Genesis 28

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
Or
People CAN Have Visions Without the Use of Hallucinogens


You see, I like stories. I enjoy them quite a lot. With stories, I am allowed to derive what ever point, content, purpose, plan, and/or theme I choose, with the full knowledge that the conclusion I arrive at could be totally different than the one that the author may have intended. And with stories such as the one in Genesis, there are so many twists and turns that it can prove difficult to stop reading. Or, as in the case of historical Jewish culture and similar cultures where history is conveyed through the oral tradition, the listener tries every means possible to keep the storyteller talking because the story is so enthralling that you want to find out exactly what will be happening next.

It is in this spirit that we approach our continuation of Jacob’s story in this chapter. The chapter markings that fill up contemporary Bibles were not part of the original texts and the standard division between chapter and verse was not achieved until the 16th century, just in time for the KJV to enter into mass production in 1611. Thus, anyone who read the Bible before this time would only read the story as it had been written, not being forced to stop by artificially imposed endings to chapters. And even more than that, those who were listening these stories were subjected to the whims of the storyteller who might have ended the recitation for the day whenever they felt like it.

I say all of that to say this – most scholars, when writing about Genesis 28 and focusing their remarks appropriately, combine Genesis 27:46 with Genesis 28:1-9 as a commentary upon how Isaac and Rebekah view Esau’s choice of wives and Jacob’s coming search for a wife. Specifically, Isaac’s blessing of Jacob is a reiteration of the blessing from chapter 27 and an echo of how Father Abraham sent The Servant to look for a wife (Rebekah) for Isaac. Some scholars also note that this section exists to provide a positive and theological context for Jacob’s flight, as if the composers wanted to show that Jacob wasn’t really leaving because of Esau – he was leaving to perpetuate the Promise and find an appropriate wife. (Brueggemann, p237) Moreover, this scene mirrors the events concerning the wives taken by Isaac and Ishmael – Jacob gets the benefit of the blessing and the chosen wife, while Esau reacts negatively and incorrectly by choosing wives from amongst the Hittites and by marrying his first cousin (Ishmael’s daughter). (Alter, p147) It is no wonder that Rebekah’s reaction to Esau’s choices in 27:46 is one of revulsion (and yet another example of her preferring the younger over the elder) – her complaint produces Isaac’s sending off Jacob to Paddan-Aram, in harmony with her sending of Jacob to Laban in 27:43-44. (Berlin & Brettler, p 58)

“When he [Jacob] reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway, resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of the Lord were ascending and descending on it.” (Genesis 28:11-12, TNIV)

Thus, while the core of the story in this chapter is contained within verses 10 through 22, detailing the beginnings of Jacob’s flight from home and the subsequent vision of the ladder/stairway leading to heaven, it seems that Jacob himself is unprepared for what’s about to happen to him. For you see, as opposed to his grandfather Abraham, Jacob had not experienced any contact with God when he launched across the desert. Moreover, in further contrast to Abraham, the reader knows a great deal about Jacob biographically at this point, whereas with Abraham, besides noting the names of his siblings and his wife’s infertility, the reader knew nothing of his personality and character when God first comes to visit him. (Hamilton, p238) In fact, when you examine what we learned about Abraham over the course of 15 chapters with what we have learned about Jacob in the last 3 chapters, one would find it hard to believe that God would really consider either Esau or Jacob to carry on the Promise that had been given to Father Abraham. Esau was a wild man who cared nothing for the birthright and what it truly meant, while Jacob, though understanding the true significance of the birthright and blessing, decided steal it from his brother instead of waiting on God to fulfill the prophecy given to Rebekah.

However, in a move that confuses (or should!) the “morality police” and gossipmongers of past, present, and future, God tends to choose some strange people to prod along the story. It appears that, no matter whatever prophecy or promise is at stake, the character of the one who will fulfill it often doesn’t really matter to God. Thus, Jacob travels towards his mother’s old home and to wherever his father has deemed appropriate to find a wife, unbeknownst to God’s higher purposes and desire for Jacob to truly receive Isaac’s blessing, regardless of Jacob’s tendency towards trickery and deceit. (Berlin & Brettler, p58) Thus, when Jacob awakes from his dream (or in the midst of his dream) to find angels walking up and down a set of stairs that stretch from heaven to earth, he is wholly unprepared to hear from God.

Jacob has never had any contact with God directly, something we can directly intuit from the text’s silence on any communication between God and Jacob up to this point. And that is often how God prefers it to happen. Jacob is running away from his brother fearfully, seeking to save only his own skin, sent off to find a wife by his parents just so he doesn’t start wandering and marry someone who was a local and not suitable for entrance into the First Family. Jacob’s agenda doesn’t include anything close to the will of God and God runs with that fact in how the conversation with Jacob comes to take place. (Brueggemann, p242)

“Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel…” (Genesis 28:18-19a, NRSV)

What a transformation Jacob underwent in the verses preceding his response here. Jacob enters into a dream and comes to stare in awe at the angels walking up and down the stairs between heaven and earth. God appears beside Jacob and proclaims to him the same promise that his grandfather Abraham received, and does this as the God of his grandfather and father. Isaac never had this experience and never blessed Jacob with the details of this promise; thus, while Jacob probably heard the stories about his grandfather, there is no evidence textually to state that Isaac or Jacob ever lived in light of these promises. If one were to compare the details of the Promise from Genesis 12, 13, and 17 to those in Genesis 28, the similarities would be overwhelming to the extent that they would seem quite verbatim. God extends to Jacob these promises: 1) the land on which Jacob sleeps will be his and his offspring’s; 2) his offspring will be as innumerable as the dust of the earth; 3) the peoples of the earth will be blessed by his offspring; and 4) God will be with Jacob, no matter where he travels. And upon waking from such a specific and direct line of communication with God, Jacob leaps headlong into loving God and acknowledging God’s presence in his life and in that place. (Brueggemann, p246) From there, Jacob worships a God through the building of a physical monument, the consecrating the direction of his life to trusting God for everything, and honoring God with a tenth of whatever God gives to him first.

