWEH!"

She thought he might already be the redeeming descendant promised in 3:15, but the right time was not to come for another 4,000 years.

2. And she kept going and gave birth his brother, Hevel. And Hevel became one who took care of sheep, and Qayin became one who dug and planted in the soil.

Qayin was a gardener like his father Adam; Hevel cared for lliving beings like his mother. There was another similar set of twins: Esau, the older one, whose occupation pleased his father but not Yahweh, and Yaaqov, a "man of tents" (one who learned all he could about the way of righteousness), who was favored by both his mother and Yahweh.

3. And in the course of time, it happened that Qayin brought a grain offering to YAHWEH from the fruit of the ground,

In the Temple, grain offerings were either not the main thing required, but an extra gift in addition to the blood, so they were the lowest of offerings. So Qayin's gift was like someone who washes his hands to come into a king's presence while the rest of his body is still filthy. It was from directly on the ground, which is precisely what was cursed.

4. And as for Hevel, he also brought an offering from the firstlings of his flocks—indeed, the finest of them. And YAHWEH had was satisfied with Hevel and his offering,

5. but He was not satisfied with Qayin or his offering. So Qayin became very angry, and turned his face downward.

Although Qayin was not a shepherd like Hevel, both had to shed blood (Heb. 9:22). Nothing originating from earth can substitute for the payment of the soul, which is given by Elohim, and contained in the blood (Leviticus
17:11). Downward: toward the ground that he served (v. 2). He took his eyes off the Giver and onto the gift--the heart of all idolatry.

6. So YAHWEH asked Qayin, "Why are you so furious, and why is your face downcast?

7. "If you do what I want, [isn't there] a higher position [for you]? But if you do not do what I want, sin is crouching at the door; its desire is to [overwhelm] you, but you can take control of it."

The door was the place on which the lamb's blood was later applied in order to keep the death angel from one's house (Exodus 12:7). Sin also crouches at the doorways to our lives: our eyes, ears, our mouths. We have to guard them very carefully, and we do that by knowing the Torah well.

8. But Qayin challenged Hevel his brother, and while they were in the field, Qayin rose up against his brother Hevel, and killed him.

9. Then YAHWEH said to Qayin, "Where is your brother Hevel?" And he said, "I don't know; am I my brother's keeper [as in, shepherd]?"

10. And He said, "Don't you realize what you have done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.

11. "And now you are cursed in a worse way than the ground which [at least] opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

The ground would no longer even respond to him (v. 12).

12. "When you till the soil, it will no longer yield to you the most it possibly can. You will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth.

13. And Qayin said to YAHWEH, "My punishment is more than I can bear. See here, You have evicted me from the Land, and I will be banished from Your very presence! On top of this I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth. And anyone who finds me will kill me, for sure!"

15. And YAHWEH said to him, "If anyone kills Qayin, he will be avenged sevenfold." And YAHWEH set a mark on Qayin, so that anyone who found him should not kill him.

A mark on the forehead is seen as a special seal of protection in Song of Songs 8:6; Yochanan/John 6:27; 2 Tim. 2:19; Eph. 4:13; Rev. 7:3.

16. And Qayin went out from the presence of YAHWEH, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Nod means exile or wandering.

17. And Qayin knew his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Chanoch. And he built a city, and he called the city by the same name as his son, Chanoch.

18. And Irad was born to Chanoch, and Irad fathered Mechuya'el ["smitten of Elohim"], and Mechuya'el fathered Methusha'el ["one of the few men associated with Elohim"], and Methusha'el fathered Lamech ["Despairing"].

19. And Lamech took two wives for himself: the name of the first was Adah ["Ornament"], and the name of the second was Tsillah ["Shade"].

20. And Adah gave birth to Yaval ["Conduct", "Lead along"]; he was the father of those who live in tents and possess livestock.

21. And his brother's name was Yuval; he was the father of all of those who play the harp and the pipe.

22. And Tsillah also gave birth to Thuval-Qayin, the hammerer of every engraving tool of bronze and iron.

The comparative strength of the earliest human beings would make them seem like gods to descendants who were becoming weaker and weaker because of sin. Thuval-Qayin was probably the real person behind the legend of Vulcan, the god of fire and metal-forge.

23. And Lamech said to his wives Adah and Tsillah, "Hear my voice, you wives of Lamech! Listen to my words—for I have killed a man for wounding me, and a young lad for hurting me,

24. "for Qayin is avenged sevenfold, but Lamech seventy-sevenfold!"

25. And Adam knew his wife again, and she gave birth to a son, and she called his name Sheth , “because Elohim has appointed to me another seed in place of Hevel" (since Qayin had killed him).

Sheth means granted or appointed. A replacement is now granted for the one that was killed. Paul also often compares Y'shua to Adam, since he took the place of the one who fell and thus "died" to any right he had to rule the earth. Y'shua is called "the second man" and the "last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45-47).


[Year 235 / 3765 BC]

26. And a son was also born to Sheth, and he called his name Enosh. Then was it [that people] began to call on the name of YAHWEH.




(Still being edited;
scroll down for more)
The Tower of Bavel
Noach and the Flood
The Beginning of the Nations
The Beginning of a Special Nation
Avraham and His Nephew
A Son for Avraham
S'dom and Ghamorah
The Promise Comes True
Yahweh Asks Something Difficult
A Wife for Yitzhaq
Two Very Different Twins
25:19. Now this is the history [tol'doth] of Yitzhaq the son of Avraham:

Avraham became the father of Yitzhaq,

20. And when Yitzhaq was 40 years old he took Rivqah, the daughter of B'thuel the Aramaean from Paddan-Aram, the sister of Lavan the Aramaean, to be his wife.

21. And Yitzhaq prayed to Yahweh for his wife, because she could not have children. And Yahweh accepted his prayer, and his wife Rivqah became pregnant.

They had been married for nearly twenty years. Yitzhaq's mother also could not have children until Yahweh directly made it possible, proving that these were children that He really wanted to be born. Although Yahweh is our "Abba" ("Daddy"), still He is also the King of the Universe, and deserved the highest respect. Yitzhaq did not just come and say, "Oh, by the way, I need something from you!" While Yahweh invites us to "draw near with boldness" (Heb. 4:16), there are proper ways and attitudes by which we need to approach Him, and we can learn these from the Temple ceremonies and in the story of the scepter being extended to Queen Hadassah (Esther).

