A new toledotbegins with 25:19. Its theme is "the acquisition of the blessing and its development and protection by the Lord."625
Moses set up the whole Jacob narrative in a chiastic structure that emphasizes the fulfillment of the promise of the seed and the seed's prosperity.
"AOracle sought; Rebekah struggles in childbirth; bekorahbirthright; birth; themes of strife, deception, fertility (25:19-34).
BInterlude: strife; deception; berakahblessing; covenant with foreigner (26).
CDeception; berakahstolen; fear of Esau; flight from land (27:1-28:9).
DEncounter (<paga') with the divine at sacred site near border; berakah(28:10-22).
EInternal cycle opens: arrival; Laban at border; deception; wages; Rachel barren; Leah fertile (29:1-30:21).
FRachel fertile; Jacob increases the herds (30:22-43).
E'Internal cycle closes: departure; Laban at border; deception; wages (31).
D'Encounters (<paga') with divine beings at sacred sites near border; berakah(32).
C'Deception planned; fear of Esau; berakahgift returned; return to land (33).
B'Interlude: strife; deception; covenant with foreigner (34).
A'Oracle fulfilled; Rachel struggles in childbirth; berakah; death resolutions (35:1-22)."626
The Flood story also has a palistrophic structure, and both stories have a similar statement at the middle (turning point): God remembered Noah (8:1) and God remembered Rachel (30:22). This emphasizes that God controls events and saves His people.
". . . the author of Genesis has deliberately split the Jacob-Joseph story into two parts by putting the family history of Esau 36:1-37:1 in the middle. This allows him to alternate the genealogies of the non-elect lines of Ishmael (25:12-18) and Esau (36:1-37:1) with the fuller family histories of the chosen lines of Terah (Abraham) (11:27-25:11), Isaac (Jacob) (25:19-35:29), and Jacob (Joseph) (37:2-50:26) to produce a total of five patriarchal family histories. This matches the five family histories of pre-patriarchal times . . ."627
Verses 19-34 introduce the whole Jacob and Esau saga.
In the first pericope (25:19-26) we have the record of God answering Isaac's prayers by making Rebekah fertile (blessing). He gave her two sons, Esau and Jacob, and foretold that from them two nations would come with the elder serving the younger.
The emphasis of this section is on the divine oracle (v. 23) as is clear from the chiastic structure of the narrative.
"AIsaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah (20).
BRebekah was barren; prayer for children was answered (21a).
CHis wife Rebekah conceived (21b). The children struggled together within her (22a).
DRebekah asks for an oracle (22b)
D'Yahweh grants her an oracle (23)
C'Her days to be delivered were fulfilled (24a). And behold, there were twins in her womb (24b).
B'Jacob and Esau are contrasted in birth and appearance (25-26a).
A'Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah bore the twins (26b)."628
The question of an heir continues primary in this section. Who will be Isaac's heir through whom God will fulfill His promises? Rebekah, like Sarah, was barren (v. 21). After 20 years of waiting and praying (vv. 21-22) God gave her children. Which of these two sons would be the blessed heir? God intervened to announce His foreordained choice (v. 23). Jacob's reactions to his election over Esau were quite different from Isaac's reactions to God's choice of him as Abraham's heir, as this section begins to illustrate.
Scripture does not give the reason God chose Jacob over Esau. What we do know is that His choice did not rest on the superior merit of Jacob but on the sovereign prerogative of Yahweh (Rom. 9:10-13). In ancient Near Eastern culture the first-born normally became his father's heir. So in designating Jacob as Isaac's heir God sovereignly overruled natural custom by supernatural revelation. The response of the members of Isaac's family to this revelation demonstrates their faith, or lack of it. However the main point of the narrative is to trace God's faithfulness and power in bringing to pass what He had promised.
"The revelation of the Divine will concerning the two brothers (ver. 23) was evidently no secret. It is clear that both Esau and Jacob knew of it. This fact is in some respects the key to the true interpretation of this incident [i.e., vv. 29-34]."629
25:19-20 Paddan-aram means "the flat (land) of Aram."Aram was the area near Haran. People from this region became known as Arameans, and later the Greeks called them Syrians. Bethuel was a semi-nomadic herdsman, and he probably lived in the open fields at least part of the year.
25:21 Rebekah was barren for 20 years after she married Isaac (vv. 20, 26). God closed her womb so the chosen family would recognize her children as the fruit of His grace rather than simply the fruit of nature.
25:22-23 Rebekah's pregnancy was so painful that she wondered if there was any point going on living. She expressed the same thought when her sons had grown up (27:46). God's choice of the younger over the elder "was contrary to ancient Near Eastern custom, but the elective purposes of God transcend custom."630The divine oracle summarizes the careers of Jacob and Esau and is similar to 12:1-3 in that both statements are programmatic.
25:24-26 Esau means "hairy one"and Jacob "El will protect."631The Hebrew ya'aqob("Jacob") is similar to aqeb("heel"). From Jacob's grasping Esau's heal at birth came the nickname "heel-holder"(i.e., one who outwits by trickery) "just as in wrestling an attempt may be made to throw the opponent by grasping the heel."632
The lesson to be learned is that those who owe their existence to God's creation and election can acknowledge His hand at work in the affairs of their lives.
25:27-28 Esau was a nomadic hunter, but Jacob remained in his tents.
". . . they became the personification of the two different ways of life which would have been typical for Palestine at this period of history: that of hunter and nomad (Esau) and that of shepherd and semi-nomad (Jacob) . . . Esau is described as a skilled hunter,' a man of the outdoors;' Jacob, on the other hand, is portrayed as a simple man,' one remaining in his tents,' that is, a man of stable life in contrast to the rootless life of the nomad."633
"The two characters are utter opposites, as the two nations will eventually be."634
The Hebrew word tam, translated "plain,"probably means domesticated, a homebody.635It may imply a quiet, self-contained, detached personality, complete in himself.636
"Descriptions of Jacob's early life in the Scriptures paint an interpersonal portrait of a highly narcissistic individual who grew up in a family of origin ripe for producing such pathology."637
25:29-30 The Hebrew word translated "stew"literally means "lentils."Esau wanted to "gulp it down"(Heb. la'at).
25:31-34 The way Jacob stated his demand suggests that he had long premeditated his act and ruthlessly exploited his brother's weakness. His insistence that Esau swear to him strengthens this impression. Because Esau despised his birthright Jacob obtained it and became what God had promised He would become, the stronger son who would lead (v. 23). Explicit moral commentary is rare in the Bible, so the writer's inclusion of it here marks something about Esau that he did not want the reader to miss.
"The cunning hunter fell into a better hunter's trap, becoming prey to his own appetite."638
The writer showed that the natures of the two sons were very different; they were not identical twins. Esau cared only for physical and material things whereas Jacob valued the spiritual. Esau gave priority to the immediate satisfaction of his sensual desires, but Jacob was willing to wait for something better that God had promised in the future (cf. Heb. 12:16).
