Book of Jasher, Chapter 29 — Isaac Blesses Jacob; Esau's Wrath; Jacob Flees; Eliphaz Overtakes Him
1And Isaac the son of Abraham became old and advanced in days, and his eyes grew heavy through age; they were dim and could not see.
2At that time Isaac called to Esau his son, saying, Get, I pray you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow; rise up and go out into the field and get me some venison, and make me savory meat and bring it to me, that I may eat, in order that I may bless you before my death, for I have now become old and gray-headed.
3And Esau did so; and he took his weapon and went out into the field to hunt for venison, as usual, to bring to his father as he had ordered him, so that he might bless him.
4And Rebecca heard all the words that Isaac had spoken to Esau, and she hastened and called her son Jacob, saying, Thus did your father speak to your brother Esau, and thus did I hear; now therefore hasten and make that which I shall tell you.
5Rise up and go, I pray you, to the flock and fetch me two fine kids of the goats, and I will make the savory meat for your father, and you shall bring the savory meat that he may eat before your brother comes from the chase, in order that your father may bless you.
6And Jacob hastened and did as his mother had commanded him, and he made the savory meat and brought it before his father before Esau had come from his chase.
7And Isaac said to Jacob, Who are you, my son? And he said, I am your firstborn Esau; I have done as you ordered me; now therefore rise up, I pray you, and eat of my hunt, in order that your soul may bless me, as you spoke to me.
8And Isaac rose up, and he ate and he drank, and his heart was comforted, and he blessed Jacob; and Jacob went away from his father. And as soon as Isaac had blessed Jacob and he had gone away from him, behold, Esau came from his hunt from the field, and he also made savory meat and brought it to his father to eat of it and to bless him.
9And Isaac said to Esau, And who was he that took venison and brought it to me before you came, and whom I did bless? And Esau knew that his brother Jacob had done this, and the anger of Esau was kindled against his brother Jacob, that he had acted thus toward him.
10And Esau said, Is he not rightly called Jacob? for he has supplanted me twice: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. And Esau wept greatly; and when Isaac heard the voice of his son Esau weeping, Isaac said to Esau, What can I do, my son? your brother came with subtlety and took away your blessing. And Esau hated his brother Jacob on account of the blessing that his father had given him, and his anger was greatly roused against him.
11And Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and he rose up and fled to the house of Eber the son of Shem, and he concealed himself there on account of his brother; and Jacob was sixty-three years old when he went forth from the land of Canaan, from Hebron; and Jacob was concealed in Eber's house fourteen years on account of his brother Esau, and he there continued to learn the ways of the Lord and his commandments.
12And when Esau saw that Jacob had fled and escaped from him, and that Jacob had cunningly obtained the blessing, then Esau grieved exceedingly, and he was also vexed at his father and mother; and he too rose up and took his wife and went away from his father and mother to the land of Seir, and he dwelt there. And Esau saw there a woman from among the daughters of Heth, whose name was Bosmath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and he took her for a wife in addition to his first wife; and Esau called her name Adah, saying that the blessing had at that time passed from him.
13And Esau dwelt in the land of Seir six months, without seeing his father and mother; and afterward Esau took his wives and rose up and returned to the land of Canaan; and Esau placed his two wives in his father's house in Hebron.
14And the wives of Esau vexed and provoked Isaac and Rebecca with their works, for they did not walk in the ways of the Lord, but served their father's gods of wood and stone, as their father had taught them, and they were more wicked than their father.
15And they went according to the evil desires of their hearts, and they sacrificed and burned incense to the Baalim; and Isaac and Rebecca became weary of them.
16And Rebecca said, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good then is life to me?
17And in those days Adah the wife of Esau conceived and bore him a son, and Esau called the name of the son that was born to him Eliphaz; and Esau was sixty-five years old when she bore him.
18And Ishmael the son of Abraham died in those days, in the sixty-fourth year of the life of Jacob; and all the days that Ishmael lived were one hundred and thirty-seven years, and he died.
19And when Isaac heard that Ishmael was dead he mourned for him, and Isaac lamented over him many days.
20And at the end of fourteen years of Jacob's residing in the house of Eber, Jacob desired to see his father and mother, and Jacob came to the house of his father and mother, to Hebron; and Esau had in those days forgotten what Jacob had done to him in having taken the blessing from him in those days.
21And when Esau saw Jacob coming to his father and mother, he remembered what Jacob had done to him, and he was greatly incensed against him, and he sought to slay him.
