Tag: Jacob

The Intended Blessing

Posted on by jovial_cynic
We know the story of Isaac giving Jacob the blessing instead of giving it to Esau. But do you recall that there are two blessings given to Jacob?

The first is in Genesis 27, where the blessing is primarily about material abundance and position among his brothers, and among the nations:

Now may God give you of the dew of heaven,
And of the fatness of the earth,
And an abundance of grain and new wine;
May peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you;
Be master of your brothers,
And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
And blessed be those who bless you.”
Genesis 27:28-29 (NASB)

The second blessing is in Genesis 28, where Isaac pronounces God’s blessing over Jacob. It’s a much bigger blessing. It’s the IMPORTANT one.

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of peoples. May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, so that you may possess the land where you live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.”
Genesis 28:3-4 (NASB)

Here, Isaac is not deceived. He knows exactly who he is giving this blessing to.

So I wonder if Rebekah’s intended deception was unnecessary. Perhaps she was so worried about material possessions and status of her son, she forgot that God had already promised to bless Jacob.

Perhaps Isaac was always going to give this bigger blessing to Jacob.

Your God, not My God

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Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first-born; I have done as you told me. Pray sit up and eat of my game, that you may give me your innermost blessing.”
Genesis 27:19 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

The rabbis debate Jacob’s words in Genesis 27:19. Some say he lied, similar to “she is my sister.” Lies about identity is a theme.

But some say the phase can be read, “I am; Esau is your firstborn,” being technically not a lie, but maybe a “good” kind of deception, if there is such a thing.

Isaac said to his son, “How did you succeed so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because your God יהוהgranted me good fortune.”
Genesis 27:19 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

On the other hand, the phrase, “because YOUR God,” in verse 20 may be the key to the story. Jacob has no relationship with God, yet.

His intention isn’t to honor God, so we shouldn’t try to reconcile righteousness and deception. It is only deception at this point in the story.

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.

Honor your Mother and Father

Posted on by jovial_cynic
When Jacob is advised by his mother to deceive his father, we see the singular act of dishonor: Jacob vs his father Isaac. But if Jacob ignored his mother, he would be dishonoring her.

There’s a dilemma we are supposed to notice. How does a righteous son proceed?

I suspect it is easier for Jacob to honor his mother simply because he knew that she loved him. The text clearly states that Rebekah favored him, and that Isaac favored Esau.

Perhaps there is wisdom in this.

Paying for the Birthright

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Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”
And Esau said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?”
Genesis 25:31-32 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Regarding Esau selling his birthright, there’s a fascinating story in Jewish tradition.

When Esau says “I am at the point of death,” we often think he’s being dramatic about being hungry. But some have suggested that something *happened* to him — perhaps an injury.

One teaching says that this may describe a hunting accident; Esau is bleeding out, linking his nickname and the soup and his blood together – all red.

In which case, Jacob isn’t swindling Esau out of his birthright. He is offering to pay a price for it, even though he would naturally obtain the birthright anyway if Esau died.

Jacob nurses Esau back to health, but maintains the birthright because he rightly paid for it.

A Man of the Curse

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And Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a mouthful of that [a]red stuff there, for I am exhausted.” Therefore he was called [b]Edom by name.
Genesis 25:30 (NASB)

[a] Lit the red, this red
[b] I.e. red

The shared root is א-ד-מ (A-D-M), and it carries the meaning of earth, flesh, red, blood.

We’ve learned that the earth is cursed (Gen 3: the Fall), and that all flesh is doomed to die (Gen 7: the Flood)…

So when we encounter a man whose very name links back to earth and flesh and blood, we should know that a picture is being painted of what this man is like. This man represents the curse.

Jacob represents his opposite.

Tricking Isaac

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Now Isaac loved Esau because [a]he had a taste for game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Genesis 25:28 (NASB)

[a] Lit game was in his mouth.

Genesis 25:28 convinces me that Esau is a parallel to Cain, but it’s almost impossible to see this in the English.

First, the previous verse states that Esau was a “cunning hunter.” He’s crafty. Tricky. How tricky is he?

The text literally says that Isaac had “game in his mouth.” Perhaps we’re meant to see that Esau figured out that his dad loved venison, so he was constantly giving it to him to win his favor.

For Jacob, no such condition is given. He isn’t doing anything.

But furthermore, in the Hebrew, two different forms of “love” are given to us. It’s not like the Greek where we’re talking about different forms of love; instead, we have different tenses.

Isaac וַיֶּאֱהַב (vaye’ehav), or “loved” Esau. This is a past-tense word.

Rebekah אֹהֶבֶת (ovehet) Jacob. Part of the difference is the feminine pronoun (she), but the other, more critical, difference is that this is not a past-tense word. This is a present-tense word!

The text isn’t saying that Isaac loved Esau and then stopped loving him. It’s showing us that the love we’re talking about was linked to the way that Esau was winning favor.

God doesn’t look at this offering, just like with Cain. But Isaac is just a man, and can be tricked.

Isaac favored Esau because Esau knew exactly how to appease him. Esau was tricking him.

We tend to call Jacob the trickster (birthright, blessing, sheep), but I don’t know that the text supports that position.

Cunning verses Simple

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And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
Genesis 25:27 (KJV)

The King James does the best job capturing the meaning of Genesis 25:27, giving us the difference between Jacob and Esau:

Esau is tricky. He is crafty and clever, knowing how animals think and behave.

Jacob is plain. Simple. Perhaps… not crafty at all.