"The frivolity with which he [Esau] sold his birthright . . . rendered him unfit to be the heir and possessor of the promised grace."639
The birthright was the privilege of being chief of the tribe and head of the family (27:29). In Isaac's family it entitled the bearer to the blessing of Yahweh's promise (27:4, 27-29), which included the possession of Canaan and covenant fellowship with God (28:4). It included a double portion of the inheritance (Deut. 21:17) and the privilege of being the priest (spiritual leader) of the family.640
"It is quite apparent from the Nuzi tablets that instances of the transference of birthright, such as occurred in the Patriarchal narratives, were not uncommon in Hurrian society. One example concerns a certain Zirteshup, whose father disowned him but later restored his status. . . . Another instance of the transference of birthright from the Nuzi tablets is the exchange by one Kurpazah of his birthright in consideration for three sheep given to him by Tupkitilla, his brother. In the light of this example, Esau's willingness to exchange his birthright for Jacob's mess of pottage (Gen. 25:29-34) is perhaps more understandable."641
Even though Esau was a cunning hunter he placed little value on his privilege as the first-born son. He was willing to trade it to his crafty brother for a meal of "red stuff,"a fitting description of his own nature.642
The structure of the narrative again identifies the writer's emphasis, this time Esau's disdain for his birthright (v. 32).
"AJacob was boiling pottage (29a).
BEsau came in from the field; he was tired (29b).
Cwayyo'mer esaw: Let me eat some of that red pottage . . ., I am so tired!
Dwayyo'mer ya'aqob: First sell me your bkrh(31).
Ewayyo'mer esaw: I depart; I die! Of what use is a bkrhto me? (32).
D'wayyo'mer ya'aqob: Swear to me first. So he swore to him and sold his bkrhto Jacob (33).
C'Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; he ate and he drank (34aa).
B'He rose and went his way (34ab).
A'Thus Esau despised his birthright (34b)."643
There are two important instances of first-born sons relinquishing the rights of primogeniture in Genesis: Esau and Reuben. Esau considered his birthright of so little value that he sold all his rights as first-born to Jacob to realize an immediate physical gratification. Reuben forfeited his birthright through sexual promiscuity (Gen. 35:22; 49:3-4). In Esau's case, his entire birthright went to Jacob. In Reuben's, his went to three of his brothers. Judah obtained the regal right, Levi eventually received the priestly right, and the blessing of the double portion went to Joseph who realized it through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.644
In reading this pericope many have concluded that God chose Jacob over Esau because He foresaw that Jacob would value the promises and the birthright, whereas Esau would not. This is not correct. Jacob valued the spiritual because God gave him the grace to do so. In the previous generation Isaac was the recipient of God's grace while Lot and Ishmael were not. Abraham was, too, whereas his brothers were not.
In this incident Jacob manifested spiritual perception. Some writers have suggested that he was impatient and took fleshly initiative like his grandfather (cf. 12:10-20; 16; 20). Note, however, that Moses blamed Esau, not Jacob, in this event (v. 34).
"How often do we put the question to ourselves, What is my mess of pottage?' It is important to verbalize the question. We are in constant danger of being tempted to give up something very precious in order to indulge a sudden strong desire. The desire may involve greedy eating and drinking, lusting after money or material things, letting loose our anger in abandonment of reason, succumbing to depression without check, cursing God in despair or disappointment without even thinking of the trap Satan set for Job and is setting for us, giving in to a sweeping sexual desire without waiting for the right framework. The mess of pottage that is dangerous to you and to me is any temptation to gratify the feelings' of the immediate moment in a way that shows we despise' the promises of the living God for our future."645
This section is a warning that profane (secular) people who live to satisfy their fleshly appetites will lose more valuable things of lasting spiritual worth. Christians who live for the present will not lose their salvation, but they will lose some of their eternal reward (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10-15).
God prevented Isaac from leaving the Promised Land and renewed the covenant with him, but then He had to protect Rebekah when Isaac lied about his relationship with her to Abimelech.
"In the short span of one chapter, the writer shows how the whole of the life of Isaac was a rehearsal of that which happened to Abraham. Thus the lesson that is conveyed is that God's faithfulness in the past can be counted on in the present and the future. What he has done for the fathers, he will also do for the sons."646
Whereas the events of Isaac's life repeated those of Abraham's on several occasions, God dealt with Isaac differently and in harmony with his individual character. The many parallels between this chapter and the story of Abraham (esp. chs. 12-14 and 20-21) show that the writer wanted the reader to compare and contrast the two men.
"The figure of even a great man may be dwarfed by comparison with that of a distinguished father or of a famous son. Thus the character of Isaac is overshadowed by the majesty of Abraham and the dramatic interest of Jacob. There was a third factor which diminished the importance of Isaac; he was the husband of a clever and masterful wife. No matter how exciting the scene in which he may appear, he is always assigned to a minor part. At least, by contrast with these other actors, his role in life was prosaic, uneventful, obscure."647
"The chapter before us is full of illustrations of how difficulties should and should not be met."648
26:1-6 Isaac was evidently considering going to Egypt to escape the famine. He was in Gerar when God spoke to him. This was God's first revelation to Isaac (cf. 25:23). Therefore, it appears that Isaac may have previously moved north from Beer-lahai-roi. Of course, constant relocating was common for the nomadic patriarchs, and these places were not far from one another.
The major migration of the Philistines into Canaan took place in the twelveth century B.C. However, there were some Philistines already in Canaan at this time as is clear from this reference and others in Genesis (cf. 21:32, 34).
God's will for Isaac to remain in the land was definite, and He communicated it clearly to the patriarch. Perhaps God wanted Isaac to stay in the land so he would learn that God would "be with you and bless you"(v. 3). God reiterated His promise to Abraham to give Isaac a promise to believe and encouragement to obey Him.
The promise, however, was that God would bless Isaac, multiply his descendants, and give them "all these lands"(v. 4; i.e., the lands held by the various Canaanite tribes). The reason for God's blessing of Isaac was Abraham's obedience to God (v. 5). Isaac became the spiritual beneficiary of a godly parent, but he had the opportunity to increase God's blessing on him through his own obedience to God.
Verse 5 sounds like Abraham kept the commands, statutes, and laws of the Mosaic Covenant before they were in existence. It seems to contradict 15:6 that says God justified Abraham because of his faith.
"Ultimately, we should attempt to find the meaning of this verse in the larger strategy and purpose of the Pentateuch. Did the author of the Pentateuch intend to depict Abraham as a model of faith or as a model of obedience to the law? Curiously enough, the overwhelming majority of biblical scholars have read this passage as if the verse intended to show Abraham's life as an example of obedience to the law (Gesetzesgehorsam).