A great many commentators give much attention to the physical and historical aspects of the events of this chapter. Whether they attempt to locate the location of this God-to-man communication, discuss the finer aspects of the building of the pillar/monument, or whether or not the angels were walking up and down a ladder or stairway, they spend more time trying to ascertain the specifics rather than gain a glimpse into the transformation that has taken place in Jacob’s life. Now, I do not ever want to dismiss such critiques and information from these authors; in fact, I find much of it to be great illumination into why Jacob chose to erect a physical monument as he made a verbal, spiritual declaration about the course of the rest of his life. However, I feel that some missed the larger, over-arching purpose of God’s entrance into Jacob’s life – Jacob needed this experience, this visitation from the God of Heaven. Before this dream, Jacob had lived a life by his own means and for his own ends, never truly taking the lives of others into consideration (besides obeying the whims of his mother). But after the dream, Jacob realized that he had received a literal and figurative wake-up call for his life – he became heir not only to his family’s physical possessions, but to their spiritual legacy and heritage. The birthright for which he had schemed and deceived for so long was much more important, significant, and eternal than he had ever imagined or dreamed.

Genesis 27

Jacob Acquires Esau’s Blessing
Or
Not Only Does Jacob Find Lying Easy,
But He Also Enjoys Dressing Up


Again and again, I find myself convinced that the impact, truth, and depth of the Patriarchal stories in Genesis lie within the day-to-day humanity of the characters’ lives. These were real people, with real problems, with real issues, who tended to screw up quite often. And I find lots of hope and help in that fact, not because they’re broken, but because, in that brokenness, we can grow along with these characters. For far too long, the Church has idolized these men and women, but I take issue with that, not because they’re not worthy of study and respect, but because they are fallen humans, just as we are today.

Thus, with this third confrontation between Esau and Jacob, we gain yet another glimpse into how families, as wonderful and blessed by the Lord as they seem to be, struggle with their sin natures. These struggles come to the surface both in the lives of each individual and in how they four characters in this story interact with each other. Therefore, as I sift through the notes from several commentaries, the major theme of this story (and the rest of Genesis, in fact) seems to be how Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau grapple with the juxtaposition of blessing and duplicity, in conjunction with how this results of the events of this passage bear out across the rest of the book of Genesis. (Brueggemann, p227) Just as in Genesis 25, the two parents have chosen sides, the twins have made their preferences known, and all four equally honor and disparage the blessing. And in a bit of foreshadowing, since history has this sad and frustrating way of repeating, Israel as a nation, throughout the Old Testament and into the Gospels, embroils itself in this internal conflict over earning, deserving, and actually living as in the blessing.

The concepts of blessing and birthright, as we have seen in regards to the relationship between Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and Isaac, are often hard for the modern reader to understand. To bless one child over another signifies the transference of material blessing from the parents onto their children, with the eldest son receiving a double share compared to his other siblings, a share that usually meant that child would take over the running of the family upon the death of the father. (Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, p58-59) Thus, as Isaac realizes that he doesn’t have much time left on the earth, he wants to set into motion the events by which Esau, the son he favors, will take over the family. But little does he know that his wife was intently and purposefully listening to their conversation, much as Sarah eavesdropped upon Abraham and his heavenly visitors. (Frankel, p44-45)

We learned in Genesis 25 that Rebekah did receive the prophecy from God that The Twins warring within her would war their entire lives and would foster nations that would be at odds throughout history, with the specific mention that the youngest would be served by the eldest. I would imagine that she shared this prophecy with her husband, so the questions that I immediately ask myself when I begin reading of the conflicting interests of The Twins’ parents are, “Why do these two perpetually seek to serve their own purposes? Didn’t Isaac grow up in a house with a Mom and Dad who chose to take God’s promises into their own hands, much the eventual chagrin of Hagar and Ishmael?” One would think that Isaac would have learned that, no matter what humans might attempt, God’s promises find a way of coming to pass on God’s terms and not humanity’s.

Rebekah and Isaac knew that the younger child would rule over the elder, yet their actions lead me to believe that they really didn’t take that promise of God into account. Their initial choosing of favorites back in Genesis 25 simply laid the groundwork for the turmoil that would boil over in Genesis 27. Isaac’s preference for Esau obviously includes his preference for Esau as the primary heir, not precluding the culturally appropriate practice of primogeniture. Rebekah’s preference for Jacob isn’t specified in Genesis 25, but one could intuit that she preferred him because the prophecy declared him to be the eventual, historical victor. However, such a preference does not explain why she decided to deceive her husband and attempt to force God’s hand into making Jacob to be the heir and recipient of the blessing and birthright. Why does Rebekah not believe that the prophecy will come true without her direct intervention? If they are as close as Genesis 25 tells us they are, would not Jacob have already told his mother that he had bought the birthright for a bowl of soup?

