When Rebekah learned that Esau intended to kill Jacob because he had deceitfully taken Esau’s blessing, she advised Jacob to flee to Haran:

And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: ‘Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, hearken to my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; and tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away; until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him; then I will send, and fetch thee from thence; why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?’ (Genesis 27:42–45)

וַיֻּגַּד לְרִבְקָה אֶת דִּבְרֵי עֵשָׂו בְּנָהּ הַגָּדֹל וַתִּשְׁלַח וַתִּקְרָא לְיַעֲקֹב בְּנָהּ הַקָּטָן וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו הִנֵּה עֵשָׂו אָחִיךָ מִתְנַחֵם לְךָ לְהָרְגֶךָ. וְעַתָּה בְנִי שְׁמַע בְּקֹלִי וְקוּם בְּרַח לְךָ אֶל לָבָן אָחִי חָרָנָה. וְיָשַׁבְתָּ עִמּוֹ יָמִים אֲחָדִים עַד אֲשֶׁר תָּשׁוּב חֲמַת אָחִיךָ. עַד שׁוּב אַף אָחִיךָ מִמְּךָ וְשָׁכַח אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ לּוֹ וְשָׁלַחְתִּי וּלְקַחְתִּיךָ מִשָּׁם לָמָה אֶשְׁכַּל גַּם שְׁנֵיכֶם יוֹם אֶחָד. (בראשית כ"ז מב-מד)

Rebekah’s original plan was that Jacob would spend a few years with her brother Laban until Esau’s anger subsided. She would then send for him. In practice, however, we never hear that she sent to bring Jacob home. After twenty years, Jacob himself fled from Laban, having realized that Laban’s attitude toward him had changed.

There is no difficulty in the fact that Rebekah’s plan did not materialize, whatever the reason. But we might expect the Torah at least to mention her when Jacob returns: she was the one who sent him to Haran. Moreover, upon returning to Canaan, Jacob would naturally return to the mother who had sent him away. Instead, we read that he returned to his father Isaac; Rebekah is not mentioned at all. We may suppose that she had died before his return, explaining the absence of a reunion. Even then, we would expect the Torah to mention her death, perhaps even Jacob’s reaction, just as it pauses during his return journey to describe the death and burial of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse (Genesis 35:8). Yet it says nothing about Rebekah. Why does it ignore her entirely?

I would argue that this silence is deliberate. By not speaking of Rebekah, the Torah hints that, as Jacob approached the land, he underwent a change that distanced him from his mother and her guidance. In that sense, Jacob did not return to Rebekah.

“Your Name Shall No Longer Be Jacob, but Israel”

Before meeting Esau and entering Canaan, God’s angel blessed Jacob and renamed him Israel (Genesis 32:29). God Himself later did the same at Bethel (Genesis 35:10). The change of name expresses a process whose culmination was Jacob’s struggle with the angel. “Jacob,” accustomed to deception and crooked dealing, became “Israel”: a new person who confronted difficulties with courage and integrity. He had striven with God and with men and prevailed (כִּי שָׂרִיתָ עִם אֱלֹהִים וְעִם אֲנָשִׁים וַתּוּכָל).

Jacob received his original name because of what happened at birth. As his twin Esau emerged first, Jacob’s hand grasped Esau’s heel, as though trying to delay him and come out first. The name is thus derived from the word for a heel. But it has another meaning: the Hebrew root ע.ק.ב also denotes deceit, fraud, or cunning, as Esau’s complaint makes clear: Jacob had supplanted him twice, taking his birthright and then his blessing (וַיֹּאמֶר הֲכִי קָרָא שְׁמוֹ יַעֲקֹב וַיַּעְקְבֵנִי זֶה פַעֲמַיִם אֶת בְּכֹרָתִי לָקָח וְהִנֵּה עַתָּה לָקַח בִּרְכָתִי; Genesis 27:36). Jacob had indeed dealt cunningly with Esau twice: first in buying the birthright, then in taking the intended blessings.

Jacob learned the pattern of conduct expressed by his name from his mother, Laban’s sister. Rebekah initiated the theft of the blessings and urged Jacob to deceive Isaac, despite Jacob’s own misgivings. By telling us that Jacob returned to Isaac while passing over Rebekah, the Torah strongly hints that Jacob abandoned his mother’s approach, which had led him to seek the birthright through deception, and accepted Isaac’s wish not to deprive Esau of it. His return from Haran to Isaac symbolizes leaving the deceit represented by Laban and, to some extent, Rebekah, and returning to Isaac’s integrity.

