29:14 Laban greets Jacob with almost Adam’s exact words that
he greeted Eve with for the first time: “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.”
The same words bone (etsem) and flesh (basar) are used in both passages.
29:31-35:18
Leah: Reuben—see, a son (God has seen me, now, my husband
will see me! Look! Look!)
Leah: Simeon—hearing
(Alright, Jacob didn’t see the first son, and love me, perhaps he’s not good
with the whole eyesight thing, so maybe he can hear instead.)
Leah: Levi—attached
(Okay, so the seeing and hearing failed, maybe this time we’ll be attached at
the hip. Maybe I should literally tie him to myself.)
Leah: Judah—praise
(Maybe if I just sing loud enough, he’ll get the picture that I’ve borne him 4
sons and he’ll love me. *sigh* Maybe I should just forget him and praise God,
who’s blessed me.)
Rachel
(Bilhah): Dan—judge (Hah! See, God’s judged and I’m just as good as my sister!
I can have sons, too!)
Rachel
(Bilhah): Naphtali—my wrestling (My sister and I have been going at it,
fighting all over. She thought she had won, but now I’m winning!!)
Leah (Zilpah):
Gad—troop (Oh, hey, look, a troop.) [Perhaps she’s deliberately ignoring
Rachel.]
Leah (Zilpah):
Asher—happy (I’m so happy! I will be known all over as being blessed, because I’m
so awesome at bearing sons!!)
Leah: Issachar—He
will bring a reward (Oh yeah! Here’s my reward for giving my servant to my
husband, so I could give him even more sons!!)
Leah: Zebulun—habitation
(Another son! He’s gotta love me more and live with me now!)
(Leah: Dinah—justice
(Justice is served! I’m awesome.))
Rachel: Joseph—He
will add (Oh yeah! I’ve got a son! God’s going to give me another one! C’mon
God!)
Rachel:
Ben-Oni—son of my sorrow (Ah! I’m dying! Tragedy! My sons will grow up without
their mother!) Jacob: Benjamin—son of my right hand (This guy is really, really
special. He deserves honor.)
30:1-2 Rachel’s reaction to barrenness “Give me children, or else I die! . . . Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I may have children by her.” sounds a lot like Sarai, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please go into my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” The husband’s reactions are identical. They do what their wives told them to do.
31:19 Why does Rachel steal the household gods? Did she
want them? We never hear of her actually using them. I think she was not happy with her father,
she knew he loved them, and she wanted to hurt him. 31:14-16 We see that
neither Leah nor Rachel enjoyed their father’s treatment of them.
31:32 Kill whoever has what was taken from you. This
sounds like the cup in the Joseph story.
31:47 Jacob names the place with a Hebrew name, and Laban
names it with a Syrian (Chaldean) name. Laban was a Syrian, as identified in
25:20. They weren’t being divisive. They gave different names so that their
descendents would understand what the place was. The place could testify in two
languages.
32:10 Jacob makes all these preparations for meeting his
brother, Esau. He’s placed everything in order, planning as much as he could to
prevent damage and place as many barriers as he could to figure out his brother’s
motives. THEN, Jacob prays with humility to God, asking for deliverance. I’m
truly glad that I’m not God, because I sometimes think that Jacob deserved to
be destroyed by Esau. Was Jacob ever repentant for what he had done, or did he
just brush it off, attributing his behavior to his nature (as evidenced in his
name)? Hey, I can’t help it, guys. My name is Deceiver.
32:24 Why was Jacob alone? To pray? Why was he wrestling
a stranger? I think, on the verge of meeting my brother (and his 400 men), I’d
be a little tense and on the lookout for anyone out to hurt my family, especially
when my brother was plotting to kill me the last time I saw him. I’ve also
wondered why Jacob won’t let him go without a blessing. I’m thinking that it
was probably so he could be sure that whoever the stranger was, they weren’t an
enemy.
