Abraham loves Jacob and blesses him (xix. 15-31)

p. 114

Abraham loves Jacob and blesses him (xix. 15-31).

15. And Abraham loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau. 16. And Abraham saw the deeds of Esau, and he knew that in Jacob ¹ should his name and seed be called; and he called Rebecca and gave commandment regarding Jacob, for he knew that she (too) loved Jacob much more than Esau. 17. And he said unto her: "My daughter, watch over my son Jacob,

For he shall be in my stead on the earth,
And for a blessing in the midst of the children of men,
And for the glory of the whole seed of Shem.

[paragraph continues] 18. For I know that the Lord will choose him to be a people for possession unto Himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. ² 19. And behold, Isaac my son loveth Esau more than Jacob, but I see that thou truly lovest Jacob.

20. Add still further to thy kindness to him,
And let thine eyes be upon him in love;
For he will be a blessing unto us on the earth from henceforth unto all generations of the earth.

21. Let thy hands be strong
And let thy heart rejoice in thy son Jacob;
For I have loved him far beyond all my sons.

He will be blessed for ever,
And his seed will fill the whole earth.

22. If a man can number the sand of the earth,
His seed also will be numbered. ³

[paragraph continues] 23. And all the blessings wherewith the Lord hath blessed me and my seed shall belong to Jacob and his seed alway. 24. And in his seed shall my name be blessed, and the name of my fathers, Shem, and

p. 115

[paragraph continues] Noah, and Enoch, and Mahalalel, and Enos, and Seth, and Adam. ¹ 25. And these shall serve

To lay the foundations of the heaven,
And to strengthen the earth,
And to renew all the luminaries which are in the firmament."

[paragraph continues] 26. And he called Jacob before the eyes of Rebecca his mother, and kissed him, and blessed him, and said: 27. "Jacob, my beloved son, whom my soul loveth, may God bless thee from above the firmament, and may He give thee all the blessings wherewith He blessed Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, and Shem; and all the things of which He told me, and all the things which He promised to give me, may He cause to cleave to thee and to thy seed for ever, according to the days of heaven above the earth. ² 28. And the spirits of Mastêmâ shall not rule over thee or over thy seed ³ to turn thee from the Lord, who is thy God from henceforth for ever. 29. And may the Lord God be a father to thee and thou the first-born son, and to the people alway. Go in peace, my son." 30. And they both went forth together from Abraham. 31. And Rebecca loved Jacob, with all her heart and with all her soul, very much more than Esau; but Isaac loved Esau much more than Jacob.

Footnotes

114:1 Jacob was to be the founder of the chosen nation; cf. ii. 20.

114:2 Cf. Deut. vii. 6.

114:3 Cf. Gen. xiii. 16 (cf. also xiii. 20 of our Book).

115:1 Notice that Methuselah is omitted, and Adam is reckoned among the saints (with Noah and Enoch).

115:2 Cf. xxii. 13.

115:3 As over the Gentiles.