Parashah Vayishlach Comments (11/30/12 • Rev. 11/15/13)
The Parashah (Torah reading) for this week is titled “Vayishlach,” Hebrew for “he sent.” It tells the story of Jacob’s meeting with his brother Esau after a twenty-year separation and refers to Jacob’s sending messengers to announce his coming.
The messengers return and report that Esau is approaching with 400 men. Jacob becomes afraid. He divides his household and belongings into two camps, hoping that if one is attacked, the other might escape. He pleads with God for rescue and sends successive droves of livestock—sheep, camels, cattle, and donkeys—as gifts to appease Esau.
After sending his family and possessions across the Yabok River, Jacob remains alone in the camp. Then the text pivots to a mysterious struggle.
“This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.”
Seeing he cannot overpower Jacob, the “man” touches Jacob’s hip and dislocates it. Still Jacob clings, demanding a blessing. The stranger asks his name and then renames him.
“Your name will no longer be Jacob; from now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.”
Jacob recognizes the encounter’s divine character: he has met God face-to-face and lived. Limping at dawn, he moves to the front of his household rather than hiding at the rear. He bows seven times as he approaches Esau, repeatedly calling himself “your servant” and Esau “my lord,” even though Isaac had prophesied Jacob’s preeminence (Genesis 27:28–29).
And then—unexpected grace. Esau runs to meet Jacob, embraces him, kisses him, and they weep together. Esau hesitates to accept Jacob’s gifts, but Jacob insists, and Esau agrees. Esau offers an escort for protection; Jacob declines and sends him ahead.
What Changed?
I believe Jacob’s night-struggle was God’s answer to his prayer and the turning point that stopped him from flight. First, the injury slowed Jacob, preventing escape. Second, the blessing—his new name—legitimized his calling. No longer the “heel-grabber,” he becomes Israel, the overcomer. Faith replaced fear, and Jacob faced Esau in humility and love; God, in turn, also softened Esau’s heart.
Three Lessons for Us
1) Love and Respect Invite Peace
Approaching others with humility and honor often elicits the same in return. Jacob’s posture—servant language, bows, gifts—disarmed hostility and prepared the way for reconciliation.
2) Don’t Let Go
Jacob’s life is a tapestry of striving for covenant promises: birthright, blessing, a protected lineage. Even wounded, he would not release the messenger without a blessing. So it is with us: we stumble, yet if we keep hold of God’s word, we eventually walk in His light.
3) True Leadership Is Service
“Who is more important, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? … But I am among you as the one who serves.”
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Yeshua defines greatness as service. A good leader is humble, God-directed, and devoted to the welfare of others—unlike the tyrant who serves himself. (Mohandas Gandhi put it memorably: “There go my people; I must follow them.”)
Patriarchal Patterns and Messianic Hope
The lives of the patriarchs foreshadow the future. Israel, the firstborn among the nations, is central to God’s redemptive plan. Its ultimate calling is to model righteousness and peace under Messiah.
Vayishlach also gestures toward unity between the communities that have preserved different facets of revelation. Jeremiah envisions a day when intimate knowledge of God is universal and sins are forgiven.
“…for all will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest… for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.”
Rachel, Benjamin, and the Right Hand
Genesis records Rachel’s difficult labor and the renaming of her son from Ben-Oni (“son of my sorrow”) to Benjamin (“son of my right hand”).
Rachel names him Ben-Oni; Jacob calls him Benjamin.
Rachel is poetically linked with Israel in both Jeremiah and Matthew—Rachel weeping for her children in exile and in Herod’s massacre.
“A voice is heard in Ramah… Rachel weeping for her children…”
Messianic texts place the Son at the right hand, awaiting the subduing of His enemies and His glorious appearing.
“Sit at My right hand…” — the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power.
Thus, “son of my sorrow” turning to “son of my right hand” becomes a living midrash: sorrow giving way to enthronement and consolation in Messiah.
Esau, Edom, and the Nations
Though Jacob and Esau reconcile here, Edom’s later hostility appears in the prophet Obadiah. History mirrors the pattern: brothers estranged and often violent, then a promised restoration. The Haftorah warns the nations and affirms God’s protection over Israel: those who bless will be blessed; those who curse will be cursed. In the end, Israel is restored, and the nations learn righteousness and compassion under Messiah’s rule.
From Striving to Surrender
Vayishlach sets the arc: human will wrestling with divine purpose until, wounded yet blessed, we cling to God and emerge as overcomers. The call is to keep striving toward deeper knowledge of God, to love His creation, to persevere, and to embody servant leadership that points others to His light.
Prayer
Father in heaven, encourage us with Your presence. Give us Your Holy Spirit to keep us grounded in Your ways. Protect us from the evil one. Reveal Your will for each of us, and make us instruments of Your blessing. Amen.
