(Genesis 39:01 - 40:23)
Joseph was transported to Egypt where Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh and a captain of the palace guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, to whom he had been sold. Jehovah, however, looked after Joseph and saw that he was successful in all things. As a household servant, Joseph was in the good graces of his Egyptian master Potiphar, who, seeing that was an able man and divinely favored, made him his personal attendant. Soon, Potiphar promoted him to be the steward of his household and placed all his domestic affairs in his hands. Thenceforth, Jehovah, for Joseph’s sake, blessed the house of the Egyptian, and this blessing embraced his entire household, his flocks and fields, and all that Potiphar possessed. Entrusting everything to Joseph, Potiphar hardly had to concern himself with anything -- save for what he ate.
Joseph was a well-built and fine-looking young man, and, after a while, his master's wife cast a lustful eye upon him. "Come and lie with me!" she bid him. But he spurned her, saying, "Your husband has no concern for the affairs of his household, but has put me in charge of everything. There is no one who has more authority here than I. There is nothing he has not given me control over, except for you, for you are his wife. ... How can I do this wicked thing and sin against God?"
Every day, though, she repeated her importuning proposition. But Joseph rebuffed her advances, refusing not only to lie with her, but even to be alone with her. One day, however, when Joseph entered the house to attend to his duties, there happened to be no other men present. Potiphar's wife pulled him to her by clutching the hem of his cloak and demanded "Come and lie with me!" He got away from her, but, in fleeing, left behind his cloak. When she noticed that he had fled, but that she still grasping his cloak, the wife called together the men of the household. She announced to them, "My husband has brought in a Hebrew to abuse us. He tried to rape me, but I cried out and when he heard me, he dashed out of the house, leaving his cloak behind.” As proof of her charge, she saved the garment and showed it her husband when he came home. She told him the same story, "That Hebrew slave that you brought into the house tried to rape me! I screamed and so he fled, leaving behind this cloak.”
Potiphar, giving too much credence to his wife's words, was furious. Consequently, he sent Joseph to the jail where the Pharaoh's prisoners were kept and had him incarcerated there. But Jehovah was merciful and caused the warden of the prison to become favorably disposed to Joseph. Joseph was subsequently allowed to take charge of the prisoners that were in custody and assumed the entire management of the prison. Whatever was done there was done by Joseph alone with the warden quite content to know nothing about it. (Jehovah thus favored Joseph and made him successful in all things).
At that time, the Pharaoh's chief cup-bearer and his chief baker incurred the displeasure of their royal master, who was so angry with them that he put them in the custody of the warden of the same prison where Joseph was being held. The warden turned them over to Joseph, who looked after them as they served their sentence.
After some time in prison, the cup-bearer and the baker both had dreams on the same night, with each dream having its particular interpretation. When Joseph checked on them in the morning, he found them looking down at the mouth. "Why are you gloomier today than usual?" he asked of the Pharaoh’s officers who were imprisoned with him.
They both replied, "We each had a dream last night, but there is no one here to tell us what they may portend.”
Joseph replied, “Isn’t the interpretation of dreams reserved to God? ... Go ahead, tell me the dreams."
The cup-bearer recounted his dream to Joseph. "In the dream, I saw a vine before me and the vine had three branches. It budded and blossomed and then the clusters turned into ripe grapes. I was holding a drinking cup belong to the Pharaoh. I took the grapes and squeezed their juice into the cup and then served it to the Pharaoh."
Joseph responded, "The interpretation of the dream is this: The three branches correspond to three days, after which the Pharaoh will remember your good service and restore you to your former position. You will serve him the cup as a part of the duties of your office, just as in the old days when you were his cup-bearer. ... If all goes well with you, please remember me and do me this kindness, put in a good word for me with the Pharaoh so that he might set me free, for I was abducted from the land of the Hebrews and have done nothing here to warrant being thrown into prison."
The chief baker, being encouraged by the favorable interpretation, told Joseph, "I also had a dream. In it, I carried three wicker baskets on my head. In the topmost one there was an assortment of pastries for the Pharaoh, but birds were eating them from out of the basket on my head."
Joseph responded, "This is the interpretation: The three baskets correspond to three days. At the end of that time, the Pharaoh will remember you. --- He will impale you on a stake, where the vultures will devour your flesh!”
In three days time, it was the Pharaoh's birthday. He held a great feast for his servants and at the banquet remembered his former chief cup-bearer and the chief baker. The first, the cup-bearer, he restored to his place where he once again served the Pharaoh his cup. But as for the chief baker, he impaled him, just as Joseph had foretold in his interpretation of the dream.
However, the cup-bearer failed to remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.
Notes
1. Joseph, a man of talent and enterprise, has the facility to make the best of every adverse situation and the ability to inspire confidence in those he works for. Nevertheless, Potiphar believed the side of the story told by his faithless wife rather than the truth told by Joseph -- not, however, too surprising. And the cup-bearer failed to put in a good word for him when he was restored to his position, as Joseph had predicted in his interpretation of the dream of the three grape branches. This is a very true-to-life story of gratitude -- the lack of it, for most people, then and now, are only momentarily grateful to those who do them a good turn. They generally end up feeling resentment toward those who know more and who work harder and more successfully than they do.
2. Joseph resists the unwelcome advances of Potiphar's wife not out of a distaste for her person, or out of loyalty to his master, but because to submit would be wrong per se, a sin, an act prohibited by God. This is the first definitive instance in Genesis of sexual morality divorced from familial obligations. (Judah's visiting a prostitute is not explicitly condemned, while Tamar's presumed promiscuity shamed the family because it resulted in a scandalous out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Nor does the text condemn Reuben's affair with his step mother, save that it offended his father.)
3. Joseph's interpretation of his fellow inmate's dreams seems intuitive and prophetic, rather than relying on some formula or guide to meaning. He initially declines to interpret the dreams, because he believes that is God's role, but does so anyway. The text does not ascribe his dream knowledge as emanating from a divine source. At this point, Joseph can best be described as a psychic rather than a prophet.
4. So far in Joseph's story there is no direct intervention by or contact with Jehovah, save for a lot of favoring and blessing. He is referenced only in "if something happens, it's God's will" context. When something favorable happens to Joseph, then it is Jehovah who has made it happen, but the agency by which he operates is unstated. The objective reader is left to conclude that Jehovah is not really involved at all, any more than God is responsible for numinously influencing the mind of an employer so that he will give a devout Christian a raise in pay. Jehovah is constantly favoring and blessing Joseph, yet, he seems content to have him rot in jail for something he didn't do.
5. It should be mentioned that in Ancient Egypt criminals were almost never sentenced to terms of imprisonment as punishment. Jails were merely holding cells for those awaiting trial and sentencing. Punishment was usually corporeal, whipping, beatings, ear-loppings, and so forth. Sometimes it consisted of banishment or exile. Rape, which was what Joseph was accused of, might have been a capital offense, but, in fact, executions, which had to be sanctioned by the Pharaoh, were not very common. Impaling was the usual mode of execution. (Some translations incorrectly have the chief baker being beheaded or hanged.)
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
The History of Judah, Part One
(Genesis 38:01 - 38:30)
Afterwards, Judah parted company with his brothers and resided in Adullam with a man called Hirah. There, he spotted a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shuah, and took her as his wife. He had sexual relations with her; she conceived and bore him a son he called Er, and then, another son called Onan. A third son, named Shelah was born when Judah was away in Chezib. She then left off having children.
Judah found for his oldest son Er a wife whose name was Tamar. Er, however, was seen as wicked by Jehovah and so Jehovah killed him. Judah, therefore, ordered his second son Onan to marry Tamar and to have sex with her so that she could bear children and raise them as Er's. Knowing that the children he fathered would not be recognized as his own, Onan, whenever he copulated with his brother's widow, withdrew his penis and ejaculated his semen upon the ground, so that no offspring would be born in his brother's name. This act so displeased Jehovah that he exterminated Onan as well.
Judah then told his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Remain a widow and live with your father until my son Shelah reaches manhood, in case he should chance to die like his brothers." And so Tamar left and returned to her father's home.
Some time later it happened that Judah's wife, Shuah's daughter, passed away. After Judah had ended his period of mourning, he went to Timnath with his friend Hirah the Adullamite in order to see his sheep shearers.
Tamar was told that her father-in-law was going to Timnath to see about the shearing of his sheep. She therefore, cast off her mourning clothes, donned a disguise, and veiled herself. She sat down to wait at the crossroads on the way to Timnath. (Shelah was now grown up, but she had not yet been given to him as a wife.)
When Judah saw her, he assumed she was a prostitute, since she had her face covered. He went up to her and said, "Come with me and let me have sex with you," (for he was unaware that she was his daughter-in-law).
"What will you pay me to enjoy my company?" she asked.
"I will send you a kid from my flock."
"What guarantee will you give me that you will send it?"
"What should I give you?" he asked.
"How about the seal round your neck, its cord, and the walking staff you're carrying?"
He gave her what she asked, laid with her, and impregnated her. Tamar then returned home, discarded her veil, and reassumed her widow's weeds.
Judah sent the kid by his friend Hirah to retrieve the things he had left with her as security, but he couldn't find her. He asked the men who were about, "Where is the prostitute who was sitting at the crossroads?"
"There was never any prostitute there," they answered.
Hirah then returned to Judah and told him, "I couldn't find her. The men there told me there was never a prostitute at that place."
Judah answered, "Well, let her come and get it then. She can't accuse me of breaking me word -- I was ready to send her the kid as I promised, but you couldn't find her."
Three months later Judah was told, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law has been promiscuous and seems to be pregnant."
Judah ordered them, "Bring her to me. She shall be burned to death!"
When Tamar was summoned to be executed, she told her father-in-law, "The father of my child is the man who gave me these. To whom does this seal and cord and this walking staff belong?"
Judah had to acknowledge ownership of the items and admitted to her, "You have been more in the right than I have, because I failed in my promise to give you to Shelah as a wife." He had no more relations with her.
When Tamar was about to give birth, it was found that she was expecting twins. During the delivery, when one child reached out his hand, the midwife tied a red ribbon around it, saying "This one will come out first." However, it drew in its hand and the other child was born first. "Why is it you who is coming through the breach?" the woman asked, thus naming the boy child Perez [meaning "breach"]. Afterwards, his brother, the one who had the scarlet ribbon tied around his wrist, was born, and he was called Zarah.
Notes
1. It seems understandable that Judah did not want to live with his brothers, a pretty scurvy lot. He goes to live in Adullam (about 13 miles west, southwest of Bethlehem) with his friend Hirah. (This is, significantly, perhaps the first mention of any Genesis character having a friend.) Hirah proves his friendship by trying to complete Judah's negotiations with the "prostitute".
2. The extent and nature of Er's transgressions are not even hinted at, but were sufficient for Jehovah to put him to death. Why Jehovah should find the coitus interruptus of Onan (who was being taken advantage of, certainly) objectionable enough to warrant his death would seem a mystery. If Er was so wicked, why would Jehovah want his wife to raise children in his name? But Onan was supposed to abide by the custom called Levirite marriage, in which a younger brother is obligated to marry his older brother’s widow. Apparently it was important in Hebrew society at this time. Judah was probably bewildered by the deaths, though, since he didn't know whether or not he should allow his younger son Shelah to marry the unfortunate Widow Tamar. One wonders, of course, if the two sons/husbands had been merely struck down by an unexplained illness and their deaths blamed on Jehovah.
3. Tamar is put out because Judah has not allowed her to marry Shelah, Judah's third son, as is apparently her right as a widow of his older brothers. It is amazing, though, that after having had such bad luck the Judah family, she wouldn't want to find a husband elsewhere. Yet, she is determined to have a child by someone in the family and, therefore, tricks Judah into lying with her by posing as a prostitute. To go to so much trouble, disguising herself and laying in wait for him where she knew him to be traveling, she must have been confident she could successfully proposition the newly widowed Judah. The price for her favors, a goat kid, seems pretty high, but one doesn't know whether this was the going rate for such services or not. Judah, to his credit, seems a clueless novice in conducting the transaction, not at all the sharp trader who sold his brother Joseph into slavery.
4. The text implies no disapproval of Judah's solicitation of the "prostitute" and, at this point, one is left wondering as to the perceived morality of the act. Tamar's having a child out of wedlock, however, is so egregious a violation of the prevailing moral code that it dooms her to a horrible death. She is pardoned, though, when Judah discovers it is he who has impregnated his daughter-in-law. He had the grace to admit he was more in the wrong than she was. One assumes he was embarrassed, but he did get back his seal and staff (quite personal items). We are never told whether Tamar received the goat she surely earned.
Afterwards, Judah parted company with his brothers and resided in Adullam with a man called Hirah. There, he spotted a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shuah, and took her as his wife. He had sexual relations with her; she conceived and bore him a son he called Er, and then, another son called Onan. A third son, named Shelah was born when Judah was away in Chezib. She then left off having children.
Judah found for his oldest son Er a wife whose name was Tamar. Er, however, was seen as wicked by Jehovah and so Jehovah killed him. Judah, therefore, ordered his second son Onan to marry Tamar and to have sex with her so that she could bear children and raise them as Er's. Knowing that the children he fathered would not be recognized as his own, Onan, whenever he copulated with his brother's widow, withdrew his penis and ejaculated his semen upon the ground, so that no offspring would be born in his brother's name. This act so displeased Jehovah that he exterminated Onan as well.
Judah then told his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Remain a widow and live with your father until my son Shelah reaches manhood, in case he should chance to die like his brothers." And so Tamar left and returned to her father's home.
Some time later it happened that Judah's wife, Shuah's daughter, passed away. After Judah had ended his period of mourning, he went to Timnath with his friend Hirah the Adullamite in order to see his sheep shearers.
Tamar was told that her father-in-law was going to Timnath to see about the shearing of his sheep. She therefore, cast off her mourning clothes, donned a disguise, and veiled herself. She sat down to wait at the crossroads on the way to Timnath. (Shelah was now grown up, but she had not yet been given to him as a wife.)
When Judah saw her, he assumed she was a prostitute, since she had her face covered. He went up to her and said, "Come with me and let me have sex with you," (for he was unaware that she was his daughter-in-law).
"What will you pay me to enjoy my company?" she asked.
"I will send you a kid from my flock."
"What guarantee will you give me that you will send it?"
"What should I give you?" he asked.
"How about the seal round your neck, its cord, and the walking staff you're carrying?"
He gave her what she asked, laid with her, and impregnated her. Tamar then returned home, discarded her veil, and reassumed her widow's weeds.
Judah sent the kid by his friend Hirah to retrieve the things he had left with her as security, but he couldn't find her. He asked the men who were about, "Where is the prostitute who was sitting at the crossroads?"
