Pt2 Jacob in Genesis 28-32: Talmudic Homiletics on the Biblical Stories of Jacob's Ladder and Jacob’s Struggle With an Angel (Chullin 91a-b)

This is the second part of a three-part series. Part 1 is here; the outline for the series can be found at Part 1.

One should not go out alone at night - biblical prooftexts

R’ Yitzḥak - From Jacob’s injury: a Torah scholar should not go out alone at night - Gen 32:25

(בראשית לב, כה) "ויאבק איש עמו עד עלות השחר"

אמר רבי יצחק:

מכאן ל

ת"ח שלא יצא יחידי בלילה

The verse states: “And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.”

R' Yitzḥak says:

From here it is derived that

a Torah scholar should not go out of his house alone at night,¹ as Jacob went out alone at night and was injured.

R’ Abba bar Kahana - alternative prooftext - from Boaz staying overnight at the threshing floor - Ruth 3:2–3

רבי אבא בר כהנא אמר מהכא:

“הנה

הוא זורה את גורן השעורים”

R' Abba bar Kahana said that the source for this instruction is from here:

“And now is there not Boaz our kinsman, whose maidens you were with? Behold,

he winnows barley tonight in the threshing floor…and it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall mark the place where he shall lie” (Ruth 3:2–3).

This teaches that the reason Boaz did not return home from the threshing floor was that a Torah scholar should not go out alone at night.

R’ Abbahu - alternative prooftext - from Abraham traveling by day (“rose early in the morning”) - Gen 22:3

רבי אבהו אמר מהכא (בראשית כב, ג):

"וישכם אברהם בבקר

ויחבוש את וגו”

R' Abbahu said that the source is from here:

“And Abraham rose early in the morning,

and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place that God had told him” (Genesis 22:3).

The fact that Abraham waited until morning and did not set off at night, even though others were traveling with him, indicates that a Torah scholar should not go out at night at all, and certainly not alone.

The Rabbis - alternative prooftext - Jacob sent Joseph by day—evidence not to travel alone at night - Gen 37:14

ורבנן אמרי מהכא (בראשית לז, יד):

“לך נא

ראה את שלום אחיך

ואת שלום וגו”

And the Rabbis say that the source is from here:

the verse that describes when Jacob sent Joseph to his brothers: “And he said to him: Go now,

see whether it is well with you brothers

and well with the flock; and bring me back word. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem” (Genesis 37:14).

The verse indicates that Jacob sent Joseph at a time when he could see his brothers, i.e., during the day. This shows that a Torah scholar should not go out alone at night.

Rav - alternative prooftext - “The sun rose for him” indicates Jacob waited until morning to leave - Gen 32:32

רב אמר מהכא (בראשית לב, לב):

“ויזרח לו השמש”

Rav said that the source is from here:

“And the sun rose for him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped upon his thigh” (Genesis 32:32).

This indicates that Jacob remained where he was all night and left in the morning, because a Torah scholar should not go out alone at night.

R’ Akiva’s query to Rabban Gamliel & R’ Yehoshua - did the sun shine “for him [=Jacob]” alone? - Gen 32:32

אמר ר' עקיבא:

שאלתי את רבן גמליאל ואת רבי יהושע באיטליז של אימאום

שהלכו ליקח בהמה למשתה בנו של רבן גמליאל

כתיב: "ויזרח לו השמש"

וכי שמש לו לבד זרחה?!

והלא לכל העולם זרחה.

The Talmud cites an incident involving the final verse cited above.

R' Akiva says:

I asked the following question of Rabban Gamliel and R' Yehoshua in the meat market [be’itliz] of the town Emmaus,

where they went to purchase an animal for the wedding feast of Rabban Gamliel’s son:

It is written in the verse: “And the sun shone for him when he passed Peniel, and he limped upon his thigh” (Genesis 32:32).

But did the sun shine only for him?!

Didn’t it shine for the entire world?!