I say all of that to say this – the deception occurred and all of the participants in this sordid, domestic power play suffered from it in the long run. But, you might ask, “What did Esau and Isaac do wrong here? Don’t the details of this story lead us to believe that it Rebekah and Jacob who should bear the brunt of the guilt and shame on display here in this story?” And I would respond to you, stating, “Oh yes. Rebekah and Jacob were at fault, but we should not ignore Esau’s contempt for the birthright (Genesis 25:34) nor Isaac’s deliberate ignorance of the prophecy and subsequent predilection for Esau.” So, in order to better describe the overarching outcomes of these events, let’s take a short walk through the essential details of this tale.

After hearing about Isaac and Esau’s preparations for the blessing of Esau, Rebekah counters by preparing a meal, covering Jacob in animal fur, and placing him in Esau’s clothing, all to trick her husband in his old age. Jacob’s only complaint concerning his mother’s plan was his initial reticence concerning his lack of hair; Jacob himself had purchased the birthright for a bowl of soup. Just because Esau misunderstood and despised the birthright didn’t mean that Jacob could step in and take advantage of the situation. Once in the tent, bearing the food so that he might receive the blessing, Jacob lies to his father about his identity, in regards to his voice, skin quality, and smell (as the text tells us how poor Isaac’s eyesight was). Isaac blesses Jacob, Jacob leaves quickly, and Esau enters. Esau asks his father for his blessing, and when Isaac tells him that he has already given out the blessing to someone else that had identified themselves as Esau, both men instantly realize that Jacob has deceived them. To top it off, Esau was very specific in his awakening – he declared that since Jacob had again deceived him, having first taken the birthright, he would launch a search for his brother in order to kill him, but only after the death of his father. Rebekah again overhears Isaac and Esau talking and tells Jacob where to run in order to escape his brother’s wrath.

Whew! I hope that I didn’t lose you back there in our attempt at summarizing. I know that we moved through the chapter at break-neck speed in that last paragraph, but we needed to do so in order to debate and discuss what this story really means to the overall story of God’s people in Genesis. What we have here is a chapter full of foreshadowing – from Rebekah’s decision to take on the curse from Jacob for their deception, to Jacob’s taking of the birthright, to Isaac’s blessing of Jacob and proclamation of perpetual tumult in Esau’s life, to Esau’s declaration of intent to murder his manipulative and lying brother, all the way to Jacob’s flight from home to Rebekah’s brother Laban’s household. Each instance of wrongdoing towards a family member comes back to haunt them later in Genesis.

Thus, this chapter is a turning point for the rest of the story as it sets the table for Jacob’s troubles: his obtaining a wife, the issues between his wives, the conflicts between his children, and the clashes between him and his children. As we will see in our next few chapters, Jacob will serve his uncle Laban for 20 years in order to marry Rachel, his wives and concubines will not get along due to their differing levels of fertility (in what seems to be a recurring theme in the stories of the Patriarchs), his sons will gang up upon Joseph (the son he prefers, though he should know that preferring one son over another causes more grief than it’s worth), and that conflict with Joseph will cause his sons to deceive their father with goat’s blood when they sell Joseph away. Moreover, Rebekah’s adoption of Jacob’s curse does not go unpunished – she dies before Jacob ever returns to his home, having never seen her wide collection of grandchildren.

Once again, in yet another fatalistic turn of events, human attempts to play God have gone awry. Both Rebekah and Isaac, having chosen sides, have perpetuated domestic strife in the tents of the Patriarchs; one son, already at odds with the other due to their personality differences and an earlier deception, is now intent upon killing the other. Isaac ignored the prophecy and looked to impose the birthright upon Esau, while Rebekah used trickery to sneak Jacob into receiving the blessing, even though she knew that Jacob was already supposed to be the chosen one. The Patriarchs do not seem to be able to listen to the voice of God, obey the directives of God, or believe the prophecies of God, after praying to God for directions. This chapter is a microcosm of the bulk of the book of Genesis; it is an indictment of human nature when it chooses to pay only lip service to the role of God in their lives. By choosing their own methods, plans, and strategies, The Patriarchs only suffer when God only seeks to bless them, which is a bit ironic, since they ARE supposed to be God’s Chosen People.

Genesis 25

The Twins Arrive!
Or
How Domestic Conflict Can Come Early in Life


This chapter contains three distinct sections – 1) the specifics of Abraham’s last years on earth; 2) a chronological record of Ishmael’s sons and his death; and 3) the arrival of Jacob & Esau and their early dispute. And while it can seem as cut and dry as that, the chapter revolves primarily around the beginnings of the third Patriarch – Jacob. For you see, the Jacob & Esau conflict sets the stage for the rest of Genesis; from here on out, the story of Jacob and his family (primarily Joseph) takes center stage in the history of the Jewish people. Thus, our conversation here will discuss how the birth and early clash between The Twins introduces the major themes that will resonate throughout the rest of Jacob’s life.

It is not that Abraham’s death and burial are not important events, but with the marriage of Isaac to Rebekah, Abraham’s role in this story becomes drastically diminished. Notice how, after sending out The Servant to locate Isaac a wife, Abraham fails to appear again in that chapter, including when Rebekah arrives in camp for the first time and joins Isaac in Sarah’s tent to become married. And in the beginning of this chapter, we are only passive observers to the events at the end of Abraham’s life – his marriage to a wife/concubine named Keturah, through whom he birthed six sons late in his life. What is worthy of comment here is that the story takes time to specifically mention that Abraham gave each of these six sons a gift and sent them away from Isaac, reminding Isaac & the people then and readers throughout history that Isaac was the son of promise and no one else. (Walton, Matthews, & Chavalas, p57)

From here, the story tells us about the death of Abraham, including providing a eulogy that anyone would be proud of – “Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.” (Genesis 25:8, TNIV) Commentators note distinct tones of cooperation between Isaac and Ishmael as they bury their father. (Brueggemann, p203) There is no discord, only two sons working together to show the utmost respect to a man they both called father. (Hamilton, p168) Abraham is laid to rest in the tomb that he purchased from the Hittites for his wife Sarah and Isaac and Ishmael have a brief reunion to honor the passing of their father before they set off on their own separate ways to birth their own children.

