Vayishlach #1: Dual Etymologies for Names

I noticed something interesting as I was going through Vayishlach, and that is how while an explicit impetus for a some person/place names is given, there is often an alternative plausable impetus within the text, which is sometimes given and sometimes not.

The last two pesukim of Vayeitzei were (Bereishit 32:2-3):

וְיַעֲקֹב, הָלַךְ לְדַרְכּוֹ; וַיִּפְגְּעוּ-בוֹ, מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹקִים.
וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאָם, מַחֲנֵה אֱלֹקִים זֶה; וַיִּקְרָא שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא מַחֲנָיִם.

"And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
And Jacob said when he saw them: 'This is God's camp.' And he called the name of that place Mahanaim."

Thus, the explicit cause of the place name Machanayim was the encountering of the camp of angels. But if so, why not call the place Machaneh? Machanayim is the dual form - it does not mean the singular "camp" or the plural "camps" but rather the dual "two camps." Yet Yaakov only encountered a single encampment of angels.

I believe (and I've noted in a past dvar torah) that this is the spark for the Targum Yonatan on the last pasuk:

ואמר יעקב כיון דחמינון, לא משירוין דעשו הינון דאתיין לקדמותי ולא משירוין דלבן הינון דהדרו למרדף בתריי אלהין משירויין דמלאכיא קדישין דאשתלחו מן קדם ה' הינון. בגין כן קרא שמיה דאתרא ההוא בלישן בית קודשא מחנים

"And Yaakov said when he saw them, 'They are not the encampments of Esav coming to meet me nor are they the encampments of Lavan who turned to chase after me, but rather they are encampments of holy angels who were sent from before Hashem.' Because of this he called the name of that place in the language of the Holy House (Hebrew) Machanayim."

Or, in Targum Yerushalmi:

ואמר יעקב כד חמא יתהון, דילמא משיריין מן לבן אחוי דאימא אינון אתיין קדמוי למסדרא לקבלי סידרי קרבא למקטל יתי או דלמא משיריין דמלאכין קדישין מן קדם
ה' אינון ואתיין לשיזבא יתי מן ידיהון, בגין כן קרא שמיה דאתרא ההוא מחנים

"And Yaakov said when he saw them, 'Perhaps they are encampments from Lavan the brother of Mother, coming before me to array against me to wage war to kill me, or Perhaps they are encampments of holy angels from before Hashem to save me from their (presumably Lavan's men's) hands.' Because of this he called the name of that place Machanayim."

I was actually originally prepared to say on the basis of Tg Yonatan that Tg Yonatan was trying to explain the dual Machanayim as referring to the camp of Esav and the camp of Lavan, which he did not encounter. But then I realized that firstly, Tg Yerushalmi only has the encampment of Lavan and not of Esav. Further I realized that in each case the word was plural "encampments" rather than singular encampment. משיריין is plural, while משריתא is singular.

Thus, according to both these Targumim, Yaakov saw (at least) two camps and thought it was an enemy and it turned out to be encampments of angels. Thus, the Targumim are indeed troubled by the question, but the resolution is to treat the word מחנה in the pasuk as if it said מחנות (plural) or מחנים (dual), so that Yaakov indeed saw more than a single camp.

In terms of the midrash of Yaakov thinking the camps were that of Esav/Lavan, that is most probably sparked by the words "וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאָם, מַחֲנֵה אֱלֹקִים זֶה;" that is, only when Yaakov saw them -- really saw them up close, did he say that they were [an] encampment(s) of Hashem. So, what did Yaakov think before he truly saw them? The most obvious assumption would be either Esav who he is anticipating seeing in the near future, or else Lavan from whom he just escaped.

This issue bothers the classical mefarshim (and midrashim) as well. Rashi and Ramban, based on a midrash Tanchuma, say that the two Machanot were that of angels -- those who accompanied him in Eretz Yisrael, and those who accompanied him in Chutz LaAretz.

