The History of Antiquity (Vol. 1-6). Duncker Max

the land which his descendants were destined to possess. At Shechem and Hebron, and then in the south, at Kadesh (Barnea) and Shur, he abode longest; at Hebron, and between Bethel and Ai, he built an altar to Jehovah. The presence of the patriarchs consecrated the places where his descendants were to dwell; among the Hittites and the Canaanites Abraham remained true to the God who had led him into Canaan; he rendered a willing obedience even to the harshest command. At the places where Abraham had set up altars, and where he had offered sacrifice, we find at a later period centres of Hebrew worship: by Abraham's sacrifices they were already consecrated. The Judæan text places the abode of Abraham mainly in the south of Canaan, at Hebron; the south belonged mainly to the tribe of Judah, and Hebron was David's royal abode till he conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites. The Ephraimitic text placed Abraham mainly at Shechem, the chief city of the tribe of Ephraim, and gives especial prominence to the sacred place at Bethel. The wandering of Abraham from the south of Canaan to Egypt, where the Pharaoh, warned by plagues from Jehovah, sends him away with valuable presents and in peace, is the work of the reviser. It is an anticipation of the later sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt, and forms at the same time a contrast to the widely different circumstances of their exodus.

After long waiting, the true son is at length born to the patriarch from his wife, of the blood of his fathers in Haran.[593] In order to preserve the blood of the Hebrews pure, a wife is not taken from Canaan for this son, Isaac, but the care of the father provides a wife from among his kindred, the tribe of the Nahorites, on the Euphrates. The first text tells us quite briefly, "Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramæan of Mesopotamia, the sister of Laban the Aramæan."[594] The lively description of the journey and the suit of Eliezer is the work of the reviser of the two original texts. After thus providing for the continuance of the pure stock, when the oldest son, the child of Hagar, and the younger sons, the children of Keturah, had been sent away with presents, as the law of the Hebrews afterwards ordained for the sons of concubines, and directed to the East, when he had given everything into the hand of Isaac, Abraham died full of years and blessings.

      Isaac was now sixty years old—such is the account given in Genesis—and his wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the sister of Laban, had borne him no son. Then Isaac besought Jehovah for his wife, and Jehovah heard him. Rebekah became with child, and lo! there were twins in her womb, and the children strove in her womb; and Jehovah said to her: Two nations are in thy body, and two people shall separate from thy bosom. The first boy was red in colour, and hairy, and she called him Esau; and afterwards his brother came out, and his hand was upon Esau's heel, and he was called Jacob, i.e. "one that holds the heel." And the boys grew; and Esau was a hunter, but Jacob abode in the tents, and his mother loved him. Once Esau returned weary from hunting, as Jacob was making a mess of pottage. And Esau said: Give me to eat. And Jacob replied: Sell me first thy birthright, and pledge it to me. And Esau swore, and sold his birthright, and ate and drank, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright; and when he was forty years old, he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basmath (Bashemath), the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and afterwards Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Nebajoth's sister.

      There was a famine in Canaan, and Isaac went to Gerar in the land of the Philistines, and there dwelt, and sowed in that land, and received a hundredfold, for Jehovah blessed him. He became more and more mighty, and had sheep, and oxen, and many servants. And Isaac dug out the wells which Abraham's servants had made, and which the Philistines had filled up after the death of Abraham. And the shepherds of Gerar strove with the shepherds of Isaac, and Isaac called the name of the wells Esek (contention) and Sitnah (hatred); but to the third, for which the shepherds of Gerar had not striven, he gave the name Rehoboth (room). From thence he went to Beersheba, and there he set up an altar.

