Midrash Vayisau (
Hebrew: מדרש ויסעו) is one of the
smaller midrashim. This small midrash, "the heroic legend of the sons of Jacob", is based on
Genesis 35:5 and 36:6, and recounts the story of the wars of
Jacob and his sons against the kings of the
Amorites and against
Esau and his army.
The beginning of its discussion of the Amorite war is as follows: "Our teachers said that although they did not pursue after them this time, yet seven years later all the kings of the Amorites gathered themselves together against the sons of Jacob."
That the legends contained in Vayisau are very old may be inferred from the
Book of Jubilees[1] and from the
Testament of Judah;[2] the midrash betrays its relationship to these old pseudepigraphical writings in many details. The war against the Amorites is treated at greater length in the
Sefer ha-Yashar, pericope "Beshallach." The midrash itself is contained in
Yalkut Shimoni,[3] and is mentioned by
Naḥmanides as "Sefer Milchamot Benei Ya'akov".[4]