Toledot (Genesis 25:19-28:9)
LA JOLLA, California — This essay covers: In Utero ‘fighting’ between twins; selling of a birthright; adultery punishment; contention over water; competition for father’s blessing.
The parasha deals with: Rebekah giving birth to twins; favoritisms of the parents; Esau selling his birthright to the younger Jacob in return for red soup; Isaac’s travels in Canaan; threat of adultery of his wife by King Abimelech; Isaac’s prosperity, including disputes over ownership of wells; aging Isaac granting his innermost blessing to the younger Jacob via trickery, and a lesser blessing to furious Esau; Jacob’s escape to Haran; and finally Esau’s acceptable marriage to his half-cousin.
I have chosen five passages, for comparison with Internet writings attributed to ancient Israel’s neighbors.
I. Genesis 25:21-22 “…Rebekah conceived (twins)…the children struggled in her womb…”
The internet yielded no ancient records describing such an event. To the inquiry: “ancient records of twins in utero fighting,” the answer was ‘No results,’ representing a screen of 5,000,000 results.’
Though not recorded, almost certainly such activity occurred throughout history. Via today’s cinematic-MRI technology, twins are
seen ‘fighting’ for legroom in utero.
Incidentally, another rare phenomenon seen via this technology, unique to identical twins, is ‘twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.’ In this, the twins’ blood flows are interconnected, with one fetus losing out to the other, and stops growing. The other baby grows dangerously fast, suffering cardiovascular complications and premature birth. In this case, there is indeed destructive competition between the twins. [1]
II Genesis 25:30-33 “…Esau said…’Give me some of the red stuff’…Jacob said…’First sell me your birthright’…and (Esau) sold his birthright…”
The internet yielded no ancient records describing such an event. To the inquiry: “selling birthright-ancient records?”—the answer was: No results found representing a screen of about 3,250,000 results.
III. Genesis 26:7-10 “Isaac said, ‘She is my sister’…Abimelech…(later) said, ‘So she is your wife!…What have you done to us!…people might have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.’”
The internet yielded no ancient records of a man presenting his wife as his sister. To the inquiry: ”Ancient records of man presenting his wife as sister?”—the answer was: No results found representing a screen of 31,100,000 results.
The internet also yielded no ancient records of fear of gods’ punishment for adultery. To the inquiry: “Ancient fear of gods punish for adultery?”—the answer was: No results found representing a screen of 16,100,000 results.
However, there were ancient legal punishments, often sketchy, as follows:
Mesopotamia: Adultery was seen as a crime. The Code of Hammurabi stated the couple should be executed together, unless the husband allowed his wife to live. In that case the king would pardon the adulterous man. If the wife is accused by an ‘outsider male,’ she was to be subjected to the Divine River ordeal, i.e. survival or not when thrown into the river.
Egypt: Punishments were variable, e.g. consideration of the wife’s social status. Harsh treatments included excising her nose and the man lashed. Punishments changed with change of dynasties.
Hittites: A husband who caught his wife in the act had the right to kill her. He could choose divorce if he spared her life. If he wanted to keep her, he could veil her to signify to the public that her status had been questioned.
Classical Athens: Women had the right to divorce, though they lost all rights to any children she had with her husband.
Rome: Children born outside of marriage inherited the social status, name, and citizenship of the mother, unless the father legitimated them. Adultery (stuprum; Latin=disgrace) was determined entirely by the status of the woman. If a married woman had sex with a man other than her husband, she was guilty of adultery. However, if a married man had sex with a woman who could not be legally married, there was no offense.
Roman law recognized rape as a crime in which the victim bore no guilt. Rape was a capital crime. [2]
IV. Genesis 26:19-21 “…Isaac’s servants…digging…found a well…the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled…saying. ‘The water is ours’…they dug another well…disputed…also…”
The internet yielded no ancient records of such disputes. To the inquiry “ancient contentions Re: ownership of wells?” —the answer was: No results found representing about 7,830,000 results.
Tangentially, I unearthed 28 recorded ancient episodes wherein conquerors used water in competing with an enemy. Here are a few examples:
- In c. 2500 BCE, the king of Lugash diverted water from a region to boundary canals, drying up ditches to deprive his enemy of water.
- In c. 720 BCE, Sargon II of Assyria destroyed the intricate irrigation network of the Halidians.
- In c. 699 BCE, Esarhaddon of Assyria besieged Tyre, cutting off food and water.
- In 621 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar’s father (Babylon) diverted the Khosr River to create a flood, which elevated their siege engines enabling destruction of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria.
- Solon of Athens threw roots of poisonous helleborus into an aqueduct to the enemy city Cirrha. The enemy became violently ill, and were defeated.
V. Genesis 27:5-10 “Rebekah…said to…Jacob..’I overheard your father speaking to…Esau..’bring me some game…a dish for me…that I may bless you…before I die’…’Now, (Jacob)…listen…fetch…two choice kids, and I will make…a dish for your father…Then take it to your father, in order that he may bless you (instead).’”
The internet yielded no such ancient episode of stealing a father’s blessing. To the inquiry “Ancient competition over father’s blessing”—the answer was: No results found representing about 25,000,000 results.
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NOTES
[1] Twins Caught Fighting in the Womb, Joshua Gardner, November 30, 2012, ABC News
[2] Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
[3] Ancient Water Technologies, Larry W. Mays Editor, Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York, Arizona State University, 2010
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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.