The Scrolls of Deborah by Esther Goldenberg

Author:Esther Goldenberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Row House Publishing
Published: 2024-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

THE

SIXTEENTH PARCHMENT

With Esau and Jacob officially boys and no longer babies, some changes were made in the camp. Isaac began allowing them to go to the fields with him to look over the sheep. He tried taking them both together, but they would fight, and Isaac became uneasy. So sometimes he took Esau and sometimes Jacob. By the time they had six summers, the boys both demonstrated a skill for knowing the needs of the flocks and tending to them. But neither wanted to do so.

When Esau came back from spending days and nights with his father and the sheep, he would report frustration with the idiocy of watching idle animals. Whenever he could bear it no longer, he would wander off after a baby deer or a rabbit, following it silently, watching it with unbroken focus, and finally mastering it and roasting it. He stood taller every time that he reported his father’s appreciation. “Esau, this tastes as good as the wild ram that saved my life.” Esau would not turn down his father’s requests to join him in shepherding, but he used his time to carve his bows and sharpen his arrows.

Jacob was most at ease when Esau was away. When the boys were together, their playful wrestling usually ended with blood coming from Jacob’s nose or knees or lips. Jacob was often the first to instigate an argument when Esau returned, and Esau was the one to end it. Neither seemed to enjoy their time together. And as much as Jacob liked being apart from Esau, he disliked being the one to leave. The time with his father was an honor, he said. The sheep heeded his shepherding, he said. The blue skies and green hills were gifts from Yah, he said. But he preferred to be in the tents at the camp.

What were we to do with a boy who was staying underfoot? We did not know an answer to that other than to treat him as we would a girl who was there. Rebekah and I had considered the possibility of birthing more children. Rebekah was still sleeping in Isaac’s tent many nights, though his requests had become fewer over the years. She was still chewing the seeds and praying to have her body remain her own. I was willing to have another pregnancy, even if not eager. With no requests or complaints from Isaac about more children, two it was. Perhaps it was a blessing to have one remain close by some of the time.

So as the children got bigger and our duties changed, so did Jacob’s. He began removing insects from the garden plants and drawing water. He spun wool from the sheep and tried his hand at weaving. He did well in his first lessons, but we sent him for other tasks, deciding we preferred to have this time together without him. Jacob built fires for our stews and breads and made many himself.

Eventually a balance was struck with Esau watching over the farthest sheep and Jacob the closest ones.

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