22. But the sons struggled against each other within her. And she said, "If this is the right thing, why is it happening to me this way?" So she went to ask Yahweh.

23. And Yahweh told her, "Two nations are in your womb; indeed, two peoples will be separated from within your body. And one people will be stronger than the other, and the older one will serve the younger one."

The one who was older would have the advantage in other nations, but not necessarily in Israel; Yahweh decides which one is worthy to be the leader.

24. When her days [of readiness] to give birth were fully accomplished, sure enough, twins were in her womb!

25. And the first came out, reddish all over as if he had a rumpled fur coat, so they named him Esau

His name is similar to the word for "shaggy"; it may also mean "his handling" or "his production".

26. And afterward, his brother came out, and his hand was holding onto the heel of his brother Esau, so he was named Yaaqov. And Yitzhaq was 60 years old when she gave birth to them.

Yaaqov means "He will take by the heel", or one who takes another's place by trickery. But the fact that he was a "heel-holder" also relates to the prophecy in 3:15 that the Messiah's heel would be bruised. By continuing the Messiah's ancestral line, he displaced haSatan, the one who stood in the way of the redemption of mankind. If Yitzhaq was 60 years old, his twin sons were 15 years old when Avraham died.

27. When the boys grew up, Esau became a man who knew how to hunt--a man of the field. But Yaaqov was a wholesome man, living in tents.

Esau brought a type of security to the family. Yet to become so skillful, he had to concentrate on "earning" rather than "learning"--which when taken too far pits YAHWEH against Mammon (wealth). "Dwelling in tents" is often an idiom for one who is a student of YAHWEH's instruction. (9:27; Num. 24:5) There is a tradition that Noach's son Shem started a school, and Yaaqov was studying in it. Since Shem lived until Yaaqov was 35 years old, this tradition could be true.

28. Now Yitzhaq preferred Esau, because [a taste for] game was in his mouth, but Rivqah prefers Yaaqov.

29. Once Yaaqov was boiling some food, and Esau came in from the field, and he felt like he would faint.

30. So Esau said to Yaaqov, "Please let me have a gulp of the red--this red stuff--because I'm about to collapse from hunger!" On account of this his name is called Edom ["red"].

31. But Yaaqov said, "Sell me your birthright as of today!"

A birthright is the firstborn's right to the highest position in the family and a double portion of the inheritence from his father.

32. And Esau said, "Look here, I'm going to starve to death; what good is a birthright to me?"

33. But Yaaqov said, "Swear to me today." So he swore to him, selling his birthright to Yaaqov.

34. Now Yaaqov had given Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate it and drank it, then got up and left. Thus Esau did not care about his birthright.

Yaaqov gave Esau bread first so he would not be making his decision while he was hungry and could not think clearly. Bread is a symbol of community, but after eating this bread, he was so focused on his physical needs that he was still hungry. The birthright meant less to him than natural things. In the same way, many people reject Yahweh's other gifts, like the Torah, His festivals, and the Sabbath, and only pray for the things they want.



CHAPTER 26

1. Now there was a famine in the land (besides the earlier famine which happened in the days of Avraham). So Yitzhaq went to Avimelekh, king of the Filistines, at Gerar.

The Filistines were a sea people from the Greek islands who settled on the coast of Kanaan after being defeated by the Egyptians in a sea battle.

2. But YAHWEH appeared to him and said, "Do not go down into Egypt; stay in the Land which I will show you.

3. "Stay in this Land, and I will be with you and bless you, because I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants. And I will carry out My oath, which I promised to your father Avraham.

Yitzhaq is expressly commanded to never leave the Land of Israel.

4. "And I will increase your descendants until they are like the stars of the sky, and I will give your descendants all these lands. And the nations of the earth shall bless themselves through your Seed,

Your seed: Paul points out that although "seed" can mean all of his many descendants, it only speaks of one seed, so in a special way this can also be talking about the Messiah in particular.

5. "because Avraham listened to my voice and observed the obligation I gave him: My commands, My statutes, and My instructions."

Yahweh's promise of a special agreement now narrows down to only Yitzhaq's descendants. Yahweh sometimes treats children well because their parents have obeyed Him, but Yitzhaq also had to obey in order for the promise to come true.

6. So Yitzhaq settled in Gerar,

7. and the men of the place asked about his wife. But he said, "She is my sister", because he was afraid to say, "My wife", "in case the men of the place kill me because of Rivqah" (because she was good-looking).

8. But after he had been there for many days, Avimelekh, king of the Filistines, happened to be looking out the window--and, lo and behold, he saw Yitzhaq playing with his wife.

Playing with his wife: in a special way he would not play with his sister. Avimelekh means "my father is a king". He probably was the son or grandson of the king Avraham had visited, because he had the same name.

9. So Avimelekh called Yitzhaq and said, "She is your wife after all! So how come you told me she was your sister?" And Yitzhaq told him, "It was because I said to myself, 'Otherwise I might die on her account.'"

Since Rivqah had moved into Sarah's tent, she now was a picture of the Torah like Sarah had been. Sometimes we might be afraid to let people that we are committed to the Torah and not just interested in it. But if we do that, people might not treat it with as much respect.

10. And Avimelekh said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people could easily have lain with her, and you would have brought guilt on us!"

11. So Avimelekh gave orders to all the people, saying, "Anyone who touches this woman will die a thousand deaths!"

12. Moreover, Yitzhaq planted crops in that land, and that year his crop came to be a hundred times as much as he had plabnted, and YAHWEH blessed him.

13. And the man grew stronger, and continued to become richer and richer, until he was very great.

14. And he had possessions (flocks and herds, and many slaves), and the Filistines started to envy him.

Those who today call themselves Filistines did not fight over the Land until after Yitzhaq's descendants came and made it prosper. (The Palestinians call themselves Filistines, because Rome named the Land Palestine after the Filistines because they did not want people to remember that the Jews had lived there. So anyone who calls the Land Palestine today is saying it belongs to the Filistines, not Israel. But YAHWEH said it was Israel's.)

