good.] I have been in the field; by day the heat hath devoured me, and the cold by night, and sleep hath been parted from me. These twenty years have I been in thy house, serving thee; fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy sheep; and thou hast changed my wages ten parts. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and He whom Izhak feareth had been in my help, even now hadst thou sent me away empty but my affliction and the travail of my hands are manifest before the Lord, and therefore He admonished thee in the evening.

:

And Laban answered and said to Jakob, The children whom thou hast received of thy wives are my children, and the children whom they may bear will be reputed as mine, and the sheep are my sheep, and all that thou seest is mine. And for my daughters what can I do this day, and for the sons which they have borne ? And now come, let us strike a covenant, I and thou, and it shall be for a witness between me and thee.

2

And Jakob took a stone and set it up for a pillar. And Jakob said to his sons, whom he called his brethren, Collect stones. And they collected stones, and made a mound, and they ate upon the mound. And Laban called it Ogar Sahid,1 but Jakob called it in the holy tongue, Gal-ed. And The Observatory also it was called, because he said, The Lord shall observe between me and thee when we are hidden each man from his neighbour. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, doing them injury, and if thou take upon my daughters, there is no man to judge us, the Word of the Lord seeing is the witness between me and thee. And Laban said to Jakob, Behold this mound, and behold the pillar which thou hast reared between me and thee. This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that 1 "The Mound of the Testimony." 2 Sekutha. 3 Yisteki Yeya.

I may not pass beyond this mound to thee, and that thou mayest not pass beyond this mound and this pillar to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nachor shall judge between us, the God of their fathers. But Jakob sware by the God whom his father Izhak feared. And Jakob slew sacrifices in the mount, and invited his kinsmen who came with Laban to help themselves to bread, (or strengthen themselves with bread,) and they helped themselves to bread, and lodged in the mount. And Laban arose in the morning, and kissed the sons of Jakob, and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban went and returned to his place.

XXXII. And Jakob went on his way, and the angels of the Lord met him. And Jakob said when he saw them, These are not the host of Esau who are coming to meet me, nor the host of Laban, who have returned from pursuing me; but they are the host of the holy angels who are sent from before the Lord. Therefore the name of that place he called, in the language of the sanctuary, Machanäim. [Jerusalem. And Jakob, when he beheld them, said, Perhaps they are a host from Laban, the brother of my mother, coming to set against me the array of battle to slay me; or (rather) they are a host of the holy angels from before the Lord, who are come to save me from their hands. And he called the name of that place Machanäim.]

SECTION VIII.

VAYISHLACH.

And Jakob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Gabla, the territory of the Edomites, and instructed them to say, Thus shall you speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jakob, With Laban have I dwelt, and have tarried until now. And of all that in which my father blessed me there is nothing in my hand; but I have a few oxen and asses, sheep, and servants and handmaids; and I have sent to tell my lord that that blessing hath not profited me; that I may find mercy in thine eyes, and that thou mayest not maintain (enmity) against me on account thereof.

And the messengers returned to Jakob, saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau, and he also cometh to meet thee, and four hundred chief-warriors with him. [Jerusalem. And four hundred men, warlike leaders with him.] And Jakob was greatly afraid, because for twenty years he had not been mindful of the glory of his father and he had anxiety; and he divided the people who were with him, the sheep, and oxen, and camels, into three troops, for a portion to Leah, and a portion to Rahel. And he said, If Esau come to the one troop of them and smite it, the remaining troop may escape. And Jakob said, God of my father Abraham, Thou, the God of my father Izhak, the Lord, who saidst to me, Return to thy country and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good: I am altogether less than any of the (acts of) goodness and truth which Thou hast exercised towards Thy servant: for with my staff, alone, I passed this Jardena, and now I am become two bands.

4 Polimarkeen, πολέμαρχοι.

Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my elder brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him: for he hath been mindful of the glory of his father; lest he come and smite the mother with the children. But Thou hast promised me, I will surely do thee good, and will make thy sons many as the sand of the sea, that cannot be numbered for multitude.

And he abode there that night; and he took what was ready at his hand a present for Esau his brother: she-goats two hundred, and he-goats twenty; ewes two hundred, and rams twenty: milch camels with their young ones thirty; cows forty, and bulls ten, and small colts ten. [Jerusalem. And small colts ten.] And he made them ready by the hand of his servants in flocks apart, and said to his servants, Pass over before me, and put much (room) between flock and flock. And he instructed the first, saying, When Esau my brother shall meet thee, and ask of thee, saying, Whose art thou, and whither art thou journeying, and whose are these before thee? Thou shalt say, It is a gift of thy servant Jakob, which he sends to my lord Esau, and, behold, he also cometh after us. And so he instructed the second, and the third, and all them who followed the flocks, saying, According to these words you must speak with Esau when you find him, and say, And, behold, thy servant Jakob also cometh after us. For he said, I will make his countenance friendly by the gift which goeth before me, and afterward will see his face peradventure he may accept me. And the present passed over before him, and he abode that night in the camp. And he arose in the night, and took his two wives, and his two concubines, and his eleven children, and went over the ford Jubeka. And taking them he made them pass over the torrent, and all that he had went over.

And Jakob remained alone beyond the Jubeka; and an Angel contended with him in the likeness of a man. And he said, Hast thou not promised to give the tenth of all that is thine ? And, behold, thou hast ten sons and one daughter: nevertheless thou hast not tithed them. Immediately he set apart the four firstborn of the four mothers, and there remained eight. And he began to number from Shimeon, and Levi came up for the tenth.

Michael answered and said, Lord of the world, this is Thy lot. And on account of these things he (Michael) remained from God at the torrent till the column of the morning was ascending. And he saw that he had not power to hurt him, and he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was distorted in his contending with him.

And he said, Let me go, for the column of the morning ascendeth; and the hour cometh when the angels on high offer praise to the Lord of the world : and I am one of the angels of praise, but from the day that the world was created my time to praise hath not come until now.

me.

And he said, I will not let thee go, until thou bless [JERUSALEM. And the hollow of Jakob's thigh And he said, Send me away, for the column of the dawn ariseth, and, behold, the hour cometh for the angels to praise. And he said, I will not release thee until thou bless me.]

was displaced in contending with him.

And he said, What is thy name? He answered, Jakob. And he said, Thy name shall be no more called Jakob, but Israel, because thou art magnified with the angels of the Lord and with the mighty, and thou hast prevailed with them. And Jakob asked and said, Show me now thy name. And he said, Why dost

thou ask for my name? And he blessed Jakob there.