Jubilees

Seeking strong female role models in the biblical period, a prime example is the Matriarch Rebecca. Time and again she shows her willingness to take charge of her own life, and to guide the destiny of her husband and children. Yet Rebecca is a complex and controversial figure. She is the young woman at the well who labors tirelessly to provide water for the camels of Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24, even as she greets him and welcomes him to Aram-naharaim, the city of Nahor. This kindly person contrasts with the determined Rebecca who, in reacting to a difficult pregnancy, goes to inquire of God why this is happening to her (Gen. 25:22). It also differs from the Rebecca who, at least on a surface level in Genesis 27, appears to contravene the explicit wishes of her husband Isaac. There, she rearranges events so that Jacob receives the primogeniture blessing. Understood in this light, Rebecca is seen to be a manipulative, scheming woman who undermines her husband’s wishes. The Early Extra-biblical Book of Jubilees presents a very different figure. In Jubilees, Rebecca does what she does because she works not only in concert with her father-in-law Abraham, but she follows God’s wishes for the future destiny of her son Jacob. Jubilees rights Rebecca’s reputation even as it rewrites the narrative in Genesis.

The View from Genesis

Rebecca appears to have a difficult pregnancy. She goes to seek guidance from God. God tells her that she is carrying twins, and that they have different destinies (Gen. 25:22-23). Years later, when her husband Isaac wants to give the primogeniture blessing to their firstborn son, Esau, Rebecca intervenes in the process, perhaps reflecting her understanding of what God said to her concerning her sons. On a pshat (simple literal) reading of the text in Genesis 27, it appears that Rebecca consciously and premeditatedly goes out of her way to see that the special blessing goes to Jacob. Rebecca’s actions are detailed in just over a dozen verses (5-17). She overhears Isaac’s directions to Esau to make the proper preparations to receive this blessing. Rebecca then seeks out Jacob and arguably browbeats him to take action. Twice she says, “listen to my voice” (vss. 8 and 13) and do what I say. This is not just a simple idiom saying, “pay attention to me.” The phrase sh’ma b’qoli/listen to my voice is redolent with divine force. A generation earlier God had said to Abraham, sh’ma b’kola/listen to her voice, i.e. the voice of Sarah (Gen. 21:12). When Abraham listened to/followed the request of Sarah, Isaac’s life took a dramatic turn.

When he hears his mother’s statement, Jacob is reluctant to act. It is not that he challenges the intent of his mother’s wish; he appears to be fine with such a subterfuge. No, Jacob’s hesitancy is that he might be caught out, bringing a curse not a blessing. Rebecca is not to be denied. She says, “the curse will be on me, sh’ma b’qoli/listen to my voice” (v. 13). Jacob listens, and after Rebecca makes certain clothing and culinary preparations he goes to his father and presents himself as faux Esau.

Contemporary Analyses of Rebecca’s Actions

Describing this scene, Nahum M. Sarna writes of the “strong-willed, artful Rebekah” who hovers “inconspicuously in the background, manipulating the situation.” Artful and manipulating are words of criticism, not compliments. Gerhard Von Rad, labeling this scene as the “Cunning Acquisition of the Blessing,” notes that “the mother had really thought of everything.” Bruce Vawter compares Rebecca to Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth. Pamela E. Adelman uses words like “manipulation” and “devious” when describing Rebekah.¹ Reading this narrative on its surface level, Rebecca and Jacob are guilty of what in modern terms would be described as elder abuse. They purposely take advantage of Isaac’s self-described limited years and failing eyesight to substitute Jacob for Esau. They contravene his stated wishes at the beginning of Genesis 27. Another explanation is that this is all an elaborate ruse, worked out ahead of time by Rebecca working in tandem with Isaac, and that it is Jacob, not his father, who is in the dark.² Those explanations to the side, the fact remains that, as noted above and below, many traditional as well as contemporary commentators fault Rebecca for her various (mis)deeds.

