Pgs. 96- 108

Ch.28-31

SECTION VII.

VAYETSE YAAKOV.

 

AND Jakob went forth from Beersheva, and went to Haran; and he arrived at a place, and lodged there, because the sun had gone. And he took of the stones of the place, and set his pillow, and lay down in that place. And he dreamed: and, behold, a ladder was planted in the earth, and the head of it reached unto the height of heaven; and, behold, the angels of the Lord ascended and descended upon it; and, behold, the Glory of the Lord stood above it, and He said, I am the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Izhak. The land where thou sleepest, unto thee will I give it, and unto thy sons. And thy sons shall be many as the dust of the earth, and shall prevail to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and through thee shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed, and through thy sons. And, behold, My Word shall be for thy help, and I will keep thee in every place whither thou goest, and I will bring thee again to this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done what I say to thee. And Jakob awoke from his sleep, and said, Verily the Glory of the Lord dwelleth in this place, and I knew it not. And he feared and said, How awful is this place! This place is not common (ground), but a place where there is pleasantness before the Lord; and this is nigh the gate of heaven. And Jakob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone which he had set for his pillow, and set it up, a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place The House of God (Beth‑el). But Luz was the name of the city at the first. And Jakob vowed a vow, saying, If the Word of the Lord will be my help, and will keep me in that way in which I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to wear, and bring me again in peace to the Lord shall be my God. And at this stone which I have set up (as) a pillar, will I worship before the Lord; and of all that Thou shalt give me, the tenth will I separate before Thee.

 

XXIX. And Jakob lifted up his feet, and came to the land of the children of the East. And he looked, and saw a well in a field; and, behold, three flocks of sheep lying near it, because from that well they watered the flocks; and a great stone was upon the mouth of the well. And thither all the flocks were gathered together; and they withdrew the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock, and returned the stone upon the mouth of the well unto its place. And Jakob said to them, My brethren, whence are you? And they said, We are from Haran. And Jakob said to them, Know you Laban bar Nachor? And they said, We know. And he said, Hath he peace? And they said, Peace; and, behold, Rahel his daughter cometh with the flock. And he said, Behold, the day is yet great, it is not time to gather the cattle; water the sheep, and go to the pasture. And they said, We cannot till all the flocks are gathered, and we remove the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the flock. While he spake with them, Rahel came, with the flock of her father; for she was a shepherdess. And it was, when Jakob saw Rahel the daughter of Laban, the brother of his mother, and the flock of Laban the bro­ther of his mother, that Jakob went near, and withdrew the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. And Jakob kissed Rahel, and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jakob showed Rahel that he was the son of her father's sister, and that he was the son of Revekah. And she ran and showed to her father. And it was when Laban heard the hearing of Jakob the son of his sister, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him into his house; and he narrated to Laban all these words. And Laban said to him, Thou art, however, my near (kinsman), and thou art my flesh. And he abode with him a month of days. And Laban said to Jakob, Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall be thy wages? And Laban had two daughters, the name of the elder Leah, and the name of the younger Rahel. And the eyes of Leah were beautiful;[1] but Rahel was admirable in form, and beautiful in aspect. And Jakob loved Rahel, and he said, I will serve thee seven years for Rahel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee than give her to another man; reside with me. And Jakob served for Rahel seven years; and they were in his eyes as a few days, inasmuch as he loved her. And Jakob said to Laban, Give me my wife; for the days of my service are fulfilled, and I will go to her. And Laban assembled all the men of the place, and made a feast. And it was in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and introduced her to him, and he entered to her. And Laban gave her Zilpha his handmaid unto Leah his daughter, to attend on her. And it was in the morning, and, behold, she was Leah! And he said to Laban, What is this that thou hast done to me? Was it not for Rahel that I served thee? and why hast thou been false with me? And Laban said, It is not so done in our place, to give the younger before the elder. Fulfil this week, and I will give thee also that, for the service that thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jakob did so, and fulfilled the week of this; and he gave him Rahel his daughter to be his wife. And Laban gave to Rahel his daughter Bilhah her handmaid to wait upon her. And he went in also to Rahel, and he loved Rahel more than Leah. And he served yet with him seven other years. And the Lord saw that Leah was hated, and He gave her to conceive, but Rahel was barren. And Leah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben;[2] for she said, Because my affiiction was manifest before the Lord; for now will my husband love me. And she conceived again and bare a son, and she said, Because it was heard before the Lord that I had hatred, and He gave me this also; and she called his name Shemeon.[3] And she conceived again and bare a son: and she said, This time will my husband adhere to me; for I have born him three sons: therefore she called his name Levi.[4] And she conceived again and bare a son; and she said, This time will I give praise before the Lord: therefore she called his name Jehudah.[5] And she ceased (stood) from bearing.

