The War between Jacob and Esau at the Tower of Hebron. The Death of Esau and Overthrow of his Forces (xxxviii. 1-4)

The War between Jacob and Esau at the Tower of Hebron. The Death of Esau and Overthrow of his Forces (xxxviii. 1-4).

XXXVIII. And after that Judah spake to Jacob, his father, and said unto him: "Bend thy bow, father, and send forth thy arrows and cast down the adversary and slay the enemy; and mayest thou have the power, for we shall not slay thy brother, for he is such as thou, and he is like thee: let us give him (this) honour." 2. Then Jacob bent his bow and sent forth the arrow and struck Esau, his brother, (on his right breast) and slew him. ² 3. And again he sent forth an arrow and struck ’Adôrân the Aramaean, ³ on the left breast, and drove him backward and slew him. 4. And then went forth the sons of Jacob, they and their servants, dividing themselves into companies on the four sides of the tower. 5. And

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[paragraph continues] Judah went forth in front, and Naphtali and Gad with him and fifty servants with him on the south side of the tower, and they slew all they found before them, and not one individual of them escaped. 6. And Levi and Dan and Asher went forth on the east side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew the fighting men of Moab and Ammon. 7. And Reuben and Issachar and Zebulon went forth on the north side of the tower, and fifty men with them, and they slew the fighting men of the Philistines. 8. And Simeon and Benjamin and Enoch, Reuben's son, went forth on the west side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew of Edom and of the Horites four hundred men, stout warriors; and six hundred fled, and four of the sons of Esau fled with them, and left their father lying slain, as he had fallen on the hill which is in ’Adûrâm. ¹ 9. And the sons of Jacob pursued after them to the mountains of Seir. And Jacob buried his brother on the hill which is in ’Adûrâm, and he returned to his house. 10. And the sons of Jacob pressed hard upon the sons of Esau in the mountains of Seir, and bowed their necks so that they became servants of the sons of Jacob. 11. And they sent to their father (to inquire) whether they should make peace with them or slay them. 12. And Jacob sent word to his sons that they should make peace, and they made peace with them, and placed the yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to Jacob and to his sons always. 13. And they continued to pay tribute to Jacob until the day that he went down into Egypt. ² 14. And the sons of Edom have not got quit of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Jacob had imposed on them until this day. ³

Footnotes

182:2 According to later Jewish tradition Esau was killed by Chushim, son of Dan, at the cave of Machpelah when Jacob's corpse had arrived there for burial; cf. Pirḳe de R. Eliezer xxxix. (towards end).

182:3 Cf. xxxvii. 9.

183:1 A city in Idumaea (Edom) identical with the "Adora" mentioned in 1 Macc. xiii. 20. It was captured by John Hyrcanus and forced to accept circumcision. in Test. Judah ix. 3 the name appears as Anoniram.

183:2 For 11-13 cf. Test. Judah ix. 7-8.

183:3 i. e. the author's day. Edom was finally made tributary to Israel by John Hyrcanus.