Abraham took another wife after Sarah’s death. After years of wanting a child and agonizing over how he would come to be, Abraham now has no problem raising a whole new family after Sarah’s death.
Abraham sent his other sons away. This makes clear the lineage of Abraham's family, so that the readers can know with certainty how the covenant continued. Whether or not it was right for Abraham to do this is not in the text, and unnecessary for the reader to assume. We need not assume that these sons are abandoned. Abraham compensates them, providing for them as any patriarch would their son. These sons are not the firstborn of the birthright, but they do receive a rightful inheritance.
Since these descendants were given inheritance, nothing of Abraham's is owed to them anymore.
The story of Ismael shows God keeping his promise to Hagar.
Ishmael's descendants lived in hostility toward their brothers.
Rebekah is barren, just as Sarah was. There were twenty five years between the promise of Isaac and his birth, twenty between Isaac's marriage and the birth of his sons. There is no reason not to assume that he and his wife also experienced all the difficulty, strain, and heartbreak between these two verses as Abraham and Sarah did in six chapters that describe it. The author has already explored this, so Isaac and Rebekah just get ditto marks.
God gave Isaac children. He answered his prayer.
Before they were born, God knew what Jacob and Esau’s relationship would be.
From the beginning Jacob is given a name, Deceiver, that would indicate his future personality and actions. This unfortunate name has the same root as the word “crafty” used to describe the serpent that tempts Eve in Genesis 3.
vv27-28
The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
The text swiftly indicates a separation in the family. These sons are very different from each other. The preference of each parent shows a possible separation between the two of them. Twenty years passed before Rebekah had children, plus however many for the boys to grow up. It may be that the pair drifted during this time. Their later relationship definitely shows an unfortunate lack of trust.
+
Jacob is making a stew. Perhaps we can also read this with another meaning, imagining Jacob stewing up a plan.
Esau says he wants the red stuff. This is another interesting reference to his name, which can mean red. The way he demands the stew indicates his impatience. It’s as if he’s just saying he wants to stuff his face with whatever it is.
Esau despised his birthright. He gave it no value. This story is only the first indication of this, as later it describes him as marrying outside the family. The importance of this has already been established in the story of Abraham sending his servant to find a wife for Isaac, and having him swear an oath that he would find him a wife from the family.
Esau is a hedonist, a man of passions who seeks to fulfill his carnal needs now, at any expense.
Jacob lives up to his name. And so we are introduced to the Deceiver.
No comments:
Post a Comment