Esau as Rome

63:6. But the children struggled [within her. And she said, “If this is so, why do I exist?” And she went to seek the Lord] (Genesis 25:22). R. Yoḥanan and Resh Lakish [interpreted scripture as follows]: R. Yoḥanan said: This one was in a hurry to kill this one, and this one was in a hurry to kill the this one [i.e., the children were struggling to kill each other]. R. Simeon ben Lakish said: This one allowed what the other disallowed. R. Berekhiah, in the name of R. Levi, [said]: [The verse teaches] that you should not say that from the time he [Esau] came out of his mother’s womb he began struggling with him [Jacob]. Rather, even as he [Esau] was in his mother’s womb, his fist was aiming at him [Jacob]. As it is written: The wicked are inimical from the womb (Psalm 58:4).

But the children struggled [va-yitrotsetsu] within her (Genesis 25:22). And they ran [va-yitratsu] within her [as if trying to get to the exit]. Whenever she [Rebekah] would pass by houses of idol worship, Esau would struggle to come out [of her womb]. As it is written: The wicked are inimical from the womb [ . . . ] (Psalm 58:3). When she would pass by synagogues and houses of study, Jacob would struggle to come out [of her womb]. As it is written: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you (Jeremiah 1:5). [ . . . ]

65:1. When Esau was forty years of age, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite (Genesis 26:34). Thus it is written: The wild boar ravages it, and beasts graze on it (Psalm 80:14). R. Pinḥas and R. Hilkiah [taught] in the name of R. Simon: Of all the prophets, only two make it known, Moses and Asaph. Moses said: And as for the swine, because it has a divided hoof [but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you] (Deuteronomy 14:8). Asaph said: The wild boar ravages it (Psalm 80:14). Now why does [scripture] liken [Rome] to a pig? Because whenever this pig lies down, it stretches out its hooves, as if to say, “I am clean.” In the same way, this wicked kingdom [of Rome] robs and performs violence, yet she appears to be establishing a dais [in a just court]. So, too Esau: For forty years Esau would hunt down married women and violate them. But when he turned forty years old, he compared himself to his father and said, “Just as my father married a woman at forty [years of age], so too I will marry a woman at forty years [of age].” Thus it is written: Esau was forty years of age (Genesis 26:34). [ . . . ]

67:7. By your sword you shall live (Genesis 27:40). R. Levi said: Return your sword [to its sheath] and you shall live.

And your brother you shall serve [ta‘avod] (Genesis 27:40). R. Huna said: If [Jacob] is deserving of it, you shall serve [him]; but if not [i.e., if he is undeserving], you shall destroy [him; te’abed].

But when you grow restless, [then you will throw off his yoke from your neck] (Genesis 27:40). [ . . . ] R. Yosi the son of R. Ḥalafta said: If you see Jacob, your brother, casting off the yoke of Torah from his neck, decree destruction for him [Jacob], and you shall rule over him. As it is written: For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not recognize us [ . . . ] (Isaiah 63:16). And where is Isaac [in this verse]? One who says, “Decree destruction for him [Jacob],” you would include among the patriarchs?

8. Esau bore a grudge against Jacob [because of the blessing that his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, Let the days of mourning my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob] (Genesis 27:41). R. Eleazar bar Yosi said: And he [Esau] became one who hates him [Jacob], a guard [against him], and an avenger. Until this day, he is called “The grudge-bearer of Rome.”