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In Genesis 27, Isaac tells Esau that one day he will throw his brother’s yoke off his neck, granting Edom eventual freedom. Jubilees changes those same words into a curse, warning that if Esau breaks free his descendants will be wiped out.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 27:40
Hebrew Bible
39 So his father Isaac said to him,“See here, your home will be by the richness of the earth, and by the dew of the sky above. 40 You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck.” 41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, “The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!”
Jubilees 26:34
Pseudepigrapha
33 Isaac said in reply to him: 'The place where you live is indeed to be away from the dew of the earth and from the dew of heaven above.' 34 You will live by your sword and will serve your brother. May it be that, if you become great and remove his yoke from your neck, then you will commit an offense fully worthy of death and your descendants will be eradicated from beneath the sky.' 35 Esau kept threatening Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. He said to himself: 'The time of mourning for my father is now approaching. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.'
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Notes and References
... that, if [better: when, כי] you become great is an interpretation of the difficult word תריד in Genesis 27:40 (NJPS: “when you grow restive”) and remove His yoke from your neck, then you will commit an offense fully worthy of death: this interprets “you shall break his yoke” (Genesis 27:40) as if it were “His yoke,” that is, God’s, not Jacob’s, causing Esau to give up all obedience to God’s ways. As a result, your descendants will be eradicated from beneath the sky. ...
Kugel, James L.
A Walk through Jubilees: Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of Its Creation
(p. 138) Brill, 2012
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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