Virtually every child who has spent time in a Christian Sunday school can name the three patriarchs of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But who were these men, and why were they selected to be the patriarchs of a nation? Let's have a look.
The first time we meet Abraham in the bible is in Genesis 12 verse 26. But his name wasn't Abraham then, it was Abram. "When Terah had lived seventy years he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran." Abram married a woman named Sarai. She is said to be barren so, of course, she and Abram had no children. God said to Abram that he should go to a land that God would show him and that he would make of him a great nation. God promised to bless him and make his name great. Why has God chosen him for this special treatment? According to the bible, he has done nothing special nor is he anyone special. We are not told why God has chosen him. He was born, he got married, and now he's 75 years old, and he's off to Canaan with his wife and nephew Lot. When they got there God spoke to Abram again and told him that he would give this land to his descendants.
A famine in Canaan forced Abram, his wife, and Lot to go into Egypt. Here's where we learn a little about Abram's character. He was afraid that because of his beautiful wife, someone would kill him so he could take her for himself. He told her to tell everyone that she was his sister. His plan worked, for him anyway, but not so much for poor Sarai. The Pharaoh took her as his wife. God blamed Pharaoh for all of this and punished him and his family with plagues. Pharaoh was furious with Abram for lying to him. Abram said he didn't really lie to him. Sarai was his half sister. They had a common father. SO, the first of the patriarchs was a liar and a coward, who was engaged in an incestuous relationship with his half sister. PLUS, he was a callous man more concerned for his own safety than for his wife's, who he pimped out to save his own skin. It's a wonder God didn't rescind his offer. But, we're not done yet.
Since Abram and Sarai were so far unable to have children Sarai suggested that Abram "go into" her slave maid, Hagar, so that he might have children. Abram put up no resistance to this plan and Hagar was soon pregnant. Sarai then complained that Hagar looked on her with contempt. Abram told her to do with her maid as she pleased. She dealt so harshly with her that Hagar fled. God caught up with her and told her to return to and submit to Sarai. God also told her that her that he would make a great nation of her son who was to be called Ishmael. Hagar did as she was told and Ishmael was born. Abram was now 86 years old.
When Abram was 99 years old God renewed his promise to Abram, but now changed his name to Abraham and his wife's name to Sarah. As a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and his descendants, he and his male descendants must be circumcised. He also told Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son whose name would be Isaac. God also told him that he would make his covenant with Isaac, ie not Ishmael, but didn't give any reason for doing so. Abraham circumcised all the males in his household including all his male slaves (yes, Abraham was a slave owner), as well as his son, Ishmael and himself. (I hope he got someone else to do his own circumcision.)
Abraham and Sarah went to the land of Gerar, where Abimelech was king. Abraham was afraid that someone would kill him so that they could have Sarah who was now in her 90's. (Abraham may be a little out of touch with reality here.) So, he told everyone that she was his sister. Yes, we've been here before. Last time with the Pharaoh, this time it's Abimelech who takes Sarah. I guess Abraham and Sarah were slow learners. The result was the same. God was angry with Abimelech, who was the innocent party here by the way, and Abraham got a lot of good stuff, including more slaves. More lying, more pimping, more cowardice, more callousness towards his wife and more rewards for all his vices and shortcomings.
As God promised, Sarah conceived and she and Abraham had their promised son whom they called Isaac. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. When Sarah saw Ismael playing with Isaac she said to Abraham,"Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac." Wow, This was Sarah's idea in the first place. She had Hagar kicked out once already when she was pregnant with Ishmael and now she wants to do it again. God told Abraham let Sarah have her way. So Hagar and Ishmael were sent packing. Keep in mind that Ishmael was every bit as much Abraham's son as Isaac. Abraham seems to have lacked a backbone.
Finally the big test came. God told Abraham to take his only son Isaac (doesn't God know that Ishmael was also Abraham's son?) and offer him as a burnt offering. Spineless Abraham does as he's told, but before he could plunge his knife into his son, an angel of the Lord told him not to, but to sacrifice a ram caught in a thicket instead. The change of plan came about because the angel now knew that Abraham feared the Lord. Still a coward. Didn't God or Abraham think about poor Isaac in any of this? This would be psychological torture for him. Having his father bind him, place him on the altar and then get his knife out to stab him to death must have terrified the boy. It was apparently not about obeying God; it was about proving that he feared God. Why does God want people to be afraid of him? I thought he wanted people to love him. God renewed his promises to Abraham.