15. So the Filistines stopped up all the wells that his father's slaves had dug (in the days of his father Avraham), and filled them with dirt.

They had clogged the source of water by putting a good thing [stones and earth] where it did not belong. The Palestinians today have also taken over the Temple Mount, Yoseyf's tomb, Rachel's tomb, and Beyth Lechem--all the main "wellsprings" of life for Israel.

16. And Avimelekh told Yitzhaq, "Move away from us, because you are stronger than we are."

17. So Yitzhaq went from there, encamped in the Wadi of Gerar's seasonal stream, and he settled there.

Wadi: the Arabic term commonly used in the Land today for a dry streambed.

18. And Yitzhaq again dug the wells of water that they had dug in the days of his father Avraham (since the Filistines had also stopped them up after Avraham's death). And he gave them the same names his father had given them.

Water is a picture of instruction from the Father, Yahweh. A well symbolizes making the deep meaning of the Bible easier to understand. He gave them the same names. Today we are also going back to getting the "water" by the way it used to be reached--through a Hebrew understanding. Yahweh promised that the returning tribes of Israel will "rebuild the ancient cities and inhabit them." (Amos 9:14)

19. And Yitzhaq's slaves dug in the dry riverbed, and found a source of running water there.

This was a new well (one his father had not dug); in a similar way, YAHWEH is fulfilling the promise to Daniel that in the last days knowledge would increase. New understanding, never heard before, is being provided. But they looked for it where a river once had been, since there was likely to be water down below. We are told that if we go back to the ancient, well-worn paths (Yahweh's original ways), we will find settledness for our souls (Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 6:16).

20. But the shepherds of Gerar disputed with Yitzhaq's shepherds, saying, "The water is ours!" So he called the well by the name Eseq ["bickering"], because they had disputed with him over it.

Gerar means "a lodging place for strangers", so it is a picture of Gentile pastors who claim that the Torah belongs primarily to them, not to Israel. Israel's water sources are also what the Arabs want to take over today, and they are usually on the high ground, which is a military advantage too.

21. So they dug another well, but they also fought over it, so he named it Sitnah [fighting].

Every time he found something valuable, it was either being stolen or covered up (like his father's wells).

22. So he moved from there and dug still another well, and this one they did not fight over, so he called it by the name, Rechovoth [wide open spaces], saying, "...Since now at last YAHWEH has given us space, so we can be fruitful in the Land."

Rather than participating in the other people's bickering, Yitzhaq decided to dig more wells that were wide enough to accommodate anyone who still needed water.

23. He went on up from there to Be'er-sheva,

24. and YAHWEH appeared to him that same night, and said, "I am the Elohim of your father Avraham. Do not be afraid, because I am with you, and I will bless you and increase your descendants, for the sake of My servant Avraham."

25. So he built an altar there and called on the name of YAHWEH, and he pitched his tent there. And Yitzhaq's servants dug a well there [with not much effort].

This well had already been named, but Yitzhaq names it again. The new moon celebration has been Israel's since Mount Sinai, but scarcely anyone has practiced it for centuries; it is the same with the blue thread in the garment-fringe. Now that these and other practices are being restored and adopted by the House of Yoseyf, they seem like something new. We are again using the names used in ancient times--Yahshua instead of Jesus, Sabbath instead of Sunday, Seder instead of "communion", etc. He renewed a covenant made by his father, as Yahshua did. Yitzhaq's well is still at the Tel of Sheva today, and it is very, very deep. The British soldiers in World War I used it on their way to liberate Yerushalayim from the Arabs. "Pitching a tent" can sometimes mean starting a Torah school.

26. Then Avimelekh came to him from Gerar with his assistant Achuzzath, and Fichol, the commander of his army.

27. But Yitzhaq said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me and sent me away from yourselves?"

28. So they said, "Because when we really looked, we saw that YAHWEH has been with you, so we have said, "Let there be a promise now between us (between ourselves and you) and let us make a treaty with you',

29. "so that you will do no evil to us, since we did not touch you, and did only good with you, and sent you away in peace, now that you are blessed by YAHWEH."

Although most of the world rejects Israel now, one day it will become obvious that the only way they can be safe is to make peace with Israel.

30. So he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

31. Then they got up early (at the break of day) and each made a promise to his brother, and Yitzhaq sent them away, and they left in peace.

32. And it was on that day that Yitzhaq's slaves came and told him about the well that they had dug, saying, "We've found water!"

33. So he called it Shiv'ah; thus the city's name remains Be'er-Sheva to this day.

And still it does! Shiv'ah means both "promise" and "seven".

34. Now when Esau was 40 years old, he took a wife--Yehudith [praise], the daughter of Be'eri [my well] the Chittite--and also Bas'math [balsam perfume], the daughter of Eylon [mighty tree] the Chittite.

35. But they were a bitterness of spirit to Yitzhaq and Rivqah.

These women were religious, as we are told in a later chapter, but they did not worship Yahweh. It is very important that we marry people who worship Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel, not just "God" in a general sense that could mean anything from something pagan to the Muslims' Allah. Otherwise we will have big disagreements and will cause problems for all of Israel.




CHAPTER 27

1. Now when Yitzhaq was old and his eyes had become too dim to see well, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son!" And he said, "Here I am!"

2. And he said, "Look, I am an old man now, and I don't know when I will die.

3. "So now, please take up your weapons (your quiver [full of arrows] and your bow) and go to the field and hunt me some game

Game means something we are allowed to hunt. But a deer shot by a bow would be torn, and thus not
kosher. Instead, it must be painless to the animal, and the blood must be gotten out as quickly as possible.

4. "and make me tasty foods like I love, and bring them to me, and I will eat, so my soul can bless you before I die." So Esau went to the field to hunt game and bring it back.

What is it about Esau that Yitzhaq likes, when he is a man with such bad characteristics? Hattin suggests that because he was such a good hunter, his father thought he would be able to build an empire like Nimrod, the hunter before him. (10:8-12). A successful hunter would be a man who would not mind going to war and it would seem he would have the determination and foresight to be able to lead his tribe after Yitzhaq died.