The Vow

This is also expressed in the distinctive way Jacob fulfilled the vow he made when leaving for Haran:

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the LORD be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.’ (Genesis 28:20–22)

וַיִּדַּר יַעֲקֹב נֶדֶר לֵאמֹר אִם יִהְיֶה אֱלֹהִים עִמָּדִי וּשְׁמָרַנִי בַּדֶּרֶךְ הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ וְנָתַן לִי לֶחֶם לֶאֱכֹל וּבֶגֶד לִלְבֹּשׁ. וְשַׁבְתִּי בְשָׁלוֹם אֶל בֵּית אָבִי וְהָיָה ה' לִי לֵאלֹהִים. וְהָאֶבֶן הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי מַצֵּבָה יִהְיֶה בֵּית אֱלֹהִים וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר תִּתֶּן לִי עַשֵּׂר אֲעַשְּׂרֶנּוּ לָךְ. (בראשית כ"ח כ-כב)

When God’s angel appeared to Jacob and commanded him to return, he reminded him of his vow:

I am the God of Beth-el, where thou didst anoint a pillar, where thou didst vow a vow unto Me. Now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity.’ (Genesis 31:13)

אָנֹכִי הָאֵל בֵּית אֵל אֲשֶׁר מָשַׁחְתָּ שָּׁם מַצֵּבָה אֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתָּ לִּי שָׁם נֶדֶר עַתָּה קוּם צֵא מִן הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת וְשׁוּב אֶל אֶרֶץ מוֹלַדְתֶּךָ. (בראשית ל"א יג)

We do find that, upon returning, Jacob erected a pillar at Bethel. This fulfilled the part of the vow in which he promised that the stone he had set up as a pillar would become a house of God – Bethel:

And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He spoke with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el. (Genesis 35:14–15)

וַיַּצֵּב יַעֲקֹב מַצֵּבָה בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אִתּוֹ מַצֶּבֶת אָבֶן וַיַּסֵּךְ עָלֶיהָ נֶסֶךְ וַיִּצֹק עָלֶיהָ שָׁמֶן. וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב אֶת שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אִתּוֹ שָׁם אֱלֹהִים בֵּית אֵל. (בראשית ל"ה יד-טו)

But what about the other part of the vow, to give a tenth of everything? Where do we find that Jacob fulfilled it? The rabbis indeed criticize him for delaying payment:

Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: In a time of distress, a vow; in a time of ease, a return to one’s habits. […] The Holy One said to him: Jacob, have you forgotten your vow? Arise, go up to Bethel, to the house of God, and make an altar there to the God who appeared to you. If you do not, you are like Esau: just as Esau vows without fulfilling, so you vow without fulfilling. (Genesis Rabbah, section 81; translated from Hebrew)

In the midrash, God’s call to go up to Bethel contains an accusation that Jacob had failed to keep his word. Yet the midrash treats going up and building an altar as complete fulfillment, although neither action meets Jacob’s specific commitment to tithe everything. Jubilees supplies the missing episode, stating that Jacob gave a tenth of everything exactly as he vowed. In addition to his property, he tithed his sons by dedicating Levi to God’s service. Levi was the third son, not the tenth, but Jubilees explains that counting backward from Benjamin makes Levi the tenth:

He remained that night at Bethel, and Levi dreamed that he and his sons were consecrated to an everlasting priesthood, serving before God Most High. He awoke and blessed the Lord. Jacob arose early on the fourteenth of that month and tithed everything. In those days Rachel conceived Benjamin. Jacob counted his sons backward from him, and the Lord’s lot fell upon Levi. (Jubilees 32:1–4; translated from the Hebrew quotation)

A similar account appears in the midrashim. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer says that Jacob tithed his livestock and set apart Levi as a tithe, holy to God:

The angel said: Did you not promise to give Me a tenth of everything? What did Jacob do? He took from the livestock he had brought from Paddan-aram, from five thousand five hundred. The angel further said: Jacob, you have not tithed everything; you have sons whom you have not tithed to Me. Jacob set aside the four firstborn sons of the four mothers, leaving eight sons. He began with Simeon and ended with Benjamin in his mother’s womb. Beginning again with Simeon, Levi came up as the tithe, holy to God, as stated in Leviticus 27:32 (הָעֲשִׂירִי יִהְיֶה קֹּדֶשׁ לַה’). (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 37; translated from Hebrew)

Such an addition to the biblical story, describing full fulfillment of the vow, is understandable. Nevertheless, Genesis itself contains no mention of giving the tithe. If Jacob failed to pay his vow, that was a serious omission. Why would the Torah ignore it, refrain from criticizing him, and describe further divine revelations without addressing it? Why would he fail to fulfill his vow at all, especially after surviving the encounter with Esau that he so feared?

The natural conclusion is that Jacob did pay his vow and tithe everything. Why does the Torah apparently say nothing about it? Perhaps it has told us, and we have failed to notice. To answer, let us examine Jacob’s encounter with Esau.

“Thus Shall You Say to My Lord Esau”

Before and during their meeting, Jacob humbled himself before Esau. He sent a gift, called Esau “my lord,” and referred to himself as “your servant.” Influenced by rabbinic interpretation, we usually assume that all this arose from fear and was intended to escape Esau’s anger. Yet Jacob himself initiated the encounter, sending messengers all the way to distant Seir to announce his return. Moreover, he used “my lord” and “your servant” before learning that Esau was coming with four hundred men and apparently preparing for battle, when Jacob had less cause for fear. He called Esau “my lord” not only to his face, where flattery would be understandable, but in private instructions to his messengers (כֹּה תֹאמְרוּן לַאדֹנִי לְעֵשָׂו; Genesis 32:5).

Is there another explanation for the honor Jacob accorded his brother?

We may suggest that over the years Jacob came to recognize something wrong in deceiving his father to steal the blessings, perhaps even in buying his brother’s birthright for lentil stew. He may have felt that, given another chance, he would act differently. His experience with Laban, when he himself was deceived, may have awakened guilt. Recognizing his mistakes toward Esau, Jacob wished to repair them. The gift and his deferential language communicated that he was retracting his deception and acknowledging God’s determination that Esau was the firstborn.

Esau’s being firstborn, however, did not necessarily make him the chosen son who alone would continue Abraham’s lineage while Jacob was excluded. Other relationships were possible: both sons could continue their father, or the younger could lead. We see that late in life Jacob changed his view of firstborn status, ceasing to assume that the firstborn automatically deserved a greater blessing. When Joseph brought Manasseh and Ephraim for his father’s final blessing, Jacob crossed his hands and preferred to place his right hand on younger Ephraim, despite Joseph’s objection:

And Joseph said unto his father: ‘Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.’ And his father refused, and said: ‘I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.’ (Genesis 48:18–19)

וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל אָבִיו לֹא כֵן אָבִי כִי זֶה הַבְּכֹר שִׂים יְמִינְךָ עַל רֹאשׁוֹ. וַיְמָאֵן אָבִיו וַיֹּאמֶר יָדַעְתִּי בְנִי יָדַעְתִּי גַּם הוּא יִהְיֶה לְּעָם וְגַם הוּא יִגְדָּל וְאוּלָם אָחִיו הַקָּטֹן יִגְדַּל מִמֶּנּוּ וְזַרְעוֹ יִהְיֶה מְלֹא הַגּוֹיִם. (בראשית מ"ח יח-יט)

This had already appeared in Jacob’s preference for Joseph and even Judah over firstborn Reuben. I Chronicles 5:1 says that Reuben’s birthright was taken and given to Joseph, but Genesis does not say so. Even when Jacob rebuked Reuben and deprived him of his additional portion (אַל תּוֹתַר), he still called him “my firstborn” (בְּכֹרִי; Genesis 49:3–4).

The insight that birth order does not exclusively determine the sons’ relationship may thus have begun developing in Jacob before his return. It led him to recognize the futility of his earlier attempts to buy the birthright and steal the blessings.