"It appears reasonable to conclude . . . that the importance of Gen 26:5 lies in what it tells us about the meaning of the deuteronomic terms it uses. It is as if the author of the Pentateuch has seized on the Abrahamic narratives as a way to explain his concept of keeping the law.' The author uses the life of Abraham, not Moses, to illustrate that one canfulfill the righteous requirement of the law. In choosing Abraham and not Moses, the author shows that keeping the law' means believing in God,' just as Abraham believed God and was counted righteous (Gen 15:6). In effect the author of the Pentateuch says, Be like Abraham. Live a life of faith and it can be said that you are keeping the law.'"649
"Israel would immediately see Torah (Law) terminology in the record of Abraham, and would be prompted to keep the Law."650
26:7-11 For an explanation of this strange incident see the notes on chapter 20. When endangered, Isaac, like Abraham, resorted to an ethic in which the end justified the means. Isaac and Rebekah must have been childless at this time.
A period of between 70 and 97 years had elapsed between Abraham's sojourn in Gerar and Isaac's. Abimelech could have been the same man in both cases since life spans of 150 years were not uncommon at this time. Abimelech demonstrated pious conduct in both cases. In the first, however, Abimelech took Sarah into his harem, but in the second he wanted to protect Rebekah from his people. Abimelech is a title rather than a personal name and means "royal father."Thus this may have been another ruler than the one Abraham dealt with.
26:12-17 This section of verses shows God's faithfulness in blessing Isaac as He had promised (cf. v. 3; 24:1; 25:11). Isaac enjoyed a bountiful harvest (v. 12). Abimelech testified to Isaac's power (v. 16), which was another testimony to God's faithfulness.
26:18-22 Isaac reopened the wells that Abraham had dug but the native inhabitants had filled with earth. He also dug three new wells. In contrast with Abraham, Isaac "was called not so much to pioneer as to consolidate."651
This incident shows God's blessing of Isaac, too. Water in the wilderness is a strong symbol of God's supernatural blessing in spite of nature.
The incident also reveals the peaceful character of this patriarch who did not battle his neighbors for the wells, even though he was stronger than they (v. 16). His actions express his trust in Yahweh.652
Isaac's decision to sojourn in Gerar and the territory of the Philistines (vv. 1-22) seems to have been unwise but not sinful. Though he sinned in misrepresenting his relationship to Rebekah out of fear (v. 7), his choice to live in Gerar was not sinful. It did, however, open him to temptation and trials that he probably would have avoided if he had stayed away from Gerar.
26:23-25 Isaac returned to Beersheba where Abraham had lived occasionally. There God appeared to him (his second revelation) calming his fears and reviewing the promises that He had given previously (vv. 2-5). Isaac's response was to build an altar, worship Yahweh, and settle down there.
Settlers could only continue to live in an area where there was a well. Wells were vital to the life of nomadic herdsmen. While there was probably at least one well at Beersheba already, Isaac dug another for his own use, or perhaps because he needed more water. His ability to dig wells indicates both his wealth and his intention to establish permanent residence in the land.
These verses seem to confirm the fact that Isaac's decision to move out of Philistine territory pleased God.
26:26-33 Abimelech again testified to God's blessing of Isaac and gave God glory (vv. 28-29).
Isaac and Abimelech made a parity covenant of mutual non-aggression. They sealed it by eating a meal together. Eating together was often a sacred rite in the ancient Near East. This covenant renewed the older one made between Abimelech and Abraham (21:31). The exchange of oaths and Isaac's naming the town Beersheba again (cf. 21:31) also strengthened this agreement.
". . . this account of Isaac's dealings with the Philistines portrays Isaac as very much walking in his father's footsteps. He receives similar promises, faces similar tests, fails similarly, but eventually triumphs in like fashion. Indeed, in certain respects he is given more in the promises and achieves more. He is promised all these lands [v. 4],' and by the end of the story he is securely settled in Beersheba and has a treaty with the Philistines in which they acknowledge his superiority."653
God's people must maintain confident trust in God's promise of His presence and provision in spite of the envy and hostility of unbelievers that His blessing sometimes provokes.
Reacting to Isaac's disobedient plan to bless Esau, Jacob and Rebekah stole the blessing by deception. Esau became so angry with Jacob over his action that Jacob had to flee for his life.
Two reports of Esau's marriages (26:34-35 and 28:6-9) frame the major account (27:1-28:5) providing a prologue and epilogue. Esau's marriages are significant because Rebekah used them to persuade Isaac to send Jacob away to get a wife (27:4b) and because they were the reason Isaac did so (28:1).
The main account centers on Isaac giving the blessing.
"AIsaac and the son of the brkh/bkrh(=Esau) (27:1-5).
BRebekah sends Jacob on the stage (27:6-17).
CJacob appears before Isaac and receives blessing (27:18-29).
C'Esau appears before Isaac and receives antiblessing (27:30-40).
B'Rebekah sends Jacob from the stage (27:41-45).
A'Isaac and the son of brkh/bkrh(=Jacob!) (27:46-28:5)."654
Yahweh appeared at the top of an angel-filled stairway restating the promise to Abraham and adding more promises of blessing and protection for Jacob. The patriarch acknowledged God's presence, memorialized the place with a monument stone and a name, and vowed to worship the Lord there if He did bless and protect him.
"The two most significant events in the life of Jacob were nocturnal theophanies. The first was this dream at Bethel when he was fleeing from the land of Canaan, which ironically was his by virtue of the blessing. The other was his fight at Peniel when he was attempting to return to the land. Each divine encounter was a life-changing event."676
28:10-17 The "ladder"(v. 12, Heb. sullam) evidently resembled a stairway or ramp. Some interpreters take it as an allusion to a ziggurat while others believe it refers to the slope or ascent of the mountain of Bethel.677
"The ladder was a visible symbol of the real and uninterrupted fellowship between God in heaven and His people upon earth. The angels upon it carry up the wants of men to God, and bring down the assistance and protection of God to men. The ladder stood there upon the earth, just where Jacob was lying in solitude, poor, helpless, and forsaken by men. Above in heaven stood Jehovah, and explained in words the symbol which he saw. Proclaiming Himself to Jacob as the God of his fathers, He not only confirmed to him all the promises of the fathers in their fullest extent, but promised him protection on his journey and a safe return to his home (vers. 13-15). But as the fulfillment of this promise to Jacob was still far off, God added the firm assurance, I will not leave thee till I have done (carried out) what I have told thee.'"678
This was God's first revelation to Jacob, and it came in a dream (cf. John 1:51). Other passages contain promises of the land (12:7; 13:14-16; 15:18; 17:8; 24:7), but this one (vv. 13-14) is closest in terminology to the one in chapter 13, another Bethel setting.