From here, the chapter presents a brief synopsis of the life, times, and offspring of Ishmael. Walter Brueggemann, in Genesis: Interpretation, takes the position that, while the narrative is written heavily in favor of Isaac’s position as the son of promise, Ishmael’s story is not ignored, his claims as a son of the promises given by God to Abraham are not denied. (p203) Moreover, in conjunction with this view, Victor P. Hamilton’s The Book of Genesis: Chapters 18-50 states, “We are told in v. 11 that God blessed Isaac, but we are not told how. Here we do not find the verb ‘blessed’ in reference to Ishmael, but we do find an ample illustration of what constitutes a blessing, twelve offspring. That Ishmael had so many children and that he enjoyed longevity are sure trademarks of divine blessing.” (p170) What we can learn from verses 12-18 is that Ishmael’s story is a part of Abraham & Isaac’s story and that Ishmael, even though he was not the primary recipient of Abraham’s blessing, still returned for his father’s funeral and lived a life that bore the fruit of God’s blessing. Ishmael was the father of a great nation in Biblical history, fulfilling, in his own right, the promises God gave to Abraham.

“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two people from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:20-23, TNIV)

And with one fell swoop, God declares to Rebekah that her children will be not only creators of their own respective nations, but those two nations will be in conflict, beginning with her two children. Rebekah’s cry of pain and confusion regarding her warring children in verse 22 is met with a prophecy from God in verse 23 that doesn’t even answer her question. The birth itself is not even what is notable in this section; with the declaration that the siblings will live in tension and struggle, it is the oracle that takes center stage here. (Alter, p126) However, Rebekah, ever the astute woman, uncharacteristically doesn’t reply with a question to this troubling non-answer; the comforting answer she sought never came, yet she seemed to be strangely content to be the mother of this conflict. (Hamilton, p177-178)

Once again, this time in the guise of The Twins, the story of the Hebrew people twists, turns, and runs counter to cultural norms, in the same fashion as the conflict between Ishmael and Isaac, Joseph and his brothers, & David and his brothers. (Hamilton, p177) Primogeniture, though upheld in general across the Old Testament as a cultural and regional norm concerning the passing on of the family line, is curiously cast aside when it comes to the foundational scenarios in the Patriarchal line of Israel. (Plaut, p175) What makes these occurrences stand out is that the means and methods employed for the younger child to rise over the elder child(ren) varied throughout history. In this story, as we will see, it was truly a case of not just sibling, but parental rivalry, that allows for Jacob to take the birthright from Esau.

“The boys grew up, and Esau became skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25:27-28, TNIV)

Many commentators approach this section from the vantage point of attempting to ascertain why Isaac and Rebekah played favorites with their sons. It seems that Isaac prefers the bounty of Esau’s profession and Rebekah simply loved Jacob, but that would be a shallow, cursory glance into the workings of that family’s lives. The concept of birthright, which Esau willingly trades away for a bowl of red lentil soup, stands up at the center of this controversy, since the son who receives Isaac’s blessing it both traditionally the oldest son and the son who is most responsible for carrying on the family name. However, with this family, the birthright carries with it the weight of fulfilling the promises of God made to Father Abraham. (Plaut, p175)

Let us sift through a few different interpretations of the domestic situation in the tents of Isaac and Rebekah. Hamilton theorizes, “We are not told why Rebekah was fonder of Jacob than of Esau, but later narratives (see ch. 27) focus more on that relationship than they do on Isaac’s favoring Esau. Isaac prefers Esau because of his own love of venison.” (Hamilton, p182) The women in Frankel’s The Five Books of Miriam declare, “Rebecca [Frankel’s spelling] clearly understands that it is someone like Jacob who will fulfill God’s covenant. Isaac, on the other hand, hopes for a different outcome for his family: to become through Esau a nation like all other nations among whom they live. That is why God reveals the future to Rebecca.” (Frankel, p42) The commentators in The Jewish Study Bible agree with that perspective, stating, “Once again, the mother mediates God’s preference (cf. 21.9-13; Mal. 1.2-5). The father seems blind to the higher purpose (cf. Gen. 27.1-45).” (Berlin & Brettler, p53) It simply seems quite peculiar to many people’s sensibilities that Isaac and Rebekah inculcated and supported the strife that was prophesied over The Twins. What is more strange is the fact that, even though Rebekah knew the youngest child would eventually rule of the elder, she had no problem supporting Jacob as the eventual victor, creating a space where the two boys would grow up in conflict with each other. (Frankel, p42)

Taking all of those comments into consideration, we must find a way to set this instance of parental affection gone horribly wrong into context of the larger story that exists until the end of Jacob’s days. There must be a reason that the author of Genesis includes these passages that often offense our ears, eyes, and understanding. “The narrative does not accommodate our discrete sensibilities. It does not waver from the exasperation of Rebekah (v. 22). It does not apologize for the partisan character of the oracle (v. 23). It is not even embarrassed by (nor does it bother to explain) the blatant preference by the parents (v. 28). Like its main character, this narrative is indiscreet and at times scandalous. It shows God and his chosen younger one aligned against the older brother, against the father, and against the cultural presumptions of natural privilege. Jacob is announced as a visible expression of God’s remarkable graciousness in the face of conventional definitions of reality and prosperity. Jacob is a scandal from the beginning. The powerful grace of God is a scandal. It upsets the way we would organize life.” (Brueggemann, p217)

“Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.” (Genesis 25;34, TNIV)

Ahhh… Brotherly Love… It seems that the Old Testament overflows with stories of strife amongst families, even more so than the historical record would reveal to be the average. What stands out from the story of Esau’s selling of the birthright is the utter disdain for the birthright that Esau seems to have and the downright guile with which Jacob conducts the negotiations for what is rightfully Esau’s birthright. (Alter, p129) Jacob has no problem openly declaring that he desires the birthright from Esau, doing so over a bowl of lentil soup. And what is most astonishing to me (and probably to Jacob) is the speed and bluntness of Esau’s response to Jacob’s offer – “‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said. ‘What good is the birthright to me?’” (Genesis 26:32, TNIV)

However, Jacob is no saint here, far from it actually. Jacob’s willingness to offer a mere bowl of soup for the privilege of leading the family after Isaac’s passing reveals how manipulative Jacob truly is, how he recognizes the worth of the birthright, but denigrates it by hoping to trade it for dinner. Jacob’s ability and readiness to deceive come to plague him for much of the rest of his life, as future chapters will reveal. Moreover, “The doubtful exchange of food for birthright brings him a brother’s enmity and still does not ensure him his father’s blessing.” (Plaut, p176) However, at the same time, Hamilton notes, “… The author or narrator of 25:27-34 never [overtly] condemns Jacob’s modus operandi. But he indicts Esau for spurning his birthright.” (Hamilton, p 186) The two boys are simply the product of their environment – they each are shown preferential treatment by one parent at the expense of the other, leading ultimately to Jacob living out a life of struggle with his father, his brother, his wives, his children, and the God who follows his throughout his life. (Brueggemann, p219)

Genesis 24

Isaac & Rebekah
Or
You’ve Gotta Love Arranged Marriages

At first glance, this is quite a long chapter – 67 verses of Abraham sending off “his servant” (Eliezer, by most accounts and commentators, and referred to in this lesson primarily as “The Servant”) to locate a wife for Isaac so that the promise of a nation being born through can continue on unabated. Yes, to our contemporary thought processes appears to be quite a quaint social convention of ancient and/or pre-modern times. And yes, as someone rather versed in monarchical political machinations throughout history, I am more than aware of the biological messiness that often arises with marriages between closely related families. However, in all reality, Abraham is engaged in a tried-and-true exercise in nation-building, all dressed up in the guise of finding his son a wife.

Thus, in attempt to expedite and flow smoothly through these culturally delicate, our glimpse into this story in the lives of the Patriarchs will occur from four different perspectives – 1) Abraham & The Servant, 2) The Servant & Rebekah, 3) The Servant & Rebekah’s family, and 4) Isaac & Rebekah. (Brueggemann, p197) The Servant’s eyes will show us what it was like to be sent out on the search for the woman who will continue the promise with Isaac. Through the eyes of Rebekah, we will gaze into what it was like to be the woman being sought after to be the future wife of Isaac. And we will attempt to do our best and wait along with Abraham and Isaac back at the tents, hoping that The servant is either discerning, lucky, or both. Hopefully, throughout this discussion and three-voiced conversation, we will gain a clearer vision of what this story entails for the larger story in Genesis.

“He [Abraham] said to the senior servant in his household [Eliezer], the one in charge of all that he had, ‘I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.’” (Genesis 24:3-4, TNIV)

From the beginning of this story, the journey the reader takes with Abraham’s servant is one of faith, no different than that of Abraham’s original journey. Abraham declares to The Servant that he must travel back across the whole of the desert, back to Abraham’s homeland, in a possibly vain attempt to locate Isaac’s wife. There can be no stopping midway for a wife from a local girl, since, by marrying a Canaanite woman, the promise could not be properly fulfilled. I would surmise that to have married locally would meant that Isaac would have been able to possess the land through political machinations and not through divine providence and blessing. And if there’s anything that Abraham has (or should have) learned over all of these years is that his and Sarah’s human plans have paled in comparison to God’s and have usually caused more harm than good. Abraham simply isn’t going to settle for anything less than a God-provided miracle, even if he does send The Servant out on this very important mission, as opposed to himself or Isaac.

And listen to this unusual requirement Abraham issues for identifying his future daughter-in-law: “If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” (Genesis 24:8, TNIV) Abraham declared that an angel of the Lord would be guiding The Servant to any potential marriage candidates and, if they didn’t want to return to see Isaac with The Servant, then she was obviously not the woman for Isaac. Moreover, I find Abraham’s specific declaration that Isaac should not accompany The Servant on the journey to be a curious one. Now, while I don’t want to read too much into the text from my sociological purview, it would seem that Abraham doesn’t want Isaac to be tempted by any Canaanite woman along the way. If you’ve done your math along the way, you’ll remember that Isaac is 37 years old by this time and has just experienced the death of his mother, not to mention having had a near-death experience. Maybe Abraham is fearful that the middle-aged, lonely, and hurting Isaac would be inclined to marry any woman that struck his fancy or that he thought would be good enough. But we can only surmise these things because Abraham simply was not very clear in the instructions that he gave to The Servant, leaving him to his own devices.

