After twenty long years away, he's almost home. We've been following Jacob from his inglorious start as a very smooth operator to his functional exile in Paddan-aram, where he gained wives, kids, and flocks while matching wits with his uncle and father-in-law Laban; now he's closed the Laban chapter of his life with a covenant. So Jacob's mind has little choice but to turn once more, the text says, “to Esau his brother, in the land of Seir, in the field of Edom” (Genesis 32:3). That choice of words suggests Jacob's coping with a lot of memories of their upbringing and the rift between them. Remember that Esau was born hairy, which sounds like 'Seir,' and red, which sounds like 'Edom' (Genesis 25:25); that Esau was “a man of the field” (Genesis 25:27), who “came in from the field” and sold his birthright for Jacob's “red, red” (Genesis 25:29-33), and whose hairness, his 'Seir,' was artificially imitated by Jacob to pilfer his blessing (Genesis 27:23).1
The guilt of their past tortured relationship is something Jacob's been carrying for years, and it's crippled him in so many ways ever since.2 Jacob understands now that he can't move forward with his life while this weighty albatross is hung 'round his neck. “To go forward, he must face his past and the mistakes that he once made.”3 Jacob needs “to settle accounts with Esau and to make amends for his conniving past.”4 Therefore, inspired by his encounter with God's messengers at Mahanaim, Jacob sent his own “messengers before his face to Esau” (Genesis 32:1-3). He carefully crafts his message, having his messengers refer to Esau as Jacob's 'lord' and to Jacob as Esau's 'servant,' his vassal, his shamed social inferior (Genesis 32:4). Jacob diplomatically glosses over the real reason for his twenty-year absence. In mentioning his present prosperity by way of reassurance, he avoids mentioning his family and describes his wealth in terms of collective singulars – ox, donkey, sheep, servant – while omitting camels, the luxury item, so as not to boast over Esau.5
Finally, Jacob stresses that the point of his messengers' visit is to probe the prospects of a renewed relationship between them, “in order that I may find grace in your eyes” (Genesis 32:5). “With great diplomacy, he sought to greet his brother in a peaceful manner.”6 His goal here was “to invite Esau with humility and to prevail on him with kindnesses.”7 Hence his messengers “conveyed to Esau the gentlest of words,”8 words intimating his contrition for what he'd done.9 This is a message “consciously shaped by Jacob to undo his previous attitude toward his brother.”10 Jacob is bent on making things right somehow. But that's a sensitive task, since the last time he was around, Esau's sole consolation for his outrage was meditating on killing Jacob (Genesis 27:41-42)!
Jacob's messengers eventually return with an ominous observation: that Esau is marching north to meet Jacob, but is bringing a very oversized welcoming party of four hundred men (Genesis 32:6), a group bigger than the fighting force Grandpa Abraham led against four whole armies (Genesis 14:14-15). This doesn't bode too well. If Jacob recalls how Cain spilled his brother Abel's red blood “in the field” (Genesis 4:8), it looks like Esau the Red from “the field of Edom” might still be entertaining similar designs of fratricide.11 It's little wonder Jacob is “greatly afraid and distressed” (Genesis 32:7), being “afraid of his brother's aggression,”12 and takes the safety precaution (sensible in those days) of dividing a caravan into smaller groups in times of danger.13 St. Augustine quipped that, “although we believe in God, we should still do the things that must be done by human beings for safety's sake, lest, by omitting them, we appear to tempt God.”14 Faith's no excuse to be reckless.
But then he crowns his preparations with a beautiful prayer, one we've already explored pretty deeply (Genesis 32:9-12). He begs for divine deliverance “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau” (Genesis 32:11) – for, “seeing himself caught in a trap, he had recourse to the invincible Lord.”15 And where his message to Esau cast Jacob as Esau's servant, here in prayer he acknowledges Esau as his brother and casts himself as the Lord God's servant (Genesis 32:10). He'll be his brother's good servant, and God's first.