Jacob was the first person in the Bible to hear the assurance "I am with you"(v. 15). It was a promise that God later repeated to Moses (Exod. 3:12; Joshua (Josh. 1:5), Gideon (Judg. 6:16), regarding Immanuel (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23), and to all Christians (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5).
Perhaps God's revelation surprised Jacob because he was preparing to leave the Promised Land (vv. 16-17). He may have felt that God would abandon him since he was leaving the land that God had promised his forefathers.
The "house of God"(v. 17, Bethel) is the place where God dwells. The "gate of heaven"is the place where Jacob entered heaven (in his dream).
"The term fear' is used in the Bible to describe a mixture of terror and adoration, a worshipful fear (cf. Exod. 19:16)."679
"As Abraham's vision anticipated narratives from the latter part of the Pentateuch, so Jacob's vision anticipated the events which were to come in the next several chapters."680
28:18-22 Jacob set the stone up as a memorial to this revelation and God's promise (v. 18). Pouring oil on it constituted an act of consecration. Jacob did not build an altar in response to God's revelation as his forefathers had done.
Jacob vowed to convert his pillar into an altar if God would fulfill His promise (v. 15). He swore that Yahweh would be his God if God proved faithful to him. Jacob's vow (vv. 20-21; cf. 31:13; 35:1-3, 7) can be translated "Since . . . "rather than "If . . . ."This was probably not as crass a bargain as it appears to have been. Jacob was apparently a believer in Yahweh already, but his commitment to God at this time appears to have been somewhat selfish and conditional. He had not yet fully surrendered and dedicated himself to God.681
"The assurance of God's presence should bring about in every believer the same response of worship and confidence it prompted in Jacob. This is the message from the beginning: God by grace visits His people and promises them protection and provision so that they might be a blessing to others. They in turn were to respond in faith, fearing Him, worshiping [sic] Him, offering to Him, vowing to Him, and making memorials for future worshipers at such places."682
Jacob's relationship with Yahweh was quite different from what Abraham or Isaac's relationship had been. He was willing to accept God's promises, but he did not commit himself to God until God proved Himself faithful to him personally. God blessed Jacob because of Abraham and Isaac's faith more than because of Jacob's at this time.
Many believers bargain with God as Jacob did here. They agree to worship Him on their terms rather than because God has proven Himself faithful in the past. God often accommodates such weak faith, but the fact that He does does not commend the practice of bargaining with God.
The revelation of God's presence and promised blessings inspires genuine worship. This worship is the appropriate response to such revelation.
The long account of Jacob's relationship with Laban (chs. 29-31) is the centerpiece of the Jacob story (chs. 25-35). It is a story within a story, and it too has a chiastic structure. At its center is the account of the birth of Jacob's sons, the forefathers of the tribes of Israel (29:31-35).
Jacob met Rachel at the well and watered the flocks in spite of opposition against doing so. His love for her led him to serve Laban for seven years to obtain her as his wife. Laban deceived Jacob into marrying Leah, the first-born, so Jacob had to work another seven years for Rachel.
"In Laban Jacob met his match and his means of discipline."683
"Jacob is now in the greatest of all schools, that of experience, and there are many lessons to learn. These three chapters (xxix-xxxi.) cover forty years [sic, probably twenty years] of his life, and are the record of a large part of his training."684
29:1-12 "More than any other book in the OT, Genesis emphasizes the east (see 3:24; 4:16; 10:30; 11:2; 13:11; 25:6 [and 29:1]) as a direction of some significance."685
Jacob had travelled about 450 miles from Beersheba to Haran (v. 4).
The well was probably a cistern that had a mouth with a large circumference (v. 8). A very large stone that required several men to remove it evidently covered it. After someone moved the stone, the flocks would gather around the edge of the well to drink. The well from which Rebekah drew water for Eliezer (24:16) was apparently a different kind.
The male shepherds may have been unable to roll the stone away because the well belonged to Laban; their inability may have been moral rather than physical.686
Jacob wept for joy (v. 11). He had ended his journey, was now in the right place, and had met the right person. This is one of the few places in Scripture that we read of a man kissing a woman.
The suggestion of some interpreters that Laban adopted Jacob as his son is questionable.687
29:13-20 Weak eyes were dull and lacking in luster rather than bright (v. 17). Fiery eyes were, and still are, considered the height of beauty among Near Eastern people.688
"Regarding marriage generally, the Nuzi tablets provided that if a man worked over a period of time for the father of a girl whom he wished to marry, then he would have the right to take the girl as his wife."689
"Seven yearswas a handsome offer: Jacob was clearly not risking a refusal--a fact which Laban would not fail to note and exploit, as Jacob had exploited Esau's eagerness (25:32)."690
Casual laborers received between one-half and one shekel a month in old Babylonia, which was a large marriage gift in exchange for Rachel's hand.691
The chiastic structure of verses 20-30 focuses attention on the complication caused by deception.
"AJacob's payment for his wife (20)
BConsummation of the marriage to Leah by deception (21-24)
CJacob's accusation against Laban (25)
C'Laban's defense (26)
B'Consummation of the marriage to Rachel by negotiation (27-30a)
A'Jacob's payment for his wife (30b)."692
29:21-30 "This was about one of the meanest pranks ever played on a man."693
Jacob had pretended to be his older brother, and now Leah pretended to be her younger sister. Leah deceived Jacob as Jacob had deceived Isaac. Perhaps Jacob's eating and drinking at the feast had clouded his mind (v. 22). The darkness of his tent at night may have made it hard for him to see, too.694Furthermore, in that culture a bride customarily entered her husband's presence veiled.695One year an Indian student of mine told me that his father did not see his mother's face for three days after their wedding. It is still customary in India for the bride to remain veiled even after the consummation of the marriage.696
It was customary for the bride's father to give her a large present when she got married, a dowery. In the ancient world the gift normally consisted of clothing, furniture, and money, and it served as a nest egg for the wife in case her husband died or divorced her. Some dowries were exceptionally valuable, such as slave-girls (24:61; 29:29) or a city (1 Kings 9:16). Laban was being generous.697
As Jacob had deceived Isaac by taking advantage of his inability to see due to poor eyesight, so Laban deceived Jacob by taking advantage of his inability to see in the dark tent.
Earlier Jacob had deceptively pretended to be the older brother (ch. 27), and now Laban tricked him by replacing the younger with the older sister. Laban was just as deceitful as Jacob (v. 26).
"For despicability Laban takes the prize in the Old Testament."698
He should have told Jacob of this custom beforehand if indeed it was a custom, which seems questionable.
The "bridal week"was the week of feasting that followed a marriage (v. 27; cf. Judg. 14:12, 17). Jacob received Rachel seven days after he had consummated his marriage to Leah (cf. vv. 28, 30). Jacob married two women in eight days. Notice that Jacob was behaving like his parents, who each favored one son above the other, by favoring one of his wives above the other. In both cases serious problems followed.
