'A Call for Order'
Whenever we arrive at this kind of dilemma the temptation is to 'tamper' with the chronological order of the narrative. In Chazal, this is better known as the principle of "ein mukdam u'muchar ba'Torah" - the narrative in Chumash does not necessarily progress in chronological order. Clearly, the principle of "ein mukdam u'muchar" does not mean that the stories in Chumash are recorded in purely random sequence, nor should it be understood as just a 'wildcard' solution for difficulties in pshat. Nonetheless, the Torah often records certain parshiot out of their chronological order for the purposes of development of theme and the like. [How often this phenomenon occurs is subject to a major controversy among the various commentators.]

It is important to note that "ein mukdam u'muchar" operates only at the parshia level. This means that events within a given parshia are always recorded in chronological sequence. Only a parshia in its entirety may be presented before an earlier event or vice-versa. [This style is sometimes referred to as "smichut parshiot."]

Let's see now if we can employ this principle to solve the problems raised in our shiur thus far.

We'll start by taking a closer look at the various stages of Yaakov's journey.

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