5. But when Yitzhaq was speaking to his son Esau, Rivqah heard it. After Esau went to the field to hunt game in order to bring it back,

6. Rivqah spoke to her son Yaaqov, saying, "Listen here! I heard your father speaking to your brother, saying,

7. "'Bring me game and make tasty foods so I may eat and bless you in the presence of Yahweh before I die.'

He thinks he does not have much longer to live, but he would end up living more than 20 years longer.

8. "So now, my son, hear my voice; listen to what I tell you to do:

9. "Go now to the flock and bring me two of the best kids from the goats that are there, and I will make them into tasty foods for your father the way he likes them.

10. "Then you bring it to your father and let him eat them, so that he may bless you before his death."

Just as Sarah understood what Yahweh had in mind for Hagar, Rivqah also had more spiritual sense than Yitzhaq. His eyes were dim spiritually as well.

11. But Yaaqov said to his mother Rivqah, "Look! My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a smooth-skinned man.

12. "What if my father feels me? Then I would seem to him like someone who is making fun of him, and bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing!"

13. But his mother said to him, "May any curse that comes on you fall on me, my son; just listen to my voice, and go, get the goats for me!"

14. So he went and got them and came back to his mother. And she made tasty foods like his father loved.

15. Then Rivqah took the clothing of her elder son Esau (the valuable ones that were with her in the house) and dressed her younger son Yaaqov in them,

Tradition says these were the clothes Adam had passed down to the first-born of each generation, who acted as priests before Aharon's time. Esau kept them at home to wear in front of his parents to honor them (his one good trait), but did not wear them out in the rest of the world, just as the high priest would later only be allowed to wear his special clothing in the Temple.

16. and she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.

The two goats remind us of Yom Kippur, where two goats were chosen that had to be as much alike as possible. Both of them die, one for self, and one so that others do not have to be punished--just like Yahshua, who came "in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin." One goat was chosen for the desert demons, and the other for Yahweh. These two boys are like that too: Esau himself was shaggy like a goat, and Yaaqov put goatskins on his own arms so they could not be told apart. But Esau lived for himself, while Yaaqov was acting to help his whole family.

17. Then she put the tasty foods and the bread that she had made into her son Yaaqov's hand,

He did not ask for bread, but bread represents "real food" so he might perhaps regain his spiritual sense and do the right thing, understanding that Yaaqov should really be the one to receive the blessing.

18. and he went to his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"

19. And Yaaqov told his father, "I'm your firstborn son Esau. I have done as you told me. So please sit up and eat of my game, so that your soul may bless me!"

The right of the priesthood (the birthright) had already been sold; the blessing had to do with the firstborn's right of absolute leadership in the tribe.

20. But Yitzhaq said to his son, "What's this? How did you find anything so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because YAHWEH your Elohim brought it right to me."

Brought it right to me: "prepared it; caused the encounter for me" or even "YAHWEH arranged it for me" (i.e., before he was born when He spoke to Rivqah about the elder serving the younger). Your Elohim: he does not yet refer to Him as his own. Perhaps he is just speaking as Esau would, but though he has studied, he has not experienced YAHWEH as his own, and later he places a condition on calling Him as such. (28:21)

21. But Yitzhaq said to Yaaqov, "Please come close and let me feel you, to see whether you are my son Esau or not."

22. So Yaaqov came near to his father Yitzhaq, and he felt him, and said, "The voice is Yaaqov's voice, but the hands are Esau's hands!"

23. And he did not recognize him, because his hands were like his brother Esau's hairy hands, so he blessed him.

Hands represent someone's works, so he was judging him by his works. But the right of the firstborn has to do with one's spirit.

24. But he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he said, "I am."

25. So he said, "Serve me my son's game and let me eat of it, so that my soul may bless you." So he came near him, and he took it and ate. Then he brought him wine, and he drank.

26. And his father said, "Now come and kiss me, my son."

27. So he came close and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his clothes, and he blessed him. He said, "See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed.

A field that produces abundance would have many animals in it, and someone who spends time with them takes on their smell.

28. "May Elohim also give you from the dew of the heavens and the best of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine.

Grain and new wine: symbols of community and joy. This same blessing is repeated Saturday night by fathers after the havdallah service that marks the end of the Sabbath and the transition back into the rest of the week. "Dew" often refers to resurrection (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 26:19) and Yahweh's teaching us. (Deut. 32:2)

29. "May nations serve you, and peoples bow down to you; be a ruler to your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. In addition, may anyone who curses you be cursed, and anyone who blesses you be blessed.

Why does he say both "your brothers" and "your mother's sons"? This is a form of Hebrew poetry called parallelism, but in Hebrew "brothers" can mean relatives in general.

30. But when Yitzhaq had finished blessing Yaaqov, he had hardly left his father's presence, when his brother Esau came back from his hunting.

31. And he cooked tasty foods too, and came to his father. And he said to his father, "Let my father rise and eat the game of his son, so that your soul may bless me."

32. But his father Yitzhaq asked him, "Who are you?!" And he said, "I am your son--your firstborn, Esau!"

33. Then Yitzhaq trembled, being very terrified, and said, "Then where did the one come from who hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it--all before you came? And I blessed him--so he has to be the one who is blessed!"

34. When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out with a loud and extremely bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, too, my father! Bless me!"

35. But he said, "Your brother came and has cleverly taken your blessing!"

36. So he said, "That is why he was named Yaaqov, because these two times he has taken me by the heel! First he took my birthright, and look! Now he has taken my blessing!" And he said, "Haven't you kept even one blessing for me?"

Yaaqov comes from a word meaning "one who plots behind your back" or "trickster".

37. But Yitzhaq replied and told Esau, "Look, I have set him over you as a ruler, and I have given him all his brothers as servants; I have sustained him with grain and wine. So what else is there for me to give you, my son?"

Just like the five foolish virgins in Y'shua's parables, the gates were already closed. (Matt. 25:10) It is too late for him.

