(ד) וַיָּ֨רָץ עֵשָׂ֤ו לִקְרָאתוֹ֙ וַֽיְחַבְּקֵ֔הוּ וַיִּפֹּ֥ל עַל־צַוָּארָ֖ו וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ וַיִּבְכּֽוּ׃
(4) Esau ran to greet him [Jacob]. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.
(י) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֗ב אַל־נָא֙ אִם־נָ֨א מָצָ֤אתִי חֵן֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ מִנְחָתִ֖י מִיָּדִ֑י כִּ֣י עַל־כֵּ֞ן רָאִ֣יתִי פָנֶ֗יךָ כִּרְאֹ֛ת פְּנֵ֥י אֱלֹקִ֖ים וַתִּרְצֵֽנִי׃
(10) But Jacob said, “No, I pray you; if you would do me this favor, accept from me this gift; for seeing your face is like seeing the face of G-d (5) , and you have received me favorably.
...he kissed him... (Weissman p 319)
Aisav's heart was full of malice. "Rather than shooting Yaakov with my bow," he thought, "I shall let him come close, bite him, and suck the blood out of his body!"
Aisav sank his teeth into Yaakov's neck to bite him, but Yaakov'sneck was miraculously converted into solid marble.
Aisav's teeth cracked. Both wept: Yaakov, because his neck hurt him from the bite, and Aisav for his broken teeth.
seeing your face is like seeing the face of G-d: (Bialik p 49)
Jacob mentioned G-d's name to Esau in order to intimidate him, to frighten him. By what parable may Jacob's mention of G-d be understood? By the parable of a man who invited his friend to dine with him. When the guest perceived that the host planned to murder him, he said, "This dish tastes like the dish I had in the royal palace." So he knows the king, said the host to himself, and, seized with fear, he did not try to go through with his murderous scheme.
So it was with Jacob. As soon as he said to Esau, "Seeing thy face is like seeing the face of G-d," wicked Esau said to himself: Since the Holy One brought him to such honor, I stand no chance against him.
seeing your face is like seeing the face of G-d: (Weissman p 314-315)
"...The angel, who was in reality the sar (protecting angel) of Edom, then attacked Yaakov, and attempted to destroy him. Yaakov fought back, and a struggle ensued...but the angel remained unable to overcome Yaakov.
Yaakov's nightlong struggle was a forerunner of his descendants' future struggle in the long exile that is compared to night. The nations attempt to seduce the Jewish people into abandoning the Torah and joining them, promising them greatness and honor. But just as the angel was unable to overpower Yaakov, so will the nations be unsuccessful in uprooting K'lal Yisrael from their Creator."
(8) So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir—Esau being Edom [the Edomites were enemies of the Israelites.]
(8) In that day —declares the LORD— I will make the wise vanish from Edom, Understanding from Esau’s mount.
Esau = Rome (Bialik p 336)
R. Levi said in the name of R. Yose son of R. Ilai: It is but natural that the large should count by the small. Esau (Rome), who is large, counts by the sun, which is large; Jacob, who is small, counts by the moon, which is small. And indeed, as R. Nahman said, "This is a happy augury: Esau counts by the sun --just as the sun rules by day but does not rule by night, so [wicked] Esau has a portion in this world but no portion in the world-to-come; Jacob counts by the moon -- just as the moon rules by day [sometimes the moon is visible by day] and by night, so Jacob has a portion in both this world and in the world-to-come.
Esau = Edom = Rome (Etz Hayim p 221)
[Obadiah's] rabbinical heirs clearly regarded the defeat of Edom as the end of historical tyranny and the onset of G-d's universal kingship. This is because Edom had become a standard name for the hated Roman Empire. As a result, the prophecy of Obadiah fostered hopes for an end to this brutal domination and a restoration of national religious service. In due course, when Christendom assumed the mantle and the might of Rome, the name Edom received a new identity.