R’ Yitzḥak - The sun had set early for Jacob at Bet El and later rose early for him; includes contraction of the land when he returned to pray - Gen 28:10–11

אמר ר' יצחק:

שמש הבאה בעבורו

זרחה בעבורו

R' Yitzḥak says:

The verse means that the sun, which set early exclusively for him,

also shone early exclusively for him in order to rectify the disparity created by the premature sunset.

דכתיב (בראשית כח, י):

"ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע

וילך חרנה"

וכתיב: "ויפגע במקום"

כי מטא לחרן אמר:

אפשר עברתי על מקום שהתפללו אבותי

ואני לא התפללתי?!

כד יהיב דעתיה למיהדר --

קפצה ליה ארעא

מיד --

"ויפגע במקום"

The Talmud explains when the sun set early for him: As it is written:

“And Jacob went out from Beersheba

and went toward Haran”² (Genesis 28:10).

And it is written thereafter: “And he encountered the place, and he slept there, because the sun had set” (Genesis 28:11).

When Jacob arrived at Haran, he said:

Is it possible that I passed a place where my fathers prayed

and I did not pray there?!

When he set his mind to return --

the land contracted³ for him.

Immediately the verse states:

“And he encountered the place,” indicating that he arrived there miraculously.

כד צלי

בעי למיהדר

אמר הקב"ה:

צדיק זה בא לבית מלוני

ויפטר בלא לינה?!

מיד --

בא השמש.

When he had finished praying

and he wanted to return to Haran,

God said:

This righteous man came to my lodging place

and he will depart without remaining overnight?!

Immediately —

the sun set before its proper time so that Jacob would stay overnight in that place.

Genesis 28:12 (Jacob's Ladder)

R’ Yitzḥak - Multiple stones under Jacob’s head miraculously became one - Gen 28:11, 18

• כתיב (בראשית כח, יא):

  • "ויקח מאבני המקום"

• וכתיב:

  • "ויקח את האבן"

The Talmud cites another exposition of R' Yitzḥak to explain an apparent contradiction between two verses pertaining to this incident.

• It is written:

  • “And he took of the stones (אבני) of the place, and placed them under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep” (Genesis 28:11).

• And it is written:

  • “And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and he took the stone (אבן) that he had placed under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it” (Genesis 28:18).

The first verse indicates that Jacob took several stones, whereas the latter verse indicates that he took only one stone.

אמר רבי יצחק:

מלמד ש

נתקבצו כל אותן אבנים למקום אחד

וכל אחת ואחת אומרת:

עלי יניח צדיק זה ראשו

תנא:

וכולן נבלעו באחד.

R' Yitzḥak says:

This teaches that

all those stones gathered to one place

and each one said:

Let this righteous man place his head upon me.

And it was taught:

And all of them were absorbed into one large rock.⁴

Jacob’s Ladder was 8,000 parasangs wide

(בראשית כח, יב)

"ויחלום

והנה סולם מוצב ארצה"

תנא:

כמה רחבו של סולם?

שמונת אלפים פרסאות

The Talmud expounds other verses pertaining to the same incident.

The verse states: “And he dreamed,

and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12).

It was taught:

How wide was the ladder?

It was 8,000 parasangs [parsaot],

... and accommodated 4 angels abreast - Gen 28:12

דכתיב (בראשית כח, יב):

"והנה

מלאכי אלהים עולים ויורדים בו"

1. "עולים" --

   1. שנים

2. "ויורדים" --

   1. שנים

3. וכי פגעו בהדי הדדי --

   1. הוו להו ארבעה.

as it is written:

“And behold

the angels of God ascending and descending on it.”

1. The word “ascending [olim],”

   1. written in plural, indicates that there were 2 angels ascending simultaneously.

2. Likewise, the term “and descending [ve-yordim],”

   1. also in the plural, indicates that 2 angels were descending simultaneously.

3. And when they met (פגעו) one another --

   1. they were a total of 4 in one place, so the ladder must have been wide enough to accommodate four angels.

Jacob’s Ladder’s width computed via angel size (“Tarshish”) - Dan 10:6 (“Tarshish” = 2,000 parsangs wide)

וכתיב ביה במלאך (דניאל י, ו):

"וגויתו כתרשיש"

וגמירי ד

תרשיש תרי אלפי פרסי הוו.