The Mosaic Law later prohibited marrying two sisters at the same time (Lev. 18:18). Bigamy and polygamy were never God's will, however (2:24).699
"Jacob had planned to take Rachel as his wife, but God intended him to have Leah."700
God remains faithful to His promises to bless His people, but in the process He may discipline them for their previous unresolved sins and often does so in kind (i.e., with talionic judgment; cf. Prov. 3:12; Gal. 6:7; Heb. 12:5-6).701
"Jacob was getting what he deserved. In this light the seven extra years that Jacob had to serve Laban appear as a repayment for his treatment of Esau. By calling such situations to the attention of the reader, the writer begins to draw an important lesson from these narratives. Jacob's deceptive schemes for obtaining the blessing did not meet with divine approval. Through Jacob's plans God's will had been accomplished; but the writer is intent on pointing out, as well, that the schemes and tricks were not of God's design."702
God formed Jacob's family, the ancestors of the tribes of Israel, as He had promised Jacob at Bethel. Unfortunately Jacob and his wives lived in envy and friction over how God chose to bless them.
"Jacob had planned to take Rachel as his wife, but God intended him to have Leah. Thus in two major reversals in Jacob's life, we can begin to see the writer's theme taking shape. Jacob sought to marry Rachel, but Laban tricked him. Then Jacob sought to build a family through Rachel, but she was barren; and God opened Leah's womb."703
This record of Jacob's children, the center of the Jacob story structurally, is important for at least three reasons.
1. It shows God's faithfulness in providing descendants as He had promised.
"Now the account centers on the fulfillment of Yahweh's promise to be with Jacob and to bless him."704
2. It gives the origins and circumstances surrounding the births of the tribal heads of Israel.
"The themeof the Pentateuch is not difficult to discern. It is the story of the birth and adolescence of a nation."705
3. It explains much of the tribal rivalry that follows in Israel's history.
The section culminates with the birth of Joseph (30:24), which was the cue for Jacob to return home (30:25).
29:31-35 Moses recorded the births of Leah's first four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. When the clause "the LORD saw"occurs (v. 31), His acting decisively, often for the weak and oppressed, follows soon (cf. 6:5; 7:1; 18:21; 31:12; Exod. 2:25; 4:31).
30:1-8 Rachel's reaction to her barrenness and Jacob's response contrast with how Rebekah and Isaac, and Sarah and Abraham behaved in similar circumstances. Sarah resorted to a custom acceptable in her culture, though contrary to God's will, to secure an heir for Abraham (cf. 16:1-2). Isaac prayed that God would open Rebekah's womb and waited (25:21). Rachel and Jacob followed the example of Sarah and Abraham.
The conflict between Rachel and Leah focuses on love and motherhood. Rachel had Jacob's love, but she could not become a mother. Conversely Leah was the mother of Jacob's children, but she could not win his love.706
The account of the birth of Bilhah's sons, Dan and Naphtali, follows (vv. 5-8).
30:9-13 Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob two sons: Gad and Asher.
30:14-20 The mandrake is a plant that bears bluish flowers in winter and yellowish plum-sized fruit in summer. The fruit has a strong, pleasant fragrance, and was thought to help barren women conceive. Some Arabs still use it as an aphrodisiac (cf. Song of Sol. 7:13).707
"The outcome was ironical, the mandrakes doing nothing for Rachel, while Leah gained another son by parting with them."708
"Just as Jacob had purchased the birthright for a pot of stew (25:29-34), so also Leah purchased the right to more children by Jacob with the mandrakes of her son Reuben (30:14-16)."709
Leah received her other children, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, because "God gave heed to Leah"(v. 17), not because of some magic supposedly connected with the mandrakes.
Jacob may have had daughters besides Dinah (cf. 37:35 and 46:7). She may be the only one mentioned by name because she is the only one whose experience Moses recorded later in Genesis (ch. 34).
30:22-24 Eventually God granted Rachel a son, Joseph. He was born at the end of Jacob's fourteenth year in Laban's service.
The jealousy, bickering, superstition, and weak faith demonstrated by Jacob and his wives stand out in this section. God's gift of children was gracious; He gave them in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the parents. Rachel acknowledged this finally (vv. 23-24) as did Jacob. The use of the names "Elohim"and "Yahweh"reflects the attitudes of the various characters to God and shows their relationships with Him.
"On the human plane the story demonstrates the craving of human beings for love and recognition, and the price of thwarting it; on the divine level it shows once again the grace of God choosing difficult and unpromising material."710
"Jacob's partiality and his general handling of his family led to strife and mother groupings that were to affect the history of Israel for centuries thereafter."711
Believers should not envy and strive, which leads to bitter conflicts, but should obey God trusting Him to dispense His blessings wisely, justly, and compassionately.
The actions of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah in this chapter, and those of Abraham and Sarah in chapter 16, raise questions about surrogate parenting. Today husbands and wives who cannot have children normally sometimes choose to secure the services of a third person who can provide a needed function and thus enable them to have children. For example, if the wife cannot carry a baby in her womb for a full term pregnancy some doctors recommend that the couple use the services of another woman. If acceptable, they implant the couple's fertilized egg in her womb that she agrees to "rent"for the nine-month gestation period. Another example is the securing of sperm from a donor if the husband is sterile. There are many ways in which childless couples can now become parents with this kind of help from a third, and sometimes fourth party. These situations are somewhat similar to what we find in Genesis 16 and 30. The common tie is that in all these cases someone other than the husband and wife is essential to the conception of the child. I do not believe that adoption is similar because in adoption a husband and wife simply agree to rear a child that has been or will be born. They do not require a third party for the conception of the child as in surrogate parenting.
Jacob and Laban ("White") made an agreement that each man felt he could manipulate to his own advantage. However, God sovereignly overruled to bless Jacob as He had promised in spite of Laban's deceit and Jacob's devices (cf. Job 5:13; Ps. 7:15; 1 Cor. 3:19).
As the previous pericope shows how Yahweh provided descendants for Jacob as He had promised (seed), this one demonstrates how He made Jacob wealthy (blessing). In both cases God acted in spite of and independent of the bickering, superstition, deceit, and disobedience of Jacob and his wives.
"By crossing the heterozygotes among themselves, Jacob would produce, according to the laws of heredity, twenty-five percent spotted sheep. Thus he multiplies his flock. Jacob has displayed ingenuity; he has not practiced deception.
"Jacob's knowledge of zoology is far from primitive. But perhaps such knowledge has been given him by God, just as his son's capacity to interpret dreams was a gift from God."712
Jacob was evidently relying on a popular superstition, namely, that certain experiences of the mother during pregnancy influenced the condition of her offspring, to mislead Laban (vv. 37-39). At least one writer thought that Jacob was mistakenly counting on this custom to insure fertility among his flocks.
