II. PATRIARCHAL NARRATIVES 11:27--50:26

One of the significant changes in the emphasis that occurs at this point in Genesis is from cursing in the primeval record to blessing in the patriarchal narratives. The Abrahamic Covenant is most important in this respect. How Abram's family gained these blessings unfolds. Israel could, and we can, identify with their experiences.

"Chapters 1-11 are set in Babylonia; chs. 12-36 are set in Palestine; chs. 37-50 are set in Egypt. (The same kind of tripartite geographical focus emerges from Exodus: [1] 1:1-12:36, in Egypt; [2] 12:37-18:27, to Sinai; [3] 19:1-40:38, at Sinai.) In other words, each part of the Mediterranean world is highlighted in some part of Genesis. The crucial center section of Genesis (chs. 12-36) is bracketed geographically by two sections of the Near Eastern world with whose history that of Israel would be constantly interlocked. . . .

"In chs. 1-11 we read of individuals who had land, but are either losing it or being expelled from it. In chs. 12-50 the emphasis is on individuals who do not have land, but are on the way toward it. One group is losing; another group is expecting.

"Genesis is moving us progressively from generation (chs. 1-2), to degeneration (chs. 3-11), to regeneration (chs. 12-50)."³⁹³

Chapters 1-11 present a structural pattern that carries over into the rest of the Pentateuch.

"The importance of Genesis 1-11 for the rest of the Pentateuch can be seen in the fact that its narrative structure provides a pattern by which the author often shapes subsequent pentateuchal narratives. Thus the order and arrangement of the Creation accounts in Genesis 1-2 exhibit the same pattern as the description of the building of the tabernacle (Ex 25-31); the tabernacle is portrayed as a return to the Garden of Eden. The instructions given to Noah for building the ark foreshadow those given to Moses for building the tabernacle. Furthermore, one can demonstrate that whole sections of laws in the Pentateuch have been grouped and arranged in patterns that parallel the narrative structure of Genesis 1-11."³⁹⁴

"The ancient oriental background to Gen 1-11 shows it to be concerned with rather different issues from those that tend to preoccupy modern readers. It is affirming the unity of God in the face of polytheism, his justice rather than his caprice, his power as opposed to his impotence, his concern for mankind rather than his exploitation. And whereas Mesopotamia clung to the wisdom of primeval man, Genesis records his sinful disobedience. Because as Christians we tend to assume these points in our theology, we often fail to recognize the striking originality of the message of Gen 1-11 and concentrate on subsidiary points that may well be of less moment."³⁹⁵

Some notable changes take place in the second part of Genesis. Instead of the genealogies being prominent and the stories secondary, as in chapters 1-11, the reverse becomes true now. God retreats farther into the background of the events recorded than was the case earlier, and there is corresponding emphasis on the personalities of the patriarchs. The promises to the patriarchs form the central theme of this section, especially those concerning descendants, land, and divine blessing. There also seems to be increasing depth in the moral awareness of the patriarchs as generation follows generation from Abram to Joseph.³⁹⁶

 A. What became of Terah 11:27-25:11

A major theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfillment of the promises to the patriarchs. The promises in Genesis 12:1-3 and 7 are the fountainhead from which the rest of the Pentateuch flows.³⁹⁷Walter Kaiser labeled the three things promised Abram as an heir, a heritage, and an inheritance.³⁹⁸David Clines called them posterity, relationship with God, and land.³⁹⁹J. Dwight Pentecost and Robert L. Saucy referred to them as seed, blessing, and land.⁴⁰⁰

God progressively revealed more information about each of these promises. He gave more information about the land promise in 13:15, 17; 15:7-8, 18; 17:8; 24:7; 26:3-4 (plural "lands"); 28:4, 13; 35:12; 48:4; and 50:24. Repetition of the seed promise occurs in 13:15-16; 15:5; 17:2, 5-10, 13, 16, 19-20; 18:18; 21:12; 22:17-18; 26:3-4, 24; 28:13-14; 32:12; 35:11-12; 46:3; and 48:4 and 16.

"A line of successive representative sons of the patriarchs who were regarded as one with the whole group they represented matched the seminal idea already advocated in Genesis 3:15. Furthermore, in the concept of seed' were the two aspects of the seed as a future benefitand the seed as the present beneficiariesof God's temporal and spiritual gifts. Consequently, seed' was always a collective singular noun; never did it appear as a plural noun (e.g., as in sons'). Thereby the seed' was marked as a unit, yet with a flexibility of reference: now to the one person, now to the many descendants of that family. This interchange of reference with its implied corporate solidarity was more than a cultural phenomena or an accident of careless editing; it was part and parcel of its doctrinal intention."⁴⁰¹

The promise of universal blessing recurs in 18:18; 22:18 9 (to Abraham); 26:4 (to Isaac); and 28:14 (to Jacob).⁴⁰²

"While this promissory triad of blessing, seed, and land is the thematic cord binding the Book of Genesis, we find that the counterthemes of fratricide, violence, uncreation, and expulsion are the literary-theological foil for the promissory blessing."⁴⁰³

Genesis 12-50 focuses on the promise of posterity (an heir, seed), though the other promises receive much attention. Exodus and Leviticus center on the promise of worldwide influence (relationship with God, heritage, blessing), and Numbers and Deuteronomy emphasize the promise of real estate (land, inheritance, rest).