"There was never any prostitute there," they answered.
Hirah then returned to Judah and told him, "I couldn't find her. The men there told me there was never a prostitute at that place."
Judah answered, "Well, let her come and get it then. She can't accuse me of breaking me word -- I was ready to send her the kid as I promised, but you couldn't find her."
Three months later Judah was told, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law has been promiscuous and seems to be pregnant."
Judah ordered them, "Bring her to me. She shall be burned to death!"
When Tamar was summoned to be executed, she told her father-in-law, "The father of my child is the man who gave me these. To whom does this seal and cord and this walking staff belong?"
Judah had to acknowledge ownership of the items and admitted to her, "You have been more in the right than I have, because I failed in my promise to give you to Shelah as a wife." He had no more relations with her.
When Tamar was about to give birth, it was found that she was expecting twins. During the delivery, when one child reached out his hand, the midwife tied a red ribbon around it, saying "This one will come out first." However, it drew in its hand and the other child was born first. "Why is it you who is coming through the breach?" the woman asked, thus naming the boy child Perez [meaning "breach"]. Afterwards, his brother, the one who had the scarlet ribbon tied around his wrist, was born, and he was called Zarah.
Notes
1. It seems understandable that Judah did not want to live with his brothers, a pretty scurvy lot. He goes to live in Adullam (about 13 miles west, southwest of Bethlehem) with his friend Hirah. (This is, significantly, perhaps the first mention of any Genesis character having a friend.) Hirah proves his friendship by trying to complete Judah's negotiations with the "prostitute".
2. The extent and nature of Er's transgressions are not even hinted at, but were sufficient for Jehovah to put him to death. Why Jehovah should find the coitus interruptus of Onan (who was being taken advantage of, certainly) objectionable enough to warrant his death would seem a mystery. If Er was so wicked, why would Jehovah want his wife to raise children in his name? But Onan was supposed to abide by the custom called Levirite marriage, in which a younger brother is obligated to marry his older brother’s widow. Apparently it was important in Hebrew society at this time. Judah was probably bewildered by the deaths, though, since he didn't know whether or not he should allow his younger son Shelah to marry the unfortunate Widow Tamar. One wonders, of course, if the two sons/husbands had been merely struck down by an unexplained illness and their deaths blamed on Jehovah.
3. Tamar is put out because Judah has not allowed her to marry Shelah, Judah's third son, as is apparently her right as a widow of his older brothers. It is amazing, though, that after having had such bad luck the Judah family, she wouldn't want to find a husband elsewhere. Yet, she is determined to have a child by someone in the family and, therefore, tricks Judah into lying with her by posing as a prostitute. To go to so much trouble, disguising herself and laying in wait for him where she knew him to be traveling, she must have been confident she could successfully proposition the newly widowed Judah. The price for her favors, a goat kid, seems pretty high, but one doesn't know whether this was the going rate for such services or not. Judah, to his credit, seems a clueless novice in conducting the transaction, not at all the sharp trader who sold his brother Joseph into slavery.
4. The text implies no disapproval of Judah's solicitation of the "prostitute" and, at this point, one is left wondering as to the perceived morality of the act. Tamar's having a child out of wedlock, however, is so egregious a violation of the prevailing moral code that it dooms her to a horrible death. She is pardoned, though, when Judah discovers it is he who has impregnated his daughter-in-law. He had the grace to admit he was more in the wrong than she was. One assumes he was embarrassed, but he did get back his seal and staff (quite personal items). We are never told whether Tamar received the goat she surely earned.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The History of Joseph, Part One
(Genesis 37:01 - 37:36)
Jacob took up residence in the land of Canaan where his father Isaac had lived as an immigrant. This is the story of his progeny:
Joseph, although he was only 16 years old, tended the flocks. He worked with his brothers, the sons of his father's concubines Bilhah and Zilpah, but he informed on their misdeeds to his father. Israel loved Joseph more than all his other children, for he was a child of his old age. He had tailored for Joseph a fancy, long-sleeved robe. The other sons noticed how Joseph was always favored above them and came to resent Joseph so much they could hardly speak a civil word to him.
Joseph happened to tell his brothers a dream of his -- which caused them to hate him all the more. "Let me tell you about this dream I had. In it, it seemed we were tying up sheaves of grain in the field. My sheaf stood up straight and tall while your sheaves stood in a circle around mine and bended towards it."
His brothers responded, "Oh, so that means you're going to be our master and rule over us?"
Joseph's dreams and his interpretations of them only serve to increase his brothers' envy and animosity towards him. Nevertheless, he told them about another dream he had.
"In the dream, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were making obeisance to me."
He told this dream not only to his brothers, but to his father, who rebuked him for it. "What is this dream of yours supposed to mean -- that your mother and I and all your brothers are to bow down and pay homage to you?"
His brothers vented their resentment, while his father kept his views to himself.
When the brothers were pasturing their father's flocks in Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers feeding the flocks in Shechem? Well then, I will send you to them."
"I'm willing and ready," Joseph answered.
"Please go there then. Check on your brothers and see how the flocks are getting along. Report back to me on how they're doing."
Joseph set out from the valley of Hebron and arrived at Shechem, where a man noticed him wandering in the fields and asked him what he was looking for.
"I'm seeking my brothers. Can you tell me where they're feeding their flocks?"
The man informed him, "They've left these parts, for I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan'."
And so Joseph sought his brothers and found them in Dothan. They observed him approaching from a distance, and even before he drew near, they were conspiring to murder him. They said to one another, "Look, the little dream master comes! Let's do him in, throw his body into some pit, and say that a wild animal killed him. See what will come of his dreams then!"
Reuben heard this, but he suggested a better idea to get rid of Joseph. "Let's not take his life or shed his blood. Instead, let's throw him down a well in the desert. We can thus keep our hands clean." He said this, all the time secretly wanting to rescue Joseph and restore him to his father.
No sooner did Joseph arrive than his brothers stripped off his fancy robe and tossed him down a dry, disused well. Afterwards, they sat down to enjoy a meal. Looking out, they espied a passing caravan of Ishmaelites from Midian with camels bearing loads of spices, turpentine, and myrrh to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, "What good is it if we kill our brother and conceal the crime? Why not sell him to these Ishmaelites instead. In that way, we will have no blood on our hands -- for he's still our brother, our flesh and blood." The brothers agreed.
When the merchants from Midian went by, the brothers raised Joseph from the well and for twenty shekels of silver sold him to them; the merchants then carried Joseph off to Egypt.
When Reuben [who did not know what his brothers had done] returned to the well, he found that Joseph was no longer there. He was beside himself and tore his clothes in frustration. He went to his brothers and told them, "The boy's gone! And as for me, where shall I go to find him?"
The brothers took Joseph's robe and dipped it in the blood of a goat kid they had just killed. They sent a messenger to deliver it to their father and to say, "We came upon this robe. Do you know whether or not it belongs to your son?"
Jacob recognized it and lamented, "It's my son's robe, all right. Indeed, some ferocious beast must have slaughtered him. Joseph has doubtlessly been torn to shreds!"
Rending his clothes, Jacob donned sackcloth and mourned his son for an extended period. His sons and daughters all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be consoled. He declared, "I will die mourning for my son and join him in the grave!" And he continued to weep for him.
Meanwhile, the merchants from Midian sold Joseph in Egypt to one Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh and a captain of the guard.
Notes
1. Joseph (who is either 16 or 17 depending upon the source) learns quickly it's a bad idea to show up his older brothers and to flaunt his position as daddy's favorite. With the recitation of his prophetic dreams, he really rubs it in, but gets more than his comeuppance from his brothers, who have already shown themselves to be, for the most part, a gang of murderous sociopaths. Reuben (the one who is fooling around with his step-mother) is, however, soft hearted and doesn't want to go along with the plans of his blood-thirsty brothers. Judah has a little family feeling and also sees there's a buck to be made in getting rid of their obnoxious kid brother.
2. The dreams of Joseph are meant to be interpreted as prophetic, yet there is no indication so far that they come from Jehovah or any divine source. Later, divination from dreams would be condemned.
3. The garment Jacob gives to Joseph is referred to ambiguously in the Hebrew. It is probably best described as a robe, rather than a coat. It is most likely a royal robe, long, with full sleeves, a garment meant for dress wear rather than working attire. Another possible interpretation of the text is familiarly presented in the King James Version, which says, a "coat of many colours," which means it must have been striped or embroidered or decorated in some way. That seems unlikely since embroidery was not used at that time and place and Jacob's people would have had access to few color dyes. The garment is, at any rate, something special. It becomes a symbol of Jacob's favoritism to his youngest son and, in the hands of his brothers, comes to a bad, bloody end.
4. Again we have the caravan of camels, this time bringing trade goods from Arabia to Egypt. Again it must be mentioned that camels would not be used as beasts of burden for more than a thousand years after this narrative.
5. There are two possible interpretations of the story of Joseph's being sold into slavery. The first narrative: Joseph's brothers decided to sell him to Ishmaelite merchants. Midianite merchants, though, find Joseph, take him out of the well and it is they who sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. Reuben goes to the well to take Joseph out in accordance with his brothers' plan and finds him gone. A second version is that Joseph's brothers take him out of the well and make the sale to the Ishmaelite merchants, who are the same as the Midianites. The second version is more plausible. Two sets of merchants in the story does not seem credible. Ishmaelites and Midianites are not the same people (although in much later times, some of the Ishmaelites, who were ancestors of the Arabs, would be absorbed by the Midians), but what is meant here is perhaps Ishmaelites dwelling in the land of Midian. If Joseph was not found, the brothers would have no way of knowing that the merchants had sold him. They would likely think he had escaped and would go out to look for him. They would not assume he was forever gone and send the bloody robe to their father to convince him of Joseph's death. The second version, though, assumes that Reuben was not privy to his brother's plans concerning selling Joseph. This is consistent with the story since it was already made clear he disapproved of his brothers' plans to murder him and wanted to spare Joseph. The brothers may have failed to inform Reuben they had sold Joseph so they wouldn't have had to give him his share of the 20 shekels.
6. Twenty shekels was the standard price for a slave of Joseph's age. This would be about 8 ounces of silver, not, it would seem, a very considerable amount. In today's money it would be little more than $180. Slaves were cheap in those days!
7. Ishmaelites, if they are truly descendants of Ishmael, would all be 3rd cousins or so of Joseph. Those of his generation would be grandchildren of Ishmael, who might have had a fairly large number of them since he sired twelve sons.
Jacob took up residence in the land of Canaan where his father Isaac had lived as an immigrant. This is the story of his progeny:
Joseph, although he was only 16 years old, tended the flocks. He worked with his brothers, the sons of his father's concubines Bilhah and Zilpah, but he informed on their misdeeds to his father. Israel loved Joseph more than all his other children, for he was a child of his old age. He had tailored for Joseph a fancy, long-sleeved robe. The other sons noticed how Joseph was always favored above them and came to resent Joseph so much they could hardly speak a civil word to him.
Joseph happened to tell his brothers a dream of his -- which caused them to hate him all the more. "Let me tell you about this dream I had. In it, it seemed we were tying up sheaves of grain in the field. My sheaf stood up straight and tall while your sheaves stood in a circle around mine and bended towards it."
His brothers responded, "Oh, so that means you're going to be our master and rule over us?"
Joseph's dreams and his interpretations of them only serve to increase his brothers' envy and animosity towards him. Nevertheless, he told them about another dream he had.
"In the dream, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were making obeisance to me."
He told this dream not only to his brothers, but to his father, who rebuked him for it. "What is this dream of yours supposed to mean -- that your mother and I and all your brothers are to bow down and pay homage to you?"
His brothers vented their resentment, while his father kept his views to himself.
When the brothers were pasturing their father's flocks in Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers feeding the flocks in Shechem? Well then, I will send you to them."
"I'm willing and ready," Joseph answered.
"Please go there then. Check on your brothers and see how the flocks are getting along. Report back to me on how they're doing."
Joseph set out from the valley of Hebron and arrived at Shechem, where a man noticed him wandering in the fields and asked him what he was looking for.
"I'm seeking my brothers. Can you tell me where they're feeding their flocks?"
The man informed him, "They've left these parts, for I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan'."
And so Joseph sought his brothers and found them in Dothan. They observed him approaching from a distance, and even before he drew near, they were conspiring to murder him. They said to one another, "Look, the little dream master comes! Let's do him in, throw his body into some pit, and say that a wild animal killed him. See what will come of his dreams then!"
Reuben heard this, but he suggested a better idea to get rid of Joseph. "Let's not take his life or shed his blood. Instead, let's throw him down a well in the desert. We can thus keep our hands clean." He said this, all the time secretly wanting to rescue Joseph and restore him to his father.
No sooner did Joseph arrive than his brothers stripped off his fancy robe and tossed him down a dry, disused well. Afterwards, they sat down to enjoy a meal. Looking out, they espied a passing caravan of Ishmaelites from Midian with camels bearing loads of spices, turpentine, and myrrh to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, "What good is it if we kill our brother and conceal the crime? Why not sell him to these Ishmaelites instead. In that way, we will have no blood on our hands -- for he's still our brother, our flesh and blood." The brothers agreed.
When the merchants from Midian went by, the brothers raised Joseph from the well and for twenty shekels of silver sold him to them; the merchants then carried Joseph off to Egypt.
When Reuben [who did not know what his brothers had done] returned to the well, he found that Joseph was no longer there. He was beside himself and tore his clothes in frustration. He went to his brothers and told them, "The boy's gone! And as for me, where shall I go to find him?"
The brothers took Joseph's robe and dipped it in the blood of a goat kid they had just killed. They sent a messenger to deliver it to their father and to say, "We came upon this robe. Do you know whether or not it belongs to your son?"
Jacob recognized it and lamented, "It's my son's robe, all right. Indeed, some ferocious beast must have slaughtered him. Joseph has doubtlessly been torn to shreds!"
Rending his clothes, Jacob donned sackcloth and mourned his son for an extended period. His sons and daughters all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be consoled. He declared, "I will die mourning for my son and join him in the grave!" And he continued to weep for him.
Meanwhile, the merchants from Midian sold Joseph in Egypt to one Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh and a captain of the guard.
Notes
1. Joseph (who is either 16 or 17 depending upon the source) learns quickly it's a bad idea to show up his older brothers and to flaunt his position as daddy's favorite. With the recitation of his prophetic dreams, he really rubs it in, but gets more than his comeuppance from his brothers, who have already shown themselves to be, for the most part, a gang of murderous sociopaths. Reuben (the one who is fooling around with his step-mother) is, however, soft hearted and doesn't want to go along with the plans of his blood-thirsty brothers. Judah has a little family feeling and also sees there's a buck to be made in getting rid of their obnoxious kid brother.
