We just finished the story of the Berachot (blessings). Yitzchak had just told Yaakov, “Please go to Charan and marry a woman for yourself from the family of Rivka,” and also gave him Birkat Avraham (blessing of Abraham). Yitzchak sent Yaakov, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Lavan, the son of Betuel ha-Arami (the Aramean), the brother of Rivka, the mother of Yaakov and Esav. Right? It’s very clear here. Who is the Pasuk (verse) focusing on? Lavan. We keep referencing who he is. We have a lot of descriptions. Right? I think the Torah is setting us up here. He’s going to a very close relative. Things probably should have gone a little differently with Lavan than they did. Almost foreshadowing, right? Look how close he is to his family, and look how far away from family he ends up treating Yaakov.
Pasuk Vav (verse six). Esav saw that Yitzchak blessed Yaakov and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take a wife for himself from there when he blessed him. And Yitzchak commanded him, saying, “Don’t take a woman from Benot Kena'an.” The Torah is narrating here: Esav sees what’s happening. He gets it, right? He was the one who had married one of the Benot Chet (daughters of Heth), whom his father had specifically told Yaakov not to marry. He sees the situation. He understands what’s going on. And the Torah clearly makes a point, twice in this Pasuk, to recognize that Yitzchak blessed Yaakov. Again, I think it’s because of what we saw earlier: it’s not just a blessing that he was supposed to give Esav—the Yaakov trick. No. In addition to that, he still blessed him. Esav recognizes that there was clearly a legacy that Yaakov was meant to inherit that was not left for him. I think the Pasuk makes it very clear that Esav sees that and appreciates that.
Pasuk Zayin (verse seven). Yaakov listens to his father and mother and goes to Paddan Aram. Pasuk Chet (verse eight), back to Esav. Esav sees that the daughters of the land of Canaan are not good in the eyes of Yitzchak. Right? What we just said: he saw that Yitzchak told Yaakov, “Go away, go to Paddan Aram to marry someone. Don’t marry someone here.” So what does Esav do? Pasuk Chet. Esav goes to Yishmael and takes Machalat, the daughter of Yishmael, the son of Avraham. And so he sees that the daughters of the land of Canaan are not proper. He goes to family the same way Yitzchak sent Yaakov to family. He goes to family too. Rather than going to family of Yitzchak, he goes to the family of Yitzchak. He goes to Avraham’s son, Yishmael, and marries his daughter. Again, the Torah is addressing Bat Yishmael ben Avraham, the daughter of Yishmael, the son of Avraham. He’s going to the granddaughter of Avraham, clearly in an effort to please his father. Perhaps he wants to gain back—perhaps he wants to gain back that vision that his father has for Yaakov. He says, “No, no, I could do it too. I could also marry the family and be who he wanted Yaakov to be.”
We’ll end off by pointing out: What does the Torah refer to this woman as? Achot Nevayot, sister of Nevayot, the elder son of Yishmael. Why? A lot of commentators talk about it. Rashi has a lengthy explanation explaining why Achot Nevayot is important. Why? Why? It helps with the calculations. According to the Rashbam and others, it’s just a way of stating that when we reference someone, we often reference the eldest brother as a sign of understanding who the family is. But either way, the Torah makes a point to really strongly identify that Esav is going to family to marry in Parashat Toldot.