Esau the Firstborn

I have argued that, approaching the land, Jacob reconsidered and acknowledged Esau’s firstborn status. Significantly, the narrator – the Torah itself – also continues to regard Esau as firstborn. This emerges in the later verses. When the Torah explains why Esau settled in Mount Seir, it says:

And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan; and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their substance was too great for them to dwell together; and the land of their sojournings could not bear them because of their cattle. And Esau dwelt in the mountain-land of Seir – Esau is Edom. (Genesis 36:6–8)

וַיִּקַּח עֵשָׂו אֶת נָשָׁיו וְאֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת בְּנֹתָיו וְאֶת כָּל נַפְשׁוֹת בֵּיתוֹ וְאֶת מִקְנֵהוּ וְאֶת כָּל בְּהֶמְתּוֹ וְאֵת כָּל קִנְיָנוֹ אֲשֶׁר רָכַשׁ בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל אֶרֶץ מִפְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב אָחִיו. כִי הָיָה רְכוּשָׁם רָב מִשֶּׁבֶת יַחְדָּו וְלֹא יָכְלָה אֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵיהֶם לָשֵׂאת אֹתָם מִפְּנֵי מִקְנֵיהֶם. וַיֵּשֶׁב עֵשָׂו בְּהַר שֵׂעִיר עֵשָׂו הוּא אֱדוֹם. (בראשית ל"ו ו-ח)

The Torah emphasizes that settling in Seir was Esau’s free choice, rather than dispossession comparable to Abraham’s sending his concubines’ sons eastward while still alive (Genesis 25:6). It counters the idea that Esau’s absence from his father’s land proves that he ceased to be the firstborn. The Torah also describes Isaac’s death and burial:

And Isaac expired, and died, and was gathered unto his people, old and full of days; and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him. (Genesis 35:29)

וַיִּגְוַע יִצְחָק וַיָּמָת וַיֵּאָסֶף אֶל עַמָּיו זָקֵן וּשְׂבַע יָמִים וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ עֵשָׂו וְיַעֲקֹב בָּנָיו. (בראשית ל״ה, כ״ט)

Isaac’s burial recalls Abraham’s. In both cases, the deceased’s two sons bury him: Isaac and Ishmael in Abraham’s case, Esau and Jacob in Isaac’s. The order is meaningful. Isaac appears before Ishmael because Sarah’s son takes precedence over Hagar’s, despite being younger. Esau appears before Jacob because he remains firstborn despite the sale of the birthright and theft of the blessings, and Jacob acknowledges this.

Genesis 36 then describes Esau’s descendants at length, naming twelve leaders of his family and his chiefs. The twelve chiefs, and still more the kings who ruled Edom before any king ruled Israel, express Esau’s precedence: Edom’s kings reigned long before Israel contemplated monarchy.

Esau’s Rejection

Ultimately Jacob continued Abraham’s legacy and Esau was excluded. But this resulted from their actions, not their positions in the family. Their decisions about the promised land appear to mark the turning point. God chose Abraham and commanded him to leave his country, birthplace, and father’s house for the chosen land, where he would become a great, blessed nation benefiting all humanity:

Now the LORD said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ (Genesis 12:1–3)

וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל אַבְרָם לֶךְ לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ. וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה. וַאֲבָרְכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה. (בראשית י"ב א-ג)

Jacob left his forced exile in Haran and returned to the land and Isaac’s home. Esau freely chose to migrate to Seir. By separating himself from Canaan and Isaac, Esau effectively relinquished the vocation of continuing Abraham’s legacy, leaving it to Jacob.

Fulfilling the Vow

Where did Jacob fulfill his promise to give a tenth of everything? The surprising answer is that the gift he sent Esau was itself the tithe. Jacob told Esau, when urging him to accept it:

And Jacob said: ‘Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found favour in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.’ And he urged him, and he took it. (Genesis 33:10–11)

וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אַל נָא אִם נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ מִנְחָתִי מִיָּדִי כִּי עַל כֵּן רָאִיתִי פָנֶיךָ כִּרְאֹת פְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים וַתִּרְצֵנִי. קַח נָא אֶת בִּרְכָתִי אֲשֶׁר הֻבָאת לָךְ כִי חַנַּנִי אֱלֹהִים וְכִי יֶשׁ לִי כֹל וַיִּפְצַר בּוֹ וַיִּקָּח. (בראשית ל"ג י-יא)