Why wouldn't the Targumim utilize this midrash. I might refer to the Targumim I mentioned last week (see below or in the archives). Tg Yonatan had Yaakov's accompanyment being the two angels sent to destroy Sodom, and Tg Yonatan and Tg Yerushalmi have those angels (Tg Yerushalmi might have a host of angels) ascend to heaven, anouncing that Yaakov the Chassid whose visage is on the Kisei HaKavod has arrived, and the other angels come down to see him. However, they do not subscribe to the whole midrashic idea of heavenly hosts accompanying Yaakov in general. Thus they could not be the two machanot.

Ramban has geographical issues with the angels of Eretz Yisrael meeting Yaakov here, far from the border of Eretz Yisrael, and suggests that this was a vision sent to reassure Yaakov in the possible impending conflict with Esav to tell him that he had more in his forces than those with his enemies, and it was called machanayim because that is the "derech hashemot." Alternatively he (and Ibn Ezra also) suggests that machanayim refers to Yaakov's machaneh and their machaneh.

At any rate, this is an issue that troubles everyone. Going along with this difficulty, we have in parshat Vayishlach (in very close proximity to the above) a much more compelling reason for the name Machanayim, except that the pasuk does not tell us that that is the cause for the name, but rather gives us the explanation given above.

In Bereishit 32:8-9, after being informed that Esav is approaching with 400 men,

וַיִּירָא יַעֲקֹב מְאֹד, וַיֵּצֶר לוֹ; וַיַּחַץ אֶת-הָעָם אֲשֶׁר-אִתּוֹ, וְאֶת-הַצֹּאן וְאֶת-הַבָּקָר וְהַגְּמַלִּים--לִשְׁנֵי מַחֲנוֹת.
וַיֹּאמֶר, אִם-יָבוֹא עֵשָׂו אֶל-הַמַּחֲנֶה הָאַחַת וְהִכָּהוּ--וְהָיָה הַמַּחֲנֶה הַנִּשְׁאָר, לִפְלֵיטָה.
"Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. And he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two camps.
And he said: 'If Esau come to the one camp, and smite it, then the camp which is left shall escape.' "

Thus, Yaakov divided his camp into two camps, that is מחנים. This would be a great etymology for Machanayim.

A small pointless point: The earlier pasuk did not actually explicitly state that the encampment of angels was the case for the place name. The pasuk was
וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאָם, מַחֲנֵה אֱלֹקִים זֶה; וַיִּקְרָא שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא מַחֲנָיִם
Yaakov said when he saw them, 'This is an encampment of God.' And he called the name of this place Machanayim.

Thus, the pasuk just states he called the place this name, but they might be two independent ideas. It is simply the juxtoposition that conveys the idea that the former is the motive for the latter. The Targumim make the connection explicit, elaborating בגין כן, "because of this."

Then I started thinking about other cases when there are two etymologies for a place/person name, and only one or else both are given. Also in Vayishlach, after fighting with the [man or angel or Hashem], in Bereishit 32:31:

וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם, פְּנִיאֵל: כִּי-רָאִיתִי אֱלֹהִים פָּנִים אֶל-פָּנִים, וַתִּנָּצֵל נַפְשִׁי.
"And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: 'for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.' "

In this pasuk the cause for naming the place Peniel (later Penuel) is clear. However, in the next perek, when speaking with Esav, Yaakov states (Bereishit 33:10):

וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב, אַל-נָא אִם-נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ, וְלָקַחְתָּ מִנְחָתִי, מִיָּדִי: כִּי עַל-כֵּן רָאִיתִי פָנֶיךָ, כִּרְאֹת פְּנֵי אֱלֹקִים--וַתִּרְצֵנִי.
"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."

Thus Yaakov states that seeing his brother is like seeing Penei Elokim. This would also be a valid (though not compelling as in the last instance) etymology for Peniel.