After praying, Jacob “took from what came to his hand a gift for his brother Esau” (Genesis 32:13). All in all, that gift entails a selection of almost six hundred animals, which highlights the incredible prosperity Jacob must have had.16 Jacob sends male and female goats at a 1:10 ratio, and the same for sheep, plus cattle at a 1:4 ratio and donkeys at a 1:2 ratio – nice breeding stock, all of them – and in the center of the list stand thirty camels (remember how Abraham's servant so impressed Rebekah with just ten [Genesis 24:10]), plus the calves for whom they're producing milk (Genesis 32:14-15). Camel milk is so nutrient-rich that ancient nomads would sometimes live on nothing but camel milk for up to a month on a journey; with these gifts, and knowing nothing of Esau's financial situation, Jacob can assure his brother will never go hungry.
Jacob carefully arranges these animals and gives them “into the hand of his servants, each drove by itself,” and instructs them to go ahead of his face, with substantial difference between each set, so that they reach Esau in waves (Genesis 32:16-20), “in order to appear more numerous by arriving continuously,”17 thus calculated for “the greatest psychological impact... through its incremental effect.”18 With each servant telling Esau that Jacob is behind them, and then repeatedly deferring Jacob's appearance with another gift, Jacob can heighten Esau's anticipation to a fever pitch.19 The word Jacob uses can mean either a gift to a friend or tribute paid to an overlord, and Jacob's intentional ambiguity leaves room for Esau to “interpret it as he wishes.”20 Jacob here is “humbly petitioning by means of peaceful gifts” to assuage Esau's anticipated anger.21 It was an “offering of good will so that [Esau] would not remember the offense that [Jacob] committed against him” before,22 and “it was hoped that Esau would be induced by the presents to relax his wrath, were he still indignant.”23
Jacob's explanation of his hope is dense and rich: “I will cover his face with the offering that goes before my face, and afterward I shall see his face; perhaps he will lift my face” (Genesis 32:20). That's a lot of faces, and it points us back to the Cain-and-Abel story, since their division arose over God's reception of the brothers' offerings (Genesis 4:4-5), causing Cain's face to fall in gloom and the LORD to hint that doing good to his brother would be a cause for his face to instead be lifted up again (Genesis 4:6). Jacob is learning and hoping that, if Abel's gift incited Cain's anger, maybe Jacob's gift can diffuse Esau's.24 Thus he can wipe the anger from Esau's face and, in doing him good, have his own face lifted – by Esau – to meet Esau's face face-to-face.25
At the same time, “Jacob's language resembles religious sacrifice.”26 When Jacob says 'cover,' that's the Bible's word usually translated as 'atonement.' Scarcely has the Book of Leviticus opened before we read how a sacrificial offering should be brought “to the face of the LORD” and “it will be accepted for him to cover,” or atone, “for” the sinner (Leviticus 1:3-4). In particular, after somebody trespasses against a neighbor, the Law directed not only that he make reparations to the offended neighbor, but also that he bring an offering, and “the priest shall make atonement for him to the face of the LORD, and he shall be forgiven” (Leviticus 6:7). Jacob's stated strategy here “resembles a supplicant's approach to an angry god.”27 Jacob is propitiating Esau's wrathful face with an offering of atonement, in hopes of being accepted back into Esau's good graces.
So Jacob sent off his offering from before his face, hundreds of animals in staggered waves, while Jacob stayed behind that night in his camp (Genesis 32:21). Little did he realize that, after he separated himself alone in the dark, it would be the night of his surprise encounter with a mysterious wrestler, assailing him at Peniel by the banks of the Jabbok – a wrestler who, by the approach of dawn, would hint that Jacob has been struggling with none other than God (Genesis 32:22-32). We've already explored the profundity of that moment. Beneath the risen sun, as Jacob waits for Esau, he has assurance of deliverance even though he's weakened and humbled.
This wounded Jacob “lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming – and with him, four hundred men” (Genesis 33:1), just as his messengers had reported. Esau and his retainers were marching north from the southern horizon, appearing as stunningly as when Abraham once “lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold,” three heavenly guests loomed nearby (Genesis 18:2).28 Jacob readied himself by reorganizing his family: Bilhah and Zilpah in the first row, with their sons Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher; and behind them, a second row of Leah with her six sons Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, plus her daughter Dinah; and behind them, to “close the group from the rear,” Rachel with her sole son Joseph (Genesis 33:2).29
What's most important at the moment, though, is that, up until now, Jacob has continually put others in front of his face, like a buffer; his servants were ordered to pass before his face, with the animals before their faces, and to emphasize that Jacob was “behind us” (Genesis 32:15-19). But now, with his family arranged in ranks from first to last, Jacob himself “passed over before their faces” (Genesis 33:3), assuming his position as the leader and positioning himself between his family and Esau's army.