      When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he said to Esau: Take thy bow and quiver, hunt venison for me, and make a savoury dish such as I love, that I may eat, and my soul may bless thee before I die. Esau went forth, but Rebekah, who had heard Isaac's speech, said to Jacob: Go to the flock and bring me two kids. I will prepare them for a savoury dish for thy father, that he may bless thee instead of Esau. Jacob obeyed, and Rebekah put on him the clothes of Esau, and placed on his neck and hands the skins of the kids, that his father, if he touched him, might not know Jacob by his smooth skin. Then Jacob went in to his father, and said: I am Esau, thy firstborn; eat of my venison. How hast thou found it so quickly, my son? asked the father. Jehovah, thy God, put it into my hand, he replied. The voice is the voice of Jacob, the father said, but the hands are the hands of Esau. He ate, and Jacob brought him wine, and he drank. Then Isaac said: Come near, and kiss me, my son. God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of corn and wine. Be thou lord over thy brethren, and let the sons of thy mother bow before thee. Cursed be they who curse thee, and blessed be they who bless thee. And when Jacob had gone away from his father with this blessing, Esau came with his venison. Isaac trembled and said: Thy brother has come with subtilty, and taken away thy blessing. Then Esau lifted up his voice and wept, and said: My birthright has he taken from me, and now thy blessing also. Bless me, even me also, O my father. What can I do for thee? answered Isaac. Lo! I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren I have given him for servants, and I have given him corn and wine. Hast thou but one blessing? said Esau, and wept. Then Isaac said: Thy dwelling shall be without the fatness of the earth and the dew of heaven. By thy sword thou shalt live; thou shalt serve thy brother, but his yoke thou shalt break from off thy neck.

      Esau was at enmity with Jacob, because he had deceived him in his father's blessing; and Esau said in his heart: The days of mourning for my father will come, for I will slay Jacob. Then Rebekah said to Jacob: Arise and flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran, till the anger of thy brother is turned away. And Rebekah spoke to Isaac, that Jacob should not take a wife from the daughters of the Hittites; and Isaac bade Jacob go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, the father of his mother, and there take a wife from the daughters of Laban. Then Jacob went from Beersheba to Haran. And when he abode for the night at the city of Luz, he put a stone under his head, and there rested. Then in a dream he saw a ladder placed upon the earth, the end of which touched heaven, and the angels of God went up and down upon the ladder. Jehovah stood over it, and said: I am the God of Abraham thy father and of Isaac; the land whereon thou sleepest I will give to thee and thy seed. And in the morning Jacob arose, and set up the stone which he had placed under his head for a sign, and poured oil on the stone, and called the name of the place Bethel.

In the land of the children of the east Jacob saw a well, round which lay three flocks of sheep. Then Jacob said to the shepherds: Whence are ye, my brethren? They answered, From Haran. Jacob asked again: Know ye Laban, Nahor's son? And they said: We know him; it is well with him, and lo! there is Rachel, his daughter, with the sheep of her father. And Jacob rolled away the great stone, which lay at the mouth of the well, and watered Rachel's sheep; and Laban came, and took his sister's son into his house. Laban had two daughters: Leah the eldest had dim eyes, but Rachel was fair to look upon; and Jacob said to Laban: I will serve seven years for Rachel. And these seven years were as seven days in Jacob's eyes, because he loved Rachel. When the time was past, Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. But in the dark of the evening he brought Leah instead of Rachel to Jacob, and it was not till the morning that Jacob knew Leah. Why hast thou deceived me? Jacob asked of Laban; have I not served thee seven years for Rachel? Laban answered, It is not so done in our country, to give the younger daughter before the firstborn. Serve me yet seven years, and thou shalt have Rachel also to wife. So Jacob abode seven years more with Laban, and gained Rachel for his second wife, and he kept Laban's flock for six years more, and the sheep increased under Jacob's hand.

      Leah bore Jacob four sons; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. But Rachel was barren and bore not. Then Rachel gave her maid Bilhah to Jacob, and Bilhah bore two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Leah also gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob, and she bore Gad and Asher. Then Leah bore Issachar and Zebulon; and Jehovah heard Rachel, and sent her a son, whom she called Joseph. When Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban: For twenty years I have been with thee; thy sheep and thy goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten. Let me depart that I may go to my own land,