And it is written in a verse with regard to an angel:

“His body was like Tarshish” (Daniel 10:6).

And it is learned as a tradition that

the city of Tarshish was 2,000 parasangs.

Consequently, in order to accommodate 4 angels, the ladder must have been 8,000 parasangs wide.

The angels were ascending and gazing at the image of Jacob engraved on the Throne of Glory, and descending and gazing at his image below

תנא:

• “עולין”

  • ומסתכלין בדיוקנו של מעלה

• “ויורדין”

  • ומסתכלין בדיוקנו של מטה

It was taught that

• the angels were “ascending”

  • and gazing at the image⁵ of [bi-dyokeno] Jacob above, engraved on the Throne of Glory,

• and “descending”

  • and gazing at his image below.

R’ Shimon b. Lakish - God fanned and protected Jacob from angels - Gen 28:13

בעו לסכוניה

מיד --

(בראשית כח, יג) "והנה ה' נצב עליו"

אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש:

אלמלא מקרא כתוב, אי אפשר לאמרו:

כאדם שמניף על בנו.

The angels subsequently became jealous of Jacob, and wanted to endanger his life.

Immediately --

Jacob received divine protection, as the verse states: “And behold, YHWH stood over him” (Genesis 28:13).

R' Shimon ben Lakish says:

Were it not written in a verse it would be impossible to utter it,

in deference to God, since it describes God as standing over Jacob to protect him from the angels like a man who waves (מניף) a fan over his son to cool him down.

R’ Yitzḥak - “The land upon which you lie” means God folded all of Eretz Yisrael beneath Jacob to ease future conquest - Gen 28:13

(בראשית כח, יג) "הארץ אשר אתה שוכב עליה וגו'"

מאי רבותיה?

אמר רבי יצחק:

מלמד ש

קפלה הקב"ה לכל ארץ ישראל

והניחה תחת יעקב אבינו

שתהא נוחה ליכבש לבניו.

The Talmud explains another verse from Jacob’s dream.

“And behold, YHWH stood over him and said: I am YHWH, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land upon which you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed” (Genesis 28:13).

The Talmud asks: What is the greatness (רבותיה) of this promise, i.e., why is it expressed in this way despite the fact that in a literal sense Jacob was lying on a very small amount of land?

R' Yitzḥak says:

This teaches that

God folded (קפלה) up the entirety of Eretz Yisrael

and placed it under Jacob, our patriarch,

so that it would be easy for his children to conquer.

Appendix - The Ban on Going Out Alone at Night

One should not go out alone at night on Tuesday nights or Friday nights, because the demon Agrat, daughter of Maḥalat and 180,000 angels of destruction go out at these times (Pesachim 112a-114a)

(Previously cited in my “Pt2 Rabbinic Advice: Practical Guidance from the Talmud (Pesachim 112a-114a)“, section “Agrat bat Maḥalat and Successive Sages’ Banishment of Demons to the Outskirts of Towns”.)

אל תצא יחידי בלילה,

דתניא:

לא יצא יחידי בלילה,

לא בלילי רביעיות, ולא בלילי שבתות,

מפני שאגרת בת מחלת,

היא ושמונה עשרה רבוא של מלאכי חבלה יוצאין,

וכל אחד ואחד יש לו רשות לחבל בפני עצמו

With regard to the instruction: Don't go out alone at night,

the Talmud states that this is as it was taught in a baraita:

One should not go out alone at night,

neither on Tuesday nights nor on Shabbat nights, i.e., Friday nights,

because the demon Agrat, daughter of Maḥalat,

she and 180,000 angels of destruction go out at these times.

And as each and every one of them has permission to destroy by itself, they are all the more dangerous when they go forth together.

Going out alone at night as one of the 6/8 things that are disgraceful for a Torah scholar (Berakhot 43b)

Berakhot.43b.12

תנו רבנן:

ששה דברים גנאי לו לתלמיד חכם:

1. אל יצא כשהוא מבושם לשוק,

2. ואל יצא יחידי בלילה,

3. ואל יצא במנעלים המטולאים,

4. ואל יספר עם אשה בשוק,

5. ואל יסב בחבורה של עמי הארץ,

6. ואל יכנס באחרונה לבית המדרש.