Then, Jacob started moving south, away from his family and toward Esau; where once he impersonated Esau to “draw near” to their father Isaac in the dark (Genesis 27:22), now he draws near to Esau his brother in the open light of day. As he did so, Jacob “bowed himself to the earth seven times, until he came near to his brother” (Genesis 33:3). This is a full-body prostration, putting Jacob's face in the dust – which, given his limp, would have been “physically taxing” and been a pretty pitiful sight for Esau to see.30 This custom of seven bows was described in letters from Canaanite kings to their Egyptian overlords, where the Canaanite would cast himself as Pharaoh's “servant” and declare: “At the feet of my lord the king, seven times and seven times have I fallen.”31 This is the most submissive gesture possible in their culture.32 “Jacob lowers himself and glorifies Esau.”33
Which is shocking, because it's so unlike what Isaac predicted. Remember the blessing he was hoodwinked into giving Jacob: “Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you” (Genesis 27:29). As Isaac confirmed to Esau later, “Behold, I have made him lord over you,” and “you shall serve your brother” (Genesis 27:37, 40). But here's Jacob bowing down to Esau and addressing him as 'my lord.' It's an intentional choice to contradict the stolen blessing that had so outraged Esau in the first place.34
And now we can appreciate why Jacob first organized his family into ranks and kept them close by instead of shipping them away to anonymous safety. Presenting your family was a common part of surrender practices in the ancient world.35 It communicated that Jacob “was entrusting himself into [Esau's] hands with all that he treasured most.”36 More than that, given the circumstances here, Jacob “was submissive in a manner befitting a saint,” as one sainted bishop marveled long ago.37 Jacob is becoming Israel precisely by submitting to be “the least of all,” “last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35), especially a servant of his brethren.38
So now comes the dramatic and decisive moment. Jacob has surrendered, placing himself at Esau's mercy. At this point, “Esau ran to meet him” (Genesis 33:4). That could be menacing; after all, “David ran... to meet” Goliath (1 Samuel 17:48), and that didn't exactly spark a beautiful friendship! So perhaps “Esau charges Jacob, as if to attack.”39 Then, we read, “he clasped him,” grabbed hold of Jacob (Genesis 33:4). We're not sure that if that's a good sign, because it rhymes so closely with the word lately used for the mystery man 'grappling' with Jacob aggressively throughout the night (Genesis 32:25).40 Third, we read, Esau “fell upon his neck” (Genesis 33:4). But we're still unsure if that's threatening or not, since Joshua and his soldiers “fell upon” the Canaanite kings quite sharply – and the Canaanites did not enjoy that (Joshua 11:7).
Things only become fully clear once we reach the fourth verb: “and he kissed him” (Genesis 33:4). Yes, Esau ran to Jacob – not to confront him, but to be with him. Yes, Esau clasped Jacob – in an embrace, a big bear hug. Yes, Esau leaned on Jacob's smooth neck, but in a spirit of fraternal closeness. And, reversing Jacob's kiss to his father in deceit (Genesis 27:27), Esau's kiss is a sign of welcome. To Jacob's “formal greeting of submission,” Esau here returns “the warm and forgiving greeting of a brother.”41 And so “the humility of Jacob conquered the fury of Esau his brother,”42 “succeeded in appeasing his brother's anger,” if any anger had been left remaining that morning in the first place.43 But “on that day, Esau his brother came to him and was reconciled to him.”44 “And they wept” (Genesis 33:4). It's so shocking to some scholars that they assume it's got to be a typo.45 But there it is anyway: they wept, Esau and Jacob, together, in regret and relief. This quick-paced sequence of Esau's five verbs – ran, embraced, fell, kissed, wept – answers the last time Esau got five verbs back-to-back, when he ate, drank, rose, went, and despised his birthright (Genesis 25:34).46
As this teary reunion works itself out, now Esau “lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children” in their ranks behind Jacob, and asked, “Who are these with you?” (Genesis 33:5). Jacob's reply is eloquent, short, and sweet: “The children with whom God has graced your servant” (Genesis 33:6). With just six Hebrew words, Jacob manages to praise God, celebrate grace, reiterate his sincere humility before Esau, and mention his kids without highlighting his wives, wives having been “a touchy subject for Esau and his parents.”47 Then, as part of the surrender ceremony, each group – first Bilhah and Zilpah with their four children, then Leah with her seven, and lastly Rachel with her one – came forward to bow to Esau (Genesis 33:6-7).