38. And Esau said to his father, "Do you only have one blessing, my father? Bless me, too, my father, I beg you!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39. And his father Yitzhaq answered and said to him, "Behold, the place you live will be [away] from the best of the earth and [far] from the dew of the heavens above,

His land really is mostly desert now, though it may have had more rainfall in his day.

40. "and you shall survive by your sword, and you shall serve your brother, yet it shall be that when you brandish that sword, you will break his yoke from off your neck."

To the rabbis, Edom represents the church, especially the Roman, because Romulus, the co-founder of Rome, was a descendant of Esau. (Leviticus Rabbah 13:5) When Yaaqov's descendants began to reject Yahshua's followers at the Bar Kochba rebellion, under pressure they split from the main body of Judaism, and paganism began to enter the Called-Out Assembly. The appearance of most of Messiah's followers changed from being "tent-dwellers" (students of Torah) to those "interested in their belly" and the wealth of this world.

41. Then Esau hated Yaaqov, because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Yaaqov."

Esau hated Yaaqov: this caused Yahweh to hate Esau in return (Mal'achi 1:3).

42. But Rivqah was told the words of her older son Esau, and she sent someone to call her younger son Yaaqov, and she told him, "Look, your brother Esau is going to console himself by killing you.

43. "So now, my son, listen to my voice, and get up and run for your life to my brother Lavan in Charan,

44. "and stay with him for a few days until your brother's rage goes away--

45. "until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him, then I will send for you, and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

Both of you: Yitzhaq and Yaaqov, because as soon as Yitzhaq died, Esau said he would kill Yaaqov.

46. But to Yitzhaq, Rivqah said, "I am tired of my life on account of the daughters of the Chittites. If Yaaqov also takes a wife from among the daughters of Cheth, like those from the daughters of the land, what good is my life to me?"



CHAPTER 28

1. So Yitzhaq called Yaaqov, and he blessed him and gave him orders, saying, "Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kanaan!

2. "Get up, go into Paddan-Aram to the home of B'thuel your mother's father, and take yourself a wife from there--from the daughters of Lavan, your mother's brother.

Paddan-Aram means "the plain of the Arameans (Syrians)".

3. "And may El Shaddai bless you, make you fruitful, and add to you, and may you become for an assembly of nations.

The word for "assembly" is qahal, the equivalent of "ekklesia", which is what Yahshua called His congregation. People from every tribe and language would be gathered to the Elohim of Yaaqov: Rom. 14:19; Eph. 2:15. His descendants would later be sought out to form a people from among the nations with whom they would be mingled. This relates to later promises his son made to his great-grandson Efrayim (48:19), whose name means "doubly fruitful".

4. "May He also give to you Avraham's blessing--to you and your descendants with you, so you may possess the land of your sojournings, which Elohim gave to Avraham."

The promise of inheriting the Land is again narrowed to Yaaqov's descendants alone.

5. Then Yitzhaq sent Yaaqov away, and he went to Paddan-Aram, to Lavan the son of B'thuel the Aramean, the brother of Rivqah, who was Yaaqov and Esau's mother.

6. When Esau saw that Yitzhaq had blessed Yaaqov and sent him away to Paddan-Aram to take a wife for himself from there (how in his blessing he had commanded him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Kanaan"),

7. and that Yaaqov obeyed his parents and went to Paddan-Aram,

8. and when Esau saw that the daughters of Kanaan were disagreeable in the sight of his father Yitzhaq,

It speaks of his father's sight: therefore his blindness was only temporary, just to give an opening for Yaaqov to take his rightful place as the firstborn.

9. then Esau went to Yishmael and take Machalath, the daughter of Yishmael the son of Avraham (Nevayoth's sister), as his wife, adding her to his other wives.

He tried to make up for his earlier mistakes by taking a worthy wife also, but failed to get rid of the pagan wives in the process.

10. When Yaaqov had left [va-yetzei] Beer-Sheva and was walking toward Charan,

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 came upon a certain 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 put it in place for his pillow, and he lay down in that place.

"The place" is often an abbreviation for "the place where I have set My Name", which is the Temple Mount. The Hebrew word for pillow also means "having dominion", so this establishes that Yaaqov is the one who will continue the lineage of Messiah (see v. 14).

12. And he had a dream: behold, a stairway was put in place [coming down] toward the earth, its top reaching the heavens, and behold, the messengers of Elohim were going up and down on it!

This same place is called "a city that is joined together" (Ps. 122:3), and so is known as the place where earth and heaven meet. Yahshua said He was this very approach to Yahweh (Yochanan/John 1:51). He is called the "mediator between Yahweh and humanity" (1 Tim. 2:5) and "the one who came down from heaven." (Yochanan 3:13) Going up and down on it: the Levites took their turns going up the steps to the Temple to minister to Yahweh, then back down into the rest of the Land to teach the rest of the Nation. (Compare Matt. 22:37-40.)

13. And behold, YAHWEH stood at its top and said, "I am YAHWEH, 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 to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and into you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth be
grafted.

Every family on earth has intermarried with his descendants. Read about how Yahweh will regather them to the Land in 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 abandon you--not until I have done everything I have told you."

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

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

This is the place where the Temple would later be, and tradition says the Heavenly Temple (described in Hebrews 8:2-5) was right above the earthly one that was a copy of it. Yahshua also called himself "the door" (Yoch. 10:7-9).

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

This stone was a picture of Messiah, which means "the anointed one".

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 that Yaravam/Jeroboam later chose as an alternative worship site (1 Kings 12:29), which did not please Elohim.

20. And Yaaqov made a promise, saying, "If Elohim really is with me and keeps me safe on this journey that I am taking, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear,

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

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 give [back] one-tenth to You."

He did not doubt the Elohim of his fathers, but rather was "testing the spirits" (as in 1 Yochanan 4:1) to be sure this was really the one He said He was.
Yaaqov, His Wives, and His Uncle

CHAPTER 29

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

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."

"Brothers" is a Middle Eastern way of greeting strangers that makes them feel at home. But in this case, they really were his relatives.

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!"

7. But he said, "Look, it's still broad daylight; it isn't time to bring 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."

