OUR HEBREW

FATHERS

To Haran and Back

IN THIS LECTURE:

1. Jacob’s Dream

2. Leaving Haran

3. Jacob and Laban

Jacob’s Dream

The dream of “Jacob’s Ladder” constitutes one of the most famous human encounters with God in the Bible. This significant event took place when Jacob journeyed from Beer Sheba to Haran. Jacob, on the run from his brother Esau, came to “a certain place” which at that time was unknown. We are of course talking about Beit El (Bethel) – “the house of God.” While the precise location of Bethel is disputed today, its significance is not.

“Jacob’s Dream,” Gustave Doré, 1865.

In the ancient Near East, the location of sacred places was seen as chosen by the gods themselves. These places were thought to have an inherent holiness or uniqueness, and gods would reveal their will to those worthy to know their location.

We see something similar here at Bethel, but – as so often in the Torah –with a different twist. When Jacob reached this particular location, the sun had already set. The weary traveler stopped to rest for the night. He took a stone, placed it under his head as a pillow, and lay down to sleep.

During the night something occurred that neither he nor his descendants would ever forget. He saw a most vivid dream.

והנה סלם מצב ארצה וראשו ה והנה מלאכי ימ מ מגיע הש

עלים וירדים בואלהים

“Behold, a stairway was set on the ground; and its top reached to the sky. And angels of God were going up and down on it.” (Gen. 28:12)

“Jacob’s Dream,” José de Ribera, 1639.

No doubt this dream contained a personal message to Jacob, signifying that he was not alone in this desolate place. In his dream he saw a ladder or stairway and God’s messengers ascending and descending, going back and forth between heaven and earth.

Between vs. 11 and 17 the Hebrew term קום מ (makom) “place” occurs five times. In later Jewish literature, ha-makom “the place” becomes a reference to God.

“Jacob’s Dream,” José de Ribera, 1639.

This location – קום מ (makom) – which previously was not notable in any sense, suddenly becomes significant, a holy place. Similarly, Jacob, a fugitive, becomes someone important when God makes his presence known and discloses himself.

Jacob, being asleep, cannot control what is happening nor the transformation occurring around him, which is due to God’s prevailing presence in that place.

“Jacob’s Dream,” José de Ribera, 1639.

The text does not provide a detailed description of “Jacob’s ladder,” yet this fact has not been a deterrent to many attempts at visualization and artistic depiction.

One can imagine a traditional portable wooden ladder. Hypothetically, something like that could have been in use in Jacob’s time. Yet a more likely probability is that he saw not a portable ladder but a permanent stone staircase.

“Jacob’s Dream,” Nicolas Dipre, c. 1500.

Perhaps he saw something resembling an ancient ziggurat, a common sacred structure in the ancient Near East. Essentially it is a temple with long stairs leading up to the deity believed to “dwell” at the top of those ascending series of stones.

Great Ziggurat of Ur

What seems most important in the dream is the constant connection between heaven and earth. Jacob must grasp that the God of heaven is fully involved with the affairs of earth. Jacob saw supernatural “traffic” moving between the two realms. God’s messengers (his angels or servants) were working to enact his will. And Jacob somehow plays a role in that arrangement. This is the God who made promises to his fathers.

When Jacob returns to Canaan, the land promised to his fathers, the LORD appears to him once again, also at Bethel (Gen. 35:1). We thus read that the messengers of God met him when he left the land (Gen. 28:12) and then again when he returned (Gen. 32:2). This pair forms a narrative unit.

Everything that happens to Jacob in exile occurs bracketed by these two angel-related encounters or dreams, pointing to God’s presence and constant protection.

“Jacob’s Dream,” Gustave Doré, 1865.

“Stairs to the Sky,” Ezra Orion,Herzog Boulevard, Jerusalem.

