This topic tells, according to tradition, the history of those original animal skins God made for Adam. There are two versions of the legend; they differ in regards to who those skins were passed down through.
Adam & Eve’s first sin and its ramifications are discussed in the topic “Tree Symbolism in Scripture”. Ge.3:1-7 after the first humans sinned they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. v.7 “Their [Adam & Eve’s] eyes were opened and they knew they were naked; they sewed fig leaves together and made loin coverings.” Nakedness can be physical, being unclothed…and/or symbolic of sin and shame. Their sin also brought guilt and shame to their psyche.
But the fig leaves they sewed, indicative of human devices/ways, are inadequate to cover sin. So….
Ge.3:21 “The Lord God made garments of skin [owr Strongs h5785, Hebrew] for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” God Himself covered them with animal skins, perhaps leather garments of kidskin or calfskin. (In so doing, the Lord showed that to cover the nakedness symbolic of sin and their fallen condition, humans must be “clothed” by means of the death of another. see the topic “Sacrifices and Burnt Offerings”.) Ge.3:22-24 the Lord cast them out of the garden of Eden.
Adam died at age 930 years (Ge.5:5). But what happened to the skins the Lord made for him?
Presumably, those skins were passed down through succeeding generations…to eventually come into the possession of Isaac’s son Esau!
Isaac’s sons Esau and Jacob were twins. Ge.25:21-26 is the account of Esau and Jacob striving together while in the womb of Isaac’s wife Rebekah. They were rivals even before birth. Benson Commentary Ge.25:22 “The children struggled within her’ – in an unusual and painful manner; a presage of these two sons and their posterities.” The firstborn son customarily inherited the birthright. (cf. Ge.43:33 “The firstborn according to his birthright.”) Esau and Jacob striving in the womb preluded the twins vying for the birthright (and the blessing).
Esau came out first. Then Jacob came out, with his little hand holding onto the heel of brother Esau the firstborn. Jacob’s name means ‘supplanter’ (Ge.27:36). And Jacob would supplant or supersede Esau.
Ge.25:27-34 Isaac loved Esau more, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob. JFB Commentary Ge.25:31 “Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright’. That is, the rights and privileges of the firstborn, which were very important, the chief being that they were the family priests [cf. Ex.24:5] and had a double portion of the inheritance (De.21:17).” Esau disrespected his birthright.
Ge.27:1-7 Isaac had become nearly blind. Before dying, Isaac wants to eat and bless his firstborn son Esau in the presence of the Lord (v.7 NASB). Ge.27:8-17 but while Esau was out hunting game for Isaac…v.15 “Rebekah took the desirable [chemdáw h2532] garments of Esau her elder son, which were in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.” v.16 garments of skins (owr h5785). She wants her favorite son Jacob (not Esau) to receive Isaac’s blessing. Rebekah hopes that Jacob wearing the skin garments of Esau will cause blind Isaac (age 120?) to think he’s Esau…and bless him/Jacob.
The Hebrew term chemdaw h2532 is used in v.15 to describe those particular skins. It means desirable, choice, goodly, precious, valuable, beloved! The root term is chamád h2530, desire or covet.
Let’s compare the use of chemdaw h2532 in other Old Testament (OT) verses: Da.10:19 “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved [h2532 chemdaw].” 2Ch.32:27 NASB “Hezekiah had immense riches…and all kinds of valuable [h2532 chemdaw] articles.” 2Ch.36:10 ESV “King Nebuchadnézzar brought him [King Jehoiachín] to Babylon, with the precious [h2532 chemdaw] vessels of the house of the Lord.” The term chemdaw h2532 was even used here to describe the holy vessels of God’s temple! Ezr.8:25-27 utensils for the house of the Lord, were as “precious [h2532 chemdaw] as gold”.
Book of Jubilees 26:11 (written pre-100 BC) reads, “Rebecca took the goodly raiment of Esau, her elder son, which was with her in the house, and she clothed Jacob, her younger son, (with them)….”
