Torah Study Blog

The Bible contains stories that were written over a period of at least 800 years. Close study of the Bible will often reveal inconsistencies, or downright contradictions. For example, Genesis 1 states that God created vegetation on earth on the 3rd day, and He created man on the 6th day. But Genesis 2 states that God made man and woman before he made grasses of the field, because, if he made the grasses first there would be no one to work the fields.

In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob left his home in Beersheba and is traveling toward Haran. Similar to there being two versions of when man was created, there are also two versions of why Jacob left home:

The two possibilities were both presented in last week’s portion. In Genesis 25, Jacob had wrangled from his brother, Esau, Esau’s birthright. Then, in Genesis 27, with the help of his mother, Rebekah, Jacob deceived his father, Isaac, into giving Jacob the blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau. Esau, feeling that Jacob had cheated him twice, harbored a grudge against Jacob and plotted to kill him. Their mother, Rebekah, learning about Esau’s plot, encouraged Jacob to flee.

The other possibility, also presented last week, comes from Genesis 26 and tells us that Esau had married two Hittite women. Both were wives that neither Rebekah nor Isaac liked. In Genesis 27, Rebekah bemoaned to Isaac that her life would not be worth living if Jacob also married a Hittite woman. Therefore, in Genesis 28, Isaac entreated Jacob to travel to Paddan-aram to find a good wife among the Aramean women there. So that is the other reason that Jacob departed. (As a note, these verses must have been written at a time that the Hebrews and the Arameans had good relations. That was not always the case.)

It’s interesting that one of the terrible Hittite women that Esau married is identified as being named “Judith.” Today we think of the name “Judith” as been a very popular, Jewish name for girls. But the origin of the name

undoubtably comes from the territory of Judah. This tells scholars that the territory was named “Judah” well before the rise of the Israelite people.

The inner biblical chronology of the story indicates that Jacob left his home around the 18th century BCE. Let’s review what scholars have learned about Beersheba. First, the earliest evidence of inhabitation of Beersheba dates only to about 1100 BCE, well after the 18th century.

Also, there is a story about Abraham making a deal with the Philistines for property rights at Beersheba, including a well that the Bible claims Abraham dug. In return for these rights, Abraham pays the price of seven sheep. In Hebrew, the word Be’er means “well,” and sheba/sheva can mean either “seven” or “oath.” Scholars illuminate for us that the writers were not really sure why the town was called Beersheba, so they have covered their bases and created a story that includes all the angles.

On the way to Haran, Jacob stopped to sleep at Bethel (Genesis 28). As he slept, he dreamed that he saw angels going up and down a staircase and, when he woke up, he realized that he was in a sacred spot and he made an altar there and a vow to God. People may be more familiar with the story as being titled “Jacob’s Ladder.” But it was a stairway, not a ladder. Readers might have seen renderings of what a Ziggurat might have looked like in ancient times and that is, likely, the image that the writer was trying to evoke. A Ziggurat was a religious building which was supposed to allow the religious leaders of a community get closer to their god(s). In Jacob’s dream, there are angels – or messengers of God – going up and down those stairs, delivering the words of God to the followers.

In the dream, God promised Jacob that Jacob would own the land and have numerous of offspring. Also, God promised:

I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised. (Genesis 28:15)

Interestingly, instead of just accepting the word of God, Jacob places multiple conditions on his vow:

IF God remains with me
IF He protects me
IF He give me food and clothing
IF Jacob returns safely to his father

THEN Jacob will devote himself to God (Genesis 28:20-21)

What happens if God fails in his promises? Jacob will find a new God! It doesn’t matter that God is God. Jacob is the one who gets to set the conditions of his vow.

The work of the Rabbis is to read the words in the Torah and find meaning, or provide meaning where needed. Our ancient sages would use a biblical tale that might be missing detail, or need clarification, and the Rabbis would fill in the details, using the value system that was important to them at the time.

The medieval Rabbi Kimhi took the position that Jacob did not doubt God. Instead, Jacob wanted to put forth the idea that perhaps Jacob himself would not prove to be worthy of God. Also, Kimhi stated that God would not leave Jacob.

The fact that Jacob made an altar at Bethel was important because Bethel became an important religious site in Israel in the 10th century BCE. The way the Bible is presented, Jacob recognized the sacred nature of the site of Bethel in the 18th century BCE. The fact that there was a Temple at Bethel in the 10th century BCE would only make sense.

However, Professor Sperling pointed out to us that the Jacob in Bethel story, which comes early in the Bible, was actually not written before other stories about Bethel in the Bible. As Rabbi Jaech pointed out, much like the Star Wars movies – the first movie made was Episode 4, and then the writers filled in the background in episodes 1, 2 and 3, which came later. The Bible is similar. The first part, did not come first.

Archaeological and linguistic clues alert scholars to the fact that the book of Kings is much older - centuries older – than the book of Genesis. The story about the sanctity of Bethel is an allegorical tale which claimed origin from Jacob, centuries earlier. The people would have been led to believe that the story must be true, because it’s so old! But scholarship proves that it is not that old, nor is it true.

You can find our podcast on iTunes, Spotify or Amazon under “TINW Torah Study” or “Jennifer Jaech.” Subscribe and rate us!

misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Sperling taught us are the responsibility of Tara Keiter