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 Edomite army.

The earliest attestation of Midrash Vayisau appears in Bereshit Rabbati, attributed to R. Moshe ha-Darshan of Narbonne (11th century).Gavin Mcdowell 2017, The Sacred History in Late Antiquity: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and Its Relationship to the Book of Jubilees and the Cave of Treasures. PhD Thesis. Religions. Université Paris sciences et lettres, 2017. p.129

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."

Sources That the legends contained in Vayisau are very old may be inferred from the Book of JubileesJubilees 34, 37 et seq. and from the Testament of Judah;Emil Kautzsch, Apokryphen, ii. 97 et seq., 102 et seq., 471 et seq. 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,Yalkut Shimoni, Genesis 133 and is mentioned by Naḥmanides as "Sefer Milchamot Benei Ya'akov".Nachmanides' commentary to Genesis 34:13

cite the opinion of G. Schmitt that the work was composed not later than the Bar Kokhba war. The text has been edited according to the Yalkut Shimoni by A. Jellinek,B. H. iii. 1-5 by S. Chones,In his edition of Rab Pe'alim, pp. 153 et seq. and by Charles.In his edition of the Book of Jubilees, Appendix II., Oxford, 1895

Scholars believe that either the author of Vayisau drew upon Jubilees and the Testament of Judah separately, or that Vayisau preserves the source of these two ancient documents.HIMMELFARB (Martha), « Midrash Vayissa’u : A New Translation and Introduction », in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, ed. R. BAUCKHAM, J.R. DAVILA, A. PANAYOTOV, Grand Rapids, Mich., 2013, p. 148 Martha Himmelfarb favours the latter version.Gavin Mcdowell 2017, The Sacred History in Late Antiquity: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and Its Relationship to the Book of Jubilees and the Cave of Treasures. PhD Thesis. Religions. Université Paris sciences et lettres, 2017. p.129

Nevertheless, the text also shows some evidence of translation from Greek.HIMMELFARB (Martha), « Midrash Vayissa’u : A New Translation and Introduction », in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, ed. R. BAUCKHAM, J.R. DAVILA, A. PANAYOTOV, Grand Rapids, Mich., 2013, p. 148

See also Midrash Tadshe

References

.The JE cites the following works: Zunz, G. V. p. 145; Rab Pe'alim, pp. 54 et seq.; A. Jellinek, B. H. iii., pp. ix. et seq.

Bibliography TAMAR ALEXANDER and YOSEF DAN: The Complete "Midrash Vayi-sa'u" FOLKLORE RESEARCH CENTER STUDIES VOLUME III Edited by ISSACHAR BEN-AMI JERUSALEM 1972