SERIES B --- A CHOSEN PEOPLE --- LESSON 8

CONFRONTATION

TWO BROTHERS AND HOW THEY MET

From Genesis 33

The day that Jacob feared had come. As he looked south toward Edom, he saw his brother Esau coming with four hundred men. Jacob divided his family into three groups. The two maids and their children were placed nearest to Esau as he approached, then Leah and her children, and finally Rachel and Joseph. When this was finished, Jacob went to the south to meet Esau. As he came near Esau, he bowed to the ground seven times. Esau ran to meet Jacob, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Then Jacob and Esau wept together. [Who are these people with you?] Esau asked when he noticed Jacob’s family. [These are my children,] said Jacob. Then Bilhah and Zilpah stepped forward with their children and bowed before Esau. Next Leah and her children bowed before him, and finally Rachel and Joseph. [And why did you send all those animals to meet me?] Esau asked. [I wanted to please you with a gift,] said Jacob. [But I already have plenty, my brother. You should keep these animals for yourself.] No, Jacob insisted. [Please take them, for it’s worth all those things to see friendship on your face. In fact, it’s like seeing the face of YHVH, for you have received me graciously. You must take my gifts because YHVH has given plentifully to me. Jacob continued urging Esau to accept the animals until at last he took them. Now we must head homeward,] said Esau. [I will lead you.] [The children are still young and cannot go very fast,] said Jacob, [and there is much care required to lead the flocks and herds with their young. If I drive them too hard, even for a day, they will die. Please go ahead of us to your home in Seir and we will follow slowly, at the pace which the cattle and children set.] [Then let me leave some of my men to guide you and help you,] said Esau. [There is no need to do that,] Jacob answered. [I am just grateful that you are friendly to us.] While Esau returned to Seir, Jacob moved onward to a place where he built a house and made booths for his animals. Thus, the name of the place became Succoth, which meant [Booths.] Their next home was at Shechem, in the land of Canaan. Jacob set up camp near the city and bought that piece of land from Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money. On his new land, Jacob set up an altar and named it El-Elohe-Israel, which meant [YHVH, the YHVH of Israel.]

COMMENTARY

THE LAND OF EDOM

Esau, with an army of four hundred men, met the brother he had sworn twenty years before to kill. But no anger flashed at that confrontation! Esau’s wealth had multiplied. He was satisfied with his riches. He still dismissed the Covenant promises of YHVH, which Jacob {Israel} possessed, as unimportant. Israel’s fears dissolved in the warmth of his brother’s greeting. Edom lay southeast of Israel in the harsh mountainous region beyond the Jordan River Valley. Stony peaks dropped sharply into deep gorges that rose to high-level plateaus along red sandstone cliffs. But in spite of the forbidding landscape, the land of Edom had a few rich resources. Its hills held deposits of copper and iron ore. Some grapes, figs and olives grew on its plateaus. Sheep and goats could graze on its hillside pastures. The several major roads through the land carried rich trade into the country. Edom had a common border with Israel. But they shared much more than that. Both countries were descended from the same family of ancestors, the twin sons of Isaac. The Israelites traced their origins to Jacob, and the Edomites belonged to the line of Esau. Though they shared the same blood, the two countries were old and bitter enemies. The Israelites probably scorned the Edomites because the descendants of Esau had intermarried with the Canaanites and adopted their gods. And the Edomites did not permit the Israelites to use the major route through the country, the king’s highway, during the Exodus. The friction broke out into war during the reign of Saul. This was the first of a long series of battles between Edom and Israel, in which first one side won and then the other. Babylonia finally captured Edom some centuries later, and when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem the Edomites rejoiced. When the Babylonians carried off their prisoners to Mesopotamia, some Edomites took advantage of the land of Judah’s defeat and settled within its southern borders. Their new land came to be called Idumea, and the capital was in Hebron. Edom itself was finally overrun and absorbed by the Nabatean Arabs, but Idumea continued to exist until the Roman conquest of Palestine. After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the Edomites and their western territory of Idumea were absorbed into the Roman Empire and disappeared from recorded history.