והנה יהוה נצב עליו י ויאמר אני יהוה אלה

ק י יצח אלה ביך ו ם א ה אברה שכב רץ אשר את א הה ולזרעך עליה לך אתננ

“And the LORD was standing beside him, and he said: I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring.” (Gen. 28:13)

Deities appearing to holy men of the ancient Near East from time to time was a common occurrence. Yet this God was unusual, for he made self-binding promises. The LORD confirmed that Isaac’s second blessing to Jacob could be fully relied upon (unlike the first one that was taken by trickery). The same God who spoke to Jacob’s grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac is now addressing him directly.

God’s message is clear: Jacob and his descendants will be given the very land upon which he now sleeps. God’s promises of the land made to him and his forefathers must not be doubted. There will come a time when Jacob and his descendants will truly possess this land and populate it.

“Jacob’s Dream,” William Blake, 1805.

The fact that this happened in a dream, when Jacob was fully passive, is significant. Jacob could not manipulate God in any way. God also brought forth Eve for Adam by causing him to sleep deeply. Abraham fell asleep when God made a covenant with him. Now the pattern repeats. Jacob is not left to his own devices. The LORD God is connected with his people and even with that very place where Jacob slept.

“Jacob’s Dream,” William Blake, 1805.

רצת רץ ופ א ה זרעך כעפר ה י והנגבה ה ו ה וצפנ קדמ ה ו מ י

כל־משפחת בך ונברכוה ובזרעך מ אד ה

“Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall be blessed by you and your descendants.” (Gen. 28:14)

As promised to Abraham as well, Jacob’s descendants will be so many that no one would be able to count them. His offspring will become a blessing to all peoples or משפחתה מ אד ה (mishpechot ha-adamah) “families of the land.”

Remember that “earth” ה מ אד(adamah) is etymologically connected with Adam (ם .(אדThe promise signifies well-being not only for Israel, but also for all of mankind. All nations receive benefit through Israel.

ך נכי עמ והנה אלך בכל ושמרתיך אשר־ת

הוהשבתיך מ אד אל־הבך עד הזאת כי לא אעז

את אם־עשיתיאשר לךאשר־דברתי

“Remember, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” (Gen. 28:15)

“Jacob’s Dream,” Gustave Doré, 1865.

Leaving Haran

Jacob settled in Haran with his uncle Laban. He fell in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel, and worked for her bride price for seven years. But on his wedding day he was given Leah, the older sister, as his wife. Thus he was forced to work seven more years for Rachel. Though life was not easy for him, God blessed Jacob in Haran. After many years passed, Jacob had two wives, several children, and a considerable amount of cattle. Now God told Jacob to return to Canaan.

In Gen. 30:25, we read that after Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob asked Laban to allow him to return to his father’s home, his own land. Yet Laban sought to slow him down and defraud Jacob through further trickery.

Yet Jacob continued to prosper, even under the most unfriendly circumstances, as God had promised him (Gen. 31:11-13). “Laban and Rachel”, Jean-Baptiste-Henri

Deshays, mid 18th century.

His newfound prosperity is described as follows:

איש מאד ויפרץ מאדה צאן רבות ושפחות ויהי־לו

׃וחמריםועבדים וגמלים

“So the man grew exceedingly prosperous, and came to own large flocks, maidservants and menservants, camels and donkeys.”(Gen. 30:43)

“Laban and Rachel”, Jean-Baptiste-Henri Deshays, mid 18th century.

The root word פרץ (parats), used here, describes how Jacob’s wealth has grown. It carries the meaning of “breaking through,” “breaking out,” and “spreading wide.” Here it can relate to breaking away from the curse of being “limited,” “restricted” and “bound.”

Basically, Jacob is breaking away from Laban’s unjust enslavement since his uncle refuses to set him free. He is expanding out of his confinement.

In Hebrew, repetition of the same word can signify emphasis. Jacob’s prosperity is described as מאד מאד (me’od me’od),literally “very-very,” basically meaning “exceedingly great.” This same repetition appears in the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 17:2, 6 – twice!) and again in Exod. 1:7. This repetition seems to indicate that the specific language refers to the promise given to both Abraham and Jacob, partially fulfilled in their lives and more fully in the future.

Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were talking behind his back, saying that he had taken what belonged to their father and was prospering from their capital. At about the same time, Jacob noticed that Laban began to treat him differently. Sometime before that (even before Jacob’s prosperity) the LORD God had spoken to Jacob, telling him to prepare to make this move (Gen. 31:1-13). “Jacob and Rachel,” Unknown

Author, ca. 1881.

Jacob told his wives about his grievance with their father, and about the dream he had seen from God. He told them of God’s command to return to Canaan. Both wives, Rachel and Leah, agreed with him without reservations. Jacob’s exodus from the land where he felt trapped and limited, a place which had once been a land of salvation, resonates with the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. “Jacob and Rachel,” Unknown

Author, ca. 1881.

The children of Israel would go to Egypt to escape difficult times, but eventually became the slaves of a new Pharaoh who was unwilling to let them go free. Coincidently, just as Jacob “breaks away” from a land of bondage with great wealth, so too Israel will leave Egypt many years later with great wealth, representing a type of reparation payment for their forced slave labor.

“Egyptian Pyramids,” Color Lithograph, ca. 1838.

In Gen. 46:3-4, God says to Israel (Jacob): “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you and I will surely bring you back again…”

These words resemble what God spoke to Jacob at Bethel (Gen. 28:15). While many differences exist between these stories, the parallels are stunning, clearly showing the author’s intent to draw such connections.

“Egyptian Pyramids” Color Lithograph, ca. 1838.

ארמי ויגנב יעקב את־לב לבן הח הוא על־בלי הגיד לו כי בר

“Jacob kept Laban the Aramean in the dark, not telling him that he was fleeing.” (Gen. 31:20)

The text literally speaks of Jacob “stealing the heart of Laban the Aramean.” The Hebrew verb יגנב (yignov) can be translated as “stealing,” but sometimes it encompasses a wider range of meaning than the English equivalent.

The verb גנב (ganav) does not always express a morally negative act. It can also mean to do something “quietly in a concealing way,” “without notice,” or “in secret.” In v. 19, however, Rachel literally "stole" (תגנב) her father’s idols.

The text contains many amusing allusions: לבן (Lavan) Laban, whose name means “white,” sounds like Hebrew word for heart – לב (lev). The Hebrew for “Aramean” ארמי(Arami) sounds like another Hebrew word for “he deceived” רמה (rimah).

Laban was caught unawares when Jacob escaped, since he was shearing his flock. “Laban had earlier set a precedent of grazing his herds at a distance of three days’ journey from Jacob’s herds… Other references to shearing of the flocks in the Bible indicate it was a very elaborate procedure involving large numbers of men, and accompanied by feasting, and so would have provided an excellent cover for Jacob’s flight.” (Robert Alter, Genesis) Robert Alter, Professor of Hebrew and

Comparative Literature at University of California, Berkley.

Jacob and Laban

Only three days later did Laban realize Jacob had left. He pursued Jacob for seven days, catching up with him in the hill country of Gilead (Gen. 31:19-25). On the way there, God appeared to Laban, warning him not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad (Gen. 31:29). Laban was puzzled as to why Jacob (connected to Abraham’s God) would steal his own household gods/idols.

“Laban and Rachel”, Jean-Baptiste-Henri Deshays, mid 18th century.

Laban’s gods were missing, and neither Jacob nor Laban imagined that Rachel was responsible for taking the idols. Jacob’s rash statement that anyone who was found with Laban’s gods would be put to death can be seen as a harbinger of Rachel’s premature death during the birth of Benjamin (Gen. 35:16-20). No clear reason is given why she stole them. Yet Rachel remained undiscovered, because she hid them under the camel’s packsaddle and sat on it during the search.

Mesopotamian owl amulet, ca. 3000 B.C.E.