2. The dreams of Joseph are meant to be interpreted as prophetic, yet there is no indication so far that they come from Jehovah or any divine source. Later, divination from dreams would be condemned.
3. The garment Jacob gives to Joseph is referred to ambiguously in the Hebrew. It is probably best described as a robe, rather than a coat. It is most likely a royal robe, long, with full sleeves, a garment meant for dress wear rather than working attire. Another possible interpretation of the text is familiarly presented in the King James Version, which says, a "coat of many colours," which means it must have been striped or embroidered or decorated in some way. That seems unlikely since embroidery was not used at that time and place and Jacob's people would have had access to few color dyes. The garment is, at any rate, something special. It becomes a symbol of Jacob's favoritism to his youngest son and, in the hands of his brothers, comes to a bad, bloody end.
4. Again we have the caravan of camels, this time bringing trade goods from Arabia to Egypt. Again it must be mentioned that camels would not be used as beasts of burden for more than a thousand years after this narrative.
5. There are two possible interpretations of the story of Joseph's being sold into slavery. The first narrative: Joseph's brothers decided to sell him to Ishmaelite merchants. Midianite merchants, though, find Joseph, take him out of the well and it is they who sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. Reuben goes to the well to take Joseph out in accordance with his brothers' plan and finds him gone. A second version is that Joseph's brothers take him out of the well and make the sale to the Ishmaelite merchants, who are the same as the Midianites. The second version is more plausible. Two sets of merchants in the story does not seem credible. Ishmaelites and Midianites are not the same people (although in much later times, some of the Ishmaelites, who were ancestors of the Arabs, would be absorbed by the Midians), but what is meant here is perhaps Ishmaelites dwelling in the land of Midian. If Joseph was not found, the brothers would have no way of knowing that the merchants had sold him. They would likely think he had escaped and would go out to look for him. They would not assume he was forever gone and send the bloody robe to their father to convince him of Joseph's death. The second version, though, assumes that Reuben was not privy to his brother's plans concerning selling Joseph. This is consistent with the story since it was already made clear he disapproved of his brothers' plans to murder him and wanted to spare Joseph. The brothers may have failed to inform Reuben they had sold Joseph so they wouldn't have had to give him his share of the 20 shekels.
6. Twenty shekels was the standard price for a slave of Joseph's age. This would be about 8 ounces of silver, not, it would seem, a very considerable amount. In today's money it would be little more than $180. Slaves were cheap in those days!
7. Ishmaelites, if they are truly descendants of Ishmael, would all be 3rd cousins or so of Joseph. Those of his generation would be grandchildren of Ishmael, who might have had a fairly large number of them since he sired twelve sons.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Descendant Lists of Jacob and Esau and the Edomite King List
(Genesis 35:23 - 36:43)
The sons of Jacob (Israel) were now twelve in number:
The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's eldest, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun
The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin
The sons of Bilhah, Rachels' handmaid: Dan and Naphtali
The sons of Leah's handmaid, Zilpah: Gad and Asher
These were the sons of Jacob born to him in Aram.
Jacob visited his father Isaac who lived in Mamre, in the town of Arbee, also called Hebron, the place where Abraham and Isaac had resided. Isaac lived to be a 180 years. Being aged, he joined his ancestors after a long, full life, and was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.
This is the family of Esau, who is also called Edom.
Esau married two Canaanite women:
Adah, the the daughter of Elon the Hethite
Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite
Esau also married:
Bashemath, the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebajoth
The sons of Esau born to him in the land of Canaan were:
The sons of Adah: Eliphaz
The sons of Aholibamah: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah
The sons of Bashemath: Reuel
Esau took his wives and children and all his household, his livestock and possessions and all he had acquired in Canaan and emigrated to live apart from his brother Jacob, since they were both wealthy and were not able to live together because the land was unable to support flocks so great in size. Esau, therefore, went to live near Mount Sier in what is now called Edom.
The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz and, by his concubine, Timna: Amalek.
The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
The grandsons of Esau became sheiks in the land of Edom.
The sons of Seir, the Horite, a native of the land:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
The children of Lotan: Hori and Hemam. (Lotan's sister was Timna, [the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son].)
The children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
The children of Zibeon: Ajah and Anah (who was the one who found springs in the desert while tending his father's donkeys).
The children of Anah: Dishon and, a daughter, Aholibamah [who was the wife of Esau]
The children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran
The children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan
The children of Dishan: Uz and Aran
The first kings who reigned in the land of Edom before Israel had any king:
Bela, the son of Beor, whose capital was Denaba. He was succeeded, upon his death by Jobab, the son of Zara of Bosra. Husham, from the land of Themanites, reigned there after the death of Jobab, and then Hadad, the son of Bedad. Hadad defeated the Midianites in the country of Moab; his capital was Avith. At his death he was succeeded by Samlah of Masreca, who, at his passing, was succeeded by Shaul from the River Rohoboth. He was succeeded at his death by Baalhanan, the son of Achbor, and when he died, Hadar reigned from his capital in the city of Pau. Hadar's wife's name was Mehetabel, and she was the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Mezabab.
The sheiks of Edom who lent their names to the lands they occupied were: Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth, Aholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, Iram.
It was Esau who became the father of the Edomites.
Notes
1. I have rephrased this section for clarity and deleted some of the verbose redundancies. This section is admittedly rather boring for the modern reader, but it shows the connection that Esau had to the indigenous people of Edom. Edom, it may be reiterated, is the desert land south of the Dead Sea.
2. I have used here the term "sheik", which is appropriate for a Middle Eastern desert tribal chieftain. Other translations use the term "duke", which seems ludicrous in the context. The Hebrew word is used for both the tribal chieftain and the tribe itself.
3. The list of Edomite kings was obviously cribbed by the Genesis authors from some source at their disposal. There is a commonly noted tendency, not only in the Bible, but in many other pre-modern historical and quasi-historical writings, to include as much factual data as can be acquired, regardless of its pertinence or the reliability of its provenance. There is no evidence that any of the Edomite kings listed ever existed, for there is no reference to any of them in any historical or archaeological record. Edom does not seem to have any real history before the 9th Century B.C., so it is possible that the kings may have reigned many hundred years after Esau. (The dates of the leaders mentioned is entirely speculative.) One interesting point is that Edomite kings were apparently not hereditary, but were probably elective, which is suggested by the fact that each king succeeded only upon the death of his predecessor, with no suggestion of usurpation.
The sons of Jacob (Israel) were now twelve in number:
The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's eldest, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun
The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin
The sons of Bilhah, Rachels' handmaid: Dan and Naphtali
The sons of Leah's handmaid, Zilpah: Gad and Asher
These were the sons of Jacob born to him in Aram.
Jacob visited his father Isaac who lived in Mamre, in the town of Arbee, also called Hebron, the place where Abraham and Isaac had resided. Isaac lived to be a 180 years. Being aged, he joined his ancestors after a long, full life, and was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.
This is the family of Esau, who is also called Edom.
Esau married two Canaanite women:
Adah, the the daughter of Elon the Hethite
Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite
Esau also married:
Bashemath, the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebajoth
The sons of Esau born to him in the land of Canaan were:
The sons of Adah: Eliphaz
The sons of Aholibamah: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah
The sons of Bashemath: Reuel
Esau took his wives and children and all his household, his livestock and possessions and all he had acquired in Canaan and emigrated to live apart from his brother Jacob, since they were both wealthy and were not able to live together because the land was unable to support flocks so great in size. Esau, therefore, went to live near Mount Sier in what is now called Edom.
The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz and, by his concubine, Timna: Amalek.
The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
The grandsons of Esau became sheiks in the land of Edom.
The sons of Seir, the Horite, a native of the land:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
The children of Lotan: Hori and Hemam. (Lotan's sister was Timna, [the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son].)
The children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
The children of Zibeon: Ajah and Anah (who was the one who found springs in the desert while tending his father's donkeys).
The children of Anah: Dishon and, a daughter, Aholibamah [who was the wife of Esau]
The children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran
The children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan
The children of Dishan: Uz and Aran
The first kings who reigned in the land of Edom before Israel had any king:
Bela, the son of Beor, whose capital was Denaba. He was succeeded, upon his death by Jobab, the son of Zara of Bosra. Husham, from the land of Themanites, reigned there after the death of Jobab, and then Hadad, the son of Bedad. Hadad defeated the Midianites in the country of Moab; his capital was Avith. At his death he was succeeded by Samlah of Masreca, who, at his passing, was succeeded by Shaul from the River Rohoboth. He was succeeded at his death by Baalhanan, the son of Achbor, and when he died, Hadar reigned from his capital in the city of Pau. Hadar's wife's name was Mehetabel, and she was the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Mezabab.
The sheiks of Edom who lent their names to the lands they occupied were: Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth, Aholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, Iram.
It was Esau who became the father of the Edomites.
Notes
1. I have rephrased this section for clarity and deleted some of the verbose redundancies. This section is admittedly rather boring for the modern reader, but it shows the connection that Esau had to the indigenous people of Edom. Edom, it may be reiterated, is the desert land south of the Dead Sea.
2. I have used here the term "sheik", which is appropriate for a Middle Eastern desert tribal chieftain. Other translations use the term "duke", which seems ludicrous in the context. The Hebrew word is used for both the tribal chieftain and the tribe itself.
3. The list of Edomite kings was obviously cribbed by the Genesis authors from some source at their disposal. There is a commonly noted tendency, not only in the Bible, but in many other pre-modern historical and quasi-historical writings, to include as much factual data as can be acquired, regardless of its pertinence or the reliability of its provenance. There is no evidence that any of the Edomite kings listed ever existed, for there is no reference to any of them in any historical or archaeological record. Edom does not seem to have any real history before the 9th Century B.C., so it is possible that the kings may have reigned many hundred years after Esau. (The dates of the leaders mentioned is entirely speculative.) One interesting point is that Edomite kings were apparently not hereditary, but were probably elective, which is suggested by the fact that each king succeeded only upon the death of his predecessor, with no suggestion of usurpation.
The History of Jacob, Part Seven
(Genesis 35:01 - 35:22)
Jehovah told Jacob, "Move on to Bethel, make your home there, and build an altar to the god who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
Jacob called together his household and his followers and told them, "Get rid of all your foreign idols, purify yourselves, bathe, and put on fresh clothes. We are going to leave here and move to Bethel. There I will erect an altar to Jehovah, who helped me when I was in need and has been at my side through all my journeys."
They turned over to Jacob all the foreign idols that were in their possession and as well as the earrings they wore so that Jacob could bury them in the shade of an old oak tree outside of Shechem.
As they embarked upon their journey, no one dared pursue them for the neighboring cities were terrified of the power of Jacob's god. Jacob and his people arrived at the town of Luz in Canaan, which he had formerly named Bethel. There he built an altar and called it El-Bethel, for that was where Jehovah had appeared to him when he fled from his brother.
At that time Deborah, who had been Rebecca's nurse, passed away, and she was buried underneath an oak tree in Bethel, the name of which was Allonbachuth [meaning oak of weeping].
Jehovah made an appearance before Jacob, after his return from Aram, and blessed him. He told him, "You shall no longer be called 'Jacob', but 'Israel'." And so Jacob changed his name to "Israel". Jehovah also said to him, "I am the omnipotent God. Be prolific and multiply! Nations and kingdoms will arise from your descendants and the land that I bestowed upon Abraham and Isaac, I bequeath to you and, after you, your progeny."
Jehovah ascended from the place where he had spoken to Jacob. In this spot, where he had communed with his god, Jacob erected a stone pillar and poured over it, as a sacred offering, wine and oil. He called the place Bethel [meaning "house of god"].
Jacob's party departed from Bethel. In the early summer, when they were but a half day's journey from Ephrath, Rachel began to experience the pangs of childbirth and, while in difficult and painful labor, was in peril of losing her baby. Aware of this, her midwife assured her, "Don't be afraid, my lady, you will give birth to another son!" She was indeed delivered of a son, but died in childbirth. With her last breath, she named her child "Benoni" [meaning "son of my suffering"]. His father, however, called him Benjamin [meaning "son of the right hand"].
Rachel was buried along the road to Ephrath at a place called Bethlehem. Jacob erected a tombstone upon her grave, a monument which stands to this day. Leaving that land, the people of Israel made their camp just south of the Tower of Eder [meaning "the flock"].
While they were living there, Reuben had sex with his father's concubine Bilhah -- something that aroused Israel's ire when he became aware of it.
Notes
1. It seems amazing that Jacob's household, servants, perhaps family possessed idols and were not faithful to the worship of Jehovah. One wonders whether or not they believed in Jehovah's existence, regarded him as a god worth worshiping, or whether they merely could not resist the temptation to worship other gods and shunned the idea of religious exclusivity. Taking a bath and having a change of clothes before a journey was a common ritual. The disposal of earrings goes along with the giving up of the idols. Did earrings signify something, were they charms or amulets, or is the prohibition against them merely a condemnation of personal vanity?
2. Jacob's homicidal sons were apparently going to get off scot-free and receive no punishment for the massacre at Shechem. Since the town was depopulated and the entire wealth of it carried away, one wonders what would happen to it. It is implied that retaliations against Jacob's crew were considered by neighboring towns, which begged off for fear of Jacob's otherworldly protection. (Sodom and Gomorrah was not so distantly in the past.)
3. Jehovah is now calling himself God, the omnipotent God, something more than a mere superhuman patron of the Abraham family, even though his interests still seem very parochial, the advancement of a single, patently unworthy family. After Jehovah concludes his meeting with Jacob, he departs, leaving in an upward direction -- as far as can be made out from the text. The exact manner in which he leaves is, alas, not recorded. He doesn't disappear, he doesn't walk away. Does he fly into the sky, levitate, or depart in an aerial vehicle? One would really like to know!
4. Jacob and his forbears are constantly erecting altars and setting up monumental pillars at sites where they had seen or spoken to Jehovah. It would be natural to assume that these places were special, sacred even. The places need to be marked and the encounters commemorated.
5. Rachel is buried at a wide place in the road called Bethlehem. This would become important later on! Jacob does not honor her last wish and call their son "Benoni", but insists on naming the son himself, choosing "Benjamin".
6. The Tower of Eder referred to has never been definitively located, but it was probably a few miles south of Jerusalem, as was Ephrath and Bethlehem.
7. Reuben takes up with his father's concubine (or lesser wife) Bilhah, who is also his step-mother. (One would think she'd be a little old for him.) His father Jacob (now Israel) knows all about it, and is naturally angry, although, it should be mentioned, the original Hebrew text emits this detail.
