Toldos 25:23 · unit 3

TT #7 · Parashas Toldos · Passuk 25:23

The Complete Passuk

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה לָ֗הּ שְׁנֵ֤י (גיים) [גוֹיִם֙] בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃

and Hashem answered her, “Two nations are in your womb, two separate peoples shall issue from your body; one people shall be mightier than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.”

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Megillah 6a. E-Daf · Sefaria — Megillah 6a

אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: אִם יֹאמַר לְךָ אָדָם חָרְבוּ שְׁתֵּיהֶן, אַל תַּאֲמֵן…

Rabbi Yitzchak said: If a person tells you that both Caesarea and Jerusalem are destroyed, do not believe him… as it is said, “One people shall be mightier than the other.”

On the daf / in context: The rivalry of the two nations is perpetual: when one rises the other falls.

Type of Learning

Custom (Bavli — perpetual rivalry of the two nations)

What Is Learned

The two nations cannot both flourish or both decline at the same time.