The History of the Ancient Civilizations. Duncker Max
separated, and took possession of the centre of Arabia, the peninsula of Sinai, and the land eastward of the Jordan. From the narrative of Isaac, Esau, and Jacob, it further follows that not only those nations but also the sons of Esau, the Edomites, were descendants of Abraham, and the Hebrews were a branch of the Edomites who had separated from them. Hence the Hebrews were the youngest scion of the stock which once came from the mountains of Arphaxad to Ur, to Mesopotamia, and then into the deserts of Arabia and Syria. If, however, we allow that the genealogies of the Hebrews express the position which they took up or wished to take up towards the kindred Semitic nations, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, the Arabians, Midianites, Moabites, and Ammonites, and did not attempt to place facts of history beyond doubt, yet we must not refuse to recognise a definite historical basis in the relation of the Hebrews to the Edomites. The Edomites possessed Mount Seir, which runs from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the north-east corner of the Red Sea. Before them the Horites possessed this mountain (p. 403).[601] According to the Hebrew tradition the patriarch of the Edomites was Esau. He "was red in colour and hairy." Though this is not the meaning of the name Esau, the name Edomites does actually mean the "red people," and the name of their mountain Seir means, "to be hairy," a name which could very well be given to a mountain covered with briars and brushwood. The Edomites were fond of the chase and of war; their progenitor is a hunter and warrior; and to this, his eldest son, Isaac foretells that his dwelling should be without the fatness of the earth; by his sword should he live. Only a slight advantage in age is allowed to Esau: he is merely the firstborn of twins; and even at birth his brother Jacob held him by the heel. The pre-eminence which Isaac gives to the younger son is explained in the Judæan text merely by the fact, that Esau had taken wives from the Hittites. "And when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Mesopotamia in order to take a wife from thence, Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father, and he went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, the sister of Nebajoth, to wife to his other wives."[602] All the further details of the relations between the two brothers, the sale of the birthright, the obtaining of the blessing, and the form of the blessing, belong to the revision. This text and this only could make Isaac say to Esau, "Thou shalt serve thy brother, but shalt break his yoke from off thy neck." Saul conquered, and David subjugated the Edomites; it was not till the time of Joram, king of Judah, in the first half of the ninth century B.C., that they recovered their independence.
The description of the journey of Jacob to the Euphrates, his service with Laban, and his flight, come from the Ephraimitic text: the revision has only extended the introduction, and here and there inserted an interpolation. To the same text belongs the peaceful departure from the Nahorites, the setting up of a token on the east of Jordan to fix how far the borders of the Israelites, beyond which the Nahorites were not to go, were to extend in this direction, and finally Jacob's reconciliation with Esau. With the daughters of Canaan whom he took to wife, Esau could only beget an impure race, and even with the daughter of Ishmael his race would not be wholly pure, while Jacob served patiently for fourteen years in order to obtain wives of the genuine blood. By this, and by the blessing of Isaac, the pre-eminence of the younger Israelites is established over the Edomites; but the brothers parted in peace. Esau received rich gifts. Thus they separated on the ford of the Jabbok at the sacred place of Peniel. The one went to Seir, the other to Shechem in Canaan. Hence the Edomites had no reason to cherish resentment against the sons of Jacob.
Isaac and Jacob abode in Canaan at Hebron, Beersheba, and Shechem. Here Isaac again dug out the wells which Abraham's servants had previously made. The quarrel of his servants about the wells with the Philistines of Gerar is based on the severe battles afterwards fought between the Philistines and Israel. As Abraham had set up pillars, so does Isaac build an altar at Beersheba,[603] and Jacob sets up a sacred stone at Bethel. As Abraham, according to the first text, buys the burying-place at Hebron, so Jacob, according to this same text, bought the field at Shechem, where he had pitched his tent. Thus Isaac and Jacob also have acquired possessions in Canaan, and have rendered services to the land; they also have prepared the way for the rule of their descendants in Canaan, and have consecrated the places at which the Hebrews were destined to worship the gods of their fathers.
The three patriarchs strictly carry out the commands of Jehovah, from which their descendants swerved often and long. To the Hebrews they are patterns of the purity of their race; their descendants did not always keep themselves free from mixture with the Canaanites. But they are not only patterns of the fear of God, and piety, of correct faith and right dealing with the Canaanites; they also exhibit to the Hebrews the moral ideal of their conduct. Abraham is distinguished by the virtues of faithfulness, of unselfishness, and friendliness to his brother's family, and, in return, the blessing of Jehovah rests upon him. Other virtues are brought into prominence by the tradition in Jacob, the most immediate ancestor of the Hebrews. If Abraham knew how to raise the sword, and Esau lived a wild hunter's life, Jacob is a peaceable, faithful shepherd, who patiently endures heat and cold, who is ever wide awake, under whose hand the flocks increase, and whose care prevents the sheep and goats from casting their young. When Jacob had served fourteen years for his wives, he still continued to serve six years for hire. Among the Hebrews the life of a hired servant is not considered a degradation; and continuance in service for the sake of hire is not looked down upon with contempt. Jehovah rewards the industrious servant, the active workman. With his staff in his hand Jacob passed over the Euphrates; but he returned rich in flocks and goods, blessed with wife and child. In his pliancy, his quiet, peaceful trust in God, his wrestling for the blessing of God, Jacob is the genuine warrior of God (Israel), who is rescued, and gains the victory. Beside these stand realistic traits peculiar to the East and the Hebrew character. Jacob is a cunning man, who knows how to invent clever devices. With the help of his mother he gains from his brother the blessing of the firstborn. At first Laban outwits him, but in the end Jacob's cunning is victorious. He knows how to pacify his brother by subjection. To bow before the mighty in order to save property and life has not always appeared dishonourable to the Oriental.
FOOTNOTES:
[568] Numbers xxi. 27; Joshua x. 14; Genesis xlviii. 20, 22. In proof that Genesis xlix. belongs to the time of the judges, cf. Ewald, "Gesch. Israel's," 1, 91.
[569] Gen. xxxvi. 1; xlvi. 8 ff.; Exod. vi. 14 ff.; Numb. iii. 17–21; xxvii. 33.
[570] Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 64.
[571] Numb. xxi. 14.
[572] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 273.
[573] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 316, 317.
[574] Dillmann-Knobel, "Genesis," s. 11.
[575] Gen. x. 14; Exod. xv. 1–11; Numb. xxi. 14–18; cf. De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 319.
[576] De Wette-Schrader, loc. cit. s. 318.
[577] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," 320, 321.
[578] Chap. iv., 44—c. xxviii, 69.