In Genesis 12-25 the problems of possessing the land and obtaining an heir dominate the story of Abram's life. How will Abram obtain the land, and who will be Abram's heir? These are the great questions that the thoughtful reader continually asks himself as he reads the story of Abram. At least one of them is central in every incident in his life that God has chosen to record in Genesis. These questions form the unifying theme of the Abram narrative.⁴⁰⁴

One writer called the form in which Moses revealed the Abram cycle of stories an "obstacle story."

"Few literary techniques have enjoyed so universal and perennial a vogue as the obstacle story. It is found in ancient and modern literature from the Gilgamesh epic and the Odyssey to the Perils of Pauline and the latest novel. Its character is episodal in that it is not self-contained but finds its raison d'etrein its relation to the larger story or narrative of which it is a part. Its purpose is to arouse suspense and sustain interest by recounting episodes which threaten or retard the fulfillment of what the reader either suspects or hopes or knows to be the ending of the story."⁴⁰⁵

Twelve crises arise as the story of Abram's life unfolds. Each of these must be overcome and is overcome by God who eventually does provide Abram's descendants. Each of these problems constituted a challenge to Abram's faith. Is God faithful and powerful enough to provide what He has promised? In the end we can see that He is.

Each problem Abram encountered is typical of problems that every believer has to deal with in seeking to live by faith. Consequently each episode in Abram's life teaches us something about God's power and faithfulness and should enable us to live by faith more consistently. Moses originally recorded these lessons for Israel's benefit.

The problems Abram's faith encountered were these.

1. Sarai was barren (11:30).

2. Abram had to leave the Promised Land (12:10).

3. Abram's life was in danger in Egypt (12:11-20).

4. Abram's nephew, Lot, strove with him over the land (ch. 13).

5. Abram entered a war (14:1-16).

6. Abram's life was in danger in the Promised Land (15:1).

7. God ruled Eliezer out as Abram's heir (15:2-3).

8. Hagar, pregnant with Abram's son (heir?), departed (16:6).

9. Abimelech threatened Sarai's reputation and child (heir?) in Gerar (ch. 20).

10. Abram had two heirs (21:8-11).

11. God commanded Abram to slay his heir (ch. 22).

12. Abram could not find a proper wife for his heir (24:5).

". . . the narrator has skillfully woven this material together in such a way as to involve the reader/listener in a drama of increasing tension between, on the one hand, the promise of Yahweh that Abram would have an heir and, indeed, would become the father of many nations, and, on the other, the threat to the fulfillment of this promise by a series of crises."⁴⁰⁶

 B. What became of Ishmael 25:12-18

"The last four toledotsections of the Book of Genesis follow a definite pattern: the lines in each generation that are not chosen lines are traced before the narrative returns to the chosen line."⁶²⁰

This section records God's faithfulness to His promises to make Ishmael a great nation and to give him many descendants (16:10; 21:18). This is another of the 10 family histories that Genesis records (see the outline in the introduction to these notes).⁶²¹

These verses show that God fulfilled His promises regarding Ishmael (16:10-12; 17:20). Ishmael, like Nahor and Jacob, fathered 12 sons. Moses drew his personal history to a conclusion before he moved on to concentrate on his brother Isaac.

"The mention of twelve tribal rulers' . . . recalls the word of the Lord regarding the future of the line of Ishmael from 17:20, where it was promised that he too would be blessed and that twelve rulers' . . . would be born to him and become a great nation."⁶²²

The Ishmaelites lived in Arabia. Arabia lay to the southeast of Canaan and extended from the Euphrates River to the Red Sea.⁶²³Probably the Ishmaelites were once a confederation of tribes like the Israelites.

"The names of the twelve princes descending from Ishmael are applied not only to tribal divisions but also to geographical localities (cf. v. 16)."⁶²⁴

The writer probably included the fact that Ishmael lived "in defiance of all his relations"(v. 18) to show the fulfillment of God's prediction to Hagar (cf. 16:12). The bedouin-like Ishmaelites later had many conflicts with their more settled Israelite relations.

God is faithful to His promises to bless whom He has promised to bless.