Jehovah told Jacob, "Move on to Bethel, make your home there, and build an altar to the god who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
Jacob called together his household and his followers and told them, "Get rid of all your foreign idols, purify yourselves, bathe, and put on fresh clothes. We are going to leave here and move to Bethel. There I will erect an altar to Jehovah, who helped me when I was in need and has been at my side through all my journeys."
They turned over to Jacob all the foreign idols that were in their possession and as well as the earrings they wore so that Jacob could bury them in the shade of an old oak tree outside of Shechem.
As they embarked upon their journey, no one dared pursue them for the neighboring cities were terrified of the power of Jacob's god. Jacob and his people arrived at the town of Luz in Canaan, which he had formerly named Bethel. There he built an altar and called it El-Bethel, for that was where Jehovah had appeared to him when he fled from his brother.
At that time Deborah, who had been Rebecca's nurse, passed away, and she was buried underneath an oak tree in Bethel, the name of which was Allonbachuth [meaning oak of weeping].
Jehovah made an appearance before Jacob, after his return from Aram, and blessed him. He told him, "You shall no longer be called 'Jacob', but 'Israel'." And so Jacob changed his name to "Israel". Jehovah also said to him, "I am the omnipotent God. Be prolific and multiply! Nations and kingdoms will arise from your descendants and the land that I bestowed upon Abraham and Isaac, I bequeath to you and, after you, your progeny."
Jehovah ascended from the place where he had spoken to Jacob. In this spot, where he had communed with his god, Jacob erected a stone pillar and poured over it, as a sacred offering, wine and oil. He called the place Bethel [meaning "house of god"].
Jacob's party departed from Bethel. In the early summer, when they were but a half day's journey from Ephrath, Rachel began to experience the pangs of childbirth and, while in difficult and painful labor, was in peril of losing her baby. Aware of this, her midwife assured her, "Don't be afraid, my lady, you will give birth to another son!" She was indeed delivered of a son, but died in childbirth. With her last breath, she named her child "Benoni" [meaning "son of my suffering"]. His father, however, called him Benjamin [meaning "son of the right hand"].
Rachel was buried along the road to Ephrath at a place called Bethlehem. Jacob erected a tombstone upon her grave, a monument which stands to this day. Leaving that land, the people of Israel made their camp just south of the Tower of Eder [meaning "the flock"].
While they were living there, Reuben had sex with his father's concubine Bilhah -- something that aroused Israel's ire when he became aware of it.
Notes
1. It seems amazing that Jacob's household, servants, perhaps family possessed idols and were not faithful to the worship of Jehovah. One wonders whether or not they believed in Jehovah's existence, regarded him as a god worth worshiping, or whether they merely could not resist the temptation to worship other gods and shunned the idea of religious exclusivity. Taking a bath and having a change of clothes before a journey was a common ritual. The disposal of earrings goes along with the giving up of the idols. Did earrings signify something, were they charms or amulets, or is the prohibition against them merely a condemnation of personal vanity?
2. Jacob's homicidal sons were apparently going to get off scot-free and receive no punishment for the massacre at Shechem. Since the town was depopulated and the entire wealth of it carried away, one wonders what would happen to it. It is implied that retaliations against Jacob's crew were considered by neighboring towns, which begged off for fear of Jacob's otherworldly protection. (Sodom and Gomorrah was not so distantly in the past.)
3. Jehovah is now calling himself God, the omnipotent God, something more than a mere superhuman patron of the Abraham family, even though his interests still seem very parochial, the advancement of a single, patently unworthy family. After Jehovah concludes his meeting with Jacob, he departs, leaving in an upward direction -- as far as can be made out from the text. The exact manner in which he leaves is, alas, not recorded. He doesn't disappear, he doesn't walk away. Does he fly into the sky, levitate, or depart in an aerial vehicle? One would really like to know!
4. Jacob and his forbears are constantly erecting altars and setting up monumental pillars at sites where they had seen or spoken to Jehovah. It would be natural to assume that these places were special, sacred even. The places need to be marked and the encounters commemorated.
5. Rachel is buried at a wide place in the road called Bethlehem. This would become important later on! Jacob does not honor her last wish and call their son "Benoni", but insists on naming the son himself, choosing "Benjamin".
6. The Tower of Eder referred to has never been definitively located, but it was probably a few miles south of Jerusalem, as was Ephrath and Bethlehem.
7. Reuben takes up with his father's concubine (or lesser wife) Bilhah, who is also his step-mother. (One would think she'd be a little old for him.) His father Jacob (now Israel) knows all about it, and is naturally angry, although, it should be mentioned, the original Hebrew text emits this detail.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The History of Jacob, Part Six
(Genesis 33:01 - 34:21)
Jacob observed Esau approaching with his four hundred men. He separated his various children with his wives Leah, Rachel, and his two concubines, positioning the concubines and their children first, Leah and hers next, and Rachel and her son Joseph last. Jacob approached his brother, bowing to the ground seven times as he did so.
Esau ran to meet him. He embraced, held his head in his hands and kissed him, and then wept. He noticed the women and children and inquired, " Do they belong to you?"
Jacob answered, "These are the children that Jehovah has granted me, your servant."
The concubines and their children stepped forward and bowed in respect and greeting. Leah and her children did so next, and, lastly, Rachel and Joseph.
"And what of the droves that I encountered?" Esau asked.
"I offer them to you that I might find favor with my master."
"I have plenty, my brother, keep for yourself what's yours," Esau answered.
"No, please. If I have found favor in your eyes, accept them as a small token of my respect. Indeed, your face is as welcome to me as the face of my god! ... Be so good as to receive them as a blessing from the god who has been generous with me."
With much ceremony Esau accepted the gift at his brother's strong insistence. And Esau declared, "Let's us continue your journey together, for I will accompany you."
"Master," said Jacob, " I'm sure you've noticed I have small children with me, and sheep and cows that are nurturing their young, so that if the men should drive them too hard, the herd could all die in a single day. Let my master, if he would, go ahead of his servant. I will follow slowly behind, traveling only as fast as the children and the livestock can go, until we arrive at your place in Seir."
Esau responded, "I ask at the very least that a few of my men go with you."
Jacob said, "It's not necessary, but I want nothing save to please my master."
Esau returned that day to Seir, the way he had come.
Jacob, however, journeyed to Succoth, where he erected a hut for himself and pens for his livestock -- thus the name of the place [meaning “shelters"]. He then traveled to Shechem, a city in Canaan. It was there, outside of town, where he made his home after his safe return from Aram. That part of the field where he had pitched his tents he purchased for a hundred lambs from the sons of Hamor. He built an altar there to worship his god; he called it El Elohe Israel [meaning the mighty god of Israel].
One day, Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to call upon some of the local women and caught the eye of Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite and a prince of the land. Lusting after her, he abducted and seduced Dinah, violating her virginity. But, very much taken with the girl, he tried to placate her and wooed her with sweet words. He went to his father Hamor and asked him, “Would you arrange a marriage for me? I want this lass for my wife.”
When word came to Jacob how Shechem had disgraced his daughter, his sons were out tending the flocks, so Jacob took no action until they returned. While he waited, Hamor, Shechem’s father, stopped by to confer with him. When Jacob’s sons heard the news, they came in from the fields. Enraged and distraught they were: this was an affront to the race of Israel, for sexually assaulting the daughter of Jacob was a something that could not be allowed to occur.
Hamor pleaded with them, saying, “My son Shechem’s heart is set on your sister. Please let him take her as his wife. Let our families intermarry. You can live with us, conduct trade, own and till the land." Shechem said to Jacob and his sons, "I hope to find favor in your eyes. Whatever you ask will be granted to you. Whatever wedding gifts and marriage settlements you demand will be given you, as long as you let me marry Dinah."
Jacob's sons, still offended by the rape of their sister, responded to Shechem and his father with anger, "We can’t approve of such a thing! We cannot allow our sister to marry a man who is uncircumcised, for that is prohibited to us. But,” they continued, making a deceitful and spurious offer, “if your people will adopt our practice, if all your men will become circumcised, then you may marry our daughters and we will marry yours; we will live together and become a single people. But if our request that you become circumcised is refused, then we will take our sister and leave the country."
The offer was amenable to Hamor and his son Shechem, who fulfilled the conditions of the agreement without delay, for he was deeply in love with the girl. Being the most respected member of Hamor's family, Shechem accompanied his father Hamor when he appeared in the market place and addressed the menfolk of the city. They told them, "These people are willing to live in peace and friendship among us. We propose that they be allowed to own property, engage in commerce, and cultivate the land -- which is vast and needs men to populate it. We will marry their women, and they, ours. The only condition is: we must circumcise all our men to conform to the custom of their people. We will be able to share in their wealth, their livestock and possessions, if we defer to them in this one regard. Together we can become one people."
All the men in the marketplace who heard the proposal put before them by Hamor and Shechem agreed to it, and so every male inhabit of the town underwent circumcision.
However, on the third day, when all the men of Shechem were in the most pain from the circumcision, two of Dinah's brothers and sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi took up their swords. Making a surprise attack upon the town, they slew every man in the place. They dispatched Hamor and Shechem with a slash of their swords, rescued Dinah from Shechem's house, and absconded. Later, Jacob's other sons, discovering the carnage, pillaged the town in retaliation for the rape. They seized the livestock, all the flocks and herds, looted the wealth of the city, plundered the fields, even ransacked the private homes, while taking captive the women and children.
After they had done these things, Jacob had words with Levi and Simeon,"You have given me considerable grief, you will make my name hateful to the Canaanites and Perizzites who live here. There are only a few of us. They will join forces against us, attack and destroy me and my people.”
His sons excused themselves by saying, "Can we allow our sister to be treated like a loose woman?"
Notes
1. Jacob stole his older brother Esau's birthright and tricked him out of his father's blessing so he could be top man, but he ended up being forced into exile. Although he returns after twenty years a wealthy and successful man, he hardly feels secure in his position. He is more than merely deferential to Esau, he is servile, calling him "master," and eager to curry his favor, apparently scared to death that Esau will attack and wipe him out. When they meet and Esau falls all over himself to make his brother feel welcome, Jacob still seems suspicious. He forces Esau to accept his presents of bald appeasement. He gives excuses so he won't have to travel with Esau, but assures him that he will follow. This, however, turns out to be a lie, for Jacob doesn't go to Esau's country at all, but to another place entirely.
2. Shechem, where Jacob settles -- a long way from Seir, where Esau lives -- is a northern Canaanite town mentioned by other texts contemporaneous with the supposed time of Jacob. (Shechem is also the name of its prince in this story.)
3. The rape of Dinah is acknowledged as a crime, a sin, as one would expect it to be, although it is less an offense committed against a person that an affront to a family. Hamor, the father of the rapist Shechem, tries to smooth things over by offering a deal to Jacob's family that seems handsome compensation. It should be noted that Dinah is not consulted as to whether she wishes to marry Shechem or not. (Women at that time probably had no say in matters so trivial as to whom they were to marry: marriages were based upon familial interests, not personal preferences -- a situation that would, for the most part, not change for thousands of years.) The men of Shechem are surprisingly and generously accommodating to Jacob's tribe and all quickly get themselves circumcised (ouch!). Their motives are not entirely unselfish: they hope to share Jacob's wealth. They do not know that they are the dupes of a diabolical plot.
4. It might be understandable for Dinah's brothers to avenge her rape by killing her rapist -- not exactly an eye for an eye, but rough tribal justice. However, Simeon and Levi are not content with just that. Inheriting their father’s deceitful cunning, they have tricked the men of the town into undergoing circumcisions, so that while they were recovering from the operations and still in pain, they cannot adequately defend themselves. They then kill every (all but defenseless) man jack in the town to slake their thirst for vengeance. Then their brothers loot the place and take the women and children captive. An act of such heinous barbarity reminds one of the primitive nature of society at this time and the crude sense of justice and morality existent. That Jacob's sons apparently believe that mass murder and the pillaging of an entire town is just compensation for a rape is, from a modern viewpoint, quite disturbing. (Yet, we find a similar attitude among contemporary Islamic extremists who believe that offenses such as blasphemy justify murderous acts of terror.)
5. Jacob's disapproval of his sons' act of genocide does not stem from its immorality or from regret for the death of so many innocent men, but merely out of a concern for his reputation -- this is going to make him look bad with the neighboring tribes, and there might be retaliation against him. Jacob is obviously no longer in control of his family; his sons are acting without his knowledge or consent and acting contrary to his interests. And Jehovah, at this point, has nothing to say to his devotee about the conduct of his homicidal family.
Jacob observed Esau approaching with his four hundred men. He separated his various children with his wives Leah, Rachel, and his two concubines, positioning the concubines and their children first, Leah and hers next, and Rachel and her son Joseph last. Jacob approached his brother, bowing to the ground seven times as he did so.
Esau ran to meet him. He embraced, held his head in his hands and kissed him, and then wept. He noticed the women and children and inquired, " Do they belong to you?"
Jacob answered, "These are the children that Jehovah has granted me, your servant."
The concubines and their children stepped forward and bowed in respect and greeting. Leah and her children did so next, and, lastly, Rachel and Joseph.
"And what of the droves that I encountered?" Esau asked.
"I offer them to you that I might find favor with my master."
"I have plenty, my brother, keep for yourself what's yours," Esau answered.
"No, please. If I have found favor in your eyes, accept them as a small token of my respect. Indeed, your face is as welcome to me as the face of my god! ... Be so good as to receive them as a blessing from the god who has been generous with me."
With much ceremony Esau accepted the gift at his brother's strong insistence. And Esau declared, "Let's us continue your journey together, for I will accompany you."
"Master," said Jacob, " I'm sure you've noticed I have small children with me, and sheep and cows that are nurturing their young, so that if the men should drive them too hard, the herd could all die in a single day. Let my master, if he would, go ahead of his servant. I will follow slowly behind, traveling only as fast as the children and the livestock can go, until we arrive at your place in Seir."
Esau responded, "I ask at the very least that a few of my men go with you."
Jacob said, "It's not necessary, but I want nothing save to please my master."
Esau returned that day to Seir, the way he had come.
Jacob, however, journeyed to Succoth, where he erected a hut for himself and pens for his livestock -- thus the name of the place [meaning “shelters"]. He then traveled to Shechem, a city in Canaan. It was there, outside of town, where he made his home after his safe return from Aram. That part of the field where he had pitched his tents he purchased for a hundred lambs from the sons of Hamor. He built an altar there to worship his god; he called it El Elohe Israel [meaning the mighty god of Israel].
One day, Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to call upon some of the local women and caught the eye of Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite and a prince of the land. Lusting after her, he abducted and seduced Dinah, violating her virginity. But, very much taken with the girl, he tried to placate her and wooed her with sweet words. He went to his father Hamor and asked him, “Would you arrange a marriage for me? I want this lass for my wife.”
