Esau’s Sons Plan War

1 And on the day that Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau died, [2162] the sons of Esau heard that Isaac had given the portion of the elder to his younger son Jacob and they were very angry. 2 And they argued with their father, saying 'Why has your father given Jacob the portion of the elder and passed over you, although you are the elder and Jacob the younger?' 3 And he said to them, 'Because I sold my birthright to Jacob for a small serving of lentils, and on the day my father sent me to hunt and catch and bring him something that he should eat and bless me, he came deceitfully and brought my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and placed me under his authority. 4 And now our father has caused us to swear, me and him, that we shall not devise evil against one another, and that we shall continue in love and in peace each with his brother and not make our ways corrupt.' 5 And they said to him, 'We shall not listen to you to make peace with him; for our strength is greater than his strength, and we are more powerful than he; we shall go against him and kill him, and destroy him and his sons.⁠a And if you will not go with us, we shall do harm to you also. 6 And now listen to us: Let us send to Aram and Philistia and Moab and Ammon, and let us choose for ourselves chosen men who are eager for battle, and let us go against him and do battle with him, and let us exterminate him from the earth before he grows strong.' 7 And their father said to them, 'Do not go and do not make war with him so that you do not fall before him.' 8 And they said to him, 'This too, is exactly how you have acted from your youth until today, and you are putting your neck under his yoke. 9 We shall not listen to these words.' And they sent to Aram, and to 'Aduram to the friend of their father, and they hired along with them one thousand fighting men, chosen men of war. 10 And there came to them from Moab and from the children of Ammon, those who were hired, one thousand chosen men, and from Philistia, one thousand chosen men of war, and from Edom and from the Horites one thousand chosen fighting men, and from the Kittim mighty men of war. 11 And they said to their father: Go out with them and lead them, else we shall kill you.' 12 And he was filled with anger and indignation on seeing that his sons were forcing him to go before (them) to lead them against Jacob his brother. 13 But afterward he remembered all the evil which lay hidden in his heart against Jacob his brother; and he did not remember the oath which he had sworn to his father and to his mother that he would devise no evil all his days against Jacob his brother.

The Attack on Jacob

14 And despite all this, Jacob did not know that they were coming against him to battle, and he was mourning for Leah, his wife, until they approached very near to the tower with four thousand warriors and chosen men of war. 15 And the men of Hebron sent to him saying, 'Look, your brother has come against you, to fight you, with four thousand armed with the sword, and they carry shields and weapons'; for they loved Jacob more than Esau. So they told him; for Jacob was a more generous and merciful man than Esau. 16 But Jacob would not believe until they came very near to the tower. 17 And he closed the gates of the tower; and he stood on the battlements and spoke to his brother Esau and said, 'The comfort with which you have come to comfort me for my wife who has died is noble. Is this the oath that you swore to your father and again to your mother before they died? You have broken the oath, and at the moment that you swore to your father you were condemned.' 18 And then Esau answered and said to him, 'Neither the human beings nor the serpents of the earth have any oath of righteousness which in swearing they have sworn (an oath valid) forever; but every day they devise evil one against another, and how each may kill his adversary and enemy. 19 And you hate me and my children forever. And there is no observing the tie of brotherhood with you. 20 Hear these words which I declare to you, If the boar can change its skin and make its bristles as soft as wool, Or if it can cause horns to grow on its head like the horns of a stag or of a sheep, Then I will observe the tie of brotherhood with you. The breasts have been separated from their mother, for you have not been a brother to me. 21 And if the wolves make peace with the lambs so as not to devour or do them violence, And if their hearts are toward them for good, Then there shall be peace in my heart toward you 22 And if the lion becomes the friend and trusted companion of the ox and makes peace with him And if he is bound under one yoke with him and plows with him, Then I will make peace with you. 23 And when the raven becomes white as the raza, Then know that I have loved you And shall make peace with you. You shall be rooted out, And your sons shall be rooted out, And there shall be no peace for you' 24 And when Jacob saw that he was (so) intent on harming him with his heart, and with all his soul as to kill him, and that he had come springing like the wild boar which comes upon the spear that pierces and kills it, and does not recoil from it; 25 then he spoke to his own and to his servants that they should attack him and all his companions.