 C. What became of Isaac 25:19-35:29

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

 D. What became of Esau 36:1-37:1

Moses included this relatively short genealogy (toledot) in the sacred record to show God's faithfulness in multiplying Abraham's seed as He had promised. He also did so to provide connections with the descendants of Esau referred to later in the history of Israel. Among his descendants were the Edomites (v. 8) and the Amalekites (v. 12). Lot, Ishmael, and Esau all walked out of the line of promise.

We can divide this chapter as follows.

Esau's three wives and five sons, vv. 1-8

Esau's five sons and 10 grandsons, vv. 9-14

Chiefs (political or military leaders) descended from Esau, vv. 15-19

Chiefs of the Horites (with whom the Edomites intermarried and whom they dispossessed), vv. 20-30

Kings of Edom, vv. 31-39

A final list of chiefs, vv. 40-43

Different names of Esau's wives appear here as compared with what Moses recorded earlier (v. 2; cf. 26:34; 28:9).⁷⁸⁷People added surnames to given names later in life. Women often received new names when they married. Esau married a Hittite (v. 2), a Hivite (v. 2) who was a descendant of a Horite (Hurrian, v. 20), and an Ishmaelite (v. 3). Some commentators connected the Horites with cave dwellers since the Hebrew word for cave is hor.⁷⁸⁸This may be correct.

Esau's sons were born in Canaan and then moved out of the Promised Land to Seir. Jacob's sons, except for Benjamin, were born outside Canaan in Paddan-aram and later moved into the Promised Land.

The Kenizzites (vv. 11, 15) later affiliated with the tribe of Judah.⁷⁸⁹The Amalekites separated from the other Edomites and became an independent people early in their history (v. 12).⁷⁹⁰A group of them settled in what later became southern Judah as far as Kadesh Barnea and the border of Egypt (14:7; Num. 13:29; 14:43, 45). Another branch of the tribe settled in the hill country of Ephraim that was in central Canaan (Judg. 12:15). The largest group of Amalekites lived in Arabia to the southeast of Canaan and Edom. They united on occasion with their neighbors, the Midianites (Judg. 6:3; 7:12) and the Ammonites (Judg. 3:13). Saul defeated the Amalekites (1 Sam. 14:48; 15:2) as did David (1 Sam. 27:8; 30:1; 2 Sam 8:12). Some Simeonites finally exterminated them during Hezekiah's reign (1 Chron. 4:42-43).

"What is most interesting about the king list [vv. 31-39] is that it reflects an elective kingship rather than a dynastic one. . . .

"These kings' may have indeed been charismatic individuals who, like the judges, assumed their office without regard to heredity."⁷⁹¹

This list of Edomite kings demonstrates the partial fulfillment of God's promise that kings would come from Abraham's loins (17:16).

"It might seem unusual that such detail concerning the descendants of Esau be included, but the relationship between Esau and Jacob, and then between the nations of Edom and Israel, is a theme of the entire Old Testament."⁷⁹²

"What Israelites did to Canaanites, Esauites did to Horites. Thus Gen. 36 is moving backward from the conquerors (vv. 9-19) to the conquered (vv. 20-30)."⁷⁹³

Jacob was living at Hebron when Joseph's brothers sold him, and he may have continued living there until he moved to Egypt (37:1; cf. 35:27).

"Verse 1 [of chapter 37] belongs structurally to the preceding narrative as a conclusion to the Jacob story. It shows Jacob back in the Land of Promise but still dwelling there as a sojourner like his father before him. The writer's point is to show that the promises of God had not yet been completely fulfilled and that Jacob, as his fathers before him, was still awaiting the fulfillment."⁷⁹⁴

Perhaps the major lesson of this genealogy is that secular greatness develops faster than spiritual greatness. Consequently the godly must wait patiently for the fulfillment of God's promises.

 E. What Became of Jacob 37:2-50:26

Here begins the tenth and last toledotin Genesis. Jacob remains a major character throughout Genesis. Moses recorded his death in chapter 49. Nevertheless Joseph replaces him as the focus of the writer's attention at this point.⁷⁹⁵These chapters are not entirely about Joseph, however. The writer showed interest in all the sons of Jacob.

"The emphasis now shifts from Jacob's personal struggles to receive the blessing promised to Abraham and Isaac, to the events in Jacob's life that lead up to the formation of Israel as a nation."⁷⁹⁶

The story of Joseph also links the history of the patriarchs with their settlement in Egypt.

"The Joseph story . . . develops the theme of the Pentateuch by showing the gradual fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham in 12:1-3. In particular, it shows how God blesses the nations through the descendants of Abraham [cf. 50:20]."⁷⁹⁷

"The theme of the Joseph narrative concerns God's hidden and decisive power which works in and through but also against human forms of power. A soft' word for that reality is providence. A harder word for the same reality is predestination. Either way God is working out his purpose through and in spite of Egypt, through and in spite of Joseph and his brothers."⁷⁹⁸

Human responsibility is as much a revelation of this section as divine sovereignty.