 

XXX. And Rahel saw that she did not bear unto Jakob; and Rahel envied her sister, and she said to Jakob, Give me children; and if not, I die. And the anger of Jakob was incensed against Rahel, and he said, Why ask of me? Is it not before the Lord that thou shouldest ask, who hath denied thee the generation of the womb? And she said, Behold my handmaid Bilhah, go in unto her, and she shall bear, and I also shall nourish (children), and be builded up from her. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife; and Jakob went in unto her, and Bilhah conceived, and bare to Jakob a son. And Rahel said, The Lord hath judged me, and hath also received my prayer, and given me a son: therefore she called his name Dan.[6] And Bilhah the handmaid of Rahel conceived again, and bare a second son to Jakob. And Rahel said, The Lord hath received my request: when I entreated in my prayer, I desired that I might have offspring as my sister, and also it is given me. And she called his name Naphtali.[7] And Leah saw that she had ceased from bearing, and she took Zilpha her handmaid, and gave her to Jakob to wife. And Zilpha the handmaid of Leah bare a son to Jakob, and Leah said, There cometh prosperity; and she called his name Gad.[8] And Zilpha the handmaid of Leah bare a second son to Jakob; and Leah said, Praise shall be mine; now will women praise me; and she called his name Asher.[9] And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes[10] in the field, and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rahel said to Leah, Give me now of thy son's mandrakes. And she said to her, Is it a little that thou hast taken my husband, and thou wilt take also my son's mandrakes? And Rahel said, Therefore shall he lie with thee at night for thy son's mandrakes. And Jakob came in from the field at evening, and Leah went out to anticipate him, and said, With me thou wilt go in, because with hire have I hired thee, with the mandrakes of my son; and he lay with her that night. And the Lord received the prayer of Leah, and she conceived, and bare to Jakob a fifth son. And Leah said, The Lord hath given me my reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issakar.[11] And Leah conceived again, and bare a sixth son to Jakob. And Leah said, The Lord hath given me a good portion.[12] This time will the habitation of my husband be with me, because I have born him six sons: therefore she called his name Zebulon.[13] And afterward she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.[14] And the remembrance of Rahel came before the Lord, and the Lord received her prayer, and gave her to conceive. And she conceived and bare a son, and she said, The Lord hath taken up[15] my reproach. And she called his name Joseph,[16] saying, The Lord shall add to me another son.

 

And it was when Rahel had born Joseph, that Jakob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my place, and to my land. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may go: for thou knowest the service with which I have served thee. And Laban said to him, If now I have found grace in thine eyes, I have proved that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. And he said, Certify[17] thy wages with me, and I will give. And he said to him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and what thy flocks have been with me; for thou hadst few before me, and they have increased into a multitude: and the Lord hath blessed thee for my sake.[18] But now, what shall I do also for my (own) house? And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything; but if thou wilt do with me this matter, I will return, and, pasturing thy flocks, will keep (them). I will pass through all thy flocks to‑day, and set apart from them every lamb streaked and speckled, and every black lamb among the lambs, and the streaked and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. And my righteousness shall be testified in the day following, when thou wilt come upon my reward that shall be before thee: every one which is not streaked or speckled among the goats, and black among the lambs, that shall be (as if) stolen by me. And Laban said, Let it be according to thy word. And he set apart that day the he‑goats of various colour, and all the goats which were speckled or spotted, every one which had (some) white in him, and all that were black among the lambs: and he gave them into the hand of his sons. And he set a walk of three days between them and Jakob; and Jakob pastured the flock of Laban which remained. And Jakob took to him rods of white poplars, and of almond, (or hazel,) and of plane tree, and peeled in them white peelings, (so that, where) peeled, the white which was in the rods appeared. And he fixed the rods that he had peeled in the canals, in the place of the watering of waters, the place to which they brought the flocks to drink, to be over against the flocks, that they might be incited when they came to drink. And the sheep were incited before the rods, and the sheep brought forth with chequered feet and streaked. And Jakob separated the lambs, and set before the sheep which were various‑coloured and all that were black among the sheep of Laban; and placed them for himself a flock apart, not mixing them with the sheep of Laban. And it was that whenever the early (prime) sheep conceived, Jakob placed the rods before the eyes of the sheep in the canals, that they might conceive before the rods: but before the late sheep he did not place them. And (so) the late ones were Laban's, and the prime ones Jacob's. And the man increased very greatly, and had a multitude of flocks, and handmaids, and servants, and camels, and asses.