When word came to Jacob how Shechem had disgraced his daughter, his sons were out tending the flocks, so Jacob took no action until they returned. While he waited, Hamor, Shechem’s father, stopped by to confer with him. When Jacob’s sons heard the news, they came in from the fields. Enraged and distraught they were: this was an affront to the race of Israel, for sexually assaulting the daughter of Jacob was a something that could not be allowed to occur.
Hamor pleaded with them, saying, “My son Shechem’s heart is set on your sister. Please let him take her as his wife. Let our families intermarry. You can live with us, conduct trade, own and till the land." Shechem said to Jacob and his sons, "I hope to find favor in your eyes. Whatever you ask will be granted to you. Whatever wedding gifts and marriage settlements you demand will be given you, as long as you let me marry Dinah."
Jacob's sons, still offended by the rape of their sister, responded to Shechem and his father with anger, "We can’t approve of such a thing! We cannot allow our sister to marry a man who is uncircumcised, for that is prohibited to us. But,” they continued, making a deceitful and spurious offer, “if your people will adopt our practice, if all your men will become circumcised, then you may marry our daughters and we will marry yours; we will live together and become a single people. But if our request that you become circumcised is refused, then we will take our sister and leave the country."
The offer was amenable to Hamor and his son Shechem, who fulfilled the conditions of the agreement without delay, for he was deeply in love with the girl. Being the most respected member of Hamor's family, Shechem accompanied his father Hamor when he appeared in the market place and addressed the menfolk of the city. They told them, "These people are willing to live in peace and friendship among us. We propose that they be allowed to own property, engage in commerce, and cultivate the land -- which is vast and needs men to populate it. We will marry their women, and they, ours. The only condition is: we must circumcise all our men to conform to the custom of their people. We will be able to share in their wealth, their livestock and possessions, if we defer to them in this one regard. Together we can become one people."
All the men in the marketplace who heard the proposal put before them by Hamor and Shechem agreed to it, and so every male inhabit of the town underwent circumcision.
However, on the third day, when all the men of Shechem were in the most pain from the circumcision, two of Dinah's brothers and sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi took up their swords. Making a surprise attack upon the town, they slew every man in the place. They dispatched Hamor and Shechem with a slash of their swords, rescued Dinah from Shechem's house, and absconded. Later, Jacob's other sons, discovering the carnage, pillaged the town in retaliation for the rape. They seized the livestock, all the flocks and herds, looted the wealth of the city, plundered the fields, even ransacked the private homes, while taking captive the women and children.
After they had done these things, Jacob had words with Levi and Simeon,"You have given me considerable grief, you will make my name hateful to the Canaanites and Perizzites who live here. There are only a few of us. They will join forces against us, attack and destroy me and my people.”
His sons excused themselves by saying, "Can we allow our sister to be treated like a loose woman?"
Notes
1. Jacob stole his older brother Esau's birthright and tricked him out of his father's blessing so he could be top man, but he ended up being forced into exile. Although he returns after twenty years a wealthy and successful man, he hardly feels secure in his position. He is more than merely deferential to Esau, he is servile, calling him "master," and eager to curry his favor, apparently scared to death that Esau will attack and wipe him out. When they meet and Esau falls all over himself to make his brother feel welcome, Jacob still seems suspicious. He forces Esau to accept his presents of bald appeasement. He gives excuses so he won't have to travel with Esau, but assures him that he will follow. This, however, turns out to be a lie, for Jacob doesn't go to Esau's country at all, but to another place entirely.
2. Shechem, where Jacob settles -- a long way from Seir, where Esau lives -- is a northern Canaanite town mentioned by other texts contemporaneous with the supposed time of Jacob. (Shechem is also the name of its prince in this story.)
3. The rape of Dinah is acknowledged as a crime, a sin, as one would expect it to be, although it is less an offense committed against a person that an affront to a family. Hamor, the father of the rapist Shechem, tries to smooth things over by offering a deal to Jacob's family that seems handsome compensation. It should be noted that Dinah is not consulted as to whether she wishes to marry Shechem or not. (Women at that time probably had no say in matters so trivial as to whom they were to marry: marriages were based upon familial interests, not personal preferences -- a situation that would, for the most part, not change for thousands of years.) The men of Shechem are surprisingly and generously accommodating to Jacob's tribe and all quickly get themselves circumcised (ouch!). Their motives are not entirely unselfish: they hope to share Jacob's wealth. They do not know that they are the dupes of a diabolical plot.
4. It might be understandable for Dinah's brothers to avenge her rape by killing her rapist -- not exactly an eye for an eye, but rough tribal justice. However, Simeon and Levi are not content with just that. Inheriting their father’s deceitful cunning, they have tricked the men of the town into undergoing circumcisions, so that while they were recovering from the operations and still in pain, they cannot adequately defend themselves. They then kill every (all but defenseless) man jack in the town to slake their thirst for vengeance. Then their brothers loot the place and take the women and children captive. An act of such heinous barbarity reminds one of the primitive nature of society at this time and the crude sense of justice and morality existent. That Jacob's sons apparently believe that mass murder and the pillaging of an entire town is just compensation for a rape is, from a modern viewpoint, quite disturbing. (Yet, we find a similar attitude among contemporary Islamic extremists who believe that offenses such as blasphemy justify murderous acts of terror.)
5. Jacob's disapproval of his sons' act of genocide does not stem from its immorality or from regret for the death of so many innocent men, but merely out of a concern for his reputation -- this is going to make him look bad with the neighboring tribes, and there might be retaliation against him. Jacob is obviously no longer in control of his family; his sons are acting without his knowledge or consent and acting contrary to his interests. And Jehovah, at this point, has nothing to say to his devotee about the conduct of his homicidal family.
Monday, May 13, 2013
The History of Jacob, Part Five
(Genesis 32:01 - 32:32)
Jacob then continued the journey he had begun. He encountered some extraterrestrials and, after seeing them, he declared, "This must be a landing field for Jehovah," and so he named the place Mahanaim [sounds like “two camps in Hebrew].
Jacob sent ahead messengers to his brother Esau in the land of Seir in Edom and instructed them to say, "You shall tell this to my master Esau: 'Your servant Jacob informs you, ‘I have been living with Laban and have remained there until now. I am now coming home with many servants, herds, and flocks. I am sending you this message in the hope that I may find favor in your eyes.'"
The messengers returned to Jacob and reported, "We went to see your brother Esau and he told us he is hastening to meet you ---with four hundred of his men!" Jacob was distressed and alarmed by this news. He, therefore, divided up his camp and separated his herds and flocks and servants into two groups, reasoning "If Esau attacks one of them, the remaining one might escape."
Jacob prayed: "O god of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac who bid me 'Return to your native land and I will make you prosper!' I am unworthy of the kindness you have shown your servant and of the faithful observance of your promises. ... I crossed the River Jordan with only a staff and now I return with two great companies of men and animals. ... Please rescue us from my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he will attack me and kill my wives and children, for you did promise me ‘I will make you prosper and make your descendants as numerous as the countless grains of sand on the beach.'"
Jacob camped there for the night and in the morning he set aside gifts for his brother Esau from what he had in his possession-- 200 hundred nanny goats, 20 billy goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 suckling she-camels and their calves, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 jennies and 10 jackasses. He sent them to be driven by his men ahead of him with some distance separating each flock. He ordered the lead drover, "When you meet my brother Esau and he asks you 'Who are you, where are you going, and whom does this flock belong to?', you will tell him, 'They belong to your servant Jacob and it is his present to you, master Esau. Jacob is following close behind us'." He told the drover of the second herd, the third, and all those that followed, "You will address Esau in a similar manner, if you come upon him. Also, you should say to him, 'Your servant Jacob follows behind us.' I've sent you with these gifts to mollify Esau so that when I meet him face to face he may receive me favorably."
The gifts were sent ahead, while Jacob spent the night in camp. But he got up in the middle of the night, roused his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven sons, and escorted them to the ford of the River Jabbok. He sent them across the river with all his possessions, but remained on the other side of the river alone.
An extraterrestrial then wrestled with him until dawn. When he found he could not get the better of Jacob, he grabbed his thigh and yanked his hip out of joint. Jacob continued wrestling, though, until the extraterrestrial pleaded, "Look, the sun is coming up, why don't you let me go?"
"I won't let you go, unless you bless me," Jacob answered.
"What is your name?" the extraterrestrial asked.
"It's Jacob," he replied.
And the extraterrestrial pronounced, "No longer shall you be called 'Jacob,' you should be called 'Israel', for you have struggled against a god -- how much more strongly will you struggle against men!"
Jacob asked him, "Tell me, please, what is your name?"
The extraterrestrial only answered Jacob by saying, "Don't you know who I am?" And he blessed him on the spot.
Jacob thereafter called the place Penuel, (for there he had seen a god face to face and had survived). When the sun rose and Jacob left Penuel, he did so hobbling about on one leg. (That is why the Israelites to this day refrain from eating the tendon that attaches to the hip bone, since it was there that a god had touched Jacob's thigh.)
Notes
1. On his journey back to Canaan, Jacob encounters some extraterrestrials. Sadly, no details are given. How did he know they were men of Jehovah's otherworldly race? He apparently did not speak with them, but only saw them. Did they come down to earth in some kind of a vehicle? Or did he come upon their camp and notice from their attire or their accoutrements that they were not ordinary men?
2. Curious that the chroniclers know the exact number of the animals Jacob offered as a gift to Esau, yet so many more interesting aspects of the story are sketchily depicted.
3. The Jabbok is a tributary of the River Jordan about 15 miles north of the Dead Sea. Seir was located far south of the Dead Sea in the southeastern portion of Edom, a very considerable distance from Jacob’s camp.
3. Jacob sends his family across a river, presumably for their safety, as he fears an attack from Esau. This an idea that apparently occurs to him in the middle of the night. Once alone, he suddenly finds himself wrestling with a strange man that turns out to be an extraterrestrial. The extraterrestrial grabs Jacob's thigh and pulls his hip out of joint. One gets the impression that he could have done so all along if he had wanted to, that he was stronger than Jacob, but was testing the human's endurance and determination. Jacob, though, who was nothing if not tenacious, won't let him go until he pleads "uncle." He gets a blessing for his efforts, but does not learn the name of his mysterious and cagey adversary -- only the hint that he should know who he is. It is interesting that the extraterrestrial (who would not be Jehovah, who knew Jacob personally and would recognize him) had to ask who Jacob was. Did he come upon him by accident and decide, on the spur of the moment, to test his pugilistic skills with him? Was there something, some words that precipitated the altercation. We are left in the dark. There has been much religious speculation on the significance of this story, but what really can it be? It does show at least one admirable trait in Jacob's character, his persistence, and it explains why Jacob would be called "Israel" and why he would henceforth walk with a limp.
Jacob then continued the journey he had begun. He encountered some extraterrestrials and, after seeing them, he declared, "This must be a landing field for Jehovah," and so he named the place Mahanaim [sounds like “two camps in Hebrew].
Jacob sent ahead messengers to his brother Esau in the land of Seir in Edom and instructed them to say, "You shall tell this to my master Esau: 'Your servant Jacob informs you, ‘I have been living with Laban and have remained there until now. I am now coming home with many servants, herds, and flocks. I am sending you this message in the hope that I may find favor in your eyes.'"
The messengers returned to Jacob and reported, "We went to see your brother Esau and he told us he is hastening to meet you ---with four hundred of his men!" Jacob was distressed and alarmed by this news. He, therefore, divided up his camp and separated his herds and flocks and servants into two groups, reasoning "If Esau attacks one of them, the remaining one might escape."
Jacob prayed: "O god of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac who bid me 'Return to your native land and I will make you prosper!' I am unworthy of the kindness you have shown your servant and of the faithful observance of your promises. ... I crossed the River Jordan with only a staff and now I return with two great companies of men and animals. ... Please rescue us from my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he will attack me and kill my wives and children, for you did promise me ‘I will make you prosper and make your descendants as numerous as the countless grains of sand on the beach.'"
Jacob camped there for the night and in the morning he set aside gifts for his brother Esau from what he had in his possession-- 200 hundred nanny goats, 20 billy goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 suckling she-camels and their calves, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 jennies and 10 jackasses. He sent them to be driven by his men ahead of him with some distance separating each flock. He ordered the lead drover, "When you meet my brother Esau and he asks you 'Who are you, where are you going, and whom does this flock belong to?', you will tell him, 'They belong to your servant Jacob and it is his present to you, master Esau. Jacob is following close behind us'." He told the drover of the second herd, the third, and all those that followed, "You will address Esau in a similar manner, if you come upon him. Also, you should say to him, 'Your servant Jacob follows behind us.' I've sent you with these gifts to mollify Esau so that when I meet him face to face he may receive me favorably."
The gifts were sent ahead, while Jacob spent the night in camp. But he got up in the middle of the night, roused his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven sons, and escorted them to the ford of the River Jabbok. He sent them across the river with all his possessions, but remained on the other side of the river alone.
An extraterrestrial then wrestled with him until dawn. When he found he could not get the better of Jacob, he grabbed his thigh and yanked his hip out of joint. Jacob continued wrestling, though, until the extraterrestrial pleaded, "Look, the sun is coming up, why don't you let me go?"
"I won't let you go, unless you bless me," Jacob answered.
"What is your name?" the extraterrestrial asked.
"It's Jacob," he replied.
And the extraterrestrial pronounced, "No longer shall you be called 'Jacob,' you should be called 'Israel', for you have struggled against a god -- how much more strongly will you struggle against men!"
Jacob asked him, "Tell me, please, what is your name?"
The extraterrestrial only answered Jacob by saying, "Don't you know who I am?" And he blessed him on the spot.
Jacob thereafter called the place Penuel, (for there he had seen a god face to face and had survived). When the sun rose and Jacob left Penuel, he did so hobbling about on one leg. (That is why the Israelites to this day refrain from eating the tendon that attaches to the hip bone, since it was there that a god had touched Jacob's thigh.)
Notes
1. On his journey back to Canaan, Jacob encounters some extraterrestrials. Sadly, no details are given. How did he know they were men of Jehovah's otherworldly race? He apparently did not speak with them, but only saw them. Did they come down to earth in some kind of a vehicle? Or did he come upon their camp and notice from their attire or their accoutrements that they were not ordinary men?
2. Curious that the chroniclers know the exact number of the animals Jacob offered as a gift to Esau, yet so many more interesting aspects of the story are sketchily depicted.
3. The Jabbok is a tributary of the River Jordan about 15 miles north of the Dead Sea. Seir was located far south of the Dead Sea in the southeastern portion of Edom, a very considerable distance from Jacob’s camp.