"All marking of the offspring such as that which Jacob thought he was accomplishing in Laban's flocks, is completely impossible. . . . In the placenta and umbilical cord, which constitutes the only connection between the mother and the fetus, there are no nerves. . . . Thus, absolutely no mechanism exists whereby the mother can mark her offspring in the way that Jacob thought he was accomplishing the marking."713
Whether Jacob was very smart or very superstitious, the success of Jacob's plan was due to the grace of God ultimately (cf. 31:10-12).
"As with many of the tricks which Jacob attempts in these narratives, God blessed Jacob in spite of them, not because of or through them."714
The herdsmen believed the stronger of the flock mated in the summer and the weaker in the fall (vv. 41-42).715
Jacob's behavior was devious in that he sought to prosper at the expense of his employer. The text records that Jacob became very wealthy (v. 43), but it does not say that his wealth was a blessing from God. Jacob made his own fortune, but the text says that God made Abraham rich. God allowed Jacob to become wealthy through his own toil and deception. God probably would have done more for Jacob than he could have done for himself if Jacob had placed himself under God's authority.
The lesson of this section is that people who experience God's material blessing need to acknowledge that it comes from Him rather than from their own abilities.
Laban's hostility and his wives' encouragement motivated Jacob to return to Canaan. When Laban overtook Jacob in Gilead, Jacob defended his own actions and accused Laban of deceit. This silenced Laban and led him to request a peace treaty with Jacob.
Chapters 32 and 33 can be viewed as one episode in the life of Jacob. They describe his return to the Promised Land including his meeting with Esau. There are thematic parallels between these chapters and chapter 31.
In spite of the vision of God's assisting messengers, Jacob divided his people into two groups as a precaution when he heard Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. Furthermore he sought to pacify Esau's anger with an expensive gift in addition to praying for God's deliverance.
Jacob had been able to handle his problems himself by hook or by crook until now. At this point in his experience God brought him to the end of his natural resources.
"The events of this chapter are couched between two accounts of Jacob's encounter with angels (vv. 1, 25). The effect of these two brief pictures of Jacob's meeting with angels on his return to the land is to align the present narrative with the similar picture of the Promised Land in the early chapters of Genesis. The land was guarded on its borders by angels. The same picture was suggested early in the Book of Genesis when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden and cherubim' were positioned on the east of the garden to guard the way to the tree of life. It can hardly be accidental that as Jacob returned from the east, he was met by angels at the border of the Promised Land. This brief notice may also be intended to alert the reader to the meaning of Jacob's later wrestling with the man' . . . at Peniel (vv. 25-30). The fact that Jacob had met with angels here suggests that the man at the end of the chapter is also an angel."729
32:1-2 These angels (messengers) must have resembled the angels Jacob had seen at Bethel (28:12) for him to have recognized them as angels. They joined his own company of travelers for Jacob's protection. This is the reason for the name "Mahanaim"(i.e., double host or double camp). Jacob probably saw the camp of angels as a source of comfort to his own camp as he prepared to enter the Promised Land.
32:3-12 Why did Jacob initiate contact with Esau (v. 3)?
"He knows that there can be no peace and quiet until his relations with Esau are assured and put on a proper footing. Not until that matter was settled could Jacob feel certain of his future."730
Esau may have had a large army because he had had to subjugate the Horite (Hurrian) population of Seir (v. 6). His soldiers probably consisted of his own servants plus the Canaanite and Ishmaelite relations of his wives.
Jacob's reaction to Esau's apparently hostile advance against him was to try to protect himself (vv. 7-8). This was Jacob's standard response to trouble. Yet this time he knew it would not be enough. So, he called on God for help (vv. 9-12).
Jacob's prayer (his first recorded in Scripture) reflects his deeply felt need for God's help and his own humility (vv. 9-12). He reminded God of His past dealings with his forefathers and with himself (v. 9). He confessed his personal unworthiness and lack of any claim upon God's favor (v. 10). He requested divine deliverance and acknowledged his own fear (v. 11). Finally he claimed God's promise of a continuing line of descendants (v. 12). This is an excellent model prayer.
32:13-21 Though he hoped for God's help, Jacob did not fail to do all he could to appease his brother (vv. 13-15).
"As the narrative unfolds, however, it was not Jacob's plan that succeeded but his prayer. When he met with Esau, he found that Esau had had a change of heart. Running to meet Jacob, Esau embraced and kissed him and wept (33:4). All of Jacob's plans and schemes had come to naught. In spite of them all, God had prepared Jacob's way."731
Jacob's ability to give Esau 580 animals proves that God had made him enormously wealthy.
"Jacob's behavioral response was classically narcissistic."732
In view of God's promises to them believers can pray with confidence for His deliverance and do not need to give away His provisions to appease their enemies.
This site was probably just a few miles east of the Jordan Valley (v. 22). The Jabbok joins the Jordan River about midway between the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) and the Salt (Dead) Sea.733
It was when Jacob was alone, having done everything he could to secure his own safety, that God came to him (v. 24). An unidentified man assaulted Jacob, and he had to fight for his life. The "man"was the Angel of the Lord (vv. 28-30). Note that God took the initiative in wrestling with Jacob, not vice versa. God was bringing Jacob to the end of himself. He was leading him to a settled conviction that God was superior to him and that he must submit to God's leadership in his life (cf. Rom. 12:1-2).
"The great encounter with God came when Jacob knew himself to be exposed to a situation wholly beyond him."734
This was not a vision or a dream, but a real event. The injury to Jacob's hip joint proves this. It was God's third revelation to Jacob.
Jacob's refusal to release the man indicates the sincerity of his felt need for God's help (v. 26; cf. John 15:5). Again Jacob demonstrated his strong desire for blessing.
"Jacob completed, by his wrestling with God, what he had already been engaged in even from his mother's womb, viz. his striving for the birthright; in other words, for the possession of the covenant promise and the covenant blessing . . . . To save him from the hand of his brother, it was necessary that God should first meet him as an enemy, and show him that his real opponent was God Himself, and that he must first of all overcome Him before he could hope to overcome his brother. And Jacob overcame God; not with the power of the flesh however, with which he had hitherto wrestled for God against man (God convinced him of that by touching his hip, so that it was put out of joint), but by the power of faith and prayer, reaching by firm hold of God even to the point of being blessed, by which he proved himself to be a true wrestler of God, who fought with God and with men, i.e., who by his wrestling with God overcame men as well."735
By his wrestling with God Jacob began a new stage in his life (v. 28); he was a new man because he now began to relate to God in a way new for him. As a sign of this, God gave him a new name that indicated his new relationship to God. Israel means "God's warrior."