So Isaac thought Jacob was Esau (Ge.27:21-24). Ellicott Commentary Ge.27:15 “Evidently the clothing was something special, and such as was peculiar to Esau. For ordinary raiment, however handsome, would not have been kept in the mother’s tent.” Cambridge Bible Ge.27:15 “Goodly,’ lit. ‘choice, desirable.’ By this is meant the clothes worn by Esau on festivals and solemn occasions.” Poole Commentary Ge.27:15 “Either the sacerdótal garments which the eldest son wore in the administration of that office which belonged to him; or rather some other suit better than ordinary.” Not Esau’s usual attire. As the firstborn son, Esau might have later assumed the role of family priest, after the death of his father Isaac. Pulpit Commentary Ge.27:15 “The firstborn didn’t serve in the priesthood while his father lived.”
But how had Esau come into the possession of those desirable special garments or vestments?
According to traditional sources, those skin garments were passed down from Adam to his descendants! Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Palestinian), sec.6 “Rebekah took the pleasant vestments of Esau her elder son which had formerly been Adam’s; but which that day Esau had not worn, but they remained with her in the house, and (with them) she dressed Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the kids she laid upon his hands and the smooth parts of his neck.” Benson Commentary Ge.27:16 “Goats’ hair is very like the human.” It resembled human hair.
Antiquities scholar Louis H. Feldman of Yeshiva University wrote, “Even the fact that Rebekah took the special garments of Esau (which he had inherited from Adam by virtue of his being the eldest son) and gave them to Jacob was justified by the rabbis”. They excused the deception.
Louis Ginzberg Legends of the Jews, v.2, pp.96-97 “She [Rebekah] dressed him [Jacob] in them, for those garments were the garb of the priesthood, and the Holy One, blessed be He, had clothed Adam in them, for he was the glory of the world; and prior to the construction of the Tabernacle, sacrificial worship was performed by firstborns. Primordial Man bequeathed them to his firstborn, and so they passed from firstborn to firstborn until they reached Noah. Noah gave them to his son Shem [Shem the firstborn?], Shem passed them on to Abraham [the firstborn?]; Abraham to Isaac, and Isaac to Esau, who was his firstborn. Since Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob, Rebekah considered that henceforth it was proper for Jacob to wear these garments, because he now had the status of firstborn.”
The above version of the skins legend is…Esau inherited those skins, Adam’s original garments, by line of descent. But there’s a second version, which follows:
Louis Ginzberg adds op. cit., “These were the garments that Esau coveted from Nimrod, and killed him and took them.” Midrash Rabbah 65:15 “Rebekah then took the best [Heb. ha-hamudot] clothes of her older son Esau, which he had coveted [chamad] from Nimrod.” In this second version, Esau got Adam’s garments of skin…from Nimrod.
Gill Exposition Ge.27:15 “They were, as some Jewish writers say (Targum Jonathán), the garments of Adam the first man, which Esau seeing on Nimrod, greatly desired them, and slew him for them; and hence called desirable garments.” Esau’s wrong covetousness resulted in murder.
But how had the skins come into Nimrod’s possession? Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, Higger ed., ch.24 (written ca 833 AD) “Rabbi Hakhinai says Nimrod was mighty in strength, as it is said, ‘Cush also begot Nimrod’. Rabbi Judah says the garment that the Holy One, blessed be He, made for Adam and his wife were taken by Noah and his sons into the ark. When they came out of the ark, Noah’s son Ham took it with him [cf. Ge.9:20-23] and passed it on to Nimrod; when he wore them, any beast or animal that saw the writing would prostrate themselves before him. Human beings believed it was due to his might and therefore they made him king over them. Hence the saying, ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter by the grace of the Lord [cf. Ge.10:9].” Earlier, Nimrod’s ancestor Ham had those skins.
Ge.9:22 “Ham, the father of Canáan, saw the nakedness of his father [Noah], and told his two brothers [Jápheth and Shem] outside.” According to this second version of the legend, Ham stole the skins from the sleeping Noah (the priest). Adam’s (priestly) garments then came into the possession of the line of Hamites…Ham → Cush → Nimrod. Traditionally, that’s how Nimrod got his power and might.
