History of Esau and Israel – Part 3
Era of Torah
As mentioned in part 2 of this article the era of Torah encompasses 2,000 years starting from Abraham’s calling and ending with the ascendancy of Rome. This section will focus on the following periods in the era of Torah:
- Biblical – Pentateuch, Early Prophets, King David, King Solomon.
- Second Temple – Four Kingdoms (Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome).
- Rome’s Ascendancy.
Biblical Era
Pentateuch
Esau and Jacob were born in the year 2108 from creation or 1652 BCE. When Jacob returned to Canaan to live with his father Isaac, Esau left for Seir and there was little contact between them especially when Jacob and his family went to Egypt. While the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt the Torah does not mention anything about the descendants of Esau with respect to the Israelites. After the Israelites crossed the Sea of Reeds the Torah states (Exodus 15:15), “Then the chieftains of Edom were confounded.” The Torah emphasizes that instead of celebrating the deliverance of the Israelites, the leaders of Edom were upset. The Torah does record a battle (Exodus 17:8-13) between the Israelites and Amalek who are descendants of Esau’s grandson, but this article will focus on the nation of Edom in its entirety.
The Torah records the next incident with Edom about 40 years later in Numbers 20:14-21, when the Israelites were preparing to enter the land of Israel and sought passage through the land of Edom. The King of Edom refused passage and threatened to wage war against the Israelites (ibid. 20-21). Moses mentioned this encounter in Deuteronomy 2:4-5 and adds that Hashem instructed him to not wage war with Esau but rather pass by his land. Here we see an encounter with Esau’s descendants where they treat the Israelites with indifference and veiled hostility.
Early Prophets
The kingdom of Esau did not play an important role neither during the conquest of Canaan by Joshua nor during the time of the judges. At this point neither the descendants of Esau nor Jacob were significant powers.
King David
The oscillation of power mentioned in Genesis 25:23 came into fruition during the reign of King David. As Midrash Lekach Tov (on ibid.) comments that when Israel is great (i.e. in ascendancy) then Esau is subdued as the verse says (2 Samuel 8:14), “He (King David) placed governors in Edom and all of Edom became servants to David.”
King Solomon
Midrash Lekach Tov (on Genesis 27:28-29) notes that the blessings of peace and prosperity are conditional upon following the ways of Hashem. During the King Solomon’s reign the Israelites enjoyed peace and prosperity. When King Solomon departed from the ways of Hashem, Edom started to rebel against the Israelites.
Second Temple Era
Four Kingdoms
Scripture at a literal level discusses the fate of the Israelites until the beginning of the second temple when prophecy ceased (Yoma 9b) and therefore cannot provide a detailed history of Esau during the second temple era. However there are many prophecies in scripture about Esau which require collation and interpretation.
The book of Daniel provides the most organized view of this period though his predictions about the 4 kingdoms (i.e. Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome) that would achieve world status in the Middle East and influence the history of the Israelites.
Rome
For sake of brevity this article will only focus on Rome. In Daniel 7:7 the verse states, “After this, I saw in the visions of the night; a fourth beast, awesome, dreadful, and exceedingly strong with huge iron teeth. It ate and crushed, and trampled the rest with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before me, and it had ten horns.”
The verse describes this empire as “awesome, dreadful (ואימתני), and exceedingly strong”. These adjectives refer to the brutality (i.e. placing fear on their enemies), meticulous planning (i.e. the word ואימתני is related to מתונים which means careful and deliberate (Avot 1:1) and enormous military strength (Mayanei HaYeshua 8:5 – commentary on Book of Daniel by Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel and Malbim on Daniel). (These adjectives describe the evil government of Germany during the Second World War.)
The commentators differ over the enigmatic phrase, “It had ten horns.” Rashi explains this phrase in reference to the Caesars that ruled Rome before the destruction of the Second Temple. Rabbi Saadia Gaon, a prominent rabbi, philosopher, and exegete in 10th century Babylonia, explains this phrase in reference to the different provinces of the Roman Empire after the destruction of the Second Temple to the present.
Along these lines, the author would like to interpret this phrase in reference to the many empires that performed the role of Esau after the fall of Rome including the present. The Midrash (Lamentations Rabbah) 2:6 identifies these horns as special distinctions from Hashem that originally belonged to the Israelites, then transferred to Rome (based upon Lamentations 2:3), but will return to the Israelites at the time of the messiah. This Midrash will be explained in more detail in the section of European Rule – Role of the Church.
In particular Daniel inquires about the fourth beast as follows:
7:19 – “Then I wished to determine the truth of the fourth beast, which was different from all of them- excessively dreadful. Its teeth were of iron and its nails of copper. It ate and crushed to powder and the rest it trampled with its feet.”
7:23 – “So he (the angel) said: The fourth beast represents a fourth kingdom that will be on the earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms, since it will devour the whole land, trample, and crush it.”
The Talmud Avodah Zarah 2b cites this verse as an indication of the power of Rome and its impact on the world.
7:24 – “And the ten horns that sprout from that kingdom represent ten kings that will rise. The last one will rise after them for he will be different from the first and humble three kings.”
Here the verse identifies these horns as kingdoms that arise from Rome with the debate amongst the commentators whether these kingdoms arose before or after the destruction of the Second Temple.
Rome’s Ascendancy
Origins
Initially the descendants of Esau were a Semitic tribe who lived in the era of modern day Jordan (Genesis 35:8 and 31-43). This tribe did not play a significant role in the history of the Middle East until a century or two before the Common Era. The reader may ask, “Since the Romans are not a Semitic people and are in fact descended from Japheth (Genesis 10:2-5) how did the sages link Esau with Rome?”
Nachmanides (Numbers 24:22-24) quotes Jossipon Chapter 2 that Zepho the grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:11 and 15) left his native Jordan, settled in Rome, and eventually became a leader of the Roman tribes. (The author of the Book of Jossipon, a chronicle of Jewish history from Adam to Titus, is a matter of academic dispute. Some place the author as a contemporary of Josephus while others place the author in 10th century Italy. Perhaps the origins of this work date back to the Roman Empire with the work completed in the 10th century.) In addition Rabbi David Kimchi (Redak), 12th and 13th century scholar, biblical commentator, and philosopher, mentions the association of Esau’s descendants with Rome in his commentary on Joel 4:19 and Obadiah 1:1. Over time more of Esau’s descendants settled in Rome and assisted Rome to become a world power.
Talmud
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b) identifies the formation of Rome through the sin of Solomon marrying the daughter of Pharaoh as follows. “When Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter the angel Gabriel descended from Heaven and implanted a pole in the sea which gradually produced a sandbar … on which the great city of Rome was built.” Since the Torah does not permit this marriage, because converts from Egypt must wait 3 generations before marrying into Israel (Deuteronomy 23:9), this act was sinful for Solomon.
Power of Rome
During the time of scripture, Rome was not a significant force in the Middle East therefore scripture does not explicitly link Rome to Esau. However the Talmud (Gittin 57b) clearly identifies the victories of Rome with Esau by noting that the strength of Esau is in his hands to wage victorious wars based upon Genesis 27:22, “The hands are the hands of Esau.” The Talmud (ibid.) further comments that the “hands of Esau” correspond to “the wicked kingdom of Rome that destroyed our Temple (complex), burned our Sanctuary, and exiled us from our land.” On the same verse the Talmud states that the voice of Jacob relates to the suffering of the Israelites inflicted by the hands of Esau (i.e. the Romans) at the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the tragic losses as a result of the failed Bar Kochva rebellion. There are similar references to Rome as Esau in the Midrash (e.g. Genesis Rabbah 65:21).