Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 13

Lesson #14

Chickens Come Home to Roost

(32: 1 36: 43)

In Lesson #13 Jacob wants desperately to marry Rachel and he works for Laban seven years to get her. But the morning after the wedding night, Jacob finds Rachels older sister, Leah, between the sheets! Youve deceived me! Jacob shouts to Laban.

Jacob ends up working another seven years to marry Rachel, and the battle of the dueling wives begins, each wife enlisting her servant girls in an effort to bear more children for Jacob and become the most loved wife. All the while, Laban has changes Jacobs wages over and over, driving him into poverty and dependence. Jacob, the boy who was such a clever little deceiver at home, gets a Ph.D. in deception when he moves in with uncle Laban!

In Lesson #14 the chickens come home to roost, as Jacobs deceptions redound upon him.
1. 2. As Jacob heads south from Haran to Beersheba, Esau heads north to meet himwith 400 armed men! In the dreadful night prior to meeting Esau, Jacob wrestles with a mysterious man who changes Jacobs name from Jacob (the deceiver) to Israel (he who struggles with God). Jacob and Leahs daughter, Dinah, is raped, and Jacobs sons take vengeance by killing her rapist, his entire family, slaughtering everyone in Schechem and looting the town. In a stunning act of deception, Jacob and Leahs eldest son, Ruben, has sex with Bilhah, Rachels maidservant and father of Jacobs sons Dan and Naphtali.

3.
4.

The Jabbok River begins near Rabbah (Ammon, Jordan of today), flows north and then west down to the Jordan River.

Jacob Wrestles with the Angel

Paul Gauguin. The Vision after the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), 1888, oil on canvas. Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh.

Peter Paul Rubens. The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau, 1624, oil on panal. Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh.

The Rape of Dinah, in Egerton Genesis (Egerton MS 1894, fol. 17 recto), c. 1360. British Library, London.

Important historical & cultural context:


1. 2. In the profoundly tribal and insular world of Genesis, patriarchy is about controlling relationships of the household, both within the family and in relationships with the outside world. Sons are like arrows in the hand of a warrior . . .; happy the man whose quiver is filled with them (Psalm 127: 4-5).
1. Sons are heirs who carry on the family name Daughters are temporary, given to other men as wives and other families as mothers.

3.
4.

Daughters? (Sirach 42: 9-14).


1.

It is a fathers right to determine who and when his daughter will marry.
1. A daughter demonstrates her loyalty to her father and family by remaining a virgin until her marriage.

In this story ambiguity is heaped upon enigma, resulting in large gaps. How we fill in the gaps determines how we understand the story:
1. 2. 3. Out went Dinah . . . (34: 1).
1. On her own initiative Dinah steps out beyond family and familial relationships to meet the girls of the land. Degraded is not the usual translation for rape, but more commonly used of treating someone without regard to their proper status.

*Shechem+ lay with her, and degraded her (34: 2).


1.

His heart cleaved to Dinah . . . he loved the girl and spoke to her heart (34: 3).
1. 2. Cleaved describes the love of a husband for a wife (Genesis 2: 24) Spoke to her heart occurs only 8 times in Scripture, always as a superior offering love and assurance to one who is insecure and afraid, as in Boaz to Ruth (Ruth 2: 13) or God to Israel (Hosea 2: 16).

4.

What Shechem had done was an outrage in Israel; such a thing should not be done (34:7).
1. It was an offense to the group.

1. Who is the man Jacob wrestles in Genesis 32? 2. What are Esaus motives when he heads north from Edom to confront Jacob? 3. Do his initial motives change, and if so, why 4. Who is responsible for the rape of Dinah? 5. Are Dinahs brothers justified in their actions against Shechem?

Copyright 2013 by William C. Creasy


All rights reserved. No part of this courseaudio, video, photography, maps, timelines or other mediamay be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval devices without permission in writing or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.

Вам также может понравиться