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Genesis 31:3-32:2 Chavurah Shalom Sat 4/30/16 Jacob Is the First Person

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Genesis 31:3-32:2 Chavurah Shalom Sat 4/30/16 Jacob Is the First Person Genesis 31:3-32:2 Chavurah Shalom Sat 4/30/16 Jacob is the first person to whom God can say, "Return to the Land of your fa- thers!" For the Land was first promised to Avraham, and then to Isaac, and now to Jacob. Jacob has heard the discontent of Laban's sons, and seen the change in La- ban's face, but more importantly, He has heard from God! V. 3 records this as a direct command from God to Jacob, "ADONAI said to Ja- cob." In other words, whether in the dream that follows, or in a vision, or an audi- ,שׁוּב ,ble voice, Jacob heard ADONAI speak. Here is the simple command to shuv return, and "I will be with you." This is a reminder of the promise of God in Gene- sis 28:15, when he was fleeing Esau. While many make a case for the same kind flight here as there, we have a direct command of God, and Jacob's immediate obe- dience, whatever the other factors may have been. We will see in the recounting of his dream, and the Angel of God, that ADONAI has proven His Word true to Ja- cob, abiding with him to protect and to provide even while in a foreign land. Jacob does not travel alone! The Chumash however, in seeking to tie the promise of the Presence of God to the Land, and to being in fellowship only with other holy people, suggested (Rashi) that His presence would not rest upon Jacob as long as he remained in connection to an unclean Laban. Malbim however, suggested this displeasure of Laban and his sons, was designed to provoke Jacob to leave.--p. 176. Neither of these assessments are found in the text, and the command of God is enough to move Jacob at this point in his life. The connection to the dream is enough for him to acknowledge God and to follow Him. Combined with the earlier promise at Bethel, it cannot but remind us of Psalm 121:8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever. So whether going or coming, God has promised to be with His People. Vv. 4-16 The Consent of His Wives Genesis 30:25-43 relates the situation of Jacob and the flocks from the viewpoint of Jacob's activities. Now, as Jacob seeks the consent of his family, he relates the same events in a profound, theological interpretation. It was not simply Jacob after all, but God who instructed and directed him. He is familiarizing them with the - 1 - God of Bethel, which he had obviously already related to them, as he reference to the God of Bethel reveals. So Jacob sends for Leah and Rachel. Significant is the absence of the two concu- bines, the mother of some of his children. They are not afforded a voice in this de- cision as are Leah and Rachel. As he begins his discourse, he refers to Laban in opposition to God, for Laban is pitted against Jacob, but God has been for Jacob. In fact, he always refers to Laban as "your father," and to God as "my father's God." Laban's face has been altered. You can tell much from a person's coun- tenance. By looking at their face, you can quite often read their emotional state, whether they are up or down, happy or sad, satisfied or discontent. Thus we often find in the Scripture this concept of the face. Here it is interpreted as "attitude." And we all know about a Bad Attitude! On the other hand, God's attitude toward Jacob is gracious, and kind. While Laban has been against him, God has been with him. While Laban changed his wages ten times, God did not permit Laban to do evil with him, the literal Hebrew. This is explained in the dream as the Angel of God relates that it was God that caused the flocks to bring forth what Laban thought unusual, in order to limit Jacob's wealth. Thus it was God who moved the stronger, more unusual coloring of the flocks to Jacob. 9. has taken away. and given - This is a legal formula for the conveyance and transfer of property. The first term, hitsil, is unique in Hebrew in such a context but is attested in Aramaic legal documents. Jacob’s use of an Aramaism, echoed by his wives in verse 16, is congruous with the narrative background that deals as it does with “Laban the Aramean,” who himself uses Aramaic in verse 47.-- JPS Torah Commentary, p. 214. Jacob is told to observe, or see what God has done in the mating of the flocks. Ja- cob is told to remember the events at Bethel, where he anointed the standing stone, and vowed a vow unto God. Jacob is told to arise, and to go out from this land, and to return to the Land of your kindred. Jacob shared a dream with his wives, but he also related to them the command- ments of God that now called them also to obedience. He needed not to persuade them, for they had seen for themselves. They noted that they had been sold to Ja- cob for the 7 years service each. They also noted that their father had devoured the benefits of those 7 years each, so that they benefited nothing from their father. - 2 - What should have been dowry, was consumed. They are basically expressing financial abandonment by their father. They sum up with hyperbole, suggesting This word does not contain the .נָכְרִי ,they were treated as total strangers, nochri familiarity of the ger, the resident alien, but describes one who is truly a stranger, a foreigner, an alien. One who is very temporary. It is interesting to note that in the foregoing dream, this "Angel of Elohim," nonetheless says, "I have seen all that Laban is doing to you...I am the God of Bethel...you made a vow to Me. The Chumash takes time to protest the seeming identity of the Angel with very God. They see him as Shaliach, emissary of God thus speaking in His Name.--p. 177. There is here no Thus saith the LORD, as with the prophets; no, God said, but I am and I have seen. Vv. 17-21 The Leaving from Laban Moshe, as our narrator, twice uses the term "he acquired," to refer to the way in -which he ac" ,אָשֶׁר רָכַשׁ which he obtained his flocks. The Hebrew expression is quired." The narrator also emphasizes that it was "his children," "his wives," "his livestock," "his property," and "his possession." Thus seeking to put to rest any sense of stealing that which he took with him when he left Laban. household ,תְרָ פִּ ים ,However, Rachel DOES steal from her father, his teraphim gods. She does this on her own initiative, telling neither Jacob nor Leah of her ac- tions. Our narrator refers to them as teraphim three times, at v. 19, 34, and 35. However, Laban refers to them as "my gods," v. 30, and Jacob refers to them in the same way, v. 32. OK, so enters the picture of the concept that is played out in our text of stealing. and it appears seven times in our text at ,גָּנַב ,The Hebrew word for stole is ganav vv. 19, 20, 26, 27, 30, 32, 39. Victor P. Hamilton, in The Book of Genesis 18-50 in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, suggests however: From a Hebrew perspective, of course, one might ask, "Can one steal gods?" "Is the destiny of a god at the beck and whim of a mortal?" The ancient reader would not miss the sarcasm in this story, for here is a new crime -- "godnap- ping" !--p. 292. Thus we have Rachel stealing Laban's Teraphim, Jacob stealing Laban's heart, and Jacob assumes that Laban will steal back (a different Hebrew word, and carries the idea of rob) his wives and his children. There was a literal, physical, clandestine - 3 - event in Rachel stealing her father's teraphim. However, there is the figurative sense in which Jacob stole Laban's heart. Jacob's theft was an act of self de- fense and reasonable. Hers is unexplained and appears to be arbitrary. The jux- tapositioning of the two acts of thievery in this way creates the impression that Jacob's deception is not as serious as Rachel's.--Hamilton, p. 296. There is undoubtedly a play on words in the Hebrew, as Laban and heart, lev, sound much the same, and the word Aramean also sounds similar to the word for cheat, ramah, as in Genesis 29:25. The point was to keep Laban with a peaceful heart, thinking all was good, in order for him to slip away. If you remember our map some weeks back, we saw Haran way up north, beyond the Euphrates River. In returning, Jacob set his face towards the Mountains of Gilead, which are between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Now the one thing we have not yet delved into is, Just what are the Teraphim and why did Rachel steal them? The answers are varied, lengthy and laborious! To un- derstand Rachel's motive may in itself be a lesson in frustration. Our Scripture does not specifically tell us this reason. - 4 - We can however, know a little about the Teraphim. There was obviously quite an array of them as to size and likeness.
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