In the same way, Y'shua cannot take his bride until the whole house of Israel is all gathered, so he could not yet take his bride (Compare Song of Songs 2:13). First He had to roll away the stone (Mark 16:4). He then sent his followers to gather all the flocks (Yoch. 10:16).

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

Yitzhaq and Moshe also met their brides at wells. In a way, Y'shua did too, as the woman he spoke to at a well (Yochanan 4) was one of the first "lost sheep of the House of Israel" to whom he revealed his role.

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.

As we have already seen in chapter 24, Lavan appears to be a decent man. (His name means "white", a symbol
of righteousness). But is greedy--a picture of the church, which is related to Israel, but does not always act like Israel, since it is part pagan.

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

He did not kiss her because she was so beautiful. In the Middle East, people kiss each other as a greeting. Yaaqov did not embrace or kiss very many people, though he was embraced many times. This shows that he was committed to holiness, being set apart from the ways of the rest of the world. So when he does kiss someone, it is very special.

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.

This is the first time Lavan had seen any of his sister's children.

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 told Lavan about all the things .

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

This is what Adam said the first time he saw Chavvah. But Lavan assumes that Yaaqov is just like him, and is there only to work for him, rather than having any plans of his own!

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."

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

Leah means "tired". Rachel means "ewe" (a female sheep).

17. and Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was both lovely in form and extremely good-looking.

Rivqah was Sarah's niece, and Rachel was Rivqah's niece. If this next generation was to marry in the same pattern, Leah would be expected to marry Esau. So tradition says she had heard what kind of man he was, and her eyes were always tender and weak from crying because she would have to marry him.

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!"

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.

21. Then Yaaqov said to Lavan, "Give me my wife, since the time I agreed to work is now finished, and let me marry her."

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

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

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?"

Why didn't he know it was Leah? She had a veil on and the room was dark, and Lavan's feast had a lot of wine, so he probably got Yaaqov drunk. Because of this, every Jewish bridegroom lifts the bride's veil before the ceremony is complete just to be sure she is the right one! But by marrying both sisters, Yaaqov shows once again that he has inherited Esau's rights as well as his own.

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

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."

He said he would give her Rachel, but he still had to work for her, and Lavan thought he was being generous. "This one's week" means the week of rejoicing with her husband, something like a honeymoon, to which every bride is entitled. The Messiah longed to bring Yehudah's capital city under His wings (Matt. 23:37), but He had another "flock" (Yochanan 10:16) that He had to "marry" first--the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Efrayim, who is called YAHWEH's firstborn.)

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

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 YAHWEH saw that Leah was less favored, He opened her womb (while Rachel still had no children).

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

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

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

Shim'on means "He has really heard".

34. And she became pregnant 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 was to Leah a symbol of completeness. "Levi means "joined to me".

35. And once more she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and she said, "This time [I'm sure] I will give thanks to YAHWEH." Therefore she named him Yehudah, and after that she stopped having children.

Yehudah means "thanksgiving" or "praise". His descendants are the Jews (Yehudi). Paul extends this to say that anyone who is a praiser of Yahweh is a "Jew". (Romans 2:28-29)


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'm as good as dead!"

The Bible does not say it is a sin to have more than one wife, since sometimes there are more women than men, and YHWH wants everyone to be cared for. But this passage shows us some of the problems that can come with having more than one wife

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 maid Bilhah. Go into her and let her give birth over my knees. Then I too will be built up, through her!"

Giving birth over her knees meant she was adopting the child.

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

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

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.

Dan means "judgment" or "decision".

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 ["My wrestling"].

Nafthali means "my wrestling".

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.

Good luck is not an idea that people who trust in Yahweh should believe in. But Leah probably still worshipped idols in addition to Yahweh. Gad was the name of an idol also, and it is pronounced exactly like the English word "God", so we should not use this word as a substitute for Yahweh's name. (Exodus 23:13) Gad can also mean "a troop", from the word for "attack". The Roman army did choose Gad as the one they worshipped: the god of aggression. They changed the name of this religion to Mithraism. His feast day was December 25, so we should never celebrate this as a special day. (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 65:11)

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.

Asher means "happy" or "making progress".

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."

The wheat harvest begins at Shavuoth. She may have thought this was an especially promising time to become pregnant, since she was superstitious. Mandrakes are a fragrant plant thought to make someone able to become pregnant. But verse 17 reveals the real source of her success.

15. But she asked, "Is it unimportant that you took my husband? And now you want to take my son's mandrakes too?!" So Rachel said, "Okay, so he'll sleep with you instead of me tonight 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 in to me, because I have indeed hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he slept with her during that night,

Each wife would have a separate tent.

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 a 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.

She thought Yaaqov would settle in her tent, making her his favorite wife now. Zevulun means "dwelling that is lifted up". It was his tribal land (in and around Natzereth) which the Messiah would inhabit! So ten of Yaaqov's sons were not born to his favorite wife Rachel.

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

Dinah is the feminine form of Dan, or "judgment".

22. But then Elohim remembered Rachel, and listened to her, and made her able to have children,

Remembered: not that He had forgotten her, but now He intervened on her behalf.

23. and she became pregnant and gave birth a son, and said, "Elohim has taken away my disgrace!"

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

Yoseyf means "May He add". Yahweh did give her another, but Yoseyf also added to the people of Israel through of his two sons who gave Yitzhaq another tribe. One of them disobediently "mixed with the nations" but by doing so allowed people from other nations to share in the promises to Avraham's descendants. (Romans 11:12, 25). We can also read his name as "Yahweh will gather", since He will not let one of his rightful descendants be lost. (Amos 9:9)

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

This was 20 years after he arrived, and it pictures the 20 centuries during which Yahshua has been away from His homeland seeking a bride among the nations. But he has responsibility to His family back home as well.

26. "Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go, because 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 magic that YAHWEH has blessed me on account of you."

Although he gives credit to Yahweh, he is still mixing religions when he uses magic, which Yahweh hates.

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

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

30. "because you had little before I came, but now it has burst out into a crowd, and YAHWEH has blessed you wherever I went. But when will I ever build up my own house?"

The church, too, has grown rich, only because of its connection with Israel. It is only because of the Northern Kingdom being "lost" among the nations that the Good Shepherd, went out to "seek and save" His lost sheep who were scattered among them. Now we are being called back to the Land which is again our inheritance, because the covenant has been renewed for us.