That settles what's behind Jacob, but what about what came ahead of him? “Who to you,” asks Esau, “is all this camp that I met,” the many servants with their droves of livestock. Jacob's reply repeats words from his earlier message: “to find grace in the eyes of my lord” (Genesis 33:8). Remember that the Hebrew word for 'grace' is buried inside the word 'camp' and backwards in the word 'gift'; so, having been graced with abundance, Jacob presents this camp as a gift to secure Esau's grace,48 since, alongside bowing and presenting the women and children, the rendering of tribute was the third major component of a ceremonial surrender.49
But this is more than that, too. “Acknowledging God's grace in his good fortune, he does not hesitate to share it,”50 in fact “holding it the greatest of blessings to share with his brother what God had given him.”51 Jacob has at last come to understand and appreciate that “peace is greater than material wealth, and the attainment of brotherly love ought to come before temporal blessings.”52 Jacob's priorities have been reordered. Now what matters is “finding Esau's favor” and “restoring the relationship.”53
Now, in the Middle East, it's long been bad form to accept a gift right off the bat.54 So naturally, Esau initially declines the gift. “I have much, my brother,” he says, “keep what you have for yourself” (Genesis 33:9). Note first that, for all Jacob's 'my lord' this and 'your servant' that, Esau addresses him as 'my brother.'55 Next, recall that the blessing Isaac had left for Esau wasn't very impressive, suggesting he'd live without natural resources and have to survive by his sword (Genesis 27:39-40); but despite that, “Esau became very rich and began to rule over a vast property,”56 being already in the process of establishing his own nation.57 Esau has an abundance, the very thing Isaac accidentally promised to Jacob rather than Esau (Genesis 27:28).58 And this is all without the now-irrelevant inheritance of Isaac's riches.59 Hence, Esau insists Jacob “keep what you have for yourself” (Genesis 33:9), “tacitly conceding any residual claim to the birthright.”60
But Jacob isn't about to take Esau's no at face value. “No, please, if I have found grace in your eyes, then take my offering from my hand,” Jacob insists (Genesis 33:10). Just moments ago, Jacob said that this gift was so that he could achieve Esau's grace (Genesis 33:8); now, he says, if Jacob is in Esau's grace, then Esau should receive the gift as an offering. But his reason is what's interesting: “For on this basis have I seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you were satisfied with me” (Genesis 33:10). Esau, not knowing about last night's ordeal at Peniel, couldn't have known the fullness of what Jacob meant; but to Jacob, it's “almost as if” the nocturnal divine visitation and his present happy reunion with Esau “blend into each other.”61
This is the first time Jacob and Esau have really been face-to-face, have really seen each other. Jacob at last isn't seeing Esau as a mark to be swindled or a subject to be studied, but as a full person, a man who's so much more than he always assumed. Having freshly wrestled with the mystery of God at Peniel, Jacob can marvel to discover now the majestic “mystery that is Esau,” a bearer of God's image, capable not only of judgment but also of grace and forgiveness beyond Jacob's wildest imagination.62 Both these face-to-face encounters, initially full of fear and dread, were then unveiled as occasions of welcome, of grace, and of life.63 Having hoped to atone for his trespasses, Jacob can see that Esau has already received him with satisfaction – the end-goal of any atoning sacrifice (Leviticus 1:4).64 With wrath wiped away, Jacob realizes that “Esau's face reflects the face of God,”65 and learns that “embracing Esau as his brother is the decisive step in embracing the way of the Lord.”66
But Jacob isn't finished there. He still insists. Only now he doesn't call it a gift or an offering. “Take, please, my blessing that is brought to you” (Genesis 33:11). The subtext has reached the surface: this big gift, this camp, is intended as, “in a way, a reparation for the purloining of the paternal blessing.”67 Back then, Isaac lamented to Esau that Jacob “took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35); now Jacob insists that Esau return the favor and take Jacob's blessing that's been brought and offered.68 He thus “symbolically returns Esau's blessing” once stolen.69 Of course, he can't literally return the blessing – “Jacob cannot renounce the future that God has assigned him,”70 “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29) – but this symbolic act is meant as “Jacob's best attempt at restoring what he took.”71 This is “an act of significant sacrifice... akin to reparations..., a willingness to give up the power he has taken from Esau.”72 Jacob “led the way when it came to making amends, and showed generosity in paying out compensation.”73
Jacob then explains why he feels confident in doing so: “because God has graced me, and because I have all” (Genesis 33:11). Esau, in telling Jacob to keep what was his, did so because Esau had “much,” certainly enough to satisfy him (Genesis 33:9); but Jacob says he can freely give to the one who already has much, because God's grace has given him more than 'much,' has given him everything that really matters. That may come across as somewhat audacious, almost as if rubbing Esau's nose in it;74 but because he ascribes it, not to their father's blessing or to his own craft and skill but to the grace of God, it's the boldness of true humility.