Ge.10:8 “Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on earth.” Nimrod’s kingdom was in ancient Mesopotámia. (In Mic.5:6, Assyria is called the “land of Nimrod.”)
Jewish Encyclopedia: Nimrod “His great success in hunting was due to the fact that he wore the coat of skin which God had made for Adam and Eve (Ge.3:21). They were stolen by Ham.”
Supposedly the desirable skin garment (which became Nimrod’s and Esau’s) contained special powers! Targum Neofití Ge.3:21 “The Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of glory, for the skin of their flesh, and He clothed them.” Those (glorious) leather garments were unlike any coats made since!
Our Bibles mention the Book of Jasher in Josh.10:13 and 2Sa.1:18 (LXX “Book of Right”). The (supposed) Book of Jasher today contains this second version of the skins legend regarding Nimrod and Esau:
Jash.7:23-32 “Cush the son of Ham, the son of Noah, took a [another] wife in his old age, and she bare a son, and they called his name Nimrod. And the garments of skin which God had made for Adam and his wife [Eve] were given to Cush. For after the death of Adam, the garments were given to Enoch; he gave them to Methusélah his son. And at the death of Methuselah, Noah brought them to the ark. And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father, and hid them from his brothers [Japheth and Shem]. And when Ham begot his firstborn Cush, he gave him the garments in secret. When Cush had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments, and when he was 20 years old he put on those garments. Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, God gave him might and strength….And he reigned upon earth.” In the Book of Jasher, Nimrod is contemporary with Esau.
Jash.27:3-14 “Jealousy was formed in the heart of Nimrod against Esau [both were hunters]. On a certain day Esau went in the field to hunt, and he found Nimrod walking in the wilderness. Esau concealed himself from Nimrod. Esau started suddenly from his lurking place, drew his sword, ran to Nimrod and cut off his head….And Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod’s father [Cush] had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land. And he [Esau] ran and concealed them in his house. He came into his father’s [Isaac’s] house exhausted and was ready to die through grief. He approached his brother Jacob and said, ‘Behold I shall die this day, and why then do I want this birthright?’ Jacob acted wisely in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, for it was so brought about by the Lord. And Jacob wrote the whole of this in a book, and sealed it.” Jash.27:15-16, “All the days that Nimrod lived were 215 years and he died. Nimrod reigned upon the people 185 years.”
Traditionally, Nimrod was empowered by those skins of Adam’s! Esau took the skins from Nimrod.
Isaac was deceived by Esau’s garments, worn by Jacob (Ge.27:18-end). Isaac blessed Jacob. Those weren’t just any skins smelling of leather…God’s Presence was there (Ge.27:7)! They were unique.
Book of Jasher says Nimrod was the son of Cush’s old age. But there may be chronological problems with this second version of the skins legend. Again, in Jasher, Nimrod and Esau are contemporaries.
Noah had three sons, born prior to the Flood…Japheth, Shem, Ham. Ge.10:6-9 LXX Nimrod was the 3rd generation after Noah. Noah → Ham → Cush → Nimrod. But Esau was the 12th/13th generation after Noah (Ge.11:10-26, 21:3, 25:21-25)! Noah → Shem → Arphaxad → Cainán (cf. Lk.3:36) → Shélah → Éber → Péleg → Reú → Serúg → Nahór → Térah → Abraham → Isaac → Esau. Quite a disparity!
{Sidelight: According to the LXX chronology, the Flood occurred ca 3189 BC. Noah lived on after the Flood for 350 years, until ca 2839 BC. Shem lived for 600 years; 502 of his years were after the Flood. Correspondingly, Shem lived ca 3287–2687 BC. And Shem’s son Arphaxad lived for 565 years. Arphaxad (born 2 years after the Flood) lived ca 3187–2622 BC. ref Ge.11:10-13 LXX NETS. Perhaps Ham’s son Cush lived a much longer life than Shem’s son Arphaxad’s 565 years? (Seems doubtful.) And Ham’s son Cush fathered Nimrod very late in life? ref Jash.7:23, 9:21. Genesis doesn’t say. Noah, Japheth, Shem, Ham, and Ham’s son Canaan (Cush’s younger brother) are all alive in Ge.9:18-28.
