Genesis 32
Jacob is a coward. God cheats at wrestling. Jacob is renamed Isreal.
32:1-21 Jacob sends a message ahead to his brother Esau (the one he had bilked out of his birthright and his father's dying blessing), telling him he was coming with a whole entourage and lots of livestock. The messengers came back, saying Esau was coming to meet him and bringing 400 men. Jacob, thinking Esau wants to kill him, splits his family and herds into two, hoping that if Esau attacks one half, the other half will be able to escape. He prays that God saves his wives and children. In the morning he gathers a large gift of livestock for his brother, then starts sending messengers out with portions of the flock. As each messenger meets Esau's army, he is to tell him he's escorting a gift from Jacob, from Esau, and that Jacob is coming soon.
32:22-32 Jacob sent his wives, children, and all his possessions across the river, and stayed alone. He wrestled with a man all night, dislocating his hip in the process (the man he was wrestling with touched his hip, and his hip was "wrenched"). When the sun came up, the man asked Jacob to let him go, but Jacob refused until the man blessed him. The man asked Jacob his name; Jacob told him, and the man told him he would no longer be Jacob, but that his name would be Israel ("he struggles with God"), because he had struggled with God and man and overcame them both (indicating that the man was God). When Jacob asked the man's name, the man asked why he was asking (indicating Jacob already knew who he was). He named the place where they wrestled Peniel ("the face of God"). Going forward, Isrealites don't eat hip tendons because that's where God touched Jacob.
Genesis 33
Esau is happy to see Jacob. Jacob lies to Esau.
33:1-11 As Esau approached, Jacob arranged his wives and children so that if there was a fight, the two handmaidens and their children would be killed first, then Leah and her children, and last Rachel and her son Joseph. Jacob bowed and scraped as he approached Esau, but Esau ran up to him and hugged him. Jacob introduced Esau to his wives and children. Esau asked what Jacob meant by sending all the livestock as gifts, then tried to give them back because he already had plenty. Jacob insisted that he keep them, saying they had helped Esau receive Jacob favorably, so Esau kept them.
33:12 When it was time to go, Esau wanted to travel with Jacob, but Jacob insisted he had to travel slowly because of the livestock. Esau then wanted to leave half his army with Jacob, but Jacob insisted that wasn't necessary, and assured Esau he would meet him in Seir. Esau agreed, and left with his men to go to Seir, but Jacob went instead to northwest Mesopotamia. He bought some land from the Schechemites, set up his tent and buitl and altar, and called the place El Elohe Israel ("mighty is the God of Israel). He pretty much named his new home "Mighty is the God of he who struggles with God". Why did he feel it was necessary to mislead Esau? I mean, I know the dude swore to kill him and all that, but he seemed happy enough to see him.
Genesis 34
Dinah is raped. Jacob's son's slaughter a village.
34:1-13 Dinah (Jacob and Leah's daughter) was out visiting some of the local women when Schechem (the prince) "violated her" (It's unclear is she consented, or if it's seen as a violation because they aren't married - could be rape, could be pre-marital, consensual sex). He fell in love with her, and asked his father (Hamor) to secure a marriage between them. Jacob learned of the rape, but his sons were out in the field, so he waited until they came home. Hamor (Schechem's father) went to talk to Jacob, explaining that Schechem was in love with Dinah and wanted to marry her. Schechem promised to pay any price Jacob demanded if he let him marry Dinah.
34:14-24 Dinah's brothers (Jacob's sons) lied to Schechem and Hamor, saying if all the males of their tribe were to be circumcised, they would settle in the area, that Schechem and Dinah could marry, and that Jacob's sons would take Hamor's daughters as their wives. Hamor and Schechem took the proposal to the townspeople, explaining that Jacob's family was very wealthy, and that if all the men of the area were circumcised, that Jacob's family would settle there and that the whole area would prosper. The townspeople agreed, and everybody got the snip.
34:25 Three days later, while the men were still all laid up from their recent surgery, Simeon and Levi (Dinah's brothers) attacked the city and killed every man, including Schechem and Hamor, then took Dinah and left. The rest of the brothers looted the city and took all the livestock, women, and children. Jacob was angry with his sons, fearing retribution from neighboring tribes, but his sons argued their actions were justified because Schechem had treated their sister like a prostitute. This is the first indication that prostitution exists, and that it's considered a bad thing. In this particular instance, the men are the ones punished for the crime. It also indicates that Schechem kidnapped Dinah, not that he raped her then let her go home. I get why they killed Schechem, and maybe even Hamor, but they killed the other men so they couldn't seek retribution - it wasn't connected to Dinah's violation.
Genesis 35
Jacob finally goes home. Rachel dies. Reuben sleeps with his father's wife.
35:1-5 God tells Jacob to go to Bethel and build him an altar. Jacob tells his household to get rid of any other Gods, and to bathe and change their clothes, saying they're going to Bethel to build God an altar. The people of Jacob's household give him all their idols and their earrings (earrings?) and Jacob buried them under an oak tree, and they head towards Bethel. As they travel, the fear of God falls on all the neighboring towns, and no one pursues them.
35:6-15 As Jacob heads to Bethel, Deborah (Rachel's maid) dies under an oak tree, so they name the place Allon Bacuth ("the oak of weeping"). As they're leaving Northwest Mesopotamia, God appears to Jacob, telling him he will be called Isreal from then on, promises that nations will descend from him, and that the lands God had given to Abraham and Isaac would also be Jacob's. Jacob built a stone pillar where he received the vision of God, and named it Bethel ("house of God"; this is not the same as the place they were heading to).
35:16-29 Jacob's household left Bethel. On the way, Rachel died in childbirth; with her dying breath, she named her son Ben-Oni ("son of my trouble"), but Jacob named him Benjamin ("son of my right hand"). They buried Rachel on the way to Bethlehem. They carried on their trip. Near Migdal Eder, Reuben slept with his father's third wife, Bilhah. They finally made it to Hebron, where Isaac lived, and shortly thereafter Isaac died and Jacob and Isaac buried him.
Genesis 36
Esau's descendants.
36:1-8 Esau took his wives, children, and livestock, and moved a bit away from where his brother, Jacob, had settled, because their flocks were too big and the land couldn't support them both. Esau ("hairy") was also called Edom ("red").
35:9 -29 Long account of Esau/Edom's descendants, the Edomites, and their leaders, chieftains, and kings.
No comments:
Post a Comment