So “Jacob pressed him, and he took” (Genesis 33:11), much as Lot had pecked away at God's incognito angels until they accepted his hospitality (Genesis 19:3). If Jacob refused to let last night's wrestler go without giving him a blessing (Genesis 32:26), Jacob now refuses to let Esau go without taking from him a blessing.75 Esau does just that, and “accepts it as reparation for his brother's wrongs.”76 With this transfer, “Esau would forgive his brother the injury he thought he had received.”77 Reconciliation has been accomplished and sealed. “Jacob repents, repairs, and repays,” and so “he achieves closure,”78 as “Esau has forgiven his brother.”79 But is that just Jacob's doing? Or is it that “God placated his heart” and “allayed his anger” before the day even came?80
What comes next is a very weird negotiation. Since Jacob surrendered to Esau as to an overlord, Esau seems to assume that Jacob will join his retinue and maybe even settle with him in Seir;81 but while Jacob is glad to be reconciled to his brother, Jacob also understands “the way of Israel needs separation from the way of Edom.”82 Jacob excuses himself several times, making “a tactful request to disengage,” since to refuse directly would risk “insulting Esau” and undoing the hard-won peace between them.83 In the end, Esau returns to settle in Seir permanently, ceding Canaan to Jacob, because, like Abram and Lot, “their possessions were too great for them to dwell together” (Genesis 36:6-7; cf. 13:6).84 This was God's will, who “gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess” (Joshua 24:4). The brothers have separated in peace, but we've yet to find a way for brothers to dwell together in unity (Psalm 133:1) – that will take more of Genesis to accomplish.85
To ancient Jewish readers, this story wasn't satisfying, because they knew Edom later “pursued his brother with the sword... and he kept his wrath forever” (Amos 1:11). They also didn't like the picture of Jacob humbling himself before Esau. So they made up a sequel that isn't in the Bible. Once Isaac had died, Esau's sons schemed to “uproot [Jacob] from the land before he seizes power.”86 They goaded Esau into “remember[ing] all of the evil which was hidden in his heart against Jacob his brother.”87 They came against Jacob's family with “a force powerful and strong.”88 Esau disowned Jacob as his brother, saying the two of them could no more live at peace than “wolves [could] make peace with lambs.”89 Forced by necessity, Jacob shot Esau in the chest, killing him,90 while Jacob's sons invaded Seir and “besieged the children of Esau” until they “bowed down their necks to become servants of the children of Jacob” and “pay tribute to Jacob and his sons always.”91 Thus these retellers 'fixed' the story so it would line up more clearly with the starkness of Isaac's original blessing.
But such a 'fix' drains the beauty and truth out of what the Bible actually contains. Even in later times, when the old bitterness of Esau seemed to be reviving in his descendants, what did Moses teach Israel? “Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite.” Why not, Moses? “Because he's your brother!” (Deuteronomy 23:7). The reconciliation sought and bought by Jacob's humility ought to still live in Israel's heart down through the ages. It paints too beautiful a picture not to be kept. That's why Jesus retold this story in a new and even better way.
