14. chickens come home to roost (genesis 32: 1 – 36: 43)

8/13/2019 14. Chickens Come Home to Roost (Genesis 32: 1 36: 43)

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Lesson #14

Chickens Come Home to Roost

(32: 1 36: 43)


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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 findsRachels older sister, Leah, between the sheets!

Youve deceived me! Jacob shouts to Laban.


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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!


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In Lesson #14 the chickens come home to roost, asJacobs deceptions redound upon him.

1. As Jacob heads south from Haran to Beersheba, Esau headsnorth to meet himwith 400 armed men!

2. In the dreadful night prior to meeting Esau, Jacob wrestleswith a mysterious man who changes Jacobs name fromJacob(the deceiver) to Israel (he who struggles with God).

3. Jacob and Leahs daughter, Dinah, is raped, and Jacobs sons takevengeance by killing her rapist, his entire family, slaughteringeveryone in Schechem and looting the town.

4. In a stunning act of deception, Jacob and Leahs eldest son,Ruben, has sex with Bilhah, Rachels maidservant and father ofJacobs sons Dan and Naphtali.


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The Jabbok River begins near Rabbah (Ammon, Jordan of

today), flows north and then west down to the Jordan River.


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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.


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Peter Paul Rubens. The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau, 1624, oil on

panal. Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh.


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

1360. British Library, London.


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Important historical & cultural context:

1. In the profoundly tribal and insular world of Genesis, patriarchyis about controlling relationships of the household, both withinthe family and in relationships with the outside world.

2. Sons are like arrows in the hand of a warrior . . .; happy theman whose quiver is filled with them (Psalm 127: 4-5).1. Sons are heirs who carry on the family name

3. Daughters? (Sirach 42: 9-14).1. Daughters are temporary, given to other men as wives and other

families as mothers.

4. It is afathersright to determine who and when his daughterwill marry.1. A daughter demonstrates her loyalty to her father and family by

remaining a virgin until her marriage.


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In this story ambiguity is heaped upon enigma, resultingin large gaps. How we fill in the gaps determines howwe understand the story:

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

1. Degraded is not the usual translation for rape, but more commonly used oftreating someone without regard to their proper status.

3. His heart cleaved to Dinah . . . he loved the girl and spoke to her heart(34: 3).1. Cleaved describes the love of a husband for a wife (Genesis 2: 24)

2. Spoke to her heart occurs only 8 times in Scripture, always as a superioroffering 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 shouldnot be done (34:7).1. It was an offense to the group.


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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?


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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

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14. chickens come home to roost (genesis 32: 1 – 36: 43)

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