7. ויש אומרים: אף לא יפסיע פסיעה גסה,

8. ואל יהלך בקומה זקופה.

Tangential to the mention of conduct unbecoming a Torah scholar, the Sages taught in a baraita:

Six things are disgraceful (גנאי) for a Torah scholar:

1. He may not go out perfumed (מבושם) into the marketplace;

2. he may not go out of his house alone at night;

3. he may not go out wearing patched (מטולאים) shoes;

4. he may not converse with a woman in the marketplace;

5. he may not recline and participate in a meal in the company of amei ha’aretz;

6. and he may not be the last to enter the study hall.

7. And some say that he may not take long strides (פסיעה גסה)

8. and he may not walk with an upright posture (קומה זקופה)

Going out alone at night is one of the three signs of mental deficiency (‘shotah’) (Chagigah 3b)

Chagigah.3b.12:

תנו רבנן:

איזהו שוטה?

1. היוצא יחידי בלילה,

2. והלן בבית הקברות,

3. והמקרע את כסותו

§ The Sages taught:

Who is considered an imbecile (שוטה)?

1. One who goes out alone at night,

2. and one who sleeps in a cemetery,

3. and one who rends his garment.

1. לא יצא יחידי בלילה.

The same advice is found elsewhere, see the appendix at the end of this piece: “Appendix - The Ban on Going Out Alone at Night“.

2. חרן.

See Wikipedia, “Harran (biblical place)“:

Haran (Hebrew: חָרָן, Ḥārān) is a city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, whose ruins might be in the city of Harran, which lie within present-day Turkey.

Haran first appears in the Book of Genesis as the home of Terah and his descendants, and as Abraham's temporary home.

Later biblical passages list Haran among some cities and lands subjugated by Assyrian rulers and among Tyre's trading partners […]

Although the placename can be found in English as Haran, Charan, and Charran, it should not be confused with the personal name Haran, one of Abram's two brothers.

The biblical placename is חָרָן‎ (with a ḥet) in Hebrew […]

The personal name Haran is spelled הָרָן‎ (with a hei) in Hebrew and means "mountaineer" […]

Haran is usually identified with Harran, now a village of Şanlıurfa, Turkey.

Since the 1950s, archeological excavations of Harran have been conducted, which have yielded insufficient discoveries about the site's pre-medieval history or of its supposed patriarchal age […]

According to the Hebrew Bible, Haran was the place where Terah settled with his son Abraham (at that time called Abram), his grandson Lot, Abram's wife Sarah (at that time known as Sarai) during their planned journey from Ur Kaśdim (Ur of the Chaldees) to the Land of Canaan […]

Abram lived there until he was 75 years old before continuing on to Canaan, in response to the command of God.

Although Abram's nephew Lot accompanied him to Canaan, Terah and his other descendants remained in Paddan-Aram.

The region of Haran is referred to variously as Paddan Aram and Aram-Naharaim.

In Genesis 28:10–19, Abraham's grandson Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. Along the way he had his dream of Jacob's Ladder.

3. קפצה.

On this in general, see Wikipedia, “Kefitzat ha-derech“:

4. Compare also in general Wikipedia, “Stone of Jacob“:

The Stone of Jacob appears in the Book of Genesis as the stone used as a pillow by the Israelite patriarch Jacob at the place later called Bet-El.

As Jacob had a vision in his sleep, he then consecrated the stone to God.

5. דיוקנו - from Greek ikon.

The same thing is found in Bereshit_Rabbah.68.12:

את הוא שאיקונין שלך חקוקה למעלה,

• עלים למעלה

  • ורואים איקונין שלו,

• וירדים למטה

  • ומוצאים אותו ישן

It is you [=Jacob], whose likeness is etched (חקוקה - “carved”) on High.

• “Ascending” on High —

  • and seeing his likeness (איקונין - ikon)

• descending below —

  • and finding him asleep.