Did you know that? There's a very strong chance that Jacob and Esau served as an inspiration for what we call the Parable of the Prodigal Son.92 Genesis and Jesus both tell a tale of a younger brother running off to a far country and returning weighed down with shame and fear, laying plans to assuage the expected anger of the family and community they've betrayed (Luke 15:18-19).93 Esau runs, embraces, and kisses his lost brother; in Jesus' story, while the older brother stews at home, it's the father who, in compassion and grace, “ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).94 Before the lost son can even get past his contrition to his prepared speech of submission, though, the father interrupts him; and rather than the prodigal son giving gifts of reparation, his return is all the gift his father seeks, showering him instead with festivity and grace.95 In his new version, Jesus makes the father's goal to bring peace between the son who was far off and the son who stayed near, to reconcile the two brothers so that they, unlike Jacob and Esau, can really dwell together again.96 But the reunion of Jacob and Esau would remain, in Jesus' retelling, “the paradigm of impossible grace” made real.97
For “in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Indeed, “you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind” as Esau had been toward Jacob, “doing evil deeds, [Christ] has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if undeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard” (Colossians 1:21-23).
Part of continuing in the faith, as St. Paul said, St. John will explain: “Whoever loves God must also love his brother..., for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20-21). In seeing his brother's face, Jacob rediscovered what it meant to love and be loved as a brother, and he knew the connection between his brother's face and seeing the unseen and unseeable face of God. It's not for nothing that Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, told people that “if you're offering your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). A pure sacrifice is meant to upbuild and express a heart of love for God, but a loveless lack of reconciliation with the brothers against whom we've trespassed is an impediment against such right worship. The face of our brother and the face of God can't be severed. That's why St. Paul insisted that “if possible, insofar as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18), to “always strive to get through situations without being contentious.”98
So what might it take to live peaceably? Ask Jacob. It's been said that “only in giving up his rights does Jacob fully become the family leader.”99 In this, he foreshadows the One who, refusing to exploit his divine rights, instead “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7), teaching that “the greatest among you shall be your servant,” and “whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12). Seeking reconciliation and living peaceably calls for “speaking appropriate words.”100 It's written that, just as “a harsh word stirs up anger,” so “a soft answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1). It calls for an attitude of gentleness and humility, “the great power of meekness.”101 And that's easier when we can see the image of God in our brother's or sister's face. It also calls for acts of appropriate surrender, for “sacrifices are required to find a way past wrongdoings.”102 One of history's greatest preachers counseled his congregation this way, in the wake of telling them of Jacob and Esau: “When some people are disposed to be hostile to us, let us, instead of adding fuel to their anger, quell their aggression by our great meekness and humility in both word and action, and thus bring healing to their brokenness.... This truly is a mark of the greatest virtue...: winning over by much kindness those bent on offering us abuse.”103 So far as we can, repairing our trespasses and atoning the anger from the faces of others is what it means to hold our own heads high this side of Peniel.
In past weeks, we've heard how Jacob, the younger brother receiving the birthright forsaken by the elder, was very quickly taken as a symbol for the early Christians in their relationship with their Jewish neighbors. That was a challenging image to digest, maybe; but now we've seen Jacob's humility before his elder brother. St. Paul designed his ministry to “somehow make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them; for if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:14-15). Early Christians took this as a sign that, in the last days, “our Lord Jesus Christ will be reconciled with Israel,” such that “after the calling of the Gentiles, Israel will be converted..., will be received into the love of Christ through faith...,” and then “will marvel at these riches in Christ.”104 The estranged brothers will be reconciled at last after “the pattern of Jacob and Esau,” with the Church finally learning from its Head how to best serve a brother in love.105 They learned this from St. Paul himself, who prophesied that once “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,” then the “partial hardening” will be lifted from Israel, “and in this way, all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25-26). Then “grace will be close at hand,” and “Christ the Savior of us all will come down from heaven with the holy angels.”106 Lord, hasten the day of such grace! Amen.
1 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 224; David W. Cotter, Genesis (Liturgical Press, 2003), 241; John E. Anderson, Jacob and the Divine Trickster: A Theology of Deception and YHWH's Fidelity to the Ancestral Promise in the Jacob Cycle (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 138-139.
2 Zvi Grumet, Genesis: From Creation to Covenant (Maggid Books, 2017), 355.
3 James McKeown, Genesis (Eerdmans, 2008), 154.
4 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 446.
5 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 450-451; Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 218.
6 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 5.3.3, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:259.