 

XXXI. And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's he hath gotten all these possessions. And Jakob saw the looks of Laban,[19] and, behold, they were not with him as yesterday, and the time before. And the Lord said to Jacob, Return to thy country and to thy native (place): and My Word shall be for thy help. And Jacob sent and called Rahel and Leah to the field with his flocks: and he said to them, I see the looks of your father, that they are not with me as yesterday and the time before; and the God of my father hath been to my help. And you know that with all my strength I have served your father; but your father hath lied to me, and hath changed my wages ten times; but the Lord hath not permitted him to hurt me. If now he said, The streaked shall be thy wages; then all the flock bare streaked: and if now he said, The chequered shall be thy wages; all the flock bare chequered. And the Lord hath separated them from the cattle of your father, and hath given (them) to me. And it was at the time when the flocks conceived, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the flock were chequered, streaked, and speckled. And the angel of the Lord said to me in a dream, Jacob. And I said, Behold, I am. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the flock are chequered, streaked, and speckled: because all that Laban hath done to thee is manifest before Me. I am Eloha,[20] who appeared to thee at Bethel, where thou didst anoint the pillar, and where before Me thou didst swear the oath: arise now, go from this land, and return to the land of thy birth. And Rahel and Leah answered and said to him, Have we yet a portion or inheritance in our father's house? Are we not accounted as strangers by him? for he hath sold us, and hath devoured our money also. Therefore, all the wealth that the Lord hath separated from our father is ours and our children's: and now all that the Lord hath said to thee, do. And Jakob arose, and lifted up his sons and his wives upon camels; and led all his herds and all his substance which he had obtained, his herds and his substance which he had obtained in Padan Aram, to go unto Izhak his father in the land of Kenaan. And Laban had gone to shear his flock: and Rahel took the images[21] that were her father's. And Jakob concealed from Laban the Aramite, and showed him not that he went. And he went, he and all that were his; and he arose and passed the Phrat, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead. And it was shown to Laban on the third day that Jakob had gone. And he took his brethren with him, and Pursued after him; going seven days; and he overtook him in the Mountain of Gilead. And a word came from before the Lord to Laban the Aramite in a dream of the night, and He said to him, Beware, lest thou speak with Jakob from good to evil. And Laban overtook Jakob; and Jakob had spread his tent in the mountain; and Laban made his brethren abide in the mountain of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob; What hast thou done, that thou hast hidden from me, and taken away my daughters, as captives of the sword? Why didst thou conceal thy going, (or conceal thyseIf to go,) and didst hide it from me, and not show me, that I might then have sent thee away with mirth, and with hymns,[22] and with tambourines, and with harps? Nor didst thou suffer me[23] to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now hast thou done foolishly. It is in the power of my bands to do evil with thee: but the God of thy father spake to me in the evening, saying, Beware lest thou speak to Jakob from good to evil. And now, (though) going thou wouldest go, because desiring thou bast desired the house of thy father, why hast thou taken my religion?[24] And Jakob answered and said to Laban, Because I feared; for I said, Lest thou shouldst take away thy daughters from me. The place where thou shalt find thy religious things shall not abide: before our brethren ascertain thou what of thine is with me, and take to thee. But Jakob knew not that Rahel had carried them away. And Laban entered into the tent of Leah,[25] and into the tent of the two concubines, but found not; and he went forth from the tent of Leah, and entered the tent of Rahel. But Rahel had taken the images, and laid them in the panniers[26] of the camels, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found not. And she said to her father, Let it not be displeasing in the eyes of my lord, that I am not able to rise before thee; for the way of women is upon me. And he scrutinized, but found not the images. And Jakob was angry, and contended with Laban. And Jakob answered and said to Laban, What is my guilt­ my crime, that thou hast pursued after me? Now that thou hast searched all my things,[27] what hast thou found, of all the things of thy house? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and they shall decide between us both. These twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy goats have not failed, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten. The wounded I have not brought to thee; what was deficient in number, from my hand hast thou required it. I have watched by day, and I have watched by night. (Thus) have I been; in the day the heat devoured me, and the frost came down upon me at night, and sleep passed away from my eyes. These twenty years have I served in thy house; fourteen years for thy two daughters; and six years for thy sheep; and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Unless the God of my fathers, the God of Abraham, and He whom Izhak hath feared,[28] had been my helper, even now thou hadst sent me away empty: but my labour, and the travail of my hands, have been manifest before the Lord, and He rebuked thee in the evening. And Laban answered and said to Jakob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons my sons, and the sheep are my sheep, and all whatsoever thou seest is mine; and to these, my daughters, what can I do this day, or unto their children which they have born? And now come, let us enter into a covenant, I and thou, and it shall be for a witness between me and thee. And Jakob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. And Jakob said to his brethren, Collect stones; and they took stones, and made a mound,[29] and ate there upon the mound. And Laban called it Yegar Sahadutha,[30] but Jakob called it Gal-Ed.[31] And Laban said, This mound testifieth between me and thee to‑day. Therefore he called the name of it The Heap of Witness, and The Observatory;[32] for he said, The Word of the Lord will observe between me and thee, when we are hidden (each) man from his neighbour. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take wives over my daughters, no man is with us; see, the Word of the Lord is witness between me and thee. And Laban said to Jakob, Behold this mound and this pillar, which thou bast erected between me and thee. This mound and pillar are a witness, that I will not pass over this mound to thee; and that thou shalt not pass over this mound and this pillar, to do me evil. The God of Abraham and the God of Nachor shall judge between us, the God of their fathers.[33] And Jakob sware by Him whom Izhak his father feared.[34] And Jakob sacrificed victims in the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread; and they ate bread, and tabernacled in the mountain. And Laban arose in the morning, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them, and went; and Laban returned to his place. And Jakob went on his way, and the angels of the Lord met him. And when Jakob saw them, he said, This is a host[35] from before the Lord; and he called the name of the place Mahanaim.

