Rebecca, Excluded from Isaac’s Plans, Makes a Tragic Mistake

Although they are twins, Jacob and Esau grow up having different personalities—Esau is a hunter and Jacob is a homebody—and Isaac and Rebecca each have a favorite:

‏^{בראשׁית כה:כז} וַיֶּאֱהַב יִצְחָק אֶת עֵשָׂו כִּי צַיִד בְּפִיו וְרִבְקָה אֹהֶבֶת אֶת יַעֲקֹב.

^{Gen 25:28} Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game; but Rebekah favored Jacob.^[1]

In his old age, and with his eyesight failing, Isaac decides to give a blessing to Esau. He summons Esau to his side and tells him to first prepare a meal:

‏^{בראשׁית כז:ג} וְעַתָּה שָׂא נָא כֵלֶיךָ תֶּלְיְךָ וְקַשְׁתֶּךָ וְצֵא הַשָּׂדֶה וְצוּדָה לִּי צֵידָה [צָיִד]. ^כז:ד וַעֲשֵׂה לִי מַטְעַמִּים כַּאֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתִּי וְהָבִיאָה לִּי וְאֹכֵלָה בַּעֲבוּר תְּבָרֶכְךָ נַפְשִׁי בְּטֶרֶם אָמוּת.

^{Gen 27:3} Take your gear, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open and hunt me some game. ^27:4 Then prepare a dish for me such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my innermost blessing before I die.”

Rebecca, Isaac’s wife, overhears these instructions and devises an elaborate scheme to ensure that her husband’s blessing will go to her beloved son, Jacob. In a frenzy of energetic activity, Rebecca cooks a meal, takes the clothes of her older son, and puts them on her younger son. She then puts goat skins on Jacob’s smooth hands and neck, gives him the “savory food and bread” which she prepared, and sends him to his father (vv. 8–10).

Rebecca, Feisty and Independent in Her Youth

Rebecca the wife and mother initially reminds us of the enterprising young woman we first meet when Abraham sends his servant to find a bride for Isaac from among Abraham’s family. When Rebecca meets the servant at a well outside the Aramean city of Nahor, she quickly gives him water to drink and runs to draw water for his camels (Gen 24:18–20).

After she invites the servant to her mother’s home and he makes a marriage offer to her on behalf of his master, Rebecca takes part in her own marriage negotiations, agreeing to leave her home immediately, despite her family’s wish that she delay for at least ten days:

‏^{בראשׁית כד:נז} וַיֹּאמְרוּ נִקְרָא לַנַּעֲרָ וְנִשְׁאֲלָה אֶת פִּיהָ. ^כד:נח וַיִּקְרְאוּ לְרִבְקָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלֶיהָ הֲתֵלְכִי עִם הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלֵךְ.

^{Gen 24:57} They said, “We will call the young woman and ask her.” ^24:58 And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.”

An Inspired Intervention?

At first glance, Rebecca’s intervention in the planned blessing appears to be inspired. After all, before she gave birth, as the twins were struggling in her womb, she inquires of YHWH, who informs her that Esau will serve Jacob:^[2]

^{בראשׁית כה:כג} וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הוָה לָהּ שְׁנֵי גֹיִים [גוֹיִם] בְּבִטְנֵךְ וּשְׁנֵי לְאֻמִּים מִמֵּעַיִךְ יִפָּרֵדוּ וּלְאֹם מִלְאֹם יֶאֱמָץ וְרַב יַעֲבֹד צָעִיר.

^{Gen 25:23} And YHWH answered her, “Two nations are in your womb, two separate peoples shall issue from your body; one people shall be mightier than the other, and the older the younger will serve.”

But it is not this prophecy, which was given to Rebecca alone, that drives her to help her favorite son. If Rebecca trusts this divine message, then she surely must believe that YHWH’s far-reaching historical plans for Jacob’s dominance cannot be overridden by a single blessing given by his human father.

Rather, Rebecca’s fear is that Isaac is blind to his sons’ true natures and that he will appoint Esau, his admired firstborn, to be the head of the family, the heir to this family’s unique mission, namely, to become the third Patriarch. Thus, she regards her underhanded actions as correct and righteous, a means to ensure that the right person receives the patriarchal blessing and mission.

This story of intrigue and deception, however, also suggests that Rebecca’s stature has shrunk, and that she is no longer the same Rebecca who in her youth freely spoke with a stranger at the well. Instead we find her indoors, excluded from her husband’s plans, and therefore humiliatingly reduced to listening behind the curtains to his conversations to stay informed about his actions:

^{בראשׁית כז:ה} וְרִבְקָה שֹׁמַעַת בְּדַבֵּר יִצְחָק אֶל עֵשָׂו....

^{Gen 27:5} Rebekah had been listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau....

Rebecca has transformed into the prototypical wife in the patriarchal system. Ultimately, her successful ruse proves to be a mistake born of her ignorance of Isaac’s plans.

Why Does Isaac Give Jacob a Second Blessing?

