Parashat Toledot

Torah: Genesis 25:19-28:9 , Haftorah: Malachi 1:1-2:7

Parashat Toledot

> 25:19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begot Isaac. 25:20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 25:21 And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD let Himself be entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 25:22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said: 'If it be so, wherefore do I live?' And she went to inquire of the LORD. 25:23 And the LORD said unto her: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. 25:24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25:25 And the first came forth ruddy, all over like a hairy mantle; and they called his name Esau. 25:26 And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called (f23) Jacob. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bore them. (Footnote 23: That is, One that takes by the heel, or, supplants) 25:27 And the boys grew; and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 25:28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison; and Rebekah loved Jacob. 25:29 And Jacob sod pottage; and Esau came in from the field, and he was faint. 25:30 And Esau said to Jacob: 'Let me swallow, I pray thee, some of this red, red pottage; for I am faint.' Therefore was his name called (f24) Edom. (Footnote 24: That is, Red) 25:31 And Jacob said: 'Sell me first thy birth right.' 25:32 And Esau said: 'Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall the birthright do to me?' 25:33 And Jacob said: 'Swear to me first'; and he swore unto him; and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 25:34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

> 26:1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 26:2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said: 'Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father; 26:4 and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and by thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves; 26:5 because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.' 26:6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 26:7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said: 'She is my sister'; for he feared to say: 'My wife'; 'lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is fair to look upon.' 26:8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 26:9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said: 'Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou: She is my sister?' And Isaac said unto him: 'Because I said: Lest I die because of her.' 26:10 And Abimelech said: 'What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might easily have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.' 26:11 And Abimelech charged all the people, saying: 'He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.' 26:12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundred-fold; and the LORD blessed him. 26:13 And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great. 26:14 And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household; and the Philistines envied him. 26:15 Now all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. 26:16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac: 'Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.' 26:17 And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 26:18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 26:19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of living water. 26:20 And the herdmen of Gerar strove with Isaac's herdmen, saying: 'The water is ours.' And he called the name of the well (f25) Esek; because they contended with him. (Footnote 25: That is, Contention) 26:21 And they digged another well, and they strove for that also. And he called the name of it (f26) Sitnah. (Footnote 26: That is, Enmity) 26:22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not. And he called the name of it (f27) Rehoboth; and he said: 'For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.' (Footnote 27: That is, Room) 26:23 And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. 26:24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said: 'I am the God of Abraham thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for My servant Abraham's sake.' 26:25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants digged a well. 26:26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host. 26:27 And Isaac said unto them: 'Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?' 26:28 And they said: 'We saw plainly that the LORD was with thee; and we said: Let there now be an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; 26:29 that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of the LORD.' 26:30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. 26:31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 26:32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him: 'We have found water.' 26:33 And he called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
> 26:34 And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 26:35 And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

> 27:1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said unto him: 'My son'; and he said unto him: 'Here am I.' 27:2 And he said: 'Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death. 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison; 27:4 and make me savoury food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.' 27:5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. 27:6 And Rebekah spoke unto Jacob her son, saying: 'Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying: 27:7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury food, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death. 27:8 Now therefore, my son, hearken to my voice according to that which I command thee. 27:9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury food for thy father, such as he loveth; 27:10 and thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, so that he may bless thee before his death.' 27:11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother: 'Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 27:12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a mocker; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.' 27:13 And his mother said unto him: 'Upon me be thy curse, my son; only hearken to my voice, and go fetch me them.' 27:14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savoury food, such as his father loved. 27:15 And Rebekah took the choicest garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son. 27:16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck. 27:17 And she gave the savoury food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. 27:18 And he came unto his father, and said: 'My father'; and he said: 'Here am I; who art thou, my son?' 27:19 And Jacob said unto his father: 'I am Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.' 27:20 And Isaac said unto his son: 'How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son?' And he said: 'Because the LORD thy God sent me good speed.' 27:21 And Isaac said unto Jacob: 'Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.' 27:22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said: 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' 27:23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. 27:24 And he said: 'Art thou my very son Esau?' And he said: 'I am.' 27:25 And he said: 'Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee.' And he brought it near to him, and he did eat; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 27:26 And his father Isaac said unto him: 'Come near now, and kiss me, my son.' 27:27 And he came near, and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed. 27:28 So God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fat places of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. 27:29 Let peoples serve thee, and nations bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be every one that blesseth thee. 27:30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 27:31 And he also made savoury food, and brought it unto his father; and he said unto his father: 'Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.' 27:32 And Isaac his father said unto him: 'Who art thou?' And he said: 'I am thy son, thy first-born, Esau.' 27:33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said: 'Who then is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.' 27:34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said unto his father: 'Bless me, even me also, O my father.' 27:35 And he said: 'Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing.' 27:36 And he said: 'Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing.' And he said: 'Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?' 27:37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau: 'Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him; and what then shall I do for thee, my son?' 27:38 And Esau said unto his father: 'Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father.' And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. 27:39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him: Behold, of the fat places of the earth shall be thy dwelling, and of the dew of heaven from above; 27:40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt break loose, that thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck. 27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart: 'Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.' 27:42 And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: 'Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. 27:43 Now therefore, my son, hearken to my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; 27:44 and tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away; 27:45 until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him; then I will send, and fetch thee from thence; why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?'
> 27:46 And Rebekah said to Isaac: 'I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?'

> 28:1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him: 'Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 28:2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. 28:3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a congregation of peoples; 28:4 and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham.' 28:5 And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Paddan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. 28:6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying: 'Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan'; 28:7 and that Jacob hearkened to his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-aram; 28:8 and Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; 28:9 so Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.