“Then he prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’ – let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.’” (Genesis 24:12-14, TNIV)

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I were praying a specific prayer to God to lead me in some difficult task, I’m not sure that I’m going to be requesting that this woman knows how to serve water well to a complete stranger. I understand that he’s looking for certain traits in a wife for Isaac, but The Servant’s desired method of back-and-forth conversation with a woman leaves much to be desired in terms of being effective. (Frankel, p32) However, Ellen Frankel, using the voice of Rebekah, responds to such criticism of The Servant’s methods with these words: “Eliezer’s test was designed to locate a woman discreet enough not to approach a stranger but bold enough to extend herself, once approached by him. This particular combination of character traits – a kind of cagey gumption – is precisely what enabled me to secure Jacob’s future by tricking my husband and my older son out of a birthright. So Eliezer’s angel [Genesis 24:7] obviously knew exactly what she was doing.” (Frankel, p33) It seems that God answered The Servant’s prayers, and as strange as the methodology might seem to us, it brought Rebekah and the servant together, in accordance with God’s plans. (Brueggemann, p198)

And in case you’re interested, I’d like to provide this side note to the general flow of the lesson, a curiosity upon which many commentators took specific note. The Servant launched off from Abraham’s tent with ten camels across the blazing hot Arabian Desert; thus, upon arriving at Aram-Naharaim, The Servant and his camels would be quite parched. A camel could drink up to twenty-five gallons of water to replenish their internal supplies, so The Servant’s prayerful request that the potential spouse for Isaac be willing to water all ten of those camels would be quite a daunting task for anyone to fulfill adequately. (Walton, Matthews, & Chavalas, p56) Robert Alter even goes as far as to make the comparison in his book Genesis, stating, “This is the closest anyone comes in Genesis to a feat of ‘Homeric’ heroism. … Rebekah hurrying down the steps of the well would have had to be a nonstop blur of motion in order to carry up all this water in her single jug.” (Alter, p116) Rebekah’s overt willingness to achieve this feat would have been an example of chutzpah and physical strength that would have astounded the travel-worn, yet hopeful Servant beyond his wildest expectations.

So, The Servant has found, through angelic and divine direction Rebekah, the woman who is to be the wife of Isaac. From the well, The Servant went to the tents of Rebekah’s family so that he may meet with her (unnamed) Mother and brother Laban (who Jacob will have severe issues with later in Genesis) and persuade Rebekah’s family to permit her to return with him to marry Isaac. Much of the interaction between The Servant and the family revolves around two primary motifs – the ceremonial retelling to Laban and Mother of the scenario in which The Servant met Rebekah and the proffering of gifts as a means of proving Abraham’s wealth and Isaac’s suitability as a potential husband. With the recitation of their meeting, The Servant leaves out only Abraham’s specific directions that relate to the Covenant, an omission that many feel was necessary and proper to not offend those who might hear such seemingly egotistical declarations of divine supremacy. (Plaut, p163 & Alter, p118) Such a speech, though its style and substance sounds overly formal and unnecessary to our contemporary ears, in cultures where stories of familial history such as these were passed along orally, such repetition is quite typical, as it was used as for dramatic effect in an attempt to keep the listener’s interest and to underscore the importance of the details being discussed. (Brueggemann, p198) Moreover, the concept of “bride-price” and “dowry” appear as anachronisms to our societal behaviors, but such customs have been in practice amongst families, whether royalty or otherwise, as a means by which the parents of the betrothed can determine if bride will be taken care of appropriately and if the two families will be able to coexist peacefully (which is why many times arranged marriages were used as political tools to achieve long-sought-for peace). (Walton, Matthews, & Chavalas, p56)

All of the cultural factors present in this story are designed to display the historical importance of this marriage to the listener and reader, since it seems that God has chosen this method to further extend and grow the Patriarchal line that God has promised to Abraham. By sending The Servant back to the land of his relatives, Abraham hoped to locate an appropriate wife for his son Isaac, who had yet to or was unwilling to find a wife amongst the Canaanites. Moreover, the great amount of detail in this story further illustrates how God works in ways that humanity has trouble wrapping its collective and individual minds around. Abraham and The Servant have the greatest understanding of this, which can be seen in the seemingly vague guidelines under which their search was undertaken – the fewer human preferences and wishes present, the greater the reliance upon God.

“When they [The Servant, Rebekah, and her family] got up the next morning, he said, ‘Send me on my way to my master.’ But her brother and her mother replied, ‘Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.’ But he said to them, ‘Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.’ Then they said, ‘Let’s call the girl and ask her about it.’ So they called Rebekah and asked her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ ‘I will go,’ she said.” (Genesis 24:55-58, TNIV)

Standing there in her mother’s tents, Rebekah observes the parley between The Servant and Laban concerning her future, a discussion that she arranged by fulfilling The Servant’s prayerful requirements, a discussion in which, by custom, she has no part whatsoever. However, when it comes time for The Servant to return with Rebekah to Isaac’s tents, her family understandably resists, since her departure meant that they would most likely never see her again. They petition for a ten-day waiting period, to which The Servant responds by declaring that he must return immediately as a way of thanking God for answering his and Abraham’s prayers. But in an instance unparalleled in Near Eastern literature from that time period, the men turn to Rebekah to ask her what she would like to do. Having not been consulted earlier during the exchange of gifts as to whether or not she would like to be married off to Isaac, the fact that The Servant and her family are now asking for her approval is quite unusual and atypical for similar scenarios. (Walton, Matthews, & Chavalas, p56)