Isaac gives Jacob the blessing he had intended to give to Esau, but then, surprisingly, he calls Jacob and gives him a second blessing before Jacob leaves home. Genesis Rabbah suggests that this second blessing is intended to firm up and validate the earlier one, as it is given with Isaac’s full knowledge that Jacob is the recipient:

^{בראשית רבה (תיאודור-אלבק) סז} ״ויקרא יצחק אל יעקב ויברך אתו״ וגומר (בראשית כח:א) אמר רבי אבהו לפי שהיו מפוקסקות בידו, איכן נתאששו בידו ״ויקרא יצחק אל יעקב ויברך אתו״.

^{Gen Rab 67} “Isaac sent for Jacob, and he blessed him...” (Gen 28:1)—Rabbi Abahu said: Because the blessings were uncertain in his hand. Where were they reinforced in his hand? It is here, “Isaac sent for Jacob, and he blessed him.”

אמר רבי אלעזר אין קיום גט אלא בחותמיו, שלא תאמר אלולי שרימה יעקב באביו לא נטל הברכות תלמוד לומר ״ויקרא יצחק אל יעקב ויברך אתו״.

Rabbi Elazar said: Ratification of a document is only by its signatories. So that you will not say that had Jacob not deceived Isaac, he would not have received his blessings, the verse states: “Isaac sent for Jacob and he blessed him.”

אמר רבי ברכיה לבן מלכים שהיה חותר לאביו ליטרא אחת שלזהב, אמר לו למה במטמונית בוא וטול לך בפרהסיא שנאמר ״ויקרא יצחק אל יעקב״ וגומר.

Rabbi Berekhya said: This is analogous to the son of kings who was digging to take a pound of gold. He [the king] said to him: ‘Why clandestinely? Come and take it openly’—as it says, “Isaac sent for Jacob....”^[3]

Yet the midrash overlooks the differences between the two blessings. The first blessing, given to Jacob but intended for Esau, emphasizes material gifts, abundance, and dominion:

‏^{בראשׁית כז:כח} וְיִתֶּן לְךָ הָאֱלֹהִים מִטַּל הַשָּׁמַיִם וּמִשְׁמַנֵּי הָאָרֶץ וְרֹב דָּגָן וְתִירֹשׁ. ^כז:כט יַעַבְדוּךָ עַמִּים וְיִשְׁתַּחוּ [וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ] לְךָ לְאֻמִּים הֱוֵה גְבִיר לְאַחֶיךָ וְיִשְׁתַּחֲוּוּ לְךָ בְּנֵי אִמֶּךָ אֹרְרֶיךָ אָרוּר וּמְבָרֲכֶיךָ בָּרוּךְ.

^{Gen 27:28} “May God give you of the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth, abundance of new grain and wine. ^27:29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow to you; be master over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow to you. Cursed be they who curse you, blessed they who bless you.”^[4]

By contrast, the second blessing, which Isaac designed especially for Jacob, focuses on posterity and land (but not dominion), and identifies Jacob as inheriting the promises God made to Abraham:

‏^{בראשׁית כח:ג} וְאֵל שַׁדַּי יְבָרֵךְ אֹתְךָ וְיַפְרְךָ וְיַרְבֶּךָ וְהָיִיתָ לִקְהַל עַמִּים. ^כח:ד וְיִתֶּן לְךָ אֶת־בִּרְכַּת אַבְרָהָם לְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אִתָּךְ לְרִשְׁתְּךָ אֶת אֶרֶץ מְגֻרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן אֱלֹהִים לְאַבְרָהָם.

^{Gen 28:3} May El Shaddai bless you, make you fertile and numerous, so that you become an assembly of peoples. ^28:4 May He grant the blessing of Abraham to you and your offspring, that you may possess the land where you are sojourning, which God assigned to Abraham.”^[5]

In other words, Isaac appoints Jacob to be the third Patriarch, the carrier and the future of the unique Abrahamic covenant that distinguishes this family. Significantly, in the blessing Isaac had meant for Esau, he did not mention Abraham. Isaac, though blind, thus emerges as observant and discerning, fully capable of distinguishing between his own emotional preference for Esau and the needs of the clan. He had prepared a different blessing for each of his sons, in accordance with their respective personalities and destinies.^[6]

Rebbeca’s Intrusion Was Unnecessary, Leading to Tragic Results

Rebecca’s misguided scheme contrasts with her husband’s judiciously crafted blessings. Her ruse is not only completely unnecessary, but it generates suffering for both her and her son. Involving the reluctant Jacob in this conspiracy and making him engage in pretense and duplicity establish a pattern that will govern his future life. Henceforth, Jacob will either be outsmarted by others or have to devise strategies to outwit his enemies.^[7]

Further, unlike other biblical narratives in which a resourceful woman is rewarded, this episode reinforces the principles of patriarchy by punishing Rebecca for acting behind the scenes and interfering in what was perceived as the patriarch’s prerogative to map out the covenantal future of the family. Rebecca now has to send her beloved son abroad, away from his brother’s vengeful hand, and she will never see him again: When Jacob returns to Canaan after many years in exile, his mother is already dead.^[8]