Va-Yishlah; Genesis 32:4-36:43
By Irv Jacobs, MD
LA JOLLA, California — This parasha tells the story of Jacob’s entourage returning back to Canaan from Haran; Jacob’s fear for, and the subsequent encounter with Esau; the rape of Dinah and its violent sequelae; the death of Rachel in childbirth; and finally the genealogy of Esau’s progeny.
Three passages caught my attention, to explore for analogous comparison with other ancient nations.
I. In preparing to meet Esau, fearing the worst, Jacob prepared a bribe: 32: 21 “If I propitiate him with presents in advance, and then face him, perhaps he will show me favor.” Later 33:10 (Jacob to Esau) “…if you would do me this favor, accept from me this gift; For to see your face is like seeing the face of God…” (Here, he really poured it on.)
Plain and simple, this is an example of bribery. I checked the internet on this subject. Bribery has been prevalent worldwide since the beginning of societies, but by far it is mainly described as an enticement for favorable treatment by officials. In fact bribery is defined as “a deviant behavior…with the motivation of private gain at public expense…”
An example is that of a judge, prone to proceed with a trial without evidence; unjustly maintaining silence; defaming or abuse of complainants; arbitrary dismissal of responses provided to questions; unnecessary delay of a trial; or unjust punishments. All these can be mitigated by bribes! A Chinese proverb states: ‘…a big rooster eats no small rice.’
A story titled “The Poor Man of Nippur” from ancient Mesopotamia tells of a poor but free citizen who seeks to improve his lot, but all he has is a goat. He proceeds to the mayor, who is reluctant to receive him until the mayor hears a bribe is involved. On receiving the goat, the mayor prepares a feast, but all the poor guy receives is a bone, a tendon, and stale beer. He complains, only to be beaten on the mayor’s orders.
Soon the peasant visits the king and offers him a small measure of gold in return for the use of the royal chariot for a day. The peasant returns to the city where the mayor receives him as a high official of the realm. He had brought an impressive chest, which he opened for the mayor, and behold it was empty! He complains that the mayor has stolen it. For this the mayor receives three beatings, and proceeds to placate the peasant with a gift of two portions of gold.
In the 5th Century BCE, a Greek legislator introduced debt cancellation. Before the announcement, he informed his friends to rush and get large loans, which shortly became nullified, making the friends rich. [1]
In Chinese mythology, every household has a Kitchen God who watches behaviors. A week before New Year’s, the Kitchen God ascends to heaven to present an annual report to the Jade Emperor. In an attempt to ensure a good report, households would smear a cake of sugar and honey onto their picture of the Kitchen God.
Similar is a story of bribery to the Oracle of Delphi priestess. A wealthy family did so with a promise to lavishly rebuild the Temple of Apollo. The priestess influenced the Spartan conquest of Athens. Aristotle commented that “even the gods can be bribed!”
Bribery, at both low and high levels, remains widespread today, such that in 2011, Transparency International reported that globally one in four people had paid bribes in the previous 12 months to access a public service. [ 2]
I found no ancient written analogy to this story. Jewish commentators have been all over the map to explain these passages. rationalizing that the wrestling partner was an angel, a messenger, or simply a man. Some have offered that this is just a story, not to be taken literally, but a lesson in the maturing of Jacob, the trickster.
Christians have a different take on the episode. The wrestler was a “member of the Godhead who became the Son. He was the same one who had appeared to both Abraham and Isaac in the form of a man. He later would be known, after being born through a human, as Jesus Christ.” [3]
III. Genesis 34: 1-28: Dinah, the daughter of whom Leah had borne, ‘went out’… Shechem, son of Hamor…saw her, and took her and lay with her ….Hamor: ‘My son Shechem longs for your daughter…give her to him in marriage….Intermarry with us’…Jacob’s sons…–speaking with guile…’Only (if)…every male among you is circumcised’…(they) were circumcised…on third day…were in pain…Simeon and Levi…slew all the males, took Dinah…The other sons…plundered the town..children and wives…as captives and booty.”
On the internet, I found no other ancient story that resembles this Biblical one. However the rabbis did produce much variable commentary on it. Some noted that Dinah is ‘barely present,’ speaking not at all, being only a girl that ‘goes out’ into a strange community to ‘visit the daughters of the land’…and is raped, thereby becoming damaged goods for a later dowry and marriage. Also, the story indicates the family’s aversion to marriage with a non-Israelite. Furthermore, no verse indicates that Dinah fought off Shechem’s advances.
Rashi, citing Genesis Rabbah (80:5) in the Talmud, offers the critical comment that two verbs imply that Shechem did two separate things:
He comments: In rabbinic texts, “an unnatural manner”is a euphemism for anal sex, i.e. the debasement in the Biblical text. He proceeds to criticize Canaanite women for maintaining their virginity by being promiscuous in “unnatural ways.” He even stretched the point to imply that Dinah was a Canaanite woman. After all, ‘the brothers took Dinah from the house of Shechem and they left…dragging her away.’
Ultimately the later opinion of Nachmanides is the one that prevails today. He emphasized that Dinah was forced, thereby suffered pain and affliction.
Irv Jacobs is a retired medical doctor who delights in Torah analysis. He often delivers a drosh at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, and at his chavurah.