This concern seems to have indeed sparked a midrash (present in Tg Yonatan), cited by Rashi, that by saying he has seen Esav's sar (malach) and prevailed, and is mentioning this so that Esav would realize that he could not prevail over Yaakov and thus trouble would be avoided. Ibn Ezra also states that כִּרְאֹת פְּנֵי אֱלֹקִים is Yaakov referring to having seen an angel, and he says that many mefarshim say that the malach came to Yaakov to strengthen his heart so he should not be afraid of his brother, for an angel could not prevail against him, and certainly not man.

Later, also in Vayishlach, after the incident in Shechem, Hashem tells Yaakov to move to Bet El (which was Luz).

First, in Bereishit 35:1:

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים אֶל-יַעֲקֹב, קוּם עֲלֵה בֵית-אֵל וְשֶׁב-שָׁם; וַעֲשֵׂה-שָׁם מִזְבֵּחַ--לָאֵל הַנִּרְאֶה אֵלֶיךָ, בְּבָרְחֲךָ מִפְּנֵי עֵשָׂו אָחִיךָ.
"And God said unto Jacob: 'Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there; and make there an altar unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou didst flee from the face of Esau thy brother.'"

Here, the name of the place Hashem tells him to go to is Bet El, and the command refers to the previous events that happened there. This is important because as I will show later, in last week's parsha, Vayeitzei, Yaakov was in Luz when he fled from Esav, and back then he also built an altar and called the place Bet El. So, in this pasuk here, Hashem refers to the place as already having this name, and refers to the past events.

Then, in pasuk 6:

וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב לוּזָה, אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן--הִוא, בֵּית-אֵל: הוּא, וְכָל-הָעָם אֲשֶׁר-עִמּוֹ.
"So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan--the same is Beth-el--he and all the people that were with him."

Here, both names are used, but this is OK, since Luz was the original name of the place.

Pasuk 7:

וַיִּבֶן שָׁם, מִזְבֵּחַ, וַיִּקְרָא לַמָּקוֹם, אֵל בֵּית-אֵל: כִּי שָׁם, נִגְלוּ אֵלָיו הָאֱלֹהִים, בְּבָרְחוֹ, מִפְּנֵי אָחִיו.
"And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el, because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother."

What is the relation between the name El-Bet-El, and Bet El?

Hashem appears to Yaakov again in that place:
Pasuk 9:

וַיֵּרָא אֱלֹקִים אֶל-יַעֲקֹב עוֹד, בְּבֹאוֹ מִפַּדַּן אֲרָם; וַיְבָרֶךְ, אֹתוֹ.
"And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him."

Then, Yaakov builds *another* (didn't he just do this in pasuk 7?!?) altar: Pasuk 14:

וַיַּצֵּב יַעֲקֹב מַצֵּבָה, בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-דִּבֶּר אִתּוֹ--מַצֶּבֶת אָבֶן; וַיַּסֵּךְ עָלֶיהָ נֶסֶךְ, וַיִּצֹק עָלֶיהָ שָׁמֶן.
"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 finally, he calls the name of the place Bet El again! Pasuk 15:

וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב אֶת-שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אִתּוֹ שָׁם אֱלֹקִים--בֵּית-אֵל.
"And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el."

Recall that back in Vayeitzei, in Bereishit 28:18-19, Yaakov dreamed of the ladder reaching to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it...

וַיַּשְׁכֵּם יַעֲקֹב בַּבֹּקֶר, וַיִּקַּח אֶת-הָאֶבֶן אֲשֶׁר-שָׂם מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו, וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתָהּ, מַצֵּבָה; וַיִּצֹק שֶׁמֶן, עַל-רֹאשָׁהּ.
וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא, בֵּית-אֵל; וְאוּלָם לוּז שֵׁם-הָעִיר, לָרִאשֹׁנָה.

"And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
And he called the name of that place Beth-el, but the name of the city was Luz at the first."

So what is the deal here? How many times did Yaakov name this place (1, 2, 3, more?), what names, and for what reasons? And see the Or HaChaim who comments somewhat on the difficulties involved in pasuk 16 in Vayishlach.

