Tag: Adam

Two Camps

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When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.”
Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
Genesis 32:6-10 (NIV)

This will only make sense if you have been following me from the very beginning of my Genesis journey.

The two camps of Genesis 32:6-10 is the splitting of ha’adam into Ish and Isha of Genesis 2-3.

This is an echo.

Dusty

Posted on by jovial_cynic
In an earlier thread, I walked through different interpretations of the man who wrestled with Jacob in Genesis 32. One idea is that Jacob is wrestling with an accusation against him: he has, in fact, taken his brother’s blessing – Esau is rightfully angry.

The word translated as “wrestled” in Hebrew here is a word linked to “dust.” It means “to get dusty.”

And what is Adam, but a man made of the dust? That’s how Adam is introduced. Interestingly, this word “wrestled” (אָבַק) is ONLY used in this section of the Bible; it’s not a common biblical word.

I think we are being shown that Jacob is wrestling with this internal turmoil of how to deal rightly with his wicked brother, who he harmed, and who he believes wishes to harm him in return.

Bones and Flesh

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וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ הָֽאָדָם֒ זֹ֣את הַפַּ֗עַם עֶ֚צֶם מֵֽעֲצָמַ֔י וּבָשָׂ֖ר מִבְּשָׂרִ֑י לְזֹאת֙ יִקָּרֵ֣א אִשָּׁ֔ה כִּ֥י מֵאִ֖ישׁ לֻֽקְחָה־זֹּֽאת׃

Then the Human said,
“This one at last
Is bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh.
This one shall be called Woman,
For from a Human was she taken.”
Genesis 2:29 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

When Laban uses similar words to identify his relationship to Jacob in Genesis 29, we notice a striking difference.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ לָבָ֔ן אַ֛ךְ עַצְמִ֥י וּבְשָׂרִ֖י אָ֑תָּה וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב עִמּ֖וֹ חֹ֥דֶשׁ יָמִֽים׃

and Laban said to him, “You are truly my bone and flesh.” When he had stayed with him a month’s time,
Genesis 29:14 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Laban is not indicating oneness or equality with Jacob. The language he uses shows a hierarchy. He sees Jacob as inferior. Jacob is someone to possess and use.

Hidden in Goat Skin

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Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were there in the house, and had her younger son Jacob put them on; and she covered his hands and the hairless part of his neck with the skins of the kids.
Genesis 27:15-16 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

In Genesis 27, Rebekah has Jacob cover himself with goat fur to make himself appear like Esau.

This word “skin” has only been used one before in Genesis. It’s back when God covered Adam and Eve in skin.

I’ve wondered if God was doing something “tricky” for us in the Garden.

A Salvation Message

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We’ve journeyed 24 chapters into Genesis, and it’s impossible to ignore that the text is set up to be a redemption story for both Adam and Eve. For ALL of us.

There are two stories of salvation:

Adam:
I’ve done things I shouldn’t have done and brought harm to myself and others, and it has corrupted me. Please save me!

Eve:
I’m suffering due to the consequences of this broken world, and I’ve been abused and harmed by others. Please save me!

This isn’t a statement about “men” and “women,” but a statement about the full breadth of what salvation covers. Some of us are “Adam” in this story, whether we are male or female. We’ve caused harm, intentionally or accidentally, and for that, we must repent.

But some of us are “Eve” in this story, where the curse of someone else’s disobedience has harmed us, and we’re left to suffer for sins we didn’t commit. We carry wounds that we didn’t cause.

God can redeem all of this. God will.

Male and Female

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This is the book of the generations of Adam. On the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them “mankind” on the day when they were created.
Genesis 5:1-2 (NASB)

The genealogy in Genesis 5 lists men being born, having children, and dying.

“Where are the mothers?” one of my students asked me.

It’s a fascinating question. Why does the text highlight the men, and not the women? Perhaps it’s because nobody asks a woman if she is the legitimate parent. Everybody knows she is, whereas the men are suspect. A statement must be made and then trusted.

But for those who might wonder if the text simply favors men and disregards women, the first two verse ensure that we have men and women in view from the beginning. Male and female, in the likeness of God. All of us. None are ignored or forgotten.

The Special Altar

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Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Genesis 22:9 (NASB)

The rabbis point out that the word for “altar” here is in the definitive form. It is not an altar (as some translations render it), but it is the altar. The word “built” also means “re-built,” using the same stones.

According to rabbinical tradition, this is a specific and special altar, upon which Adam, Abel, and Noah have all sacrificed. And it points forward to the Temple.

Adam’s Redemption

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This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
Genesis 5:1-5 (NKJV)

Perhaps the story of Adam’s redemption is found in Genesis 5, verses 1-5.