"The acknowledgment of the old name, and its unfortunate suitability [Jacob, v. 27], paves the way for the new name [Israel, v. 28]."736
". . . the name Israel denoted a spiritual state determined by faith; and in Jacob's life the natural state, determined by flesh and blood, still continued to stand side by side with this. Jacob's new name was transmitted to his descendants, however, who were called Israel as the covenant nation. For as the blessing of their forefather's conflict came down to them as a spiritual inheritance, so did they also enter upon the duty of preserving this inheritance by continuing in a similar conflict."737
"Elohim"occurs here to bring out the contrast between God and His creature. Jacob prevailed, in the sense of obtaining his request, by acknowledging his dependence and cleaving to God as his deliverer.
"One wonders if Why is it that you inquire about my name?' [v. 29] is another way of asking, Jacob, don't you realize who I am?'"738
Another view is that God withheld His name to heighten Jacob's awe at this great event and to impress the significance of the event on Jacob all the more.
Jacob believed that he had seen God face to face (v. 30). The ancients believed that anyone who saw God face to face would die (cf. Exod. 33:20; Judg. 13:21-22). He was probably also grateful that the Angel had not dealt with him more severely, as he deserved. "Peniel"sounds more like "face of God"in Hebrew than the more common Penuel.
The result of this spiritual crisis in Jacob's life was obvious to all who observed him from then on (v. 31). It literally resulted in a change in his walk.739
"When God touched the strongest sinew of Jacob, the wrestler, it shriveled, and with it Jacob's persistent self-confidence."740
Every Christian does not need to have this type of drastic experience. Abraham and Isaac did not. God has told us that we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5) and that we should believe Him. It is only when God's elect do not believe Him that He must teach us this lesson. Sometimes He has to bring us very low to do it. Every Christian should yield himself or herself to the lordship of God (Rom. 6:13, 19; 12:1-2).
"If only the swimmer yields to the water, the water keeps him up; but if he continues to struggle, the result is disastrous. Let us learn to trust, just as we learn to float."741
To become strong in faith the believer must forsake self-sufficiency.742
Jacob was ready to sacrifice part of his family expecting Esau to attack him, and he approached his brother as though Esau was his lord. In contrast, Esau welcomed Jacob magnanimously, reluctantly received his gift, and offered to host him in Seir. Jacob declined Esau's offer and travelled instead to Succoth where he settled next.
"As Jacob had won God's blessing by capitulating to Him, so now he was to win reconciliation to Esau by capitulating to him . . . ."743
33:1-17 Jacob arranged his family to preserve those who were most precious to him if his brother proved to be violently hostile (vv. 1-3). His going ahead of them to meet Esau shows the new Israel overcoming the fear that had formerly dominated the old Jacob. His plan does not seem to me to reflect lack of trust in God as much as carefulness and personal responsibility. However, Jacob was obviously fearful and weak as he anticipated meeting his brother. Faith does not mean trusting God to work for us in spite of our irresponsibility; that is presumption. Faith means trusting God to work for us when we have acted responsibly realizing that without His help we will fail. His insistence on giving presents to Esau may have been an attempt to return to him the blessing that should have been his, to undo his sins of earlier years (cf. v. 11).744
Jacob gave God the glory for giving him his family; he confessed that his family was a gift from God (vv. 4-5). This attitude is evidence of a basic change in Jacob's approach to life.745
"Now that they are reunited, Esau desires a fraternal relationship, but Jacob is unable to move beyond a formal relationship.
"Only the restraining intervention of God kept Laban from retaliation against Jacob (31:24, 29). Esau is apparently in no need of a similar divine check. His own good nature acts as a check on him. Since his rage and hate of ch. 27, Esau himself has undergone his own transformation. No longer is he controlled by vile passions."746
"I see your face as one sees the face of God,"means I see in your face, as expressive of your whole attitude toward me, the friendliness of God. I see this friendliness demonstrated in His making you friendly toward me (v. 10; cf. 1 Sam 29:9; 2 Sam. 14:17).
Jacob's "language shows that he saw the two encounters with his Lord and his brother, as two levels of a single event: cf. 10b with 32:30."747
In chapter 33 Jacob saw God and did not die, and in chapter 34 he saw Esau and did not die. God had promised to return Jacob safely to the land (28:15).
Jacob's reasons for declining Esau's offer of an escort evidently did not spring from fear (vv. 14-15). He gave a legitimate explanation of why it would be better for him to travel separately: the condition of his animals. Jacob may have been counting on God's protection and therefore felt no need of Esau's men. Alternatively Jacob may have mistrusted Esau having been deceived himself and having been deceptive.748Still another view is that Jacob was returning to the Promised Land on God's orders, and that did not include going to Seir.749
His reference to visiting Esau in Seir (v. 14) does not mean that Jacob planned to go directly to Seir, where he did not go immediately. He could have been deceiving his brother again. Perhaps Jacob meant that he would visit his brother in his own land in the future. Scripture does not record whether Jacob ever made such a trip.
Jacob and his family settled first at Succoth ("Booths") east of the Jordan River (v. 17). Evidently he lived there for some time since he built a house and huts for his livestock.
This incident illustrates the truth of Proverbs 16:7, "When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."
"At almost every point in this story, Esau emerges as the more appealing, more humane, and more virtuous of the two brothers."750
"This is only the second--and it is the last--conversation between Esau and Jacob mentioned in Genesis. On the first occasion (25:29-34) Esau failed to perceive Jacob's capacity for exploitation. On the second occasion he fails to perceive Jacob's hesitancy and lack of excitement about going to Seir. In both cases, Jacob succeeds in deceiving Esau."751
33:18-20 Jacob then crossed the Jordan River and moved his family into the land of Canaan. He chose Shechem ("peaceful") as his home. His purchase of land there shows that he regarded Canaan as his permanent home and the home of his seed. The Israelites eventually buried Joseph at Shechem (Josh. 24:32). Shechem was only a mile or two from the Sychar of Jesus' day (cf. John 4:5, 12).
God had granted Jacob's request by bringing him safely back into the Promised Land (cf. 28:20-21). As he had vowed, Jacob worshipped the God of his father as his God. He called Yahweh "El-Elohe-Israel"meaning, "The mighty God is the God of Israel."Jacob used his own new name, Israel (32:29). He built an altar, Jacob's first, to worship God as Abraham had done at Shechem when he had first entered Canaan (12:6-7). The altar would have served the double purpose of providing a table for Jacob's sacrifice and serving as a memorial for Jacob's descendants in the years to come.