7 Ambrose of Milan, Jacob and the Happy Life 2.6 §26, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 65:161.
8 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 5.2.2, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:249.
9 Brian Neil Peterson, Genesis: A Pentecostal Commentary (Brill, 2022), 285.
10 David W. Cotter, Genesis (Liturgical Press, 2003), 241.
11 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 450.
12 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 58.3, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 87:155.
13 Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 2003), 338.
14 Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Heptateuch 1.102, in The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/14:53.
15 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 58.4, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 87:156.
16 Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 225; Brian Neil Peterson, Genesis: A Pentecostal Commentary (Brill, 2022), 287.
17 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.330, in Loeb Classical Library 242:159.
18 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 225.
19 John E. Anderson, Jacob and the Divine Trickster: A Theology of Deception and YHWH's Fidelity to the Ancestral Promise in the Jacob Cycle (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 141.
20 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 225.
21 Cyprian of Carthage, On the Good of Patience 10, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 36:272.
22 Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis 30.2, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 91:180.
23 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.330, in Loeb Classical Library 242:159.
24 Matthew R. Schlimm, Fratricide and Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 167.
25 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 453.
26 Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary (Zondervan Academic, 2001), 444; cf. Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 226; Philip H. Kern, Jacob's Story as Christian Scripture (Cascade Books, 2021), 86.
27 William P. Brown, “Manifest Diversity: The Presence of God in Genesis,” in Nathan MacDonald, Mark W. Elliott, and Grant Macaskill, eds., Genesis and Christian Theology (Eerdmans, 2012), 11.
28 William P. Brown, “Manifest Diversity: The Presence of God in Genesis,” in Nathan MacDonald, Mark W. Elliott, and Grant Macaskill, eds., Genesis and Christian Theology (Eerdmans, 2012), 11-12.
29 Zvi Grumet, Genesis: From Creation to Covenant (Maggid Books, 2017), 360 n.15.
30 John E. Anderson, Jacob and the Divine Trickster: A Theology of Deception and YHWH's Fidelity to the Ancestral Promise in the Jacob Cycle (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 162.
31 EA 289.1-4, in Anson F. Rainey, tr., The El-Amarna Correspondence: A New Collection of the Cuneiform Letters from the Site of El-Amarna based on Collations of all Extant Tablets, eds. William Schniedewind and Zipora Cochavi-Rainey (Brill, 2015), 1121.
32 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 289.
33 Elie Assis, Identity in Conflict: The Struggle between Esau and Jacob, Edom and Israel (Eisenbrauns, 2016), 51.
34 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 229; Brian Neil Peterson, Genesis: A Pentecostal Commentary (Brill, 2022), 291.
35 James K. Hoffmeier and Mark Janzen, “Towards a Diplomatic Contextual Reading of the Encounter Between Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33,” in James K. Hoffmeier, Richard E. Averbeck, J. Caleb Howard, and Wolfgang Zwickel, eds., “Now These Records are Ancient”: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical History, Language, and Culture in Honor of K. Lawson Younger Jr. (Zaphon, 2022), 203-204.
36 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.326, in Loeb Classical Library 242:157.
37 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 5.2.2, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:248.
38 William P. Brown, “Manifest Diversity: The Presence of God in Genesis,” in Nathan MacDonald, Mark W. Elliott, and Grant Macaskill, eds., Genesis and Christian Theology (Eerdmans, 2012), 14.
39 William P. Brown, “Manifest Diversity: The Presence of God in Genesis,” in Nathan MacDonald, Mark W. Elliott, and Grant Macaskill, eds., Genesis and Christian Theology (Eerdmans, 2012), 13.
40 John E. Anderson, Jacob and the Divine Trickster: A Theology of Deception and YHWH's Fidelity to the Ancestral Promise in the Jacob Cycle (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 162; William P. Brown, “Manifest Diversity,” in Nathan MacDonald, Mark W. Elliott, and Grant Macaskill, eds., Genesis and Christian Theology (Eerdmans, 2012), 13.
41 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 289.
42 Aphrahat the Persian, Demonstrations 9.3, in Moran 'Eth'o 23:203.
43 Ambrose of Milan, De officiis 1.24 §111, in Ivor J. Davidson, ed., Ambrose: De Officiis (Oxford University Press, 2001), 1:183.
