Toldot (Hebrew: תּוֹלְדֹת, "Generations/History") is the sixth weekly Torah portion, covering Genesis 25:19–28:9. It tells of Isaac and Rebekah, the birth of twins Esau and Jacob, the sale of the birthright, Isaac's sojourn in Gerar, and the stealing of the blessing.
Birth of Esau and Jacob
וַיִּתְרֹצְצוּ הַבָּנִים בְּקִרְבָּהּ
"And the children struggled together within her." (Genesis 25:22)
Isaac is 40 when he marries Rebekah. Rebekah is barren; Isaac prays to the Lord, and she conceives twins. The children struggle within her; she asks God: "If it be so, why do I live?" (Genesis 25:22). God answers: "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23). When she gives birth, the first comes out red, all over like a hairy garment; they name him Esau (עֵשָׂו, "hairy"). His brother comes out with his hand holding Esau's heel; they name him Jacob (יַעֲקֹב, "heel-grabber/supplanter"). Isaac is 60 at their birth.
The boys grow: Esau is a cunning hunter, a man of the field; Jacob is a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loves Esau because he eats of his venison; Rebekah loves Jacob.
Sale of the Birthright
Jacob cooks a stew of lentils. Esau comes in from the field, famished, and says: "Feed me, I pray you, with that same red stew, for I am faint" (Genesis 25:30). Jacob says: "Sell me this day your birthright" (Genesis 25:31). Esau says: "Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall the birthright do to me?" (Genesis 25:32). Jacob makes him swear; Esau sells his birthright for bread and lentil stew. "Thus Esau despised his birthright" (Genesis 25:34).
Isaac in Gerar
A famine strikes Canaan (like in Abraham's time). God tells Isaac not to go down to Egypt but to dwell in the land God will show him, and promises to be with him and bless him, "for unto you and unto your seed I will give all these lands" (Genesis 26:3), reaffirming the covenant with Abraham. Isaac settles in Gerar, in the land of the Philistines. Fearing for his life, he says Rebekah is his sister. King Abimelech sees Isaac sporting with Rebekah and says: "Behold, of a surety she is your wife" (Genesis 26:9). Abimelech commands his people not to touch Isaac or Rebekah.
Isaac sows in the land and reaps a hundredfold; God blesses him. He becomes great and has great flocks, herds, and servants. The Philistines envy him and stop up the wells his father's servants had dug. Isaac digs again the wells of Abraham and calls them by the same names. He digs new wells; the herdsmen of Gerar quarrel over them (Esek and Sitnah). He digs a third well, Rehoboth, saying: "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land" (Genesis 26:22). He goes up to Beersheba; God appears to him: "I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you" (Genesis 26:24). Isaac builds an altar and calls on the name of the Lord. Abimelech comes with his adviser Ahuzzath and his captain Phichol to make a covenant, saying: "We saw certainly that the Lord was with you" (Genesis 26:28). They swear an oath at Beersheba.
Esau, age 40, marries two Hittite women, Judith and Basemath, who are "a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah" (Genesis 26:35).
The Stolen Blessing
Isaac is old and his eyes are dim. He calls Esau and says: "Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison, and make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die" (Genesis 27:2–4). Rebekah overhears and devises a plan: she tells Jacob to bring two good kids of the goats, she will make savory food, and Jacob will bring it to Isaac pretending to be Esau. Jacob objects: "Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man; my father perhaps will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver" (Genesis 27:11–12). Rebekah says: "Upon me be your curse, my son; only obey my voice" (Genesis 27:13).
Jacob brings the food; Rebekah dresses him in Esau's best garments and covers his hands and neck with the skins of the kids. Jacob goes to Isaac and says: "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you asked me." Isaac says: "Come near, I pray you, that I may feel you, my son, whether you be my very son Esau or not" (Genesis 27:21). He feels him and says: "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau" (Genesis 27:22). Isaac eats and drinks, then blesses Jacob:
"See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. Therefore God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be every one that curses you, and blessed be every one that blesses you." (Genesis 27:27–29)
Esau returns with his venison. Isaac trembles "with a very great trembling" (Genesis 27:33) and says: "Who then is he that has taken venison and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed" (Genesis 27:33). Esau cries out with "a great and exceeding bitter cry": "Bless me, even me also, O my father!" (Genesis 27:34). Isaac says: "Your brother came with subtlety and has taken away your blessing" (Genesis 27:35). Esau says: "Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing" (Genesis 27:36). Isaac blesses Esau: "Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. And by your sword shall you live, and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass when you shall have the dominion, that you shall break his yoke from off your neck" (Genesis 27:39–40).