On pages 34-35 of her The Five Books of Miriam, Ellen Frankel provides the following two portions of commentary in dialogue/conversational format to shed some light upon these quite curious events. Read along with me.
Her Mother’s Household
“Our Daughters Ask: Why does the Torah say that ‘The maiden ran and told all this to her mother’s household’ (24:28)? More likely it’s her father’s house.
Wily Rebecca [Frankel’s Spelling] Answers: So much in my story goes against the grain of patriarchal culture: My genealogy’s usually traced through my grandmother Milcah (though Eliezer, whenever he told his side of the story, kept substituting my grandfather’s name). Although the narrator rightly identifies my home as my mother’s household, Eliezer always insisted that he’d been sent to Abraham’s father’s household. But notice that Eliezer gave gifts to my brother and mother, but not to my father. And it was my mother and my brother Laban who negotiated for my hand. And my mother and Laban asked me if I wanted to go off with Eliezer to marry Isaac.
Our Mothers Observe: Even today Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures typically don’t grant such privileged status to women. How much more exceptional that the ancient Bible does!”

Rebecca’s Decision
“Our Daughters Ask: Who makes the decision that Rebecca should marry Isaac? Is Rebecca really allowed to decide for herself, as it is written, ‘Will you go with this man?’ (24:58) In most traditional cultures, such things aren’t allowed.
Wily Rebecca Answers: I always suspected that my brother Laban was up to something in asking me for my consent. Maybe he was hoping I’d refuse, so that he could squeeze more of a bride-price from Eliezer. Laban was certainly capable of such crude behavior. Remember that he later extorted from Jacob seven extra years for Rachel’s hand. And I also wonder about my mother’s motives. I suspect that she wanted to keep me home, so she insisted on my consent in the hopes that I would refuse the marriage. She already knew that she’d probably never see me again, never see her grandchildren. But in the end all she got was ten more days with me.
Our Mothers Add: Perhaps she simply wanted to grant Rebecca a voice, something she did not have in her own life. After all, she does not even have a name.”

“Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (Genesis 24:66-67, TNIV)

After a long voyage back to Abraham’s old home, meeting Rebekah, negotiating with Rebekah’s family for her hand in marriage to Isaac, and having Rebekah personally decide that she did want to leave home to be Isaac’s wife, The Servant returns home to Abraham’s tents, bringing with him the woman who would help Isaac perpetuate God’s promises to Abraham. And as you read through the events of Rebekah’s approach via camel with Isaac observing her coming as he stands in the fields, you get the impression that Hollywood itself has borrowed from this idyllic scene a few too many times. The scene is almost cliché in how it concludes the journey that is Genesis 24, yet it evokes a sweet and happy tenderness as the coming together of husband and wife is so gently rendered, including Isaac’s comforting in his mother’s tent. (Brueggemann, p199) The long voyage and search have concluded and all parties involved are pleased with the outcome, one in which every possible consideration and plea that had been made prior to the journey being made was met to its fullest extent. Rebekah approached her husband veiled, in the cultural tradition surrounding marriage (Plaut, p166), and Isaac brought her into his deceased mother’s tent, so that Rebekah could take her place as the family matriarch. (Alter, p123)

The line can now continue and can do so without all of the domestic discord that surrounded Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and Isaac for those great many years. Isaac, above all, must have been quite pleased in the amiable outcome of the search for his wife, unbeknownst to the domestic trauma that will arise between his twin sons in the next chapter.

Genesis 23

The Death of Sarah
Or
Abraham is Either a Great Negotiator,
A Very Respected Man, Or Both


Hello there folks. How are you doing? I hope you’re doing well.

If you’re not busy, I’d like to invite you to take a look through Chapter 23.

Yes, I’m talking to you, so stop reading this now and go read the chapter.

This is not a discussion. Go now.

You’re reading – Very Good.

Keep going. That’s it. You can do it.

So, since you’ve now finished perusing and soaking up the story recounted in those 20 verses, does it seem to you that the Hittites like Abraham?

It does?


I thought it would. That was my first impression as well. And it immediately begged the questions, “Who are these Hittites and why do they like him so much?” Until this chapter, there aren’t any references to Abraham talking to or having interactions with the Hittites, yet it appears that Abraham is quite a revered and honored person amongst their people, enough that they are willing to give up some of their best property for free. A cursory reading of this passage would suggest that Abraham has to finagle them into taking the money from him so that it won’t look like he took the land from them, alleviating any future pressure or misunderstanding about his family’s cemetery for years to come. Thus, if you’re anything like me, you’re quite curious as to how this specific story comes to arrive in the general flow of the book of Genesis. The author of Genesis has never failed to amaze me and neither has the story of Abraham, Sarah, and their descendents.