44 Jubilees 29:13, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2:112.
45 David W. Cotter, Genesis (Liturgical Press, 2003), 250.
46 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 229; Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 467 n.16; Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 246.
47 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 268; cf. Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 246.
48 Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 247.
49 James K. Hoffmeier and Mark Janzen, “Towards a Diplomatic Contextual Reading of the Encounter Between Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33,” in James K. Hoffmeier, Richard E. Averbeck, J. Caleb Howard, and Wolfgang Zwickel, eds., “Now These Records are Ancient”: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical History, Language, and Culture in Honor of K. Lawson Younger Jr. (Zaphon, 2022), 212.
50 Yair Zakovitch, Jacob: Unexpected Patriarch (Yale University Press, 2012), 113.
51 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.326, in Loeb Classical Library 242:157.
52 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 5.2.2, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:250.
53 Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 249.
54 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 230.
55 Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary (Zondervan Academic, 2001), 454; Stephen K. Ray, Genesis: A Bible Study Guide and Commentary (Ignatius Press, 2023), 298.
56 Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 5.5, in The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/1:220.
57 David W. Cotter, Genesis (Liturgical Press, 2003), 241.
58 Philip H. Kern, Jacob's Story as Christian Scripture (Cascade Books, 2021), 97.
59 Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 250.
60 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 468.
61 Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 240.
62 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 469-470.
63 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 290.
64 Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 252.
65 William P. Brown, “Manifest Diversity: The Presence of God in Genesis,” in Nathan MacDonald, Mark W. Elliott, and Grant Macaskill, eds., Genesis and Christian Theology (Eerdmans, 2012), 13.
66 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 449.
67 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 230.
68 Philip H. Kern, Jacob's Story as Christian Scripture (Cascade Books, 2021), 96.
69 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 470.
70 R. R. Reno, Genesis (Brazos Press, 2010), 244.
71 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 290.
72 Matthew R. Schlimm, From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 167.
73 Ambrose of Milan, De officiis 1.24 §111, in Ivor J. Davidson, ed., Ambrose: De Officiis (Oxford University Press, 2001), 1:183.
74 David W. Cotter, Genesis (Liturgical Press, 2003), 251.
75 Paul D. Vrolijk, Jacob's Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) (Brill, 2011), 250.
76 Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary (Zondervan Academic, 2001), 453.
77 Ambrose of Milan, Jacob and the Happy Life 2.6 §27, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 65:162.
78 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 472.
79 Yair Zakovitch, Jacob: Unexpected Patriarch (Yale University Press, 2012), 111.
80 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 58.3, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 87:155.
81 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 290.
82 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 471.
83 Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary (Zondervan Academic, 2001), 452, 456.
84 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 249; Daniel Hillel, The Natural History of the Bible: An Environmental Exploration of the Hebrew Scriptures (Columbia University Press, 2006), 75.
85 Matthew R. Schlimm, From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 169.
86 Jubilees 37:6, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2:125.
87 Jubilees 37:11-13, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2:126.
88 Testament of Judah 9.2, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 1:797.
89 Jubilees 37:18-21, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2:126-127.
90 Jubilees 38:2, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2:127; Testament of Judah 9.3, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 1:797.
91 Jubilees 38:10-12, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2:128; cf. Testament of Judah 9.7-8, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 1:797.
92 Chad Bird, Limping with God: Jacob and the Old Testament Guide to Messy Discipleship (1517 Publishing, 2022), 130.
93 Kenneth E. Bailey, Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel's Story (IVP Academic, 2003), 161.
94 Kenneth E. Bailey, Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel's Story (IVP Academic, 2003), 165-166.
95 Kenneth E. Bailey, Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel's Story (IVP Academic, 2003), 170.
96 Kenneth E. Bailey, Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel's Story (IVP Academic, 2003), 164-165.
97 Philip H. Kern, Jacob's Story as Christian Scripture (Cascade Books, 2021), 98.
98 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 5.2.2, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:249.
99 Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary (Zondervan Academic, 2001), 457.
100 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 5.2.2, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:248.
101 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 58.16, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 87:162.
102 Matthew R. Schlimm, From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 169.
103 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 58.19, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 87:164.
104 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 5.2.3, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:252-253.
105 R. R. Reno, Genesis (Brazos Press, 2010), 251.
106 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 5.2.3, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:253.
No comments:
Post a Comment