GENESIS 32:4–36:43From Jacob to Israel
PARASHAT VAYISHLACH (“And he sent”) features Jacob—the third and final patriarch—as he becomes the last individual to receive a personal covenant with God. In a life-transforming event, Jacob meets God face to face, and his name is changed to “Israel,” which may reflect his own struggles with God. After Jacob, all future covenant renewals will be made between God and B’nei Yisrael (literally “the children of [the patriarch] Israel”)—the Israelites as a whole, who will continue the struggle.
All of the women in this parashah (except for those in the genealogy of Esau in Genesis 36) are members of Jacob’s immediate family. What stands out is the troubling story of Dinah and Shechem (Genesis 34), although Dinah’s role in the narrative is revealingly minor. While she functions as a trigger for the event, the tale focuses on the relations between the men of the family of Jacob and the Canaanites among whom they have settled. The major concern in the story as told is not the personal fate of an individual woman (or man) but the political relationship between Israel and the other inhabitants in the land. Dinah becomes a symbol in the exploration of the theme of identity—of self and of other—that began with the story of Abraham.
The other women in Jacob’s household appear in passing in this parashah, with Rachel’s death as a poignant conclusion. In general, these passages enable us to view the women of the story as intermediaries linking together groups of men, while moving about in the social world of the male characters—who have the authority to represent both the women and the subordinate men in their households.
—Shawna Dolansky
Risa Levitt Kohn
Outline—
I. SETTLING ACCOUNTS
Jacob’s Struggles with God and Men (32:4–33:20)
A. Jacob sets out to meet Esau (32:4–16)
B. Jacob struggles with God (32:17–33)
C. The brothers reconcile (33:1–20)
II. DINAH AND SHECHEM
Sex and Social Status (34:1–31)
A. Rape? (vv. 1–4)
B. Brothers’ interpretation: An outrage against Israel (vv. 5–24)
C. Brothers’ revenge (vv. 25–31)
III. ISRAEL AND B’NEI YISRAEL
Covenant Renewal, Death, and Life (35:1–36:43)
A. Beth El and the renaming of Jacob/Israel (35:1–15)
B. Rachel’s second son and her death (35:16–21)
C. Jacob’s wives and children (35:22–26)
D. Isaac’s death (35:27–29)
E. The line of Esau (36:1–43)