Rebekah Blesses Jacob

Jubilees 25:11–22

Mid-2nd Century BCE

About This Entry

In Genesis only Jacob’s father, Isaac, blesses him, but in the Jubilees retelling, his mother, Rebekah, blesses him as well. Rebekah’s blessing of Jacob is conventional in its language and imagery. She wishes him many sons, referring to the fact that he will have twelve sons linked to the twelve tribes of Israel. She also blesses him from her womb and her breasts, invoking the female organs of reproduction and nursing to express the wish that his offspring be fertile.

11Then she lifted her face to heaven, extended her fingers, and opened her mouth. She blessed the Most High God who had created the heavens and the earth and gave him thanks and praise. 12She said, “May the Lord God be blessed, and may his name be blessed forever and ever—he who gave me Jacob, a pure son and a holy offspring, for he belongs to you. May his descendants be yours throughout all time, throughout the history of eternity. 13Bless him, Lord, and place a righteous blessing in my mouth so that I may bless him.” 14At that time the spirit of righteousness descended into her mouth. She put her two hands on Jacob’s head and said:

15“Blessed are you, righteous Lord, God of the ages; and may he bless you more than all the human race.
My son, may he provide the right path for you
and reveal what is right to your descendants.
16May he multiply your sons during your lifetime;
may they rise in number to the months of the year.
May their children be more numerous and great than the stars of the sky;
may their number be larger than the sands of the sea.
17May he give them this pleasant land
as he said he would give it for all time
to Abraham and his descendants after him;
may they own it as an eternal possession.
18Son, may I see your blessed children during my lifetime;
may all your descendants be blessed and holy descendants.
19As you have given rest to your mother’s spirit during her lifetime,
so may the womb of the one who gave birth to you bless you.
My affection and my breasts bless you;
my mouth and my tongue praise you greatly.
20Increase and spread out in the land;
may your descendants be perfect throughout all eternity
in the joy of heaven and earth.
May your descendants be delighted,
and, on the great day of peace, may they have peace.
21May your name and your descendants continue until all ages.
May the Most High God be their God;
may the righteous God live with them;
and may his sanctuary be built among them into all ages.
22May the one who blesses you be blessed
and anyone who curses you falsely be cursed.”
Translated by James C. VanderKam.

Credits

Jubilees 25:11–22, trans. James C. VanderKam, in James C. VanderKam, Jubilees: A Commentary in Two Volumes, vol. 1, ed. Sidnie White Crawford, Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018), pp. 728–29. Used with permission of 1517 Media.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

Engage with this Source

In Genesis only Jacob’s father, Isaac, blesses him, but in the Jubilees retelling, his mother, Rebekah, blesses him as well. Rebekah’s blessing of Jacob is conventional in its language and imagery. She wishes him many sons, referring to the fact that he will have twelve sons linked to the twelve tribes of Israel. She also blesses him from her womb and her breasts, invoking the female organs of reproduction and nursing to express the wish that his offspring be fertile.

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