The Sons of Isaac(69)

Isaac reached out to his sons, and they in turn impulsively linked their arms with the men on each side of them until a great circle was formed of singing and dancing men. They stomped their feet to get the rhythm set and then were off pounding and whirling as they sang the age-old songs of their people. Such joy and excitement filled the air that everyone felt the troubles of the past were surely over and they were to have the very special blessing of Abraham’s God.

Such was the joy and exuberance among the men that none of them noticed that Esau was missing. He had slipped away to hurry up the goat trail that led to Kirjath-arba, where he intended to meet Judith. He had impulsively decided to have her under any conditions. If he didn’t act soon, someone else was likely to take her, and he didn’t want that to happen.





As it turned out, Esau did not marry Judith right away because of the opposition of his parents. “You are the son of the promise,” Isaac warned. “You must consider this before you decide to marry anyone.”

Rebekah was even more emphatic. “Her ways are very different from ours,” she said, “and there would be nothing but strife among our women.”

Though it was a tradition, recognized by everyone, that the young wife must be totally submissive to the mother in her new family, this was often not attained without difficulty. The mother was the one who taught the new wife. She was responsible for seeing that the young bride knew the manners, customs and traditions, likes and dislikes of her new family. If she met any resistance, she was expected to use force and even severe punishment to bring about the desired result. It made for many unpleasant situations.

If the new bride was from a similar background, everything went much more smoothly. Esau understood this since he had seen the problems that arose when some of his friends brought home women with foreign ways. However, he was optimistic that once Judith belonged to him and was brought into his mother’s tent, all would be well.

Rebekah tried to warn Isaac. “Esau is not one to give up easily, and you are the only one he will listen to.”

However, Isaac was so preoccupied with the success of his wells and irrigation schemes that he hardly heard what she was saying. Even more pressing were the headaches and failing eyesight he was experiencing. He found that riding out into the bright sunlight of the desert morning or afternoon was more and more difficult. Even to leave his tent in the early evening when the sun was low caused severe strain. With these problems occupying his mind, the fact that Esau was courting a girl from among the Hittites didn’t seem urgent.

At the same time that Isaac was being apathetic, Beeri, the father of Judith, encouraged Esau. “I was forced to give my daughter to be a priestess in the temple of Anat because of the famine. I couldn’t feed my family and she was just a girl. She has done well there, but for a price you can buy her back,” he said.

“What price would they ask?”

“You have herds of goats and sheep. The next new moon, give them five goats for their sacrifice.”

“And I can have her for five goats?”

“And, of course, for myself there must be some small payment.”

“Five goats too,” Esau said eagerly.

“No, no, I am the father. It cost me much in food and clothes until she went to the temple.”

“But the temple paid you …”

“A small bit of silver that was soon gone. No, I must have five sheep and three lambs.”

Esau was surprised that the whole deal could be settled so simply. He didn’t even take time to haggle and bargain as Beeri had expected. “I will have one of the shepherds deliver them just before the time of the new moon,” he said with growing excitement.

Beeri was obviously elated that he had made such a good bargain. “You must be very rich,” he said, as he followed Esau to the door. “You didn’t even try to bring the price down. Perhaps I should have asked for more.”

Esau paused. “And I would have probably paid it. When I want something I usually find a way of getting it.”

This disturbed Beeri, but when he went to the temple and told the high priestess of his bargain and saw that she was favorably impressed, he was satisfied that he had done quite well.

Esau told Isaac and Rebekah very little. He didn’t mention that Judith was one of the young priestesses in the temple of Anat. He simply told Isaac that he had met a young woman in the city of Kirjath-arba that he was attracted to and that he had already bargained for her. “I will need a few goats and some sheep,” he said.

Esau insisted he could not live without this young woman, and so Isaac agreed to give him whatever was needed.