Bereshit

Bible studies with Don Isaac Abravanel’s commentary (also spelled Abarbanel) has withstood the test of
time. 

“And I will make you swear by God, the God in heaven and the God of
the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of
the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. But you shall go unto my country,
and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son, even for Isaac.”

Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508) was a preeminent Jewish thinker, scholar, and prolific Biblical
commentator. In Genesis chapter 24, Abraham turns his attention to finding the right wife for Isaac.
Abravanel asks about Abraham’s precondition. Why was it crucial that Isaac’s wife hail from the
patriarch’s homeland? What was his objection to the local, Canaanite girls? Certainly, it had nothing to
do with Canaan’s affinity to idol worship, though Abraham found it wholly despicable. In that
department, the patriarch’s homeland was on the same page, sharing those irreverent mores.

Abravanel gives two answers. The first one takes into account Abraham’s awareness of, and sensitivity
to, Noah’s curse: “And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his youngest son had done unto
him. And he said, cursed be Canaan.” The patriarch was adamant that his blessed Isaac would not marry
a woman born to an accursed nation. Water and oil.

Here is a second rationale behind Abraham’s qualification for his son’s wife. God had promised the Holy
Land to Noah’s son Shem. Though Canaanites, at present, ruled the land, that would not always be the
case. In time, and in accordance with divine will, Shem’s descendants would wrest control of the land of
Israel away from Canaan, liberate it, and take possession of it. Abraham traced his lineage to Shem. He
was not about to let Isaac marry a Canaanite girl, for that union would effectively enable Canaan to take
hold of the Holy Land, in violation of God’s promise to Shem. Shem, and only Shem was the legitimate
heir to the land.

Abravanel lists other reasons for Abraham’s conduct, concerning his son’s wife. Please see Abravanel’s World of Torah: Bereshit

Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508) was a preeminent Jewish thinker, scholar, and prolific Biblical
commentator. In Genesis chapter 28, Jacob leaves home and makes his way to Haran. The patriarch
rests along the road. A prescient encounter with God will change his life forever. Abravanel deciphers
the prophecy – Jacob’s ladder.

“And Jacob went out from Beer-Sheba, and went toward Haran. And he
lighted upon the place, and tarried there all night…And he dreamed, and
behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.
And behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.”

For elegance and mystique, few Biblical passages surpass the sublime story of Jacob’s ladder. A towering
ladder, a vision that depicted angels in upward and downward movement. Abravanel asks a core
question: What it’s all about? Is God tutoring Jacob in the realm of heaven’s inner workings or
mechanics, as other Bible commentators conclude? If so, why didn’t the Creator reveal the heady stuff
to Abraham and Isaac when He communicated with them?

Continuing, Abravanel wonders about the timing of the dream. Why did the Almighty convey esoterica
to Jacob now, when he was spent and road weary, en route to distant Haran? Far better, Abravanel
proposes, had God apprised Jacob of these intricate laws of the universe while he learned with his
father Isaac, or in the ancient study halls of Shem and Eber. Jacob in either of those academic settings
felt calm, and had the right frame of mind to receive Heaven’s tutorial. Lastly, Abravanel asks about
context. How is the vision connected to the overall narrative, given the backdrop of the circumstances
that prompted the patriarch’s exit from Beer-Sheba?

Abravanel lists his predecessors’ approaches, and there are many. Here we only zero in on his. See
Abravanel’s World for the full discussion. By way of preface, Abravanel challenges Bible students to
evaluate all the approaches, including his own, to determine for themselves which one rates as the most
logical and reasonable.

Indeed, context matters. For that reason, Abravanel says, God appeared now to Jacob and not at other
earlier junctures in the patriarch’s lifetime. Further, the vision of the ladder came to Jacob and not
Abraham or Isaac, in a communiqué tailor-made for him.

In a word, God sought to comfort Jacob’s brooding mood, patch his wounded soul. Jacob had just duped
his blind father. Further, Jacob infuriated Esau, to the point where the patriarch feared for his life at his
brother’s hand. Penniless, a destitute and lonely Jacob fled.

Nagging doubts gave Jacob no respite. Regret consumed him. Had God disapproved? Had the Maker
resolved to soundly punish him for unconscionable conduct toward Esau? Was stealing the blessing
worth the risk of death? Was exile from the Holy Land the Creator’s punishment to a crestfallen
patriarch, the first of endless wanderings?

Indeed, self-doubt haunted Jacob. Still, that night he slept, “and he dreamed, and behold a ladder…”
Abravanel illustrates how God’s uplifting dream reassured Jacob; he need not worry. He informed Jacob
that his father’s blessings reached the right son. “And behold God stood beside him and said, I am
God…The land whereupon you lie, to you I will give it, and to your seed. And your seed shall be as the
dust of the earth.” Jacob heard that Heaven approved of his actions. “And behold I am with you.” As for
Esau’s intent to kill Jacob, his evil plan will be thwarted, “and will keep you wherever you go…”

In short, Jacob’s vision apprised him of beautiful blessings in store, including heavenly protection via
divine providence.

Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508) was a preeminent Jewish thinker, scholar, and prolific Biblical
commentator. In Genesis chapter 30, God’s fulfilment of Jacob’s earlier dream continues to unfold.
Abravanel supplies Bible students with proper context, as well as the right stance with which to
approach divine blessing.

“And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes
in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to
Leah, give me, I pray you, of your son’s mandrakes.”

“And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the
east, and to the north, and to the south…” Indeed, the divine communication to Jacob at Beth-El
foreshadowed a rosy future. His seed would grow exponentially. Still, divine blessing should be
construed as conditional; it depends upon the recipient’s worthiness. In our case here, blessing also
assumes it wouldn’t have come to Jacob and his wives had they sat passively.

“And you shall spread abroad” informed Jacob that, in time, he would father twelve tribes. According to
Jewish tradition, Jacob relayed God’s cheery promise to Rachel and Leah, as well as to their respective
handmaids Bilhah and Zilpah. A close examination of the boys’ names reveals as much, a topic
developed in Abravanel’s World. But for our purposes here, let us set matters straight. Abravanel
agrees with other classic Bible commentators who contend that Leah and Rachel were reproductively
impaired. Thus, action would have to be taken to remedy nature’s obstacle.

“And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them
unto his mother Leah.” The verse suggests that mandrakes boosted fertility. Hence, Rachel’s request to
Leah: “Give me, I pray you, of your son’s mandrakes.”

For Abravanel, there is a fundamental lesson to be noted. That is, even though Jacob’s family operated
under divine providence, and even though God had promised Jacob prodigious seed, it didn’t give the
patriarch and matriarchs license to sit on their heels, and do nothing. Instead, each one’s efforts were
brought to bear. Prayer and medical assistance, in the form of mandrakes, aided in those efforts. If this
were not the case, the Bible would not have bothered mentioning the story about Reuben and the
mandrakes.

Initially, Leah balked and did not want to part with her son’s mandrakes, highlighting her interests to
conceive additional tribes to the rapidly growing nation. However, an arrangement between Rachel and
Leah was worked out. “And Rachel said, therefore he shall lie with you tonight for your son’s
mandrakes.”Tradition attests to Leah conceiving that night.

In brief, this episode in the Bible conveys how the patriarch and matriarchs nudged, in a manner of
speaking, the wonderful tidings communicated in the Jacob ladder vision. They partnered with the One
Above to help bring about divine providence and promise.