What were Jacob's motivation and relationship to God when he met Esau? This question rises often in the study of this chapter. Some commentators have felt that Jacob completely backslid and returned to his former lifestyle of self-reliance and deceit.752Most interpreters attribute good motives to Jacob.753I believe the truth probably lies somewhere between these extremes. It seems to me that Jacob's experience at Peniel had a life-changing impact on him. Jacob seems to be referring to it in 33:10. Nevertheless his former lifestyle had become so ingrained--Jacob was over 90 years old at this time--that he easily slipped back into his former habits. I believe we have a clue to this in the use of his name "Jacob"in the text rather than "Israel."In short, Jacob seems to have had a genuine experience of coming to grips with himself and yielding his life to God at Peniel. Nevertheless from then on, his motives and attitudes vacillated. At times he trusted God as he should have, but at others, many others, he failed to trust God.
The divine Author's main concern in this section was not Jacob's motivation, however; He could have clarified this for us. Rather it seems to have been the faithfulness of God in sparing Jacob's life and returning him to the Promised Land as He had promised (28:13-15). The Jacob narrative also contains evidence that God was faithful to bless others through Abraham's descendants (12:3), including Laban (cf. 30:27) and Esau (cf. 33:11).
A major lesson of this chapter is that those who have received God's grace may trust in God's promise of protection when they seek reconciliation with others.
After Shechem the Canaanite raped Dinah, Simeon and Levi gained revenge by deceiving the Shechemites into being circumcised as the condition for Dinah's marriage. Then they murdered the incapacitated men of the city.
"The story is a tangled skein of good and evil, as are all the patriarchal narratives."754
Dinah must have been a teenager at this time.755
34:1-17 Moses used the name "Israel"here for the first time as a reference to God's chosen people (v. 7). The family of Jacob had a special relationship to God by divine calling reflected in the name "Israel"(prince with God). Therefore Shechem's act was a specially "disgraceful thing"having been committed against a member of the family with the unique vocation (cf. Deut. 22:21; Josh. 7:15; Judg. 20:10; 2 Sam. 13:2; et al.).
"What had happened to Dinah was considered by Jacob's family to be of the same nature as what later was known as a disgraceful thing in Israel' [i.e., rape]."756
As was customary in their culture, Jacob's sons took an active part in approving their sister's marriage (v. 13; cf. 24:50). They were correct in opposing the end in view: the mixing of the chosen seed with the seed of the Canaanites. Yet they were wrong in adopting the means they selected to achieve their end. In their deception they show themselves to be "chips off the old block,"Jacob.
"Marriage was always preceded by betrothal, in which the bridegroom's family paid a mhdmarriage present' to the bride's family (1 Sam 18:25). In cases of premarital intercourse, this still had to be paid to legitimize the union, and the girl's father was allowed to fix the size of the marriage present (Exod 22:15-16 [16-17]; limited by Deut 22:29 to a maximum of fifty shekels). . . . Here it seems likely that Shechem is offering both a marriage present' to Jacob and a gift' to Dinah."757
34:18-31 We can explain the agreement of the men of the city, including Hamor and Shechem (v. 18), to undergo circumcision. Other nations besides Jacob's family practiced this rite at this time as an act of consecration.758Jacob was not suggesting that these men convert from one religion to another.759Normally circumcision was practiced on adults rather than on infants before God told Abraham to circumcise the infants born in his family (17:12-14).
It was "sometimes an initiation into marriageable status."760
Dinah, Simeon, and Levi were the children of Jacob and Leah, the unloved wife (v. 25). Simeon and Levi doubtless felt closer to Dinah than some of her other half-brothers did for this reason. Perhaps Jacob's indifference to Dinah's plight, evidenced by his lack of action, prompted the violent overreaction of her brothers.761
While Simeon and Levi took the lead in this atrocity, all of Jacob's sons evidently participated with them in the looting of the city (v. 27; cf. vv. 28-29).
Jacob's distress arose because of two facts (v. 30). His sons had committed murder and robbery, and his family had now broken a covenant, a very serious act in their society.
"It is ironic to hear Jacob venting his disgust over Simeon's and Levi's failure to honor their word, especially in terms of its potential consequence for Jacob, for he had done exactly that on more than one occasion."762
Deception proceeded to murder and pillage. As a result of this sin Jacob passed over Simeon and Levi for the primary blessing (49:5-7). It went to Judah instead.
"The crafty character of Jacob degenerated into malicious cunning in Simeon and Levi; and jealousy for the exalted vocation of their family, into actual sin."763
"Of course, fear is natural in such a situation, but the reasons Jacob gives for damning his sons betray him. He does not condemn them for the massacre, for abusing the rite of circumcision, or even for breach of contract. Rather, he protests that the consequences of their action have made him unpopular. Nor does he seem worried by his daughter's rape or the prospect of intermarriage with the Canaanites. He is only concerned for his own skin."764
It is interesting that Simeon and Levi referred to Dinah as "our sister"(v. 31) rather than as Jacob's daughter, which would have been appropriate in addressing Jacob. This implies that since Jacob had not showed enough concern for Dinah her blood brothers felt compelled to act in her defense.
The significance of this chapter is fourfold at least.
1. It explains why Jacob passed over Simeon and Levi for the special blessing.
2. It shows the importance of keeping the chosen seed separate from the Canaanites.765
"The law [of Moses] said that Israel was not to intermarry with the Canaanites or make treaties with them but was to destroy them because they posed such a threat. This passage provides part of the rationale for such laws, for it describes how immoral Canaanites defiled Israel by sexual contact and attempted to marry for the purpose of swallowing up Israel."766
"People who live on the borderland between church and world are like those who lived in the old days on the borders between England and Scotland--they are never safe."767
3. It gives a reason for the sanctification of Jacob's household that follows (35:2-4).
4. It demonstrates the sovereign control of God.
"While the story in this chapter operates at a level of family honor and the brothers' concern for their ravaged sister, the story nevertheless also carries along the theme that runs so clearly through the Jacob narratives, namely, that God works through and often in spite of the limited self-serving plans of human beings. The writer's purpose is not to approve these human plans and schemes but to show how God, in his sovereign grace, could still achieve his purpose through them."768
Younger zealots such as Simeon and Levi may bring reproach on God's covenant through their misguided zeal. This may happen when spiritual leaders such as Jacob are indifferent to pagan defilement and fail to act decisively against it.769
". . . this story shows Jacob's old nature reasserting itself, a man whose moral principles are weak, who is fearful of standing up for right when it may cost him dearly, who doubts God's power to protect, and who allows hatred to divide him from his children just as it had divided him from his brother."770
Many believers bring the wrath of unbelievers on themselves and on other believers by their ungodly behavior, as Jacob, Simeon, and Levi did.
After God reminded Jacob of his commitment to Him (28:20-22), the patriarch returned to Bethel to worship Yahweh. There the Lord reconfirmed the promises to him and completed his family by the birth of Benjamin. However, Jacob also experienced three deaths (Deborah, Rachel, and Isaac) and rebellion against himself by Reuben.