3. Jacob sends his family across a river, presumably for their safety, as he fears an attack from Esau. This an idea that apparently occurs to him in the middle of the night. Once alone, he suddenly finds himself wrestling with a strange man that turns out to be an extraterrestrial. The extraterrestrial grabs Jacob's thigh and pulls his hip out of joint. One gets the impression that he could have done so all along if he had wanted to, that he was stronger than Jacob, but was testing the human's endurance and determination. Jacob, though, who was nothing if not tenacious, won't let him go until he pleads "uncle." He gets a blessing for his efforts, but does not learn the name of his mysterious and cagey adversary -- only the hint that he should know who he is. It is interesting that the extraterrestrial (who would not be Jehovah, who knew Jacob personally and would recognize him) had to ask who Jacob was. Did he come upon him by accident and decide, on the spur of the moment, to test his pugilistic skills with him? Was there something, some words that precipitated the altercation. We are left in the dark. There has been much religious speculation on the significance of this story, but what really can it be? It does show at least one admirable trait in Jacob's character, his persistence, and it explains why Jacob would be called "Israel" and why he would henceforth walk with a limp.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The History of Jacob, Part Four
(Genesis 31:19 - 31:55)
When Laban was away from home shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father's idols.
Not disclosing to his father-in-law that he was leaving, Jacob departed in haste with all his possessions. Crossing the Euphrates River, he headed toward the hills of Gilead. It was three days before Laban learned of Jacob's flight, but, with a party of men, Laban took up pursuit and, in seven days time, caught up with Jacob at Gilead.
Jehovah visited Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, "Take care that you do not deal too harshly with Jacob."
Jacob had pitched his tent in the hills of Gilead and when Laban and his men arrived, they camped at the same place. Laban demanded of Jacob, "Why have you done this without informing me, absconding with my daughters as if they were captives of war? Why did you leave in secret, stealing away without telling me, when I might have celebrated your departure with music and mirth, with harp and timbrel? You did not even let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren farewell! You have acted most rashly. It's in my power to punish you for your actions, but the god of your father spoke to me in a dream last night and warned me against dealing too harshly with you. --- Even if you were homesick and longed to go back to your father's house, why did you have to steal my idols?"
Jacob replied, "I left without telling you because I was afraid you'd take your daughters away from me by force. As for the charge of theft, if you find your idols with anyone here, that person will pay for it with their life. Go ahead, search, and if you find anything belonging to you, take it." (Jacob said this not knowing it was Rachel who had stolen the idols).
Laban went into the tent of Jacob, then that of Leah and those of the two maidservants who were Jacob’s other wives. He found nothing. When he entered Rachel's tent, she adroitly hid the idols under the camel's saddle and sat on it, so while the tent was thoroughly searched, nothing could be found. She excused herself by saying "Don't be offended, sir, if I'm not able to rise and greet you, but -- well, for me it's that time of the month." And so Laban's search was in vain.
Jacob was peeved and chewed out Laban: "What is my crime? What is my offense, that you chase after me so hotly and rummage through my possessions? What stolen treasures have you found here? Bring them out and let’s see them. Let your people and my people judge between us. Have I not worked for you for twenty years? Your ewes and nanny goats weren’t barren, were they? I never ate the rams of your flock, did I? When stock was preyed upon by wild animals, I never told you, but bore the cost myself. And for animals that were stolen, either by day or night, you made me pay for them. I toiled through the scorching days and the frosty nights, often deprived of sleep. That's how it's been the past twenty years in your employ. I served you fourteen years for your daughters and another six for your flocks, and you changed my wages a dozen times. If it weren't for the god of my father Abraham and your fear of Isaac, you probably would have sent me away a pauper. But my god has witnessed my travails and the work I have done, and he rebuked you last night."
Laban responded, "The daughters and their children, the flocks, everything you see is mine. What more can I do for my daughters and grandchildren? --- Let's settle things between you and me and make an agreement. And let’s find something to commemorate it!"
Jacob found a stone to set up as a monument. He ordered his men, "Fetch some stones!" and they collected more stones and piled them up to make a cairn. They shared a meal beneath the cairn, which Laban called Jegar Sahadutha, but which Jacob called Gilead, each using the words of their own language.
Laban declared, "This stone cairn will stand from this day as a witness to our mutual agreement." (Therefore it was called Gilead, meaning "witness pile," and also Mizpah, meaning "watch tower.") "Jehovah will watch us and hold us accountable after we have parted. If you mistreat my daughters, or submit them to the authority of other wives, no man may witness it, but Jehovah will know what’s going on.” He continued, "Look at this stone, this cairn -- this will be reminder to us. I shall not pass by it to do harm to you, nor shall you pass by it to do harm to me. May the god of Abraham and Nahor and their forefathers see that justice is done!”
Jacob thus solemnly swore by the god of his father Isaac. He made a sacrifice in the hills and held a feast for his family and his household. They ate and stayed the night there.
Laban rose at daybreak, kissed his daughters and grandchildren, blessed them, and then returned home.
Notes
1. While Laban is away from the house, Rachel sneaks in and steals Laban's idols, that is, the statues, sculptures, images, or whatever of household gods. A belief in minor spirits or beings that protected and served a home and family was widespread in ancient times, if not in later times. The Romans had their lares and penates, who were accorded shrines in the house and offered sacrifices. (The later belief in patron saints, who, in fact, are minor gods save in name, is similar.) It is surprising that Laban, a Jehovist, would have kept and worshiped idols, but perhaps it should not be, given the near universality of the custom at the time. It is difficult to say exactly what the idols would have looked like, a human-like statue or bust of stone or wood, probably, although there is some opinion that the idols could have been actual human skulls or mummified heads. In any case, they were small enough to be concealed under a camel saddle. Household gods were presumed not only to have the power to protect the home and to bring good fortune to the family, but to function as oracles. Why Rachel stole the idols is an interesting question. Religious opinion is that she did so to cure Laban of his idolatry. There is no reason to assume this, and if that were the case, why wouldn't she destroy the idols instead? It is more likely that Rachel either wanted to get back at her father by taking something of great value away from him, or she felt that in journeying to a new home the family gods should accompany her, since the continuation of the family line she saw as resting with her.
2. True to form for a members of the Abraham clan, Rachel practices deceit, stealing the idols belonging to her father and effectively hiding them when he searches for them. Meanwhile, Laban and Jacob continue to play their competitive games with each other, even though they call a truce. Both men are disingenuous, insincere, and hypocritical. Jacob vents about how diligently he labored for Laban and how difficult he was to work for, but he neglects to mention how he tricked his boss out of his livestock.
3. Laban and Jacob have different names for the cairn that was erected, indicating that they must have used different languages. Laban would have spoken some Mesopotamian language, probably Akkadian, while Jacob would have adopted as a first language that of the Canaanites with whom he lived. It is also very likely that he, like Abraham and probably Isaac, spoke more than one language. In the text, Laban is speaking Aramaic and Jacob, Hebrew. Actually, Hebrew, a composite of the Semitic languages of Mesopotamia and Canaan with influences of Egyptian, considered a Hamitic tongue, was still developing. And Aramaic, later to be the language of Aram, where Laban lived, would not emerge as a separate language for hundreds of years. (It would be the predominant language of the Holy Land in New Testament times.) It is understandable that the 6th Century B.C. compilers of Genesis would not be conversant with this linguistic history.
4. In the agreement at Gilead we see the beginning of the concept of a god who observes man’s behavior, rewarding the good, punishing the bad, and administering divine justice. What man does in secret, unbeknownst to other men, is known to the deity, and this becomes a deterrent to immoral behavior.
5. Gilead is a mountainous area east of the River Jordan in the northwest part of the modern country of Jordan, north of the ancient regions of Moab and Ammon.
When Laban was away from home shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father's idols.
Not disclosing to his father-in-law that he was leaving, Jacob departed in haste with all his possessions. Crossing the Euphrates River, he headed toward the hills of Gilead. It was three days before Laban learned of Jacob's flight, but, with a party of men, Laban took up pursuit and, in seven days time, caught up with Jacob at Gilead.
Jehovah visited Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, "Take care that you do not deal too harshly with Jacob."
Jacob had pitched his tent in the hills of Gilead and when Laban and his men arrived, they camped at the same place. Laban demanded of Jacob, "Why have you done this without informing me, absconding with my daughters as if they were captives of war? Why did you leave in secret, stealing away without telling me, when I might have celebrated your departure with music and mirth, with harp and timbrel? You did not even let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren farewell! You have acted most rashly. It's in my power to punish you for your actions, but the god of your father spoke to me in a dream last night and warned me against dealing too harshly with you. --- Even if you were homesick and longed to go back to your father's house, why did you have to steal my idols?"
Jacob replied, "I left without telling you because I was afraid you'd take your daughters away from me by force. As for the charge of theft, if you find your idols with anyone here, that person will pay for it with their life. Go ahead, search, and if you find anything belonging to you, take it." (Jacob said this not knowing it was Rachel who had stolen the idols).
Laban went into the tent of Jacob, then that of Leah and those of the two maidservants who were Jacob’s other wives. He found nothing. When he entered Rachel's tent, she adroitly hid the idols under the camel's saddle and sat on it, so while the tent was thoroughly searched, nothing could be found. She excused herself by saying "Don't be offended, sir, if I'm not able to rise and greet you, but -- well, for me it's that time of the month." And so Laban's search was in vain.
Jacob was peeved and chewed out Laban: "What is my crime? What is my offense, that you chase after me so hotly and rummage through my possessions? What stolen treasures have you found here? Bring them out and let’s see them. Let your people and my people judge between us. Have I not worked for you for twenty years? Your ewes and nanny goats weren’t barren, were they? I never ate the rams of your flock, did I? When stock was preyed upon by wild animals, I never told you, but bore the cost myself. And for animals that were stolen, either by day or night, you made me pay for them. I toiled through the scorching days and the frosty nights, often deprived of sleep. That's how it's been the past twenty years in your employ. I served you fourteen years for your daughters and another six for your flocks, and you changed my wages a dozen times. If it weren't for the god of my father Abraham and your fear of Isaac, you probably would have sent me away a pauper. But my god has witnessed my travails and the work I have done, and he rebuked you last night."
Laban responded, "The daughters and their children, the flocks, everything you see is mine. What more can I do for my daughters and grandchildren? --- Let's settle things between you and me and make an agreement. And let’s find something to commemorate it!"
Jacob found a stone to set up as a monument. He ordered his men, "Fetch some stones!" and they collected more stones and piled them up to make a cairn. They shared a meal beneath the cairn, which Laban called Jegar Sahadutha, but which Jacob called Gilead, each using the words of their own language.
Laban declared, "This stone cairn will stand from this day as a witness to our mutual agreement." (Therefore it was called Gilead, meaning "witness pile," and also Mizpah, meaning "watch tower.") "Jehovah will watch us and hold us accountable after we have parted. If you mistreat my daughters, or submit them to the authority of other wives, no man may witness it, but Jehovah will know what’s going on.” He continued, "Look at this stone, this cairn -- this will be reminder to us. I shall not pass by it to do harm to you, nor shall you pass by it to do harm to me. May the god of Abraham and Nahor and their forefathers see that justice is done!”
Jacob thus solemnly swore by the god of his father Isaac. He made a sacrifice in the hills and held a feast for his family and his household. They ate and stayed the night there.
Laban rose at daybreak, kissed his daughters and grandchildren, blessed them, and then returned home.
Notes
1. While Laban is away from the house, Rachel sneaks in and steals Laban's idols, that is, the statues, sculptures, images, or whatever of household gods. A belief in minor spirits or beings that protected and served a home and family was widespread in ancient times, if not in later times. The Romans had their lares and penates, who were accorded shrines in the house and offered sacrifices. (The later belief in patron saints, who, in fact, are minor gods save in name, is similar.) It is surprising that Laban, a Jehovist, would have kept and worshiped idols, but perhaps it should not be, given the near universality of the custom at the time. It is difficult to say exactly what the idols would have looked like, a human-like statue or bust of stone or wood, probably, although there is some opinion that the idols could have been actual human skulls or mummified heads. In any case, they were small enough to be concealed under a camel saddle. Household gods were presumed not only to have the power to protect the home and to bring good fortune to the family, but to function as oracles. Why Rachel stole the idols is an interesting question. Religious opinion is that she did so to cure Laban of his idolatry. There is no reason to assume this, and if that were the case, why wouldn't she destroy the idols instead? It is more likely that Rachel either wanted to get back at her father by taking something of great value away from him, or she felt that in journeying to a new home the family gods should accompany her, since the continuation of the family line she saw as resting with her.
2. True to form for a members of the Abraham clan, Rachel practices deceit, stealing the idols belonging to her father and effectively hiding them when he searches for them. Meanwhile, Laban and Jacob continue to play their competitive games with each other, even though they call a truce. Both men are disingenuous, insincere, and hypocritical. Jacob vents about how diligently he labored for Laban and how difficult he was to work for, but he neglects to mention how he tricked his boss out of his livestock.
3. Laban and Jacob have different names for the cairn that was erected, indicating that they must have used different languages. Laban would have spoken some Mesopotamian language, probably Akkadian, while Jacob would have adopted as a first language that of the Canaanites with whom he lived. It is also very likely that he, like Abraham and probably Isaac, spoke more than one language. In the text, Laban is speaking Aramaic and Jacob, Hebrew. Actually, Hebrew, a composite of the Semitic languages of Mesopotamia and Canaan with influences of Egyptian, considered a Hamitic tongue, was still developing. And Aramaic, later to be the language of Aram, where Laban lived, would not emerge as a separate language for hundreds of years. (It would be the predominant language of the Holy Land in New Testament times.) It is understandable that the 6th Century B.C. compilers of Genesis would not be conversant with this linguistic history.
4. In the agreement at Gilead we see the beginning of the concept of a god who observes man’s behavior, rewarding the good, punishing the bad, and administering divine justice. What man does in secret, unbeknownst to other men, is known to the deity, and this becomes a deterrent to immoral behavior.
5. Gilead is a mountainous area east of the River Jordan in the northwest part of the modern country of Jordan, north of the ancient regions of Moab and Ammon.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The History of Jacob, Part Three
(Genesis 30:25 - 31:18)
At about the time that Joseph was born, Jacob spoke to his father-in-law Laban: "Let me go so I may return to my native country, my own land, along with my wives and children, for whose benefit I have toiled for you. Release me from your employ. You are surely aware of the good service I have done for you."
Laban replied, "Please remain with me -- if I am worthy of your loyalty -- for I have learned from divinations that I have been blessed by Jehovah because of you. Name the wages you want me to give you."