Traditional Commentators and Midrashic Analyses of Rebekah’s Actions

Two 19th century commentators (S. R. Hirsch and Malbim) suggest that the matter is more complex. Isaac believes that the blessing should be split between Jacob and Esau, that the spiritual blessing should go to Jacob, and the more material to Esau, but that Rebecca wants both aspects to go to Jacob. The concept of a split blessing is anticipated by Sforno (16th cent. Italy), although he deals with different issues. He refers to Gen. 25:22-23, when Rebecca goes to inquire about her difficult pregnancy: “She went to inquire from YHWH and YHWH answered her, ‘Two nations [ge’im, but following Rashi read as goyim] are in your womb, two separate peoples [l’umim] shall issue from your body.’” Sforno writes about the word goyim, explaining “two nations with opposing ideas of religion,” and in terms of l’umim, he explains “two people who have opposing ideas about nationalism.” The first refers to a community of faith, the second to a political, national entity.³

Midrashic comments generally support Rebecca, yet it is approval with a negative edge. She is praised with having the gift of prophecy (Genesis Rabbah 67:9), but this is not direct prophecy from God, which is at a higher level. Instead, she gains her knowledge through the medium of Shem, Noah’s son (or from Abraham, according to Ibn Ezra on Gen. 25:23). Genesis Rabbah 60:15 likewise links Rebecca with Tamar of Genesis 38, another woman who practices subterfuge. In its own way this is a backhanded compliment. Genesis Rabbah 65:4 says clearly, “Rebecca, being the child of idolatrous priests, did not (or did not sufficiently) object to the pollution of idolatry,” referring to the fact that her daughters-in-law were “only a bitterness to her,” a sentiment that could have been described using a more forceful statement. In fact, that section goes on to say that Rebecca was the cause of Esau’s wickedness, she coming from a family of idolatrous priests. BT Yevamot 64a indicates that God responded to Isaac’s call for a child, and not Rebecca’s, because he was a righteous person, the child of a righteous person, and she was the child of wicked people. Sforno suggests that there was some negative influence from Rebecca’s family that she carried within herself and passed on to Esau (comment on Gen. 25:20, probably based on Genesis Rabbah 65:4, or BT Baba Batra 110a, which suggests that children follow the ways of their maternal uncles). Ramban (13th c. Spain) stands out when he praises her actions in securing the blessing for Jacob, since she knew that she was following what God had wanted. He terms Rebecca haTzadeket, “the righteous one.” Generally, among traditional commentators there is a sense of mild censure, of a certain criticism when it comes to Rebecca’s deeds; they do not quite approve of her or her actions.

The Book of Jubilees

In startling contrast to these, at best lukewarm, endorsements (Ramban excepted) of Rebecca, the early extra-biblical Book of Jubilees presents a radically different picture of the second Matriarch. This work, Jubilees, according to James C. VanderKam, was composed in the Maccabean period, between “160-150 BCE … [or possibly at] a slightly earlier date.”⁴ Jubilees is a form of literature that is termed “reworded” or “rewritten” Scripture. Jubilees ignores or excises some material found in Genesis and early Exodus and also features material not found in the Masoretic Text. “The book of Jubilees is a Hebrew document [which in its fifty chapters, is] a rewriting of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus … Jubilees was one of the most popular Jewish books in the late Second Temple period … The identity of the book’s author, and the manner in which the book was written, are unknown.”⁵

Two important considerations for the author of Jubilees are the warm relations between the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, and the active promotion of endogamy and criticism of exogamy.

The surface reading of Rebecca’s intervention seems to suggest ongoing tension between Isaac and her. This is dealt with later in Jubilees, when Isaac specifically tells Rebecca that now he favors Jacob over Esau (Jub. 35:13). Jubilees praises Rebecca because she follows the wishes of her father-in-law Abraham, and his understanding of what God wished to happen. By sending Jacob away to her brother’s home, Rebecca also ensured that he would marry within the family (endogamy). As Simkovich explains, the author of Jubilees “perceives Rebecca…as the parent whom God tasks with preserving the Abrahamic dynasty…Rebecca was a prophetess who was fulfilling God’s will by making sure that Isaac gave Jacob, rather than Esau, a firstborn blessing” (emphasis mine).⁶

