Divine Authorship of Torah – Part 3 | Rabbi Dovid Abenson

In Parshas Lech Lecha (Bereishis 14:1) the Torah describes the fight between the four Kings and the five Kings during Abraham’s time. We may be puzzled by the way the Chumash elaborates on the names of the evil kingdoms and the names of their Kings. The Ramban, quoting Bereishis Rabbah. (An early commentary on the Bible written approximately nine hundred years before the Ramban) shows how the events that happened to Abraham teach us that four kingdoms will arise to rule the world. In the end, Abraham’s children will prevail over them and they will all fall into their hands then they will return all their captives and their wealth.

The first king mentioned is the King of Babylon, referring to the Babylonian exile. Ellaser, mentioned second, is the name of a city in Media or Persia, a possible reference to the exile of Persia-Media. Elam, the third king, is the name of the city in which the first Greek king, Alexander, was crowned. Thereafter the Greek empire took over that of Persia-Media, thus beginning our third exile. The king of Goiim, the last of the Four Kings mentioned in the verse, who ruled over many nations, is an allusion to the king of Rome who ruled over a city composed of many people, Kittim Edom and the rest of the nations.

In a similar vein, Ramban applies the principle of “ma’aseh avos siman l’banim” to the famous dream of Jacob’s Ladder. This is also understood to refer to the four exiles. The meforshim are puzzled by why the angels are referred to as “going up and going down”. Melachim are heavenly beings. We would assume they would come down from heaven first.

The Ramban quotes Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer (35), a tannaitic composition predating Ramban by about 1000 years.

הראה לו הקב”ה ארבע מלכיות מושלן ואבדן הראהו שר מלכות בבל עולה שבעים עוקים ויורד והראהו שר מלכות מדי עולה חמישים ושנים עוקים ויורד והראהו שר מלכות יון עולה מאה ושמונים עוקים ויורד והראהו שר מלכות אדום עולה ואינו יורד אמר לו יעקב אך אל שאול תורד (ישעיהו יד טו) אמר לו הקב”ה אם תגביה כנשר וגו (עובדיה א ד

Hashem showed Yaakov the four kingdoms, their dominion and their destruction. The Sar (governing angel) of the kingdom of Babylon ascends 70 rungs and then descends the ladder. Then Hashem showed Yaakov the Sar of the kingdom of Media ascending 52 rungs then descending. He then showed him the Sar of the kingdom of Greece going up 180 rungs and then descending. In each case the number of rungs represents the number of years that these kingdoms held sway over Israel. Finally Yaakov was shown the Sar of Edom ascending and ascending. Says Sar Edom “I am not coming down”. To which Yaakov responds “you will not be brought into the grave” (Yeshaya 14:15) Hashem answered to the prince of Edom “Though you make your nest as high as the eagle I will bring you down from there says Hashem” (Obadiah 1:4). ( Rabbi Isser Z Weisburg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIKhyjrOKA0 said this refers to the downfall of the Democrat Party in America).

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