Jacob equates giving the gift to Esau with giving it to God. Esau’s acceptance would therefore enable Jacob to pay his vow. Jacob also uses words recalling his earlier promise. Addressing Esau, he speaks of God’s graciousness and his having everything:

Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.’ And he urged him, and he took it. (Genesis 33:11)

"כִי חַנַּנִי אֱלֹהִים וְכִי יֶשׁ לִי כֹל" (בראשית ל"ג יא)

The Hebrew wording “I have all” (לִי כֹל), rendered “I have enough” in JPS 1917, recalls the vow:

and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.’ (Genesis 28:22)

"וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר תִּתֶּן לִי עַשֵּׂר אֲעַשְּׂרֶנּוּ לָךְ" (בראשית כ"ח כב)

The detailed inventory of Esau’s gift, identifying the animals and exact numbers of each kind, recalls the inventory of Midianite spoils (Numbers 31:25–54). There, too, each category – people, donkeys, sheep, and cattle – is counted in the levy given to God, an act analogous to Jacob’s promised tithe.

But how could giving Esau a gift fulfill a vow to tithe everything to God?

Unlike a sacrifice, a tithe is given to people, not directly to God. After defeating the four kings, Abraham gave his tithe to Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High:

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High. And he blessed him, and said: ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God the Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.’ And he gave him a tenth of all. (Genesis 14:18–20)

וּמַלְכִי צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם הוֹצִיא לֶחֶם וָיָיִן וְהוּא כֹהֵן לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן. וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ וַיֹּאמַר בָּרוּךְ אַבְרָם לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ. וּבָרוּךְ אֵל עֶלְיוֹן אֲשֶׁר מִגֵּן צָרֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וַיִּתֶּן לוֹ מַעֲשֵׂר מִכֹּל. (בראשית י"ד טז-כ)

Esau is not explicitly described as a priest or other cultic official. Yet, following the Mishnah’s statement that before the Tabernacle was erected, private altars were permitted and worship was performed by firstborns (Mishnah Zevachim 14:4), we may suggest that firstborn sons performed this role within ancient families. Esau’s role and firstborn status, even if he was personally unworthy, allowed the tithe given to him to fulfill the second part of Jacob’s vow.

Incidentally, Salem, Melchizedek’s city, was also the first Canaanite city Jacob reached after meeting Esau, according to the wording וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם עִיר שְׁכֶם (Genesis 33:18). On my reading, he had just paid his vow and given the tithe. This strengthens the parallel between Abraham’s meeting with Melchizedek and Jacob’s meeting with Esau: in both, a tenth of everything was given.

Why pay the vow specifically through Esau rather than through someone like Melchizedek? Giving Esau the tithe demonstrated most clearly Jacob’s acknowledgment of his brother’s firstborn status and regret for his actions – the purpose of the encounter Jacob initiated.

The idea that Esau’s gift was Jacob’s tithe already appears in Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer:

Jacob took the whole tithe of the property he brought from Paddan-aram, sent it with his servants, and gave it to Esau. […] The Holy One said: Jacob, have you made the sacred profane? Jacob answered: Master of all worlds, I flatter the wicked so that he will not kill me. Hence they said: one may flatter the wicked in this world for the sake of peace. (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 37; translated from Hebrew)

Unlike my proposal – deliberate acknowledgment of Esau’s firstborn status, an attempt to repair wrongdoing, and a repudiation of earlier deceit – the midrash attributes the gift to Jacob’s wish to avoid being killed. Yet the plain sense suggests that Jacob intended to give the tithe before becoming afraid of the encounter. Before learning that Esau approached with four hundred men, he hinted at his intention by expressing his wish to find favor in Esau’s eyes:

And I have oxen, and asses and flocks, and men-servants and maid-servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight.’ (Genesis 32:6)

...וַיְהִי לִי שׁוֹר וַחֲמוֹר צֹאן וְעֶבֶד וְשִׁפְחָה וָאֶשְׁלְחָה לְהַגִּיד לַאדֹנִי לִמְצֹא חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ. (בראשית ל״ב, ו׳)

As Jacob prepared to return, then, he regretted attempting to take Esau’s birthright and blessings and sought to acknowledge his firstborn status. He did so by giving a gift that also fulfilled his vow to tithe his property to God, through his elder brother. The Torah does not ignore the fulfillment of the vow; on the contrary, it describes it at length.