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1 When Abraham left the city of Haran and its official civic worship of the moon god, he responded to the inner prompting of his own 'Family God', the 'God of Abraham', believing that this special spirit god would travel with him and protect his family from harm, wherever they went. He travelled into the land of Canaan, between the Jordan valley and the Mediterranean Sea, with his nomadic family, all their possessions, and the spirit god's pottery container, called a 'teraph'. Abraham's God promised him the gift of land and many descendants, and in Gen.17 imposed the rite of circumcision on all men and boys who belonged to the family group. It was to be their tribal mark of identification - for all Abraham's descendants, and others who were adopted, voluntarily, by conquest, or because they were slaves.
2 Through Abraham's two sons, this rite has continued - through Ishmael to all Arabs, and all followers of Islam; and through Isaac to all Jews. In the first decades of the emerging Christian faith, St Paul successfully argued against the imposition of circumcision on gentiles who wanted to become Christians, in favour of 'the Cross, the baptismal mark of Christ'.
3 There are so few stories relating particularly to the patriarch, Isaac, that we question whether or not there was such a collection? If yes, has much of it been lost, or even abandoned? In contrast to the Abraham collection which was centred around his burial site near Hebron, the stories of Isaac were connected to the holy place of Beersheba and belong to ' the God of Isaac' , his 'Fear' (Gen.31.53). Later we find the stories of Jacob were centred at the holy place of Bethel, and the 'God of Jacob', the 'Mighty One of Jacob' (Gen.49.24), possibly suggesting that these were originally independent collections which have been woven together - very skilfully - at a later time.
4 Isaac appears in the Bible Story only as a passive shadow: nearly sacrificed without protest by Abraham; married to the wife chosen for him by his father's steward; and duped by his wife, Rebekah, to pass on his inheritance to his younger twin son, Jacob,instead of Esau.
5 Gen.26 seems to be a repetition of an Abraham story, passing off his wife as his sister, but two points are worth noting:
6 Isaac's twin sons were Esau and Jacob. Esau lived the outdoor life, while his brother preferred home life where he was his mother's favourite. In the first story the boy, Jacob, tricked his brother into giving away his birthright when he was desperately hungry after a day's hunting. (Note: in pre-literary societies it was the 'spoken word' that was legally binding, even though in the story Esau forgot this). In the next story, Jacob, with the help and connivance of his mother, tricked his old, blind father into thinking that he, Jacob, was in fact, Esau, and thus received his father's gift of the family BLESSING, the equivalent today of a legal deed of inheritance. Again, once spoken, the words could not be revoked. Isaac died in distress, and Esau was furiously angry. Jacob needed little persuasion from his mother to escape for a long time, and at her suggestion he went back to her relatives near Haran.
7 Jacob's story begins in Gen.28. It is the story of an unattractive character who was eventually transformed to become the honoured ancestor of the twelve tribes of ISRA-EL. It begins on the way to Haran, when Jacob lay down to sleep and had a dream. (Dreams were believed to be glimpses of the world beyond death, so were treated very seriously) He dreamt of a ladder connecting that place with the dreamworld, (heaven), with angels passing from one to the other, (ang - ELs). In his awe he was scared of such a holy place, and set up a sanctuary with an altar, calling it Bethel, (beth = house, EL - of God)
8 Jacob entered the family home of Uncle Laban, only to realise how alike they were! Jacob worked for seven years to be allowed to marry his cousin, Rachel, only to discover too late that he had married Rachel's elder sister, Leah, by mistake.It was another seven years before he could marry Rachel. In the meantime, Jacob had 6 sons by Leah, and 4 by two concubines, before his beloved Rachel gave birth to her son, Joseph. Jacob achieved his revenge on Laban when it was agreed that Jacob should have the cross-breeds from the flocks as his wives' dowry, and managed to mix the herds at breeding time! Jacob became a rich man before he planned his departure, for the command had come from the God of Bethel, (Gen.31.13)
9 Once again a dramatic story thrills its audience: Laban chased after the departing family, but not because of the secret departure, and lack of formal ceremony, but because his Family Gods had gone missing, (the teraphim). The listener knows the culprit is Rachel, only to be put into suspense when Jacob, (himself quite innocent this time), promises death for the one responsible. His favourite wife's guilt, however, was not discovered, and Rachel survived. Jacob and Laban parted formally by marking their boundaries with a heap of stones.
10 Jacob set out for home, and Esau. On the way, soon after crossing the river at the ford of Jabbok Jacob's character was changed for the better by a 'theophany' (A theophany only occurs in sacred history: it describes the human experience of a personal encounter with God) All one night alone, Jacob wrestled with an unknown stranger. He was nearly beaten but survived, to realise next morning that he (or his conscience, perhaps?), had been struggling with his God, An injured and humbled Jacob was re-named ISRA-EL, by this God which withheld his own name. The place was named Peni-EL, before Jacob continued his journey to meet Esau. A new and different Jacob humbled himself before Esau, and peace was established. Jacob bought land near Schechem, and (another new development), built a house.
11 Jacob's twelfth son, Benjamin, was born but his mother, Rachel, died in childbirth. Joseph and Benjamin were without doubt the favourite sons of Jacob. The others became profoundly jealous. Gen.37 is a classic chapter for showing how two separate accounts of this jealousy, one because of a coloured coat, and the other because of fantastic dreams, have been interweaved to show how Joseph was separated from his family and sold into slavery in Egypt.
12 Joseph's story is an historical novel, complete in itself , and reads continuously in Gen.39 - 47.27. It creates a bridge between the patriarchal stories of Canaan and the stories of Moses in Egypt. It includes the story of Potiphar's wife, of Joseph in prison, of his success in interpreting dreams, in prison and in front of Pharaoh, of his rise to become Minister of Food in Egypt, of his tortuous reunion with his hungry brothers, and then with his old father, Jacob. Pharaoh's invitation to them all to settle in Egypt as honoured guests brings the book of Genesis to its end, The age of the patriarchs is over.
13 The story of Joseph was possibly compiled from its two main sources,(the J code from the south and the E code from the north) as early as the time of King Solomon. Solomon married an Egyptian princess .... and the Joseph-story is very flattering to Egypt!
© Barbara Hammond Sept. 2001
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