Rebecca Is a Praiseworthy Woman

The figure of Rebecca in Jubilees is that of a praiseworthy woman; she is a powerful and strong figure. As John C. Endres explains, “Rebekah’s role in the ancestral history” is prominent, for she “supplements the obvious inadequacies of her husband. She functions as the real link between God and Jacob.”⁷ Eileen Schuller points out that Rebecca has a sterling part in Jubilees, and that her place in this Pseudepigraphic work far outshines the Matriarch that appears in Genesis. “Although the author of Jubilees can be very harsh in his treatment of women, especially foreign women (Jub. 25:1-2), he does devote an unusual amount of attention to Rebecca, developing for her a role that goes far beyond the biblical text (she counsels Jacob about his marriage 25:1-3, gives a lengthy maternal blessing 25:11-23, and speaks a final testament 35:1-27); although the revised picture of Rebecca is shaped by certain theological and exegetical concerns, the result is that ‘a woman has taken her place in the company of men; a matriarch has joined the patriarchs.’”⁸

As mentioned earlier, commentators — rabbinic, Medieval, and modern — generally criticize the figure of Rebecca. Jubilees offers a very different evaluation. As Endres points out, in “Jubilees … she cannot be considered a trickster because the author characterizes her predisposition toward Jacob as inspired by Abraham (Jub. 19:15-20).”⁹ Note that the time sequence of the lives of the major players in this drama differs radically in the Genesis and Jubilees accounts. Furthermore, Jubilees at times changes wording in comparison to the biblical text. In the Bible, Abraham dies and is buried (Gen. 25:8-9) before the birth of Esau and Jacob in Genesis 26.¹⁰ In Jubilees, Abraham makes judgments about the deeds of his grandson Esau, and he interacts with his grandson Jacob. For example, Jubilees 19 begins with a variation of the words in Genesis 25:28: Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game, but Rebecca favored Jacob. Jubilees offers material totally different from the Masoretic Text.

“And Abraham loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau, [explains the text of Jubilees]. And Abraham saw the deeds of Esau, and he knew that in Jacob a name and seed would be named for him. And he called Rebecca and he commanded concerning Jacob, because he knew that she loved Jacob much more than Esau. And he said to her: ‘My daughter, guard my son Jacob for he shall be in place of me upon the earth and for a blessing in the midst of the sons of men, and for the glory to all the seed of Shem because I know that the LORD will choose him for himself as a people who will rise up from all the nations which are upon the earth. And behold, Isaac, my son, loves Esau more than Jacob, but I see you as one who loves Jacob rightly… let your eyes be lovingly upon him because he will be for us a blessing upon … the earth. Let your hands be strong and let your heart rejoice in your son Jacob. Because I love him more than all of my sons’ (Jub. 19:15-21).”¹¹

A few verses later Abraham “called to Jacob in the sight of Rebecca, his mother, and he kissed him and blessed him” (Jub. 19:26).

Abraham unambiguously endorses Jacob as his successor; he makes this choice clear to Rebecca. As in the Genesis account, Rebecca’s “prodigious agency is evident in almost every verse. She positions herself to overhear Isaac, listening attentively to his instructions to Esau. Rebecca then springs into action, not only telling Jacob to listen to her but, as if expecting him to demur, she preemptively commands him to do so. Thus we hear Rebecca’s voice emerging in its fullness” (emphasis in original).¹²

Divine Approval, Maternal Concern, Avoiding Disaster

When it comes to the deception in Genesis 27, Isaac is taken in by the ruse, despite his famous words, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau” (v. 22). Jubilees features those selfsame words, but then it offers its own explanation for Isaac’s error. The next verse in Genesis is “He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of Esau, so he blessed him.” In contrast to the biblical text, Jubilees invokes a heavenly spirit: “And he did not know him because the change was from heaven in order to distract his mind, and Isaac was unaware because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau so he blessed him” (Jub. 26:18). This is as good as saying that God approves the ploy used by Rebecca-Jacob. Quite importantly, later in Jubilees, after many years, Isaac will come around to Rebecca’s way of thinking. This is stated unambiguously. Isaac explains to Rebecca, “I first loved Esau more than Jacob because he was born first, but now I love Jacob more than Esau” (Jub. 35:13).

