Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 33/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 33

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Yaakov and Esav, Moshe and Aharon

There are parallels between the narrative of the anticipated reunion of Yaakov and Esav in Bereshit 32-33 and the reunion of Moshe and Aharon in Shemot 4.¹

Tools

• Concordance – The concordance demonstrates that the root "פגש" appears only four times in Torah, twice in each of these stories, perhaps a linguistic hint to compare the two.

Articles

• See Moses in Danger, by R. Alex Israel, for an exploration of these parallel stories, who suggests that both relate to a character's avoidance of a mission and the repercussions of such delay.²

¹ In both, a younger brother on his way to reunite with an older brother encounters an angel who attacks him or someone in his family (the only two such stories in Chumash). In addition, both stories have an association with a commandment: the prohibition of eating the sciatic nerve in the story of Yaakov, and the mitzvah of circumcision in the story of Moshe.

² Alternatively, one might suggest that the harmonious reunion relationship of Moshe and Aharon represents a resolution of the tensions between brothers that were so prominent in Sefer Bereshit, and is a necessary precursor to the redemption of the Jewish people.