33:4 If I was a red, hairy, manly, outdoorsy, hunter like
Esau, I don’t think I would have been that close with my white, smooth,
deceitful, homebody, mama’s-boy, little brother, especially after he took advantage
of my starvation to rip-off my birthright and then outright stole my blessing
as well. Yet, when Esau is re-united with Jacob, he runs to meet him, embraces
him, falls on his neck, kisses him, and weeps. As much as I don’t get along
with my sisters sometimes, I dearly love them.
33:10 “But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep
what you have for yourself.” And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor
in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen
your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me.”
This “face of God” (paniym elohiym) is very similar to the name “Peniel: ‘For I
have seen God face to face’.” I’m sure Jacob’s late-night encounter was on his
mind.
34:15 Jacob’s sons proposed circumcision as a mere act
that would unite the two groups. However, circumcision was not just an act, it
was a sign of a covenant. It identified Abraham and descendents as partakers of
God’s promise. For these foreigners to accept only circumcision was not enough
for them to be joined with Jacob’s family, just as going to Church doesn’t make
you a Christian.
Chapter 34 Dinah’s name means justice, but I’m not sure
she ever had any.
35:2 It seems that Jacob knew that his household had
foreign gods among them, but he’d not really done anything about it. Oh, look,
it’s time to go to Church (make offerings), let’s all take our showers (purify
yourselves), get all dressed up (change your garments), and put on our happy
faces!
35:4 I’m wondering how Jacob managed to hide all the
idols under a tree without anyone knowing. He had such a large family and
household, surely someone would have seen him. Or, perhaps he was hiding them
from other people, intending to come back with his family and pick them up
after their sacrificing was over.
35:11 God tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply. Hey
now, I thought he was already pretty fruitful. He has 11 sons and one daughter.
That’s pretty productive in my mind. Yet, Jacob obeys, because 5 verses later
in v. 16, Rachel is in childbirth again. Perhaps Jacob had to be commanded.
Maybe Rachel’s first pregnancy was difficult, and he didn’t think she’d live
through another one.
35:22 Reuben ruins his chances.
35:23-26 In the list of Jacob’s sons, Leah, incredibly,
has borne HALF of them herself (not with Zilpah)! Plus a daughter. She was one
amazing woman, and she ends up in the line of Christ.
37:5 I always wonder about Joseph’s attitude as he’s sharing
his dreams with his family. Jacob doesn’t seem to have any problem with the
dreams until (10) he hears about the “sun and moon” bowing to Joseph. Then, he
rebukes Joseph.
37:17 Why did Joseph’s brothers go from Shechem to
Dothan? Were they trying to throw their father (or brother) off their trail? Was
Dotham better for feeding flocks or for entertainment?
37:21-22 I wonder if Reuben’s attempt to save Joseph (his
father’s favorite) was an attempt at redeeming himself in his father’s eyes for
sleeping with Bilhah.
37:28 Joseph was sold to Ishmaelites. These were
relatives, his grand-uncle’s descendents. (Hey, cousin! Wanna buy your cousin
as a slave?)
38:12 Judah’s wife dies and he is comforted and goes up
to his sheepshearers at Timnah. So, is it the sheepshearers that are the
comfort, or is he mourning and then going back to work?
38:15-16 Was Judah’s act of engaging in prostitution normal for him? Was it normal for men in general?
38:21-22 How embarrassing.
38:24 Tamar “played the harlot” literally.
39:4-6 Joseph was only 17, yet he was in charge of all in
Potiphar’s house (which would have been a lot, since Potiphar was the captain
of the guard). Yet, teens nowadays are often not even responsible enough to
clean their rooms, do their chores, or complete their work without urging from
parents or other supervisiors.
39:17 Potiphar’s wife passes the blame: “the Hebrew
servant whom you brought to us.” It’s a tale as old as time. Even back in the
beginning, Adam and Eve tried to pass the blame: “the woman who You gave to be
with me.”
40:8 I truly love how Joseph acknowledges God as the interpreter of dreams. I wonder, though, what the reactions were. His question: “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Is that a rhetorical question? A statement? I wonder how the chief butler and baker reacted to it. In their god-filled religion, was it possible that they even understood him?
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