Jacob's Flight
Esau hates Jacob and plans to kill him after Isaac's death. Rebekah hears and tells Jacob to flee to her brother Laban in Haran until Esau's fury subsides. She tells Isaac: "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth" (Genesis 27:46), and asks him to send Jacob to find a wife from her family. Isaac calls Jacob, blesses him, and charges him: "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother" (Genesis 28:1–2). Isaac blesses him: "God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a multitude of people; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land wherein you are a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham" (Genesis 28:3–4). Jacob departs for Padan-aram. Esau, seeing that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him away to find a wife from his own family, takes as a wife Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham.
Major themes
- Rivalry and reconciliation: The twin brothers Esau and Jacob, representing two nations and two ways of life.
- Birthright and blessing: The spiritual vs. physical — Jacob values the birthright; Esau despises it.
- Deception and its consequences: Jacob's deception of Isaac leads to his exile.
- Divine providence: "The elder shall serve the younger" — God's plan overriding human expectations.
- Parental favoritism: Isaac loves Esau; Rebekah loves Jacob — a source of family conflict.
- Land and covenant: God reaffirms the covenant with Isaac, promising the land.
Rashi
Rashi explains that the "struggle" in Rebekah's womb was Esau trying to exit when she passed by a place of idolatry, and Jacob trying to exit when she passed by a place of Torah study. On the birthright, Rashi says Esau sold it because he was "a man of the field" and did not value spiritual inheritance. On the blessing, Rashi notes that Isaac's trembling was because he realized he had been deceived, yet he confirmed the blessing: "Yes, and he shall be blessed."
Ramban
Ramban explains that Isaac intended to bless Esau because he thought Esau's physical strength would be needed to conquer the land. Rebekah knew through prophecy that Jacob was the chosen one. On the deception, Ramban notes that Jacob did not lie directly — he said "I am Esau your firstborn," which was legally true in the sense that he had purchased the birthright.
Ibn Ezra
Ibn Ezra explains that "Toldot" means "generations" and that the parasha focuses on Isaac's lineage. He notes that the birthright included the priesthood and the double portion of inheritance.
Midrashic interpretations
- Bereshit Rabbah 63:6: The struggle in the womb was a preview of the eternal conflict between Israel (Jacob) and Edom (Esau/Rome).
- Bereshit Rabbah 63:10: Esau's "mocking" included idolatry, immorality, and murder — hence his unfitness for the birthright.
- Bereshit Rabbah 65:1: Isaac's blindness was caused by the smoke of Esau's wives' idolatrous incense.
- Bereshit Rabbah 67:4: Jacob's taking of the blessing was justified because Esau had already sold the birthright.
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 29: Jacob studied Torah in the tents of Shem and Eber while Esau hunted.
- Tanhuma, Toldot 8: The "voice of Jacob" refers to prayer and Torah study; the "hands of Esau" refers to war and violence.
Haftarah
The haftarah (Malachi 1:1 – 2:7) opens: "I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, 'Wherein have You loved us?' Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord; yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau" (Malachi 1:2–3). God contrasts His treatment of Jacob (Israel) with Edom (Esau's descendants). The haftarah connects to the theme of the chosenness of Jacob/Israel and the rejection of Esau/Edom.
References
- Genesis 25:19 – 28:9 (Masoretic Text)
- Rashi, Commentary on the Torah
- Ramban, Commentary on the Torah
- Ibn Ezra, Commentary on the Torah
- Bereshit Rabbah (Midrash)
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer
- Tanhuma, Toldot
- The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (Nahum M. Sarna, 1989)
- Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (JPS, 2001)
- Sefaria.org, "Toldot" (parasha)