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

32. "I will go through your whole flock today, taking from it every speckled or spotted sheep, and every black sheep among the lambs, and those that are speckled or spotted among the goats. These will be my wages.

33. "This way it will be easy to see my honesty in the days to come: whenever you count up my pay, right in front of your eyes, every one with me that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, can be considered stolen."

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

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.

Lavan took away those that he thought would produce the kind of baby animals Yaaqov said would be his, so he was trying to cheat Yaaqov again.

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

He still seemed to be afraid Yaaqov would steal from his flocks.

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

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

Bringing Efrayim back out of the church must be done in an honest manner, using the "water of the Word", proving from the Bible itself that they do not belong to the paganized, half-Christian structure, but to Israel after all.

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

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.

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

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

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 riches from what was our father's!"

2. Yaaqov also noticed that Lavan's attitude 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."

Now Yaaqov knew that this was not just his idea, but YHWH's. When the time of our punishment was completed, He also made it clear to us that we were to begin moving back toward Israel.

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

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

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

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

Though Lavan had promised him one thing, he found many excuses to treat Yaaqov differently.

8. "If he would say: '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 mating season, I raised my eyes and saw in a dream that, lo and behold, all the rams that were mating with the flocks of ewes were striped, speckled, and dappled.

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

12. "And he said, 'Raise your eyes and notice all the rams mating with 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 made a promise to Me). So now, arise and go back to the land of your relatives."

This is the portion read in synagogues the week before Rosh haShanah, which is a rehearsal for the removal of the bride of Messiah and the resurrection of the dead with the command to arise.

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

Lavan's household is anything that pretends to be pure but is really selfish. Many from among the Gentiles (yet related to Yaaqov) are now already saying to Yaaqov, "Our fathers have inherited lies, worthless ideas, and things in which there is no profit." (Yirmeyahu 16:19)

15. "Doesn't he treat us as if we were foreigners, since he has sold us and even used up all our money,

All our money: their wedding dowry. What kind of father does that?

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!"

When YHWH pulls the northern Kingdom back from the foreign lands where they have been exiled because of their wrongdoing, 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)

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

The Torah would later allow a slave to go free after six years of service. Yaaqov's first 14 years were the dowry for his wives, but the last six he was Lavan's servant. 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 Lavan thought od him as a slave, so Yaaqov felt he had to sneak away in order to take his family along.

18. And he drove ahead of him all the livestock and took all the goods 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 went off to shear his sheep, Rachel carried away the household idols that belonged to her father.

She may have wanted to do him a favor by removing the curse of idolatry from her father's house and force him to trust the true Elohim (as Gid'on did with his father's idol), or she may have wanted to have along "just in case". Many of her descendants also have wanted to worship both YHWH and idols, but He does not accept this.

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

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 was just this side of the Yarden River, southeast of the Sea of Galilee. It was not originally part of the Promised Land, but the tribe of Menashe did claim it under Yehoshua's conquest.

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).

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."


25. Now Yaaqov had pitched his tent in the hills when Lavan caught up with him, and 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 led my daughters away like prisoners of war!

27. "Why did you have to run away sneakily, and trick me? If you had only told me, I would have even sent you off with feasting 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 ancestors spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful that you don't speak to Yaaqov either for better or for worse.'

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?"

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.)

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 whomever you find the household idols with will not remain alive. In front 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.)

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.

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.

She got out of an impossible situation by claiming to be having her monthly period. For a man to touch anything on which she sat would make him unclean also.

36. Then Yaaqov became angry, and 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?

Wronged you: Or, breached your trust.

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! I was with you for twenty years! Your ewes and your she-goats have not stopped having babies, and I have not eaten any of the rams from 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 ran away from 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 [Awesome One] 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."

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

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 set it up as a memorial.

46. And Yaaqov said to his relatives, "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,

Gal-Ed is spelled exactly like Gil'ad in Hebrew, with different vowel points, so the latter probably stemmed from this event. 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. 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 seen as "ruler of the Gentiles" for twenty centuries.

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

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 neighbor's sight.

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.

50. "If you will not mistreat my daughters or take other wives in addition to them, there is no one besides us [to tell me what you do]; but remember, Elohim is a witness between me and you."

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.

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

55. 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.
Yaaqov Comes Back Home
CHAPTER 32

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

Each took a separate life to live, and Yaaqov did not let the fact that Lavan did not have his calling make him envious or turn him aside from what YHWH had marked out for him. Nor did he question his own calling any longer, or let the fact that Lavan did not learn from him discourage him. It had become very clear top him that they could not dwell together, as Avraham with Lot. Each left the other in YHWH's hands. (Compare Romans 14:5. The two houses of Israel must be reuinted, 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.) Angels: or messangers. Might there have been three as there had been when they met up with Avraham? One of them may show up again in 37:15.

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

Machanayim: "A pair of camps"--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".


Portion VAYISHLACH

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

Esau’s land is southeast of the Dead Sea.

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

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

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!"

7. Then Yaaqov was afraid; indeed, he was very upset. So he divided the people who were with him (as well as the flocks, herds, and camels) into two groups.

“400 men” is often used to mean an army in the Bible.

8. And he said, "If Esau comes upon the one group and attacks it, then at least the group 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'.

After admit our need for YHWH’s help, we need to take whatever steps we can to show that we trust Him to do what we have asked. He would not divide the Reed Sea until Moshe set foot in, nor did Yericho's walls fall down until Yehoshua and the nation marched around it. How can we expect Him to fight for us if we are not serious about moving forward toward the goal?

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!

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—mothers, sons, [and all];

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!'"

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

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.

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

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 have to say to Esau when you encounter him,

20. "and you must also say, 'Look! Your brother Yaaqov is following us.'" Because he said to himself, "I will take away 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."

21. And the gift went 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. Yabboq means "emptying out", and this is truly what happened to Yaaqov here. He left his old self behind and received a new identity. (v. 28)

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

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), but still he wrestled with someone. How could this be? He was mainly wrestling with himself: what kind of man was he, now that he was all alone against the world, unless he would have faith in the True Elohim? He was wrestling with Y'shua, the living Torah, the Word of YHWH which would later become flesh, but often appeared in the form of a "man" prior to this. 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 something new, which no one had heard of…

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.

