Vayetzei (Hebrew: וַיֵּצֵא, "And he went out") is the seventh weekly Torah portion, covering Genesis 28:10–32:3. It tells of Jacob's flight to Haran, his dream of the ladder, his years with Laban, his marriages to Leah and Rachel, the birth of his children, and his return toward Canaan.
Jacob's Ladder
וַיַּחֲלֹם וְהִנֵּה סֻלָּם מֻצָּב אַרְצָה וְרֹאשׁוֹ מַגִּיעַ הַשָּׁמָיְמָה
"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven." (Genesis 28:12)
Jacob leaves Beersheba for Haran and stops at a certain place for the night. He dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven, with angels of God ascending and descending. God stands above it and says: "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed" (Genesis 28:13). God promises Jacob that his descendants will be as the dust of the earth, that God will be with him, keep him, and bring him back to this land. Jacob awakens and says: "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not" (Genesis 28:16). He names the place Bethel (בֵּית־אֵל, "House of God") and sets up the stone he slept on as a pillar, pouring oil on it. He vows: if God will be with him, give him bread and clothing, and bring him back in peace, then the Lord shall be his God, and this stone shall be God's house, and he will give a tenth of all he receives.
Jacob at the Well
Jacob arrives in Haran and sees a well in the field with three flocks of sheep lying by it. He asks the shepherds: "My brethren, where are you from?" They say: "From Haran." He asks if they know Laban, son of Nahor; they say yes, and that Rachel, Laban's daughter, is coming with her sheep. Jacob says: "Lo, it is yet high day... water the sheep, and go and feed them" (Genesis 29:7). They say they cannot until all flocks are gathered. Rachel arrives with her father's sheep. Jacob rolls the stone from the well's mouth, waters Rachel's flock, kisses Rachel, and weeps. He tells her he is Rebekah's son. Rachel runs to tell her father. Laban runs to meet Jacob, embraces and kisses him, and brings him to his house.
Jacob and Laban
Jacob stays with Laban for a month. Laban asks what his wages should be. Jacob loves Rachel and says: "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter" (Genesis 29:18). Laban agrees. Jacob serves seven years, "and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her" (Genesis 29:20). At the end of seven years, Laban makes a feast and brings Leah (the elder daughter) to Jacob instead of Rachel, in the evening, because "it is not so done in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn" (Genesis 29:26). Jacob discovers the deception in the morning. He confronts Laban, who replies: "Fulfill her week, and we will give you this also for the service which you shall serve with me yet seven other years" (Genesis 29:27). Jacob does so and receives Rachel as his wife after a week, then serves seven more years.
Marriages to Leah and Rachel
God sees that Leah is hated and opens her womb, while Rachel is barren. Leah bears four sons: Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, "See, a son"), Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, "Heard"), Levi (לֵוִי, "Attached"), and Judah (יְהוּדָה, "Praise"). Rachel, envious, says to Jacob: "Give me children, or else I die" (Genesis 30:1). Jacob answers: "Am I in God's stead, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" (Genesis 30:2). Rachel gives her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob; Bilhah bears Dan (דָּן, "Judged") and Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, "My wrestling"). Leah, seeing she had stopped bearing, gives her maidservant Zilpah; Zilpah bears Gad (גָּד, "Good fortune") and Asher (אָשֵׁר, "Happy"). Leah then bears Issachar (יִשָּׂשכָר, "Reward"), Zebulun (זְבוּלֻן, "Honor"), and a daughter, Dinah (דִּינָה). Finally God remembers Rachel; she conceives and bears Joseph (יוֹסֵף, "He will add"), saying: "God has taken away my reproach" (Genesis 30:23).
Jacob's Flocks
After Joseph's birth, Jacob asks Laban to let him return to his own country. Laban, seeing that God has blessed him because of Jacob, asks what wages he wants. Jacob proposes: "Remove from hence every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and of such shall be my hire" (Genesis 30:32). Laban agrees but removes all the speckled and spotted animals himself, giving them to his sons, and sets a three days' journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob takes fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane tree, peels white streaks in them, and places them before the flocks at the watering troughs when they come to drink. The flocks that conceived while looking at the rods bore speckled and spotted young. Jacob also uses timing to make the stronger animals speckled. He grows exceedingly wealthy with flocks, maidservants, menservants, camels, and asses.
Flight from Laban
God tells Jacob: "Return unto the land of your fathers, and to your kindred; and I will be with you" (Genesis 31:3). Jacob calls Rachel and Leah to the field and tells them of God's command and how Laban has changed his wages ten times, but God has not allowed Laban to harm him. Rachel and Leah agree: "Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not counted of him strangers? for he has sold us, and has quite devoured also our money" (Genesis 31:14–15). They agree to go. Jacob sets his sons and wives on camels and flees. Rachel steals her father's teraphim (household idols). Laban pursues for seven days and catches Jacob at Mount Gilead. God warns Laban in a dream: "Take heed that you speak not to Jacob either good or bad" (Genesis 31:24). Laban confronts Jacob about the flight and the stolen idols. Jacob denies taking them and says whoever has them shall die. Laban searches but does not find them (Rachel hid them in the camel's saddle and sat on them). Jacob rebukes Laban for his unfair treatment over twenty years. They make a covenant at Mizpah, setting up a heap of stones as a witness, and Laban departs in peace.
Major themes
- Dreams and divine revelation: Jacob's ladder dream establishes Bethel as a sacred place.
- Exile and return: Jacob's journey mirrors Israel's later exile and return.
- Deception and its consequences: Jacob the deceiver is himself deceived by Laban; "measure for measure."
- Covenant and promise: God reaffirms the Abrahamic covenant with Jacob.
- Family and rivalry: The competition between Leah and Rachel for Jacob's love.
- Providence: God's protection of Jacob despite Laban's attempts to cheat him.
Rashi
Rashi explains that the angels ascending and descending the ladder represent the guardian angels of different nations; the angel of Babylon ascended and fell, Media ascended and fell, Greece ascended and fell, and the angel of Edom kept ascending (representing Rome's long-lasting power). On the stolen teraphim, Rashi says Rachel took them to wean her father from idolatry.
Ramban
Ramban explains that the ladder represents the connection between heaven and earth, and that Bethel is the "gate of heaven." On the speckled flocks, Ramban explains that Jacob used natural means (peeled rods) as a sign, not magic, trusting in God's providence.
Midrashic interpretations
- Bereshit Rabbah 68:1: The ladder had four rungs, representing the four exiles of Israel.
- Bereshit Rabbah 70:5: Jacob's stone pillow became the foundation stone of the Temple in Jerusalem.
- Bereshit Rabbah 70:10: Rachel hid the teraphim because she feared her father would use them for divination.
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 36: The twelve stones Jacob gathered became one stone, symbolizing the unity of the twelve tribes.
Haftarah
The haftarah (Hosea 12:13–14:10) references Jacob's flight to Aram and his service for a wife, connecting to the theme of God's faithfulness to Israel despite their waywardness. It ends with a call to repentance: "Return, O Israel, unto the Lord your God" (Hosea 14:2).
References
- Genesis 28:10 – 32:3 (Masoretic Text)
- Rashi, Commentary on the Torah
- Ramban, Commentary on the Torah
- Bereshit Rabbah (Midrash)
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer
- The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (Nahum M. Sarna, 1989)
- Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (JPS, 2001)
- Sefaria.org, "Vayetzei" (parasha)