 

 

[1] Comp. Song i. 15.

[1] "Manifestation."

[1] "Hearing."

[1] "Union."

[1] "Praise."

[1] "Judgement."

[1] "Wrestled for."

[1] "Fortune, prosperity." In Chaldee, "a fortunate star."

[1] "Happiness."

[1] Yavruchin. Hebrew, dudaim. Septuagint, "apples of mandrakes" ("atropa mandragira," Linnaeus). The Samaritan expression is as the Hebrew, and the Peschito as the Targum.

[1] "Wages."

[1] Sam. Vers. "God hath helped me with good help."

[1] "Habitation."

[1] "Judgement."

[1] Or, "cleansed away." See Castel, voce Kenash.

[1] "Addition."

[1] Or, "distinguish."

[1] Sam. Vers. "through my help."

[1] Or, "the aspect of the looks of Laban."

[1] Sam. Vers. "I am the Most Mighty."

[1] Tsilmanaia. The word in the Hebrew text (teraphim) is probably from the Aramaic teraph, "to inquire."

[1] Sam. Vers. "with chief or great things" (rabbonim).

[1] Sam. Vers. "nor didst thou expect (or wait) that I might kiss."

[1] Dachatli.

[1] Sam. Vers. "and diligently searched."

[1] The Hebrew kar answers to the Arabic kuron, "a pannier, cradle, or chair, placed on each side the camel."

[1] Or, "vessels."

[1] Sam. Vers. "the redeemer of Izhak."

[1] Degura, "a cumulus or mound;" from deger, Heb. dagar, "to collect, pile up."

[1] "The Heap of Whitness." The olddest specimen of Aramaic extent.

[1] Hebrew, "The heap of Witness."

[1] Sakutha. Chald. from Seka, aspexit, contemplatus est. The Hebrew Mizpeh.

[1] Sam. Vers. "the God of Abraham."

[1] Sam. Vers. "by the Redeemer of his father Izhak."

[1] Or, "camp."