22And Isaac the son of Abraham was old and advanced in days, and Esau said, Now my father's time is drawing near that he must die, and when he shall die I will slay my brother Jacob.
23And this was told to Rebecca, and she hastened and sent and called for Jacob her son, and she said to him, Arise, go and flee to Haran, to my brother Laban, and remain there for some time, until your brother's anger is turned from you, and then you shall come back.
24And Isaac called to Jacob and said to him, Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, for thus did our father Abraham command us, according to the word of the Lord which he had commanded him, saying, To your seed will I give this land; if your children keep my covenant that I have made with you, then will I also perform to your children that which I have spoken to you, and I will not forsake them.
25Now therefore, my son, listen to my voice, to all that I shall command you, and refrain from taking a wife from among the daughters of Canaan; arise, go to Haran, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take to yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.
26Therefore take heed, lest you should forget the Lord your God and all his ways in the land to which you go, and should get connected with the people of the land and pursue vanity and forsake the Lord your God.
27But when you come to the land, serve there the Lord; do not turn to the right or to the left from the way which I commanded you and which you learned.
28And may the Almighty God grant you favor in the sight of the people of the earth, that you may take there a wife according to your choice, one who is good and upright in the ways of the Lord.
29And may God give to you and to your seed the blessing of your father Abraham, and make you fruitful and multiply you, and may you become a multitude of people in the land where you go; and may God cause you to return to this land, the land of your father's dwelling, with children and with great riches, with joy and with pleasure.
30And Isaac finished commanding Jacob and blessing him, and he gave him many gifts, together with silver and gold, and he sent him away; and Jacob listened to his father and mother; he kissed them and arose and went to Padan-aram; and Jacob was seventy-seven years old when he went out from the land of Canaan, from Beersheba.
31And when Jacob went away to go to Haran, Esau called to his son Eliphaz, and secretly spoke to him, saying, Now hasten, take your sword in your hand and pursue Jacob, and pass before him on the road, and lurk for him, and slay him with your sword in one of the mountains, and take all belonging to him, and come back.
32And Eliphaz the son of Esau was an active man, and expert with the bow as his father had taught him, and he was a noted hunter in the field and a valiant man.
33And Eliphaz did as his father had commanded him; and Eliphaz was at that time thirteen years old; and Eliphaz rose up and went and took ten of his mother's brothers with him, and pursued Jacob.
34And he closely followed Jacob, and he lurked for him at the border of the land of Canaan, opposite the city of Shechem.
35And Jacob saw Eliphaz and his men pursuing him, and Jacob stood still in the place where he was going, in order to know what this was, for he did not know the matter; and Eliphaz drew his sword and went on advancing, he and his men, toward Jacob. And Jacob said to them, What is this with you, that you have come here, and what does it mean that you pursue with your swords?
36And Eliphaz came near to Jacob, and he answered and said to him, Thus did my father command me, and now therefore I will not deviate from the orders which my father gave me. And when Jacob saw that Esau had spoken to Eliphaz to employ force, Jacob then approached and supplicated Eliphaz and his men, saying to him,
37Behold, all that I have, and which my father and mother gave to me, that take to yourself, and go from me, and do not slay me; and may this thing be accounted to you as a righteousness.
38And the Lord caused Jacob to find favor in the sight of Eliphaz the son of Esau, and his men, and they listened to the voice of Jacob, and they did not put him to death; and Eliphaz and his men took all belonging to Jacob, together with the silver and gold that he had brought with him from Beersheba; they left him nothing.
39And Eliphaz and his men went away from him, and they returned to Esau to Beersheba, and they told him all that had occurred to them with Jacob, and they gave him all that they had taken from Jacob.
40And Esau was indignant at Eliphaz his son, and at his men that were with him, because they had not put Jacob to death.
41And they answered and said to Esau, Because Jacob supplicated us in this matter not to slay him, our pity was excited toward him, and we took all belonging to him and brought it to you. And Esau took all the silver and gold which Eliphaz had taken from Jacob, and he put them away in his house.
42At that time, when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had commanded him, saying, You shall not take a wife from among the daughters of Canaan, and that the daughters of Canaan were bad in the sight of Isaac and Rebecca,
43then he went to the house of Ishmael his uncle, and in addition to his older wives he took Machlath the daughter of Ishmael, the sister of Nebayoth, for a wife.