“He who possesses these three traits is one of the disciples of our father Abraham: a generous eye, a meek spirit, and a humble soul. How do we know that Abraham possessed a meek spirit? While the children of Heth call him a prince, he refers to himself by saying: ‘I am a resident alien among you’ [Gen. 23:4]. It further says: ‘Abraham bowed low before the people of the land’ [Gen. 23:12]. The Hebrew literally says ‘before the am ha-aretz,’ which later came to mean ‘the common people.’ To do what Abraham did is the sign of the great man.” (Plaut, p159)

To begin, the point being made in this portion of midrashic commentary is that Abraham was honored and respected by the Hittites. The burgeoning Jewish people were foreigners on Hittite soil, and thusly, had no claim to any land, any property, or any legal rights. Abraham needed a place to bury his deceased wife and had to purchase property to do so, something that was quite difficult to achieve in many ancient cultures. (Walton, Matthews, & Chavalas, p54) While the bulk of the conversation is representative of a typical Near Eastern economic transaction (i.e. haggling), the fact that Abraham, as an outsider, is allowed to make such a request to purchase land is quite notable. (Berlin & Brettler, pp 47)

“Perhaps the narrative reflects no more than a specific commercial transaction. Nowhere is there any mention of God. The narrative gives no hint of any theological intention. It may best be left at that. In any case, beyond the actual securing of the grave, one may note the almost humorous style of negotiations, governed by the verb ‘give’ (vv. 4, 9, 11, 12) which is only a euphemism for buying and selling. If there is one thing neither party intends to do, it is to ‘give’ anything away. This tone is culminated by the speech of Ephron (v. 15). He finally, reluctantly, names an amount, probably a high amount and in effect says, ‘What is 400 shekels among friends?’ The answer is, ‘A lot.’ But that is the basis of the settlement. (The maneuvering for a suitable settlement is reminiscent of intense bargaining between Abraham and God in 18.23-33). (Brueggemann, p195)

Therefore, even with all of the consideration and respect that the Hittites afford Abraham, it seems that the Patriarch still must pay a premium for the land on which he will bury his wife Sarah. And as a good, dutiful, loving husband, he is willing to do everything in his power to honor her memory. Consider all that Sarah experienced as the wife of Abraham: 1) She followed him to Haran, then across the desert to Canaan; 2) she was declared barren when we are first introduced to her, yet God chose her to bear the child of promise that would begin the Jewish nation, a promise that she often laughed at and didn’t believe; 3) she suggested that her handmaiden Hagar become Abraham’s concubine, yet when she realized how she had set domestic disputes into motion, she cast her out of her house twice; 4) she had her life put into jeopardy twice by her husband concerning her beauty; and 5) bore the child of promise at the not-so-young age of 90, only to have God ask her husband to sacrifice Isaac as some sort of test. (Plaut, p158) Abraham wants to commemorate his wife and their life together by securing her a proper burial place and not just some random place in the desert near where their tents had been pitched. Such a strong, beautiful, flawed, yet virtuous woman deserved nothing less.

Abraham’s status as a loving husband notwithstanding, the Hittite Ephrom openly, yet acting fully within cultural norms, exploits Abraham’s willingness to pay a premium price to obtain a burial place for his beloved wife. Robert Alter, in his translation and commentary Genesis, notes that, from the outset the conversation between Abraham and Ephron is quite typical of land purchasing agreements in the ancient Near East. (p110) Thus, Abraham is not manipulated by Ephron into paying an exorbitant price; he is more than willing to engage in these negotiations with the landowner because he knows that any purchase he makes for his family must be beyond reproach and be indisputable in the eyes of the people in whose land he resides as a foreigner. (Alter, p110) Furthermore, some theorize that Abraham could be looking to buy whatever small piece of land is available as a symbolic representation of his family’s beginning to possessing the land that God had been promising him and his progeny for 67 years. (Brueggemann, p 196) But no matter how noble Abraham’s reasons were, Ephrom is attempting to secure from Abraham whatever Abraham is willing to pay.

“‘My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.’ Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants. … After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.” (Genesis 23:15-16, 19-20, ESV)

Abraham and Ephron pull no punches with each other during the course of the negotiations. Ephron seems to know or intuit just how badly Abraham needed to purchase the land he so desired. Abraham keeps offering the same amount over and over again, in full realization that his bid was quite inflated and well above the market rate. (Berlin & Brettler, p 48) These are two quality, competent, and well-informed negotiators who are both were aware of where the other stands in relation to Canaan’s cultural milieu – Abraham, as the resident alien, needs to purchase the land outright and not be beholden to the native Hittite inhabitants, while Ephron, knowing that Abraham desires the independence inherent in land ownership and will gladly pay nearly any price to get the land, tests the strength and determination of Abraham’s bartering tactics, hoping to extract the maximum amount of silver from this respected outsider.

What’s that you’re saying?

You don’t know what this story is really about? And you’re wondering just what’s going on here with Abraham, his deceased wife’s body, this Hittite named Ephron, and a cave on some land?

Don’t worry. I had the exact same questions and concerns. So here’s what I feel the writer of this book was attempting to convey through this story.

Throughout this story, Abraham’s determination shines through every issue and every discussion. To some, this whole chapter simply delineates a cultural quirk of the ancient Near East – Abraham didn’t belong officially, so he had to jump through several hoops, including (possibly) paying more for the land than what it was worth, in order to purchase a bit of land on which to bury his wife. But if you look through that story, and not past it in an attempt to dismiss its content, you will view a man who is in love with his wife and will do anything within his power to display his love, respect, and affection for her. Some commentators have reflected upon the curiosity present in Abraham’s having to purchase land from others that God had already promised to him. (Berlin & Brettler, p47 & Brueggemann, p196) Still others muse upon the possibility that Abraham was simply trying to act appropriately as a foreigner in his attempt to purchase land for the family cemetery. (Alter, p110) However, while not debating the veracity and depth of those passages of commentary, what exudes out of Abraham, in my opinion, is the love of a husband for his wife – all other observations are simply trying to make the issues more complex and more worthy of quirky and esoteric conjecture.

“Perhaps the narrative should be left in this restrained way, as an actual report of a transaction without more meaning intended.” (Brueggemann, p195-196)

Yes, Walter, I think that I agree with that statement.