This week I would like to outline some characteristics of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as drawn from both the biblical texts and our readings. Abraham is the model patriarch, the most idealized of the three. His faithfulness to God is his most vaunted quality, and it is constant and unchanging. Coogan writes that this faithfulness often manifests itself in what appears to a contemporary reader as unappealing passivity; the two most notable examples are the near sacrifice of Isaac, stopping only when God commands him directly, and the passing off of Sarah as his sister instead of his wife in order to preserve his own safety. Coogan adds that these incidents would not have seemed appalling to a reader in the ancient Near East, but would have been seen as further positive depictions of Abraham’s faithfulness.
Abraham’s son Isaac is the least fleshed out as a character. Less space is devoted to him than to either of the others, and the stories involving him are usually focused on another character, such as his father, wife, or sons, who is often more vividly described. His wife Rebekah is actually a much stronger character, especially in the stories of Jacob and Esau, where she seems to be the motivating factor behind many of her son Jacob’s actions.
Jacob, by contemporary standards, is probably the most vividly drawn of the three, which is to say that he is the most obviously flawed. He is depicted as quite crafty, especially in the swindling of his brother Esau, and yet is still given the vision of “Jacob’s ladder.” One question we might discuss this week, if anyone is interested, is: what are some of the explanations for the very different depictions of the characters of the patriarchs?
2 comments:
Thanks for your post! Your question brings up a good point. I think that it's interesting to look at the stories for more than a simple message to be learned.
Like any other piece literature created, some characters take on larger roles than others--some more developed than others. I would tend to think the author simply pays more attention and provides more details for the characters he/she wants us to learn from. Any good story had primary and secondary characters. I would venture that the author wanted to place certain emphasis on certain stories to really send the message home.
Interesting question. Although I spent a good deal of time researching it, I wasn't able to come up with anything conclusive. It seems to me that the J, E, and P sources are so deeply intertwined in these narratives that it would be very difficult to identify where the characterizations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob came from. My guess would be that J, E, and P all contributed to them, each emphasizing their own points.
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