If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.
Genesis 31:42 (NIV)
In Genesis 31, Jacob describes God in a way that is not fully understood:
The God of my father
The God of Abraham
The Fear of Isaac
For starters, Isaac is Jacob’s father, so it first seems redundant. Therefore, it’s assumed that “The God of my father” means “The God of my father’s house.” Like “family.”
“The God of Abraham” makes sense; the beginning of the people of God starts with Abraham.
But why “the Fear of Isaac?” Why not “the God of Isaac?”
One rabbinical view is that Isaac is still alive, and it is inappropriate to refer to God as “the God of so-and-so” if that person is still alive. Who knows if that person turns away from God, and then besmirches God’s name? Only the righteous dead (such as Abraham) are granted this relationship.
However, God actually took on the title of “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac” back in Genesis 28:13.
I wonder if Jacob holds God’s words in tension with his relationship with his own father. Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob – this is clear in the text, and Esau is associated with wickedness. So rather than referring to God as “the God of Isaac,” Jacob uses a slight diminuative: God is “the one Isaac fears.”