The Sons of Isaac(70)
When Esau went to tell his mother, he had a harder time explaining. She wanted to know all the details, and she was not impressed with the few facts Esau gave. “Her hair is loose and thick and her eyes are like the eyes of one of the gazelles,” he said. “She is slender like a rush growing up in the Besor.”
“And can she cook and weave? Does she know how to take wool, dye it, and using the spindle make it into fine twined threads?”
“Mother,” Esau smirked, “I would hope we could have servants to do such things.”
“And what will she do with her time if she knows none of these things?”
Esau shrugged. “She’ll play her stringed harp and charm us with her flute.”
“I can see that I’ll have to teach her everything. I don’t understand. Where is the girl’s mother?”
“She is from one of the prominent Hittite families. They have suffered much from the famine.”
When he had gone, Rebekah ran to Isaac’s tent and confronted him. “Have you given permission for this marriage?” she demanded.
Isaac reached out for her hand as he could no longer make out her features. “It seems to be all arranged. Esau did it himself. He probably realized I can’t go up to Kirjath-arba to make the settlement.”
“But she is a Hittite,” Rebekah almost screamed, pulling her hand away.
“I wasn’t told that. The Hittites are strangers here in this land much as we are.”
“That isn’t the point. Don’t you remember Esau is the firstborn? You have said he is to have the birthright and the blessing. Can it be that he can marry a Hittite without your protesting?”
“Rebekah, you can see how difficult everything is since this trouble with my eyes. Perhaps I’ll be better soon and then I can manage to find him a more suitable wife.”
“And … for now, it doesn’t matter that he marries a Hittite?”
“Esau is a creature of strong and lusty temperament. He needs a wife to help him settle down.”
“But not just any wife.”
“He can take other, more suitable, wives later. This is what he wants and he is determined. If we oppose him there’ll be no peace.”
“And if he brings a Hittite into our family, there’ll be no peace.”
Isaac took her two hands in his and leaning forward spoke confidently. “Oh my dear,” he said, “you are clever, I’m sure you’ll find a way. I have every confidence that you can teach this young girl all she needs to know to be a good wife to our son.”
Rebekah pulled her hands away and turned to go. “Then you are not going to oppose him?”
“You know very well it’s not my way to draw lines, make rules, and confront people. I prefer peaceful solutions. I want us all to live in peace.”
Rebekah stood and looked at Isaac with tears in her eyes. She could see it was hopeless to press the point further. “It’s obvious,” she said finally, “that you have no idea of the trouble this will cause.”
“Trouble comes and goes,” he said. “We seldom have much control over it.”
She poured some goat’s milk and handed it to him. Without waiting to see that he drank it, she turned and hurried from his tent.
* * *
By the time Esau informed his mother that he was bringing his bride home at the time of the new moon, she had become resigned to its inevitability. She reluctantly ordered the bridal tent erected. They would stay in the tent for a month, and during that time the girl could come to her during the day and receive instructions. She knew very little of the ways of the Hittites, so Rebekah called her nurse, Deborah, to come and help her make plans.
Deborah told her all that she had heard. “The girl has been in training in the temple of Anat,” she said. “Because of the famine her family was forced to sell her to the temple priestess.”
Rebekah was horrified. She immediately went to report this new bit of news to Isaac.
Isaac refused to be disturbed. “I trust the lad,” he said. “He has been reminded of his responsibility and I’m sure he has thought this through.”
“But she is not just a Hittite with Hittite ways but has also been in training in the temple. Who knows what that means!”
“Of course it is not good,” Isaac said, frowning, “but we must make the best of it. I’m sure you can help the girl adjust to our ways. Perhaps she is unhappy there and Esau sees himself as rescuing her.”
Rebekah buried her head in her hands; she could see it was hopeless to try to reason with him. He had always been a man who sought peace, and now with his growing blindness he seemed to have retreated into a corner where he refused to face any reality if it would cause conflict.