Perhaps her act constituted a personal revenge, meaning that she took something dear to Laban since he had taken something important from her (Jacob at the initial wedding and also her bridal dowry). Besides, “there is no reason to assume that Rachel would have become a strict monotheist through her marriage…” (Robert Alter, Genesis). She could have held on to polytheistic ideas or held to a henotheistic worldview. “Laban in search of the terafim,”

Johannes Jansz van Bronckhorst, 1655.

Rashi, a famous medieval rabbinic commentator, proposes a more positive reading of Rachel. Rashiattributed a noble intention to her “theft” – to keep her father from worshipping idols. Later on, we will read that some Israelites did not let go of the Egyptian idols either when they left Egypt; rather, they took them on their journey. In their dialogue both Laban (v. 30) and Jacob (v. 32) refer to these stolen figurines as his “gods.” But the story’s narrator describes them as idols or graven images פים תר(teraphim).

During this encounter, Jacob speaks boldly to Laban, telling him what he always wanted to say to him face to face. He cites all of Laban’s trickery and unfaithfulness, highlighting his own endurance in the hardships of his service. Jacob describes his personal faithfulness to Laban over a period of twenty long years. Jacob also credits his current prosperity to his God’s faithfulness.

ילולי בי אלה יא ם אלה ה אברה ה לי כי עת י ק ה ופחד יצח

ני יקם שלחת נייר את־עאה ואת־יגיע אלהים כפי ר

ויוכח אמש

“Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God took notice of my plight and the toil of my hands, and he gave judgment last night.” (Gen. 31:42)

As we consider this interaction, we cannot help but see Jacob as a man of integrity in his service to Laban; a man with a clear conscience. He faces his uncle and publicly argues his case with the conviction of a man who is not guilty of wrongdoing. Laban and Jacob agree to make a pact. Jacob promises to treat his wives (Laban’s daughters) well and commits not to take any additional wives. Laban’s part of the deal was to leave Jacob alone. Laban then erected a stone pillar or a heap of stones and, to seal the agreement, they exchanged oaths and ate a communal meal.

Laban and Jacob swore as follows:

י נחור ישפטו אלה ם ו ה י אבר אלהבע יעקב י אביהם ויש ינינו אלה ב

ביו יצחק בפחד א

“May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.” (Gen. 31:53)

Taking an oath, Laban and Jacob invoked the names of their respective deities (or the names by which they knew the LORD).

“Mesopotamian Worshipper,” limestone figurine,

ca. 2700 B.C.E.

Haran is called “the city of Nahor” (Gen. 24:10). Nahor was an ancestor of twelve Aramean tribes through his twelve sons, of whom eight were born to him by his wife Milcah and four by his concubine Reumah (Gen. 22:20-24). This is another interesting parallel, considering Jacob’s family.

Most English translations render ינינו ישפטו ב (yishpetu beineinu)as “judge between us,” which may imply either a singular or plural subject, but the Hebrew actually employs a verb in the plural form.

“Mesopotamian Worshipper,” limestone figurine,

ca. 2700 B.C.E.

To some this text suggests that it is not one God, but two – the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, who will give judgment jointly. Other interpreters see one God, who is invoked variously through family ties.

This may all seem strange to modern people. But it is easy to understand how people who lived in a society of many gods would say something like this. Even if they were loyal to one particular deity they did not exclude the possibly of others.

“Jacob swore by the Terror of his father Isaac.… Jacob resists the universal Semitic term for God – Elohim, and the equation between the gods of Nahor and Abraham. He himself does not presume to go back as far as Abraham, but in the God of his father Isaac he senses something numinous, awesome, frightening.” (Robert Alter, Genesis)

Robert Alter, Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at University of

California, Berkley.

Jacob’s determination in fleeing Laban and his public airing of clear and fair charges were founded on his imperfect, yet real, confidence in the promises of God. God had promised to keep Jacob safe. In spite of all his deserved and undeserved troubles, the promise that he would become the father of a great nation with its own land, protected and blessed by Abraham’s God, did come to pass.