Jubilees writes that “the change was from heaven.” That selfsame idea, that God approves of this action, is reflected centuries later in the Targum Onkelos to Genesis (probably redacted at the end of the third century CE). According to Onkelos, in Genesis 27:13 Rebecca says to Jacob, “To me it was said in prophecy (b’neuvah)” that this is the correct thing to do, referring back to God’s revelation in Genesis 25:23 that she was bearing twins who had different destinies.¹³

As in the Genesis text, however, on some level in Jubilees Rebecca still appears to deceive Isaac. “Maternal concern is the primary theme in the characterization of Rebecca in the Jubilees family saga,” explains Betsy Halpern-Amaru.¹⁴ “Whereas in Genesis Rebecca’s conniving and Jacob’s compliance seems underhanded, in Jubilees they appear as commendable efforts by concerned people to thwart a disaster.” This concern is not merely because Rebecca loves Jacob more than Esau. Rather she realizes that something “simply had to be done to avert [Isaac’s] ill-conceived plan, one that ran contrary to the insights of Abraham and Rebecca into the souls of the two young men.”¹⁵

In Jubilees, Rebecca converses with Abraham at length and she also has extended conversations with Jacob. Rebecca praises Jacob, professing her love for him, and she literally blesses him (Jub. 25, vss. 19 and 23). In Jubilees, Rebecca expands on the terse advice she gives to Jacob in Genesis 27:43, “Now my son, listen to me [once again this crucial phrase, sh’ma b’qoli]. Flee at once to Haran, to my brother Laban.” When addressing Jacob, she is much more vehement in her condemnation of her Hittite daughters-in-law than her words in Genesis. They have embittered her soul “with all their impure deeds, because all of their deeds (are) fornication and lust” (Jub. 25:1). Rebecca then speaks further words which in Genesis 28:2 are spoken by Isaac to Jacob. In an extended discourse, Rebecca reiterates to Jacob that endogamy, not exogamy, needs to be his goal. He is not to take for himself “a wife from the daughters of this land, but from my father’s house and my father’s kin … [so that] the Most High God will bless you, and your children will be a righteous generation and a holy seed” (Jub. 25:3). After a confirmatory response from Jacob, in priest-like fashion Rebecca “then lifted her face toward heaven and spread out the fingers of her hands … and blessed the Most High God who created heaven and earth” (Jub. 25:11).

Conclusion

Rebecca’s voice and her roles are both greatly expanded in Jubilees when compared to her place in Genesis. She is a heroine in Jubilees. Through her actions in Jubilees, Rebecca moves to center stage; she is neither inconspicuous nor does she work in the background. Further, the Rebecca of Jubilees acts like a woman priest, one very concerned with the purity of the Abrahamic bloodline.

Two major concerns for Jubilees are good relations and marital harmony between the revered ancestors, and the promotion of endogamy. The author of Jubilees consciously chooses to stress, when possible, the positive relationship between Rebecca and Isaac. The Rebecca-courting scenes found in Genesis 24 and the sister/wife motif in Genesis 26 either were of no interest to the author of Jubilees, or they cast doubts about the Isaac-Rebecca relationship, so these sections were excluded from the book. The differences between Isaac and Rebecca concerning their sons in Genesis 25 and 27 were apparently too well known to be deleted. Consequently Jubilees features those matters, but recasts them, offering a different interpretation. Jubilees shows that Rebecca’s actions were her way of consciously promoting the stated dictates of her father-in-law Abraham, the first Patriarch. As pointed out above, in time Isaac comes around in his opinion; he specifically tells Rebecca that now he favors Jacob over Esau (Jub. 35:13, see also Jub. 27:14-18). Rebecca is the most voluble of the Matriarchs in Genesis, and arguably the most influential of her peers. In Genesis, Rebecca is a strong personage. The Rebecca of Jubilees is an even more commanding, authoritative and visible figure than her biblical counterpart. Jubilees rights and rewrites Rebecca’s reputation, promoting her place in biblical history.