Feb 4 Response

In Genesis Chapters 24-36, the lineage of Abraham carries on. The narrative focuses on Abraham’s son Isaac, and his two sons Jacob and Esau. It seems that God chooses one member of each generation and makes them His chosen. Descending from Abraham, God blesses Isaac, and then his son Jacob. In the story of Jacob and his brother Esau, both sons are in contest for the birthright, though the older son is entitled to it. With the help of his mother, Jacob tricks Isaac into giving him the birthright and his blessing. So in the story Jacob takes the birthright of Esau, but recieves his father’s blessing, and with the blessing is looked upon favorably by God. Leon Kass claims that when one is fighting with his brother, he is also “indirectly” fighting with his father. So in the sense that Jacob and Esau are fighting with each other, Jacob is also indirectly fighting with his earthly father Isaac, and his spiritual father God. This indirect fight is personified when Jacob wrestles with an unamed “man,” who can be inferred to be either God or one of his angels. Because this man has the authority to rename Jacob as Israel, which only God has done in previous chapters of the Bible, it is obvious that this is no ordinary man. In the wrestling match, though it seems that Jacob contended with this “man,” I do not think there was a concrete winner, as there were small victories on both sides. Jacob won God’s blessing and God won a faithful servant. When God strikes Jacob at the hip this serves to show that even though Jacob contended with God, God is still superior. With Jacob’s transition to the name Israel and with the flourishing of his people, God solidifies Abraham’s lineage and starts to form the Israelite nation.