Jacob responded, "You know how hard I have worked for you, how well I have tended your flocks. You had very little before I came and now you have much, for Jehovah has blessed you since I came. But now I must start thinking about providing for my own family."
"What can I give you?" Laban asked.
"You needn't give me anything, if you will do this one thing for me, after which I will continue to manage your livestock. I will go through the flocks today and set aside the speckled, spotted, and mottled goats and all the black sheep: they will be my property in lieu of wages. When the time comes for an accounting of what you owe me, my good faith will be readily shown, for if you find me having in my possession any goat that is not spotted, speckled, or mottled or any sheep that is not black, then you may call me a thief.
"Very well," replied Laban, "let it be as you say."
On that very day, however, Laban removed from his flock all the billy goats and nanny goats that were of more than one color (any one that had white in its coat) and the ewes and rams that were dark in color. He had his sons take charge of them and graze them three days journey away from where his son-in-law herded the rest of his flocks.
Jacob took green branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and stripped some of the bark off them so that the white underneath would show, creating a two-toned pattern on the branches. He then placed them near the water trough where the flocks came to drink. In that way, the animals would see the partly stripped branches when they mated. It therefore happened that the females, after seeing the two-toned branches while in heat, gave birth to young that were two-toned. Jacob separated the young animals, keeping for himself the goat kids that were speckled, spotted, or mottled, and lambs that were black and segregating them from Laban's livestock.
Early in the mating season, Jacob set up the two-toned branches before the water trough so that the animals would mate in the presence of the branches. However, later in the season, he would remove the branches. Thus, the stronger animals, born early in the season, belonged to Jacob, while the feebler ones, born later, belonged to Laban.
Jacob grew very wealthy, possessing many servants, and flocks and herds of livestock, as well as donkeys and camels.
"Jacob has greatly enriched himself, but at the expense of our father," claimed Laban's sons.
Jacob heard these words and noticed that Laban was not as well disposed to him as he was formerly. And, more importantly, Jehovah was bidding him "Return to the land of your fathers and your family, and I will protect you." Therefore, Jacob called his wives Rachel and Leah into the fields where he was tending his flocks. He told them, "I see your father is not as well disposed to me of late as before. Also, the god of my father has communicated with me. --- You know that I have served your father to the utmost of my ability. But your father has played mind games with me, changing my wages a dozen times. Yet, Jehovah has not allowed him to do me any real harm. If he said, 'The speckled animals are your wages, then all the animals gave birth to speckled young.' But when he said, 'You may take for your wages all the white ones, then the flocks gave birth to young that were white.' Jehovah has taken the livestock away from your father and given them to me! When it was time for the livestock to conceive, I saw this vision in a dream: I saw males mounting females, and the males were all multi-colored, speckled, spotted, and mottled. The voice of Jehovah called to me in my sleep, "Jacob!," and I answered, 'Here I am.' The voice told me, 'Look, observe that the males mounting the females are all speckled, spotted, and mottled. --- I have seen everything Laban has done to you. I am the god who was present at Bethel, where you anointed the stone and made your vow. It is time for you to move on, to leave this land and return to your native country.'"
Rachel and Leah replied, "Is there any inheritance we can claim from our father? Are we not estranged from him? Did he not sell us and squander the money we brought him? All the wealth that Jehovah has taken from him, has been given to us and to our children. Therefore, whatever Jehovah asks you to do, do it!"
Without delay, Jacob put his wives and children on the backs of camels. He collected all the possessions he had, his flocks, and everything he had acquired in Aram, and set off to the land of Canaan where his father Isaac lived.
Notes
1. The concept of honesty and fair dealings does not seem to very prevalent during these times. Cheating one another is the order of the day. Jacob cheats his brother out of his inheritance and paternal blessing. Laban cheats Jacob out of his promised bride and now cheats him out of livestock. Jacob, in payment for his services, is entitled to claim all the goats of the herd that are speckled, spotted, or mottled (most goats of that time and place were of a single color) and sheep that are not uniformly white. It was a fair bargain, but Laban, a deceitful phony, is not satisfied unless he can bilk his son-in-law to the max. Before Jacob can take the livestock that belong to him, he removes the multi-colored animals and has his sons take them far away so Jacob can't find them. Jacob, in retaliation, not only finds a way to make the goats give birth to speckled, spotted, and mottled kids and the sheep, black lambs, but also a way of leaving Laban with the weakest animals. (Later he wonders why Laban and his sons no longer think he's a great guy.)
2. It should be mentioned that the text describing Jacob's deal with Laban and his trick with the branches is rather muddled, both in Hebrew and Latin, if not in most English translations. I have made some judicious paraphrasing for clarity's sake.
3. That nanny goats will produce spotted offspring after they have looked at a branch with the bark partly stripped off during mating sounds like an absurd and quaint piece of folklore. Genetics, of course, was unheard of at this time, but one would think a more sophisticated knowledge of animal husbandry would be possessed by so experienced and successful a herder as Jacob. Naturally, it is all explained as it being a miracle, by Jehovah's making it happen. But if Jehovah were God, why couldn't he just do it without the stupid rigmarole with the stripped branches?
At about the time that Joseph was born, Jacob spoke to his father-in-law Laban: "Let me go so I may return to my native country, my own land, along with my wives and children, for whose benefit I have toiled for you. Release me from your employ. You are surely aware of the good service I have done for you."
Laban replied, "Please remain with me -- if I am worthy of your loyalty -- for I have learned from divinations that I have been blessed by Jehovah because of you. Name the wages you want me to give you."
Jacob responded, "You know how hard I have worked for you, how well I have tended your flocks. You had very little before I came and now you have much, for Jehovah has blessed you since I came. But now I must start thinking about providing for my own family."
"What can I give you?" Laban asked.
"You needn't give me anything, if you will do this one thing for me, after which I will continue to manage your livestock. I will go through the flocks today and set aside the speckled, spotted, and mottled goats and all the black sheep: they will be my property in lieu of wages. When the time comes for an accounting of what you owe me, my good faith will be readily shown, for if you find me having in my possession any goat that is not spotted, speckled, or mottled or any sheep that is not black, then you may call me a thief.
"Very well," replied Laban, "let it be as you say."
On that very day, however, Laban removed from his flock all the billy goats and nanny goats that were of more than one color (any one that had white in its coat) and the ewes and rams that were dark in color. He had his sons take charge of them and graze them three days journey away from where his son-in-law herded the rest of his flocks.
Jacob took green branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and stripped some of the bark off them so that the white underneath would show, creating a two-toned pattern on the branches. He then placed them near the water trough where the flocks came to drink. In that way, the animals would see the partly stripped branches when they mated. It therefore happened that the females, after seeing the two-toned branches while in heat, gave birth to young that were two-toned. Jacob separated the young animals, keeping for himself the goat kids that were speckled, spotted, or mottled, and lambs that were black and segregating them from Laban's livestock.
Early in the mating season, Jacob set up the two-toned branches before the water trough so that the animals would mate in the presence of the branches. However, later in the season, he would remove the branches. Thus, the stronger animals, born early in the season, belonged to Jacob, while the feebler ones, born later, belonged to Laban.
Jacob grew very wealthy, possessing many servants, and flocks and herds of livestock, as well as donkeys and camels.
"Jacob has greatly enriched himself, but at the expense of our father," claimed Laban's sons.
Jacob heard these words and noticed that Laban was not as well disposed to him as he was formerly. And, more importantly, Jehovah was bidding him "Return to the land of your fathers and your family, and I will protect you." Therefore, Jacob called his wives Rachel and Leah into the fields where he was tending his flocks. He told them, "I see your father is not as well disposed to me of late as before. Also, the god of my father has communicated with me. --- You know that I have served your father to the utmost of my ability. But your father has played mind games with me, changing my wages a dozen times. Yet, Jehovah has not allowed him to do me any real harm. If he said, 'The speckled animals are your wages, then all the animals gave birth to speckled young.' But when he said, 'You may take for your wages all the white ones, then the flocks gave birth to young that were white.' Jehovah has taken the livestock away from your father and given them to me! When it was time for the livestock to conceive, I saw this vision in a dream: I saw males mounting females, and the males were all multi-colored, speckled, spotted, and mottled. The voice of Jehovah called to me in my sleep, "Jacob!," and I answered, 'Here I am.' The voice told me, 'Look, observe that the males mounting the females are all speckled, spotted, and mottled. --- I have seen everything Laban has done to you. I am the god who was present at Bethel, where you anointed the stone and made your vow. It is time for you to move on, to leave this land and return to your native country.'"
Rachel and Leah replied, "Is there any inheritance we can claim from our father? Are we not estranged from him? Did he not sell us and squander the money we brought him? All the wealth that Jehovah has taken from him, has been given to us and to our children. Therefore, whatever Jehovah asks you to do, do it!"
Without delay, Jacob put his wives and children on the backs of camels. He collected all the possessions he had, his flocks, and everything he had acquired in Aram, and set off to the land of Canaan where his father Isaac lived.
Notes
1. The concept of honesty and fair dealings does not seem to very prevalent during these times. Cheating one another is the order of the day. Jacob cheats his brother out of his inheritance and paternal blessing. Laban cheats Jacob out of his promised bride and now cheats him out of livestock. Jacob, in payment for his services, is entitled to claim all the goats of the herd that are speckled, spotted, or mottled (most goats of that time and place were of a single color) and sheep that are not uniformly white. It was a fair bargain, but Laban, a deceitful phony, is not satisfied unless he can bilk his son-in-law to the max. Before Jacob can take the livestock that belong to him, he removes the multi-colored animals and has his sons take them far away so Jacob can't find them. Jacob, in retaliation, not only finds a way to make the goats give birth to speckled, spotted, and mottled kids and the sheep, black lambs, but also a way of leaving Laban with the weakest animals. (Later he wonders why Laban and his sons no longer think he's a great guy.)
2. It should be mentioned that the text describing Jacob's deal with Laban and his trick with the branches is rather muddled, both in Hebrew and Latin, if not in most English translations. I have made some judicious paraphrasing for clarity's sake.
3. That nanny goats will produce spotted offspring after they have looked at a branch with the bark partly stripped off during mating sounds like an absurd and quaint piece of folklore. Genetics, of course, was unheard of at this time, but one would think a more sophisticated knowledge of animal husbandry would be possessed by so experienced and successful a herder as Jacob. Naturally, it is all explained as it being a miracle, by Jehovah's making it happen. But if Jehovah were God, why couldn't he just do it without the stupid rigmarole with the stripped branches?
Saturday, May 4, 2013
The History of Jacob, Part Two
(Genesis 29:01 - 30:24)
Jacob resumed his journey until he came into the land of his people who had settled in the east. Surveying the way ahead, he noticed a well in a field and three flocks of sheep resting around it, for this was the common well out of which they were watered. The mouth of the well was closed with a large stone, and it was the custom to roll away the stone when all the sheep had gathered there and to close it again after they had drunk.
Jacob asked the men he saw, "Where are you from, my friends?” and they answered, "We are from Haran." And Jacob asked of them "Do you know Laban, a descendant of Nahor?" to which they replied "Yes, we know him."
Jacob continued, "Is he well?"
"Yes," they replied “he’s quite well ... Oh, look, here's his daughter Rachel coming now with the sheep!"
Jacob observed, "There's still much of the day left. Surely it's too early to drive the flocks back to their pens. They should be given water and then led back to the pasture to graze.”
"But we can't water them until all the flocks are collected.” they answered, "Then the stone will be rolled away from the well's mouth so we can water them."
And while Jacob was conversing with them, Rachel arrived with her father's sheep -- for she was in charge of tending them. When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, approaching with Laban's sheep, he rushed up and single-handedly rolled away the large stone that sealed the well. After he had watered the flock, Jacob gave Rachel a kiss and, with his voice breaking with emotion, revealed that he was her father’s relative, a son of Rebecca.
Rachel ran home to tell her father the news. When Laban found out that Jacob, his sister's son, had come to visit, he hurried out to the field to greet him. Giving him a bear hug and kissing him, he brought him as a guest into his house. When he had heard the reason for Jacob's visit, he declared, "You are indeed my flesh and blood!"
When Jacob had stayed for a month, Laban said, “Just because you’re my relative, is it right that you should work for nothing? Tell me, what kind of wages may I pay you?"
Laban had two daughters: the oldest was named Leah, the younger, Rachel. Leah had no sparkle in her eyes, but Rachel was fair in form and face. It was Rachel that Jacob loved, and he proclaimed to Laban, "I will work for you for seven years, if I can have the hand of your younger daughter Rachel in marriage.”
Laban replied, "It's better that I give her to you, than to another. Stay then in my employ!”
Jacob, therefore, worked the seven years for Rachel, though the time seemed like a few days, so deep was his love for her. Jacob then said to Laban, “The time I have promised to serve you is over. Let me have Rachel, for I am eager to make her my wife!”
Laban invited all the men of the region to attend a marriage feast. At the end of the evening Laban presented Leah to Jacob as his bride. (As a wedding gift, he presented Leah with Zilpah, one of his slaves, to be her handmaid.) The marriage was consummated according to custom, but in the morning, Jacob discovered it was Leah who was his bride. He demanded of his father-in-law, "What have you done to me? I labored hard for you so I could marry Rachel? Why have you tricked me?"
Laban explained, "It is not the custom here to let the younger marry before the older daughter. However, after the week of wedding festivities have passed, I will let you marry Rachel as well, if, in return, you'll work for me another seven years."
Jacob accepted this, and at the end of the week, Laban gave him Rachel as his bride. (Laban presented her with his slave Bilhah to be her handmaid.) And Jacob consummated his marriage with Rachel. He loved her far more than Leah, and because of her, he worked for Laban the additional seven years.
Jehovah, when he saw that Leah, unlike Rachel, was unloved, he took pity on her and made her fruitful, while Rachel remained barren. Leah then became pregnant and gave birth to a son she called Reuben [which sounds like “seen my troubles” in Hebrew]. She declared, "Jehovah has seen my troubles: surely now my husband will truly love me!"
She conceived again and bore another son, whom she called Simeon [which sounds like “has heard” in Hebrew]. She said, "Jehovah has heard that I was despised and, therefore, has given me another son."
Again she became pregnant and gave birth to a son called Levi [which sounds like “be close to” in Hebrew]. She said, "Now, this time my husband will be really be close to me, for I have given him three sons."
She conceived a fourth time and bore a son, Judah [which sounds like “praise” in Hebrew]. "Now I will praise Jehovah!" she declared, giving off having further children.
Rachel, finding herself with no children, was jealous of her sister and complained to her husband, "If you don't give me some children, I'm going to perish!”
Jacob became angry at Rachel and told her off, “How can I do what only Jehovah is capable of doing? He’s the one who has kept you from having children.”