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!"

Yaaqov knew he could not see YHWH’s face and live. He wanted to receive the blessing the right (legitimate) way this time.

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

This was a confession: "I'm a swindler after all." 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 Israel, because you have striven with both Elohim and men, and have won.

Israel means "Struggling with Elohim" or "One who has overcome and become a prince with Elohim". He was no longer fooling himself as to who he was. There now came to be something called "Israel", which is the one big exception to the rule that "under the sun, everything is useless". He let a rebirth for all of mankind be born in him, a direction for history, and a cure for all the evils of the whole world. The undoing of the curse on Adam's race took a major leap forward. And YHWH's response to Efrayim's admission is similar. (Yirmiyahu/Jeremiah 31:20)
29. And Yaaqov inquired and said, "Now You tell 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" (Judg. 13:15ff) The Messiah's name is also called "wonderful" (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 9:6). There is more to Him that we cannot know. 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 way possible, in His "Word", Y'shua the Messiah, also who called himself his Father's messenger.

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."

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 means "His face toward Elohim" in contrast to P’ni-El, "My face toward Elohim". The way he walked (a Hebrew idiom for how he lived) was changed forever. Once you come up against the true Word, nothing can ever be the same afterwards.

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.)



CHAPTER 33

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

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

Rachel and Yoseyf were his favorites, so he kept them safest.

3. And he passed in front of them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came all the way to where his brother was.

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

He did not embrace Esau back. He was very careful about whom he showed love to--only Rachel and her sons, and Yoseyf's sons. In the Hebrew text, there are "tooth-marks" above the word "kissed him", which the
Rabbis say shows that he really meant to bite him, but because, after years in the field, tending animals, he looked and smelled exactly like Esau, Esau thought he had conquered him because now they appeared to be the same kind of men.

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 (with 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.

Yoseyf is now ahead of Rachel. Was he defending her?

8. And he said, "What do you mean by 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! Keep what you have for yourself."

He may have meant, "You have become rich 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! Because when I saw your face, it was as if I were seeing the face of Elohim, and you have received me favorably.

He was full of fear, but was so relieved at finding no remaining enmity that He considered Esau's forgiveness a direct gift from Elohim. He may have been giving his brother too much honor. In any case, what he did give his
Brother (the "remnant of Edom") willone day again belong to Yaaqov's descendants (Ovadyah 18).

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.

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

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 pushed too hard even for one day, the flocks will all die.

Paul said we should go at the speed of the "weaker brothers" to teach only as quickly as they can understand and help them catch up. (Romans 14)

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 animals that are before me can take, and whatever pace the children are ready for, until I reach my master at Mount Seir."

Y'shua said something like this: "I'm not going to the feast [yet]; you go on ahead." And indeed He will follow later. But when Yaaqov does reach Edom's territory in the days to come, however, the results will not be beneficial for Esau, as the book of Ovadyah reveals. Whatever pace the children are ready for: 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."

These people could become spies in Yaaqov's camp so Esau could see if he was really what he seemed to be."

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

Like Lavan, he recognized that YHWH was with Yaaqov, and let him go. Seir means "a shaggy goat".

17. But Yaaqov traveled 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 other first month, like Passover, the 15th of the first religious month, and reminds us of the temporary dwellings in the wilderness with Moshe after the Passover. But it also pictures the day when it will be safe again to dwell in houses without locks. In Hebrew, we would say that Y'shua was born in a sukkah (which also means "stable"), and there is a lot of evidence that He may have been born during that festival.

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 house at Sukkoth, yet continued to live in a tent himself, because Israelites live in tents.

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

Yaaqov bought the place where Yoseyf's tomb is, so he still owns it, even though the Palestinians are trying to drive his children away.

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

El Elohey Yisrael means "El is the Elohim of Israel".


CHAPTER 34

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

Instead of staying and caring for her own people, her curiosity about "the ways of the Gentiles" became her downfall.

2. And Sh'khem, the son of Chamor the Chivvite, the prince of the region, saw her, took her by force, and raped her, bringing her [great] shame.

3. But his soul became attached to Dinah, the daughter of Yaaqov, and he loved the young woman and spoke to her heart.

Spoke to her heart: spoke soothing words, appealed to her emotions, and 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 dishonored his daughter Dinah, but his sons were out in the field with the livestock, so Yaaqov kept quiet until they had come in.

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

7. Yaaqov's sons came back from the field. When they heard what had happened, they were very upset and extremely angry, because by raping Yaaqov's daughter, he had done something that cannot be tolerated in Israel. Such a thing should not be done!

8. But Chamor told them, "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. "Settle with us, too, and the whole land will be open to you; live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it!"

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!"

Bride price: It was not as though they were paying for her like a slave. The family was compensated for raising her to be a productive 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 should 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:

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 like us, having every male among you circumcised,

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

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.

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

19. and the young man did not wait to do it, because he enjoyed Yaaqov's daughter so much; he was, in fact, more honorable 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: This is where the city's elders made legal decisions.

21. "These men are peaceable toward us, so let them live in the land and trade in it, because, look! There is plenty of room on both sides for 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: every male among us must be circumcised as they are.

23. "Won't their livestock and their property and their work animals become ours then? Let us just give in to their [request], and they will settle among us."

They really wanted the wealth that belonged to Yaaqov's family.

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

25. But what happened then was 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 bravely, and killed every man.

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

It seems that Dinah had never come home, but because she had been disgraced, she remained in Sh'khem's household.

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

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

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

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

30. But Yaaqov told Shim'on and Levi, "You have gotten me in trouble by making me stink 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 stink: giving me a bad name. His old name Yaaqov is used again, showing that he has gone back into into thinking of things in the worldly way rather than a spiritual one (which is meant when his name "Israel" is used).

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

Yaaqov was still thinking about what would happen to him; his sons were thinking of themselves as a group. 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 question ended the discussion. YHWH agreed that they were right (35:5).