I suggest for this involved issue you should really look carefully at the involved pesukim.

After staring at the pesukim for a while, I thought about the following solution. In Vayeitzei, the name of the place was Luz and Yaakov called it Bet El. In Vayishlach perek 31, pasuk 1 has Hashem tell Yaakov to go to Bet El, to where he previously fled from his brother, and to build a new altar there. In pasuk 6, Yaakov goes to Bet El, which the pasuk informs us used to be called Luz. In pasuk 7,

וַיִּבֶן שָׁם, מִזְבֵּחַ, וַיִּקְרָא לַמָּקוֹם, אֵל בֵּית-אֵל: כִּי שָׁם, נִגְלוּ אֵלָיו הָאֱלֹהִים, בְּבָרְחוֹ, מִפְּנֵי אָחִיו.
"And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el, because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother."

the standard reading is that this is Yaakov's fullfillment of the new tzivui - he is now building the altar. And he calls the place el-Bet-El, giving it a new name now, for the reason that Hashem had previously revealed Himself to him when Yaakov fled his brother.

However, I think the actual meaning of the pasuk is that the pasuk is speaking in the pluperfect. Together, pasuk 6 and 7 read and should be translated as:

וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב לוּזָה, אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן--הִוא, בֵּית-אֵל: הוּא, וְכָל-הָעָם אֲשֶׁר-עִמּוֹ.
"So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan--the same is Beth-el--he and all the people that were with him."

וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב לוּזָה, אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן--הִוא, בֵּית-אֵל: הוּא, וְכָל-הָעָם אֲשֶׁר-עִמּוֹ.
וַיִּבֶן שָׁם, מִזְבֵּחַ, וַיִּקְרָא לַמָּקוֹם, אֵל בֵּית-אֵל: כִּי שָׁם, נִגְלוּ אֵלָיו הָאֱלֹהִים, בְּבָרְחוֹ מִפְּנֵי אָחִיו.
"So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan--the same is Beth-el--he and all the people that were with him.
And he hadbuilt there an altar, and hadcalled the place El-beth-el, because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother."

Thus, the בְּבָרְחוֹ מִפְּנֵי אָחִיו modifies the entire sentence - when he had built the altar (back then), and when he had called the place El-Bet-El (back then) in response to Hashem revealing Himself to Yaakov (back then) when Yaakov fled from his brother. Apparently, Bet-El == El-Bet-El.

Then, is pasuk 9 again,

וַיֵּרָא אֱלֹקִים אֶל-יַעֲקֹב עוֹד, בְּבֹאוֹ מִפַּדַּן אֲרָם; וַיְבָרֶךְ, אֹתוֹ.
"And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him."

This does not mean that Hashem revealed Himself to Yaakov twice now at this point in time in Bet El, but rather that Hashem is now revealing Himself to Yaakov a second time, this time when Yaakov came from Padan Aram, and the first time in Vayeitzei.

Since Hashem again reveals himself to Yaakov, Yaakov builds an altar. Pasuk 14:

וַיַּצֵּב יַעֲקֹב מַצֵּבָה, בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-דִּבֶּר אִתּוֹ--מַצֶּבֶת אָבֶן; וַיַּסֵּךְ עָלֶיהָ נֶסֶךְ, וַיִּצֹק עָלֶיהָ שָׁמֶן.
"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 finally, calls the place Bet El.

וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב אֶת-שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אִתּוֹ שָׁם אֱלֹקִים--בֵּית-אֵל.
"And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el."

Perhaps he is calling the place Bet-El again (the first time in Vayeitzei), or perhaps this is a reminding of the etymology since in the next pasuk he moves on from Bet El.

Even if he does call the place Bet-El again, now at least the pesukim progress in a normal order. Perhaps calling the place Bet El again carries some meaning, like Yitzchak naming of wells the same names they had previously.

At any rate, what we deal with here is the same etymology at least, though there might be two events sparking the same etymology.

At this point, I've spoken enough about place names. I shall continue with the names of people.