She suggested, "Look, I have a servant Bilhah. Why don't you have intercourse with her so that I can be the mother of her child and through her build up a family.”
Rachel gave Bilhah, her maid, as a wife to her husband Jacob, who had sexual intercourse with her. Bilhah thus became pregnant and gave birth to a son.
"Jehovah has listened to my plea and made a judgment in my favor," Rachel declared. "He has given me a son, who will, therefore, be called Dan” [which sounds like “he has judged” in Hebrew].
Bilhah conceived again and gave birth to a second son. Rachel declared, "I have struggled with my sister in a fierce competition, but I have won,” and so she called the son Naphtali [which sounds like “my struggle” in Hebrew].
Believing that she could no longer bear any more children, Leah gave her maid Zilpah as a wife to Jacob. Zilpah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She declared “I am lucky,” and, therefore, called him Gad [which sounds like “lucky” in Hebrew]. When Zilpah bore a second son, Leah said, "I am happy now and women will called me blessed.” And so she called her son Asher [which sounds like “blessed” in Hebrew].”
At the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben went out in the field and found some mandrakes, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel demanded, "Let me have some of your son's mandrakes."
Leah rejoined, "It was a small matter to you when you stole my husband from me; now you want to take my son's mandrakes, too."
"You can go to bed with Jacob tonight in exchange for the mandrakes," offered Rachel.
When Jacob was coming home from the fields that night, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must spend the night with me, for I have have traded your company in bed for my son's mandrakes."
Jacob lay with her that night. Jehovah answered Leah’s prayer; she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son by Jacob. Leah declared, "Jehovah has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband. Therefore, I will call my son Issachar” [which sounds like ‘paid for’ in Hebrew].
Leah conceived and gave birth to a sixth son as well. She then pronounced, "Jehovah has endowed me with a fine gift and now, because I have given my husband six sons, he will honor me.” She thus called him Zebulun [which sounds like “honor” in Hebrew].
Afterwards, she gave birth to a daughter, Dinah.
But Jehovah did not forget about Rachel. He favored her and allowed her to have children. And so she conceived and gave birth to a son. "Jehovah has wiped away my shame.” And she called him Joseph [which sounds like ‘he adds” in Hebrew], “because,” she said “I wished that Jehovah would add to me yet another son!"
Notes
1. Jacob arrives at his destination, Haran, which, though his family's ancestral home, is a strange country to him. Although he is not supposed to be an outdoor man like Esau, Jacob immediately begins telling the shepherds there how they should conduct their business. He also seems rather presumptuous and forward, to say the least, in kissing Rachel, even before he tells he is her cousin. (More than a kissing cousin, he was a first cousin.)
2. Laban would not allow his nephew to marry his daughter Rachel until he has labored for him for seven years. This arrangement does not seem unreasonable, save for the inordinate length of time, which is Jacob’s idea. (It seems odd that Laban does not wish to marry off his daughters as soon as possible.) The last-minute switch, the substitution of the older daughter Leah for Rachel is a detestable betrayal of his nephew and son-in-law. (It was probably the custom for the bride to be veiled and for the wedding chamber to be in darkness during the consummation of the marriage.) Laban, who is, at the very least, a total jerk, nevertheless allows Jacob to obtain the wife he wants if he will continuing working for him for another seven years. What a wonderful uncle and father-in-law! --- It should be mentioned that marrying off the oldest daughter first has been a common practice in many cultures, until fairly recent times. There are several well-known stories, most of a comedic nature, that have exploited this premise.
3. Again we have marriages between first cousins. It is interesting that the Catholic Church has always forbade marriages between participants sharing less close consanguinity, even if, through its long history, it made many exceptions among royal families. (In the 11th Century King Henry I of France despaired of finding a bride he was not related to and so sent an ambassador to Kiev to arrange a marriage with Anna Yaroslovna who was of Russian and Swedish descent.) Nevertheless, first cousin marriages have been common until recent history among all classes of society in the West and elsewhere. Unusual today, they are, at present, outlawed in fully half of U.S. states.
4. The two sisters, married to the same man, are rivals and seem to be engaged in a child-bearing contest. Their competitive teams include their handmaidens. The children born to Bilhah count as points for Rachel's team and those of Zilpah are credited to Leah's team. Both sides claim victory, with the result that Jacob ends up with 11 sons and a daughter. It gives the probably not too inaccurate impression that for a wife at that time producing children was all that mattered. The story (and petty argument) about the exchange of mandrakes for a night in Jacob's bed rather trivializes the husband-wife relationship, but it's not surprising that having four wives takes away something of the specialness of the marriage bed.
5. There is the impression given that Hebrews are incapable of having children except through the intervention of Jehovah. Every pregnancy or barren womb is the result of his personal wishes. Jacob specifically sites this belief as an explanation for Rachel’s inability to conceive.
6. In summary, Jacob's children are:
1. Reuben, son by Leah
2. Simeon, son by Leah
3. Levi, son by Leah
4. Judah, son by Leah
5. Dan, son by Rachels' maid Bilhah
6. Naphtali, son by Rachel's maid Bilhah
7. Gad, son by Leah's maid Zilpah
8. Asher, son by Leah's maid Zilpah
9. Issachar, son by Leah
10. Zebulun, son by Leah
11. Dinah, daughter by Leah
12. Joseph, son by Rachel
Jacob resumed his journey until he came into the land of his people who had settled in the east. Surveying the way ahead, he noticed a well in a field and three flocks of sheep resting around it, for this was the common well out of which they were watered. The mouth of the well was closed with a large stone, and it was the custom to roll away the stone when all the sheep had gathered there and to close it again after they had drunk.
Jacob asked the men he saw, "Where are you from, my friends?” and they answered, "We are from Haran." And Jacob asked of them "Do you know Laban, a descendant of Nahor?" to which they replied "Yes, we know him."
Jacob continued, "Is he well?"
"Yes," they replied “he’s quite well ... Oh, look, here's his daughter Rachel coming now with the sheep!"
Jacob observed, "There's still much of the day left. Surely it's too early to drive the flocks back to their pens. They should be given water and then led back to the pasture to graze.”
"But we can't water them until all the flocks are collected.” they answered, "Then the stone will be rolled away from the well's mouth so we can water them."
And while Jacob was conversing with them, Rachel arrived with her father's sheep -- for she was in charge of tending them. When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, approaching with Laban's sheep, he rushed up and single-handedly rolled away the large stone that sealed the well. After he had watered the flock, Jacob gave Rachel a kiss and, with his voice breaking with emotion, revealed that he was her father’s relative, a son of Rebecca.
Rachel ran home to tell her father the news. When Laban found out that Jacob, his sister's son, had come to visit, he hurried out to the field to greet him. Giving him a bear hug and kissing him, he brought him as a guest into his house. When he had heard the reason for Jacob's visit, he declared, "You are indeed my flesh and blood!"
When Jacob had stayed for a month, Laban said, “Just because you’re my relative, is it right that you should work for nothing? Tell me, what kind of wages may I pay you?"
Laban had two daughters: the oldest was named Leah, the younger, Rachel. Leah had no sparkle in her eyes, but Rachel was fair in form and face. It was Rachel that Jacob loved, and he proclaimed to Laban, "I will work for you for seven years, if I can have the hand of your younger daughter Rachel in marriage.”
Laban replied, "It's better that I give her to you, than to another. Stay then in my employ!”
Jacob, therefore, worked the seven years for Rachel, though the time seemed like a few days, so deep was his love for her. Jacob then said to Laban, “The time I have promised to serve you is over. Let me have Rachel, for I am eager to make her my wife!”
Laban invited all the men of the region to attend a marriage feast. At the end of the evening Laban presented Leah to Jacob as his bride. (As a wedding gift, he presented Leah with Zilpah, one of his slaves, to be her handmaid.) The marriage was consummated according to custom, but in the morning, Jacob discovered it was Leah who was his bride. He demanded of his father-in-law, "What have you done to me? I labored hard for you so I could marry Rachel? Why have you tricked me?"
Laban explained, "It is not the custom here to let the younger marry before the older daughter. However, after the week of wedding festivities have passed, I will let you marry Rachel as well, if, in return, you'll work for me another seven years."
Jacob accepted this, and at the end of the week, Laban gave him Rachel as his bride. (Laban presented her with his slave Bilhah to be her handmaid.) And Jacob consummated his marriage with Rachel. He loved her far more than Leah, and because of her, he worked for Laban the additional seven years.
Jehovah, when he saw that Leah, unlike Rachel, was unloved, he took pity on her and made her fruitful, while Rachel remained barren. Leah then became pregnant and gave birth to a son she called Reuben [which sounds like “seen my troubles” in Hebrew]. She declared, "Jehovah has seen my troubles: surely now my husband will truly love me!"
She conceived again and bore another son, whom she called Simeon [which sounds like “has heard” in Hebrew]. She said, "Jehovah has heard that I was despised and, therefore, has given me another son."
Again she became pregnant and gave birth to a son called Levi [which sounds like “be close to” in Hebrew]. She said, "Now, this time my husband will be really be close to me, for I have given him three sons."
She conceived a fourth time and bore a son, Judah [which sounds like “praise” in Hebrew]. "Now I will praise Jehovah!" she declared, giving off having further children.
Rachel, finding herself with no children, was jealous of her sister and complained to her husband, "If you don't give me some children, I'm going to perish!”
Jacob became angry at Rachel and told her off, “How can I do what only Jehovah is capable of doing? He’s the one who has kept you from having children.”
She suggested, "Look, I have a servant Bilhah. Why don't you have intercourse with her so that I can be the mother of her child and through her build up a family.”
Rachel gave Bilhah, her maid, as a wife to her husband Jacob, who had sexual intercourse with her. Bilhah thus became pregnant and gave birth to a son.
"Jehovah has listened to my plea and made a judgment in my favor," Rachel declared. "He has given me a son, who will, therefore, be called Dan” [which sounds like “he has judged” in Hebrew].
Bilhah conceived again and gave birth to a second son. Rachel declared, "I have struggled with my sister in a fierce competition, but I have won,” and so she called the son Naphtali [which sounds like “my struggle” in Hebrew].
Believing that she could no longer bear any more children, Leah gave her maid Zilpah as a wife to Jacob. Zilpah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She declared “I am lucky,” and, therefore, called him Gad [which sounds like “lucky” in Hebrew]. When Zilpah bore a second son, Leah said, "I am happy now and women will called me blessed.” And so she called her son Asher [which sounds like “blessed” in Hebrew].”
At the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben went out in the field and found some mandrakes, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel demanded, "Let me have some of your son's mandrakes."
Leah rejoined, "It was a small matter to you when you stole my husband from me; now you want to take my son's mandrakes, too."
"You can go to bed with Jacob tonight in exchange for the mandrakes," offered Rachel.
When Jacob was coming home from the fields that night, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must spend the night with me, for I have have traded your company in bed for my son's mandrakes."
Jacob lay with her that night. Jehovah answered Leah’s prayer; she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son by Jacob. Leah declared, "Jehovah has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband. Therefore, I will call my son Issachar” [which sounds like ‘paid for’ in Hebrew].
Leah conceived and gave birth to a sixth son as well. She then pronounced, "Jehovah has endowed me with a fine gift and now, because I have given my husband six sons, he will honor me.” She thus called him Zebulun [which sounds like “honor” in Hebrew].
Afterwards, she gave birth to a daughter, Dinah.
But Jehovah did not forget about Rachel. He favored her and allowed her to have children. And so she conceived and gave birth to a son. "Jehovah has wiped away my shame.” And she called him Joseph [which sounds like ‘he adds” in Hebrew], “because,” she said “I wished that Jehovah would add to me yet another son!"
Notes
1. Jacob arrives at his destination, Haran, which, though his family's ancestral home, is a strange country to him. Although he is not supposed to be an outdoor man like Esau, Jacob immediately begins telling the shepherds there how they should conduct their business. He also seems rather presumptuous and forward, to say the least, in kissing Rachel, even before he tells he is her cousin. (More than a kissing cousin, he was a first cousin.)
2. Laban would not allow his nephew to marry his daughter Rachel until he has labored for him for seven years. This arrangement does not seem unreasonable, save for the inordinate length of time, which is Jacob’s idea. (It seems odd that Laban does not wish to marry off his daughters as soon as possible.) The last-minute switch, the substitution of the older daughter Leah for Rachel is a detestable betrayal of his nephew and son-in-law. (It was probably the custom for the bride to be veiled and for the wedding chamber to be in darkness during the consummation of the marriage.) Laban, who is, at the very least, a total jerk, nevertheless allows Jacob to obtain the wife he wants if he will continuing working for him for another seven years. What a wonderful uncle and father-in-law! --- It should be mentioned that marrying off the oldest daughter first has been a common practice in many cultures, until fairly recent times. There are several well-known stories, most of a comedic nature, that have exploited this premise.
3. Again we have marriages between first cousins. It is interesting that the Catholic Church has always forbade marriages between participants sharing less close consanguinity, even if, through its long history, it made many exceptions among royal families. (In the 11th Century King Henry I of France despaired of finding a bride he was not related to and so sent an ambassador to Kiev to arrange a marriage with Anna Yaroslovna who was of Russian and Swedish descent.) Nevertheless, first cousin marriages have been common until recent history among all classes of society in the West and elsewhere. Unusual today, they are, at present, outlawed in fully half of U.S. states.
4. The two sisters, married to the same man, are rivals and seem to be engaged in a child-bearing contest. Their competitive teams include their handmaidens. The children born to Bilhah count as points for Rachel's team and those of Zilpah are credited to Leah's team. Both sides claim victory, with the result that Jacob ends up with 11 sons and a daughter. It gives the probably not too inaccurate impression that for a wife at that time producing children was all that mattered. The story (and petty argument) about the exchange of mandrakes for a night in Jacob's bed rather trivializes the husband-wife relationship, but it's not surprising that having four wives takes away something of the specialness of the marriage bed.
5. There is the impression given that Hebrews are incapable of having children except through the intervention of Jehovah. Every pregnancy or barren womb is the result of his personal wishes. Jacob specifically sites this belief as an explanation for Rachel’s inability to conceive.
6. In summary, Jacob's children are:
1. Reuben, son by Leah
2. Simeon, son by Leah
3. Levi, son by Leah
4. Judah, son by Leah
5. Dan, son by Rachels' maid Bilhah
6. Naphtali, son by Rachel's maid Bilhah
7. Gad, son by Leah's maid Zilpah
8. Asher, son by Leah's maid Zilpah
9. Issachar, son by Leah
10. Zebulun, son by Leah
11. Dinah, daughter by Leah
12. Joseph, son by Rachel
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