Seder 25: An Alternate View of Genesis 27---Who is Being Deceived?

 The narrative of Genesis 25-27 raises lots of questions about Isaac and Rebekah and their sons.  For instance, does Rebekah share with Isaac the special revelation she receives about Jacob and Esau before their birth?  

If the answer is no, then this would be an example of the biblical motif of a parent "keeping a saying in mind" or "hiding it in one's heart." If Rebekah kept the revelation to herself, that could help explain why Isaac seems to want to act contrary to it in Chapter 27 in his desire to bless Esau above Jacob.

One standard way to interpret chapter 27 is to see Rebekah taking matters into her own hands to carry out what she is sure is God's will in securing the primary blessing for Jacob.  Isaac's poor eyesight is then viewed as a sign of a lack of spiritual insight in regard to his sons.  

I recently learned about an interestng alternate interpretation championed by David J. Zucker.  Zucker proposes that Isaac and Rebekah work together in Chapter 27 to deceive Jacob.  

In Zucker's reading Rebekah has shared the revelation of Genesis 25:23 with Isaac, and the two agree that Esau is not qualified to be spiritual leader of the next generation of the family.  Esau has shown this in the lack of value he places in the family birthright, as well as in his taking two Hittite wives (26:34), a course of action that greatly disappoints his parents (v 35).  The two had worked closely together in addressing their fertility problems, and they continue to work together.  Their twins have reached age 77, and they would like Jacob to go out in the world to prove himself, and in particular to take a wife from their clan back in Haran.  If Jacob appears to steal a blessing from Esau, Esau's anticipated reaction will force Jacob to go out on his own.  

If Rebekah and Isaac plan the deception together, they are counting on Jacob being willing to deceive Isaac for a chance at a better blessing.  And indeed, Jacob seems to be less worried about the ethics of tricking his father than about the possibility of getting caught (27:11-12).  Jacob says that he is a "smooth man," which can be taken in more than one way.  The word for "smooth"---chalaq---is elsewhere used for smooth or flattering speech (Pr 5:3; 26:28; Eze 12:24).  Jacob's intent is to deceive, whether or not he is actually doing so.  

I do not know whether Zucker's reading is correct, but I confess that I would like it to be.  I do not think it contradicts the biblical account in any way, and it fits well with a number of things in the text, including:

• the fact that the text does not mention any damage to the relationships among Isaac, Rebekah, and Jacob.  Isaac does not seem to get angry at either Rebekah or Jacob, for example, when the deception is revealed.
• the fact that Isaac seems to basically know that the one who has come to him for a blessing isn't Esau, but he goes ahead with the blessing anyway.
• the verses in Chapters 24-26 that imply a close relationship between Isaac and Rebekah.
• the blessing that Isaac gives to Jacob seems to be a better fit for a herdsman/farmer than for a hunter.  

Whoever was being deceived, the blessing Isaac gives to Jacob in chapter 27 is not the full covenant blessing.  Isaac conveys that to Jacob in Ge 28:1-4.  Perhaps he had planned to give that to Jacob all along, regardless of his intentions for the blessing of chapter 27.  

It is also notable that the blessing of chapter 27 has messianic implications.  Since Jacob only has one brother, the plural in verse 29 seems to look ahead to a descendant or descendants of Jacob.  Kevin Chen, for example, argues that this is a messianic prophecy.

Seder 25: A Chronological Question in Genesis 27

 As Gen 27 opens, we read that  "Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see."  How old was Isaac at this point?

From numbers given later in the book of Genesis, it appears that Isaac's son Jacob was 77 when he left home in Gen 28.  Since Isaac was 60 when Jacob was born (Gen 25:26), Isaac was no older than 137 when he blessed Jacob in Gen 27.  Although Isaac talked in Gen 27:1-4 as if he were on his deathbed, he lived another 43 years after that to die at the ripe old age of 180.

