son of Joseph, and some find this concept to be based on the interpretation of Obadiah, “The house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; the house of Esau will be stubble and they will set them on fire and consume them” (v. 18). This belief appears to be in place, either by the end of the Tannaim period, which closed with the production in 200CE of the Mishnah, or for sure in the early 200’s, in the Amoraim period. No doubt, the Rambam was aware of this belief. The Jewish traditional