Later, Esau, born ca 1957 BC, at age 40 married two Hittite wives (Ge.26:34), ca 1917 BC. Esau sold his birthright prior to marrying (Ge.25:27-34). If Esau was age 16 when he killed Nimrod and took the skins, it occurred ca 1942 BC. Jash.27:15 Nimrod lived for 215 years. That would place his birth ca 2157 BC, 215 years before his death in 1942 BC. For the LXX chronology to fit, Cush lived a very long life (living past 2157 BC), and Nimrod was born late in Cush’s life. The Hebrew OT Masoretic Text chronology fits this more easily.) Or, Moses’ account in Ge.10:1-20 skips some of Ham’s generations. see “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”, “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”.}
Gill Exposition Ge.10:8 “Probably this [Nimrod] was his [Cush’s] youngest son.” Pulpit Commentary Ge.10:8 “Cush begot’ – not necessarily as immediate progenitor.” Ellicott Commentary Ge.10:8 “This does not mean that Nimrod was the son of Cush, but only that Cush was his ancestor.” So there may have been more generations, not recorded in Genesis, between Cush and Nimrod.
Moses’ Genesis narrative summarizes thousands of years. His compilation shows historical highlights. Other ancient writings, e.g. Jasher, Jubilees, Targums… add details and convey traditional beliefs.
The New Testament (NT) too refers to earlier traditions, some not recorded in the OT. Such as….
In 2Ti.3:8, Paul wrote of a Jannes and Jambres tradition. Jánnes and Jambrés aren’t mentioned in the OT. Perhaps Paul was referencing Jash.79:27; it notes Jannes and Jambres, and Pharaoh. Jewish Encyclopedia: Jannes and Jambres “According to rabbinical tradition they were the two chiefs of the magicians at the court of Pharaoh who foretold the birth of Moses, ‘the destroyer of the land of Egypt,’ thereby causing the cruel edicts of Pharaoh (Soṭah 11a; Sanh. 106a).”
Jude 1:9 tells of Michael the archangel having disputed about the body of Moses. That dispute isn’t recorded in the OT. Life Application Bible Jude 1:9 “Here Jude may have been making use of an ancient book called the Assumption of Moses.” The dispute was a traditional belief in the 1st century.
In He.11:37, “They were sawn asunder” refers to the Martyrdom of Isaiah tradition. Jewish Encyclopedia: Isaiah “Isaiah, fearing Manasséh, hid himself in a cedar-tree, but his presence was betrayed by the fringes of his garment, and Manasseh caused the tree to be sawn in half (Jerusalem Talmud Sanh. X).” Also see the Ascension of Isaiah 5:1-ff, dating from the early 1st century AD.
The above three ancient historical incidents, recorded in traditional sources, but not in our OT…are nonetheless incidents mentioned in our NT. (Needless to say, the OT doesn’t show every single incident regarding God’s people that occurred between the creation of Adam and Jesus’ birth!)
However, several dozen miracles are recorded in the OT. For example: Ex.4:1-5, 17 the Lord did miracles through Moses’ rod/staff. Ex.34:28-35 Moses’ face shined after he’d been in God’s presence to receive the Decalogue. 2Ki.13:20-21 a dead man revived and stood up when his corpse came into contact with the bones of the prophet Elisha. 2Ki.2:7-8 the Jordan River parted when the prophet Elijah struck the waters with his mantle garment. Also, in the NT, God performed healing miracles through cloths touched by the apostle Paul, Ac.19:11-12.
From the beginning, the Lord has done amazing things… sometimes even through garments and cloths!
The skins legend may not seem credible enough for us to believe? However, the Biblical truth of all the wonders God has done…perhaps adds feasibility and credence to the legend that the skins God made for Adam were empowered, desired, and passed down to Adam’s descendants.
Bible Topic Exposition 