…and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.
Genesis 25:20 (NASB)
Some translations say “Syrian” instead of “Aramean” in Genesis 25:20, but the Hebrew scholars say that “Aramean” is intended for a very tricky reason.
For starters, we’re going to discover that Rebekah will have twins – Jacob and Esau.
If you know the story, you’ll draw parallels between the worldly Esau and Laben, the one who later tricks Jacob. But then, Rebekah herself is a trickster, and brings Jacob into deception as well.
So the first thing the rabbis note is that Rebekah is being clearly linked to both Bethuel and Laben, so that Esau’s wickedness has a source: he will be like his uncle and his grandfather.
Perhaps this is a teaching about the deep-rooted nature of familial wickedness.
But another clue is in the word “Aramean.”
In Hebrew, it is Arami (אֲרַמִּי):
– Aleph-Resh-Mem-Yod.
This word is a jumble of Ramai (רַמַּאי):
– Resh-Mem-Aleph-Yod
Ramai means… trickster; a cheat.
When we stare at the verse, it becomes clear what the message is: “Look! Rebekah is from a family of tricksters; she’s from a town of tricksters.”
This is going to be a story of God’s people interacting with tricksters. We’ll see it play out in the twins in an ironic way.