So what prompted Isaac to impart his blessing at that particular time?   The text of Genesis does not say, but the age 137 will ring a bell for careful readers of Genesis.  Isaac's father Abraham was 137 when his mother Sarah died at age 127 (Gen 23:1).  Also, Isaac's brother Ishmael was 137 at his death (Gen 25:17).  So perhaps Isaac was thinking of these previous events when he reached age 137.  He may have been feeling old because Ishmael had died at that age.  

Some Jewish commentators wondered if perhaps Isaac was feeling old because Ishmael had just died.  They reckoned Ishmael was 14 years older than Isaac, so there is a tradition that Isaac was only 123 when he blessed Jacob.  That tradition raised a question:  If that was the case, what did Jacob do for 14 years after receiving his blessing and before leaving home?

The traditional answer is that Jacob studied for 14 years at the school originally founded by Shem and later carried on by Shem's descendant Eber.  The Bible says nothing about such a school, but there are legends about Abraham and Isaac having studied there.  In Jewish tradition this hypothetical school is pressed into service to provide answers to certain perplexing questions raised by details in Genesis.  

One such question was about the identity of Melchizedek.  A tradition arose that Melchizedek was actually Shem, and one reason Abraham respected him was that he had studied under him.  

Another question was about what Isaac might have done right after the events of Gen 22, since Isaac isn't mentioned returning from Mt Moriah with Abraham in Gen 22:19.  Perhaps he spent some time at the school of Shem and Eber.

A third question involves the means by which Rebekah "inquired of God" during her troubling pregnancy (Gen 25:22).  That kind of language is usually used in the Bible when a person seeks answers from some authorized representative of God----e.g., a priest.   But what representatives of God were around then?  Perhaps Rebekah consulted with a descendant of Shem.  

There is a further tradition that during her pregnancy, Jacob would kick whenever she passed this school, while Esau would kick whenever she passed a pagan temple.  This tradition is an example of attempts to provide a rationale for the fact that the futures of Jacob and Esau seem to have been to some extent predetermined (Gen 25:23).   

Seder 25: Psalm 37---Staying Faithful in Hard Times

 Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm that urges followers of God not to worry when they are going through hard times and enemies of God seem to be flourishing.  

The psalm says that the wicked "will soon fade like the grass" (v 2).  In the spring the grass is green and lush, but it soon withers under the hot summer sun.  

Rabbinic midrash on this psalm identifies another image used in wisdom literature---that of a lamp.  Prov 24:19-20 says, "Do not fret because of evildoers.  Do not envy the wicked; for the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will go out."  On the other hand, Prov 6:23 states, "For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching a light."  Putting these verses together, sages advised against envying the temporary lamp of the wicked.  Instead one should desire the lasting light of God's commandments.

Another rabbinic saying connected with Psalm 37 comes from Rabbi Eleazar:  "From the prosperity of the wicked in this world you can tell the reward of the righteous in the world to come  If so much for the wicked, how much more and more for the righteous."  

This saying reminds us of Jesus' teaching about how God takes care of both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt 5:45).  Such an understanding of God's character lies behind Jesus' directive that we emulate God by loving our enemies (vv 43-48).  

Psalm 37 emphasizes that the reward of righteous Israelites will be long life for them and their descendants in the Promised Land.   By Jesus' time, understanding of the psalm had expanded to include a reward of eternal life for the righteous in the world to come, based on the reasoning that since the righteous are not always rewarded in this life, there must be a future life in which everything is made right.  

Such an understanding is reflected in Rabbi Eleazar's saying, and in Jesus' saying, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt 5:5).  This beatitude seems to be based on Psalm 37:11.  

Psalm 37 gives encouragement to persecuted followers of God.  Consider, for example, verses 32-33:  "The wicked watch for the righteous, and seek to kill them.  The Lord will not abandon them to their power, or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial."

These verses remind me of the plight of Pakistani Christians who are in constant danger of being arrested for supposedly blaspheming Mohammed or the Koran.  In one well-known case, Asia Bibi spent 8 years in prison but was finally being acquitted of a false blasphemy charge in 2018.