Israel's Sword and Bow

One of my favorite things about studying Jewish commentary is seeing the way the rabbis pore over the Scriptures and find connections that are not obvious at first. Sometimes, the connections are debated, but even the debates are preserved as part of a collection of wisdom.

The most common structure of commentary is rooted in identifying a question. Here in Genesis 35:5, a statement is given in Genesis: "a terror from God fell on the cities." This statement poses a question: "What is this terror?"

One commentary gives a simple answer: the people in the neighboring lands learned that Israel's family wiped out and plundered the city of Shechem. Perhaps the people believed that the Israelites were a powerful family, and their presence struck fear in everyone that encountered them. Similarly, another commentary points out that Israel's command for his household to bury the plundered idols of Shechem may have also worried the Canaanites - surely, the God of Israel is more powerful than the many gods of Shechem.

But some later interpreters suggest something more obscure: the family of Jacob, now called Israel, was quite good at defending themselves from attackers. Israel's perceived success in battles, especially after wiping out Shechem, would also be seen as "terror from God" to the people around them. The people did not pursue the sons of Jacob because they could not defeat them in battle.

But where does this view come from? A commentary from thin air is worthless.

As it turns out, the idea stems from a strange passage in Genesis 48:

Here, Israel says that he took a portion (land) from the "hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow." It's this passage that creates questions that might be answered with the Genesis 35 passage. The first question is this: what on earth is Israel talking about? He and his family have had no stated battles with the Amorites. Additionally, there is nothing explicitly written about him using a sword and bow to do anything; that seems more like Esau's way of life. Some commentaries suggest that Israel is describing the end of Genesis 34, and that Israel is claiming the violence of Simeon and Levi as his own. But this would be odd, given that he will call out his sons' violence against them.

Other commentaries say that "sword and bow" is metaphorical language for prayer and pleading to God for success. In fact, this is the prevailing view, but there is nothing in the text that required Israel to plead for the land that God had already promised to his family.

In a way, the interpretation that ties "sword and bow" to the "terror of God" in Genesis 35 is the more narratively-driven answer, as it provides a practical answer that addresses the questions of both passages. Israel's "sword and bow" and battle prowess is what causes the reputation that Israel's family is divinely backed.