וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ הַמַּלְאָכִ֔ים אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב לֵאמֹ֑ר בָּ֤אנוּ אֶל־אָחִ֙יךָ֙ אֶל־עֵשָׂ֔ו וְגַם֙ הֹלֵ֣ךְ לִקְרָֽאתְךָ֔ וְאַרְבַּע־מֵא֥וֹת אִ֖ישׁ עִמּֽוֹ׃
The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau; he himself is coming to meet you, and his retinue numbers four hundred.”
Genesis 32:7 (6) (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
A slow read of the story of Jacob (and Esau) shows you that the text is meant to unfurl line by line, thought by thought. You are meant to chew on every single word.
The messengers in the story bring back a report, but the report is intentionally ambiguous. There are so many hidden gems that show this.
For starters, the phrase “your brother Esau” contains the hebrew pointer (אל) for both “brother” and “Esau” separately. This is redundant, and it points to a duality. It reads something like “your brother, also Esau,” as though it is teaching us that the messengers are hinting at the dual nature and dual view of Esau: yes – he is your brother (good), but he is also Esau (wicked).
The text also gives us an interesting push-pull tension. The messengers say ” we went to him, and he is coming to you.” This isn’t written as a sequence of events. There are no causal-words. It’s like they are happening simultaneously.
“his retinue (men, but can also be ‘people’) number 400” carries no clear indicator of hostility or friendliness, but the rabbis see both implications.
They look at Numbers 20:20 and see the same language used to describe Esau coming out in force against Israel.
But they also look at Exodus 4:14 when Aaron comes to meet Moses, and the wording is associated with joy.
It appears intentionally unclear.
“he himself is coming” is actually “and also he is coming,” which has lead some rabbis to see another strange clue in a redundant word.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that one interpretation is that part of the storytelling of this section involves the unseen guardian angel of Esau – Samael. This angel is known as the accuser of Israel. The scriptures don’t teach this explictly, but it does serve as a functional teaching device, especially when you consider Jacob’s reaction.
Likely, you know the story and how it unfolds. Esau does not attack Jacob, but meets him with a loving embrace and celebration. But if you read it line by line, it’s clear that Jacob believes that Esau is going to attack him. In fact, the whole remainder of the chapter is Jacob wrestling with this fear.
What’s fascinating to remember is that Jacob is not really worried that Esau is evil. He is worried that Esau wants vengeance because of what JACOB did.
The teaching of “Samael, the guardian angel of Esau” shows us that Jacob’s fear is tied to an *accusation.* Jacob is wrestling with the harm that he did to his brother in the taking of the birthright and the blessing.
This wrestling turns into a physical wrestling with an unidentified angel later in the chapter. Rather than turn away and run, Jacob will meet his brother and accept whatever consequence is coming to him. He doesn’t know what will happen. It can go either way.
That’s the point.