Sarah died at the ripe old age of 127. Abraham remarried, to a woman named Keturah and they had six children together. He also had sons with his concubines. Abraham sent them east away from his son Isaac to whom he gave all his possessions. Abraham died when he was 175 years old. Since he didn't marry his concubines, he has now added fornicator to his ever growing list of shortcomings.
Before he died, Abraham had sent one of his servants to find a wife for his son Isaac. He didn't want his wife to be a Canaanite woman, so he sent him to his country where some of his kin still lived. There the servant ran into Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel who was Abraham's brother's son. Both Rebekah and her family agreed to her match with Isaac. So Isaac, at 40 years of age, married his first cousin once removed. These guys really believe in keeping it in the family.
When Isaac was sixty Rebekah conceived and gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. While they were inside her she felt them struggling so she inquired of the Lord (it must be nice to have God on speed dial) and he told her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two, born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger." Isaac loved Esau, Rebekah loved Jacob. (Playing favourites with your children - not a good parenting ploy.)
Esau grew up the be a hunter and outdoorsman and Jacob was a quiet man and spent most of his time indoors in tents. One day Esau came home from a day of hunting, absolutely famished and asked Jacob if he could have some of the lentil stew he had prepared. Jacob agreed to give him some, but only if Esau would give him his birthright, which was Esau's because he was the first born. Esau agreed to the deal so, Jacob got the birthright and Esau got a pot of lentil stew and some bread. Jacob was apparently a bit of an opportunist and Esau wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box.
A famine in the land sent Issac and Rebekah to Gerar, the land of the Philistines and their king, Abimelech. Like father, like son, Isaac was afraid he would be killed so someone could take his wife, so he told everyone Rebekah was his sister not his wife. Isaac, like his father was also a liar, a coward and more concerned for his own well-being than for his wife's. Fortunately, for Rebekah, no one took her for his wife.
Esau also lost his father's blessing thanks to a little chicanery on the part of his mother and brother. When Isaac was very old and had become blind. Rebekah wanted to secure her husband's blessing for her favourite son, Jacob. It was rightfully Esau's since he was the eldest son. Rebekah overheard Isaac telling Esau to hunt for him so that he might enjoy some savory food and then give him his blessing before he died. She plotted to get the blessing for Jacob. She sent Jacob to kill two kids and bring them to her so that she might make a savory dish for her husband whom she was about to dupe. Jacob did what he was told. He put on some of Esau's clothes and took the food to his father and told him he was Esau. Isaac expressed his surprise that he had found game so soon. Jacob told him God had granted him success. Isaac had his doubts so he asked Jacob to come closer so he could touch him. Esau was a hairy man and Jacob was smooth skinned. Rebekah had this covered. She had told Jacob to cover his hands and neck with the skins of the goats he had killed. Isaac was fooled when he touched him. He said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." He said to Jacob, "Are you really my son Esau?" Jacob replied, "I am." Jacob had now completed the Patriarchs trifecta of lying and was rewarded with his father's blessing. When Esau returned and found out what had happened he asked if he might also receive his father's blessing. Apparently Isaac hadn't reserved a blessing for Esau for one wasn't forthcoming. Nice one, Isaac.
Esau planned to kill his brother to get his revenge when the time was ripe. Isaac and Rebekah sent Jacob away to the land of his kin (Again,like father like son.) to prevent Esau from carrying out his revenge and also so that Jacob could find a bride from within his family and not from among the Canaanite women, specifically, a daughter of Laban, Rebekah's brother. (Let's keep it all in the family). Jacob is smitten with Rachel, Laban's younger daughter and Jacob's own second cousin once removed, and said he would work for Laban for seven years if he could have Rachel for his wife. Laban agreed. After completing his seven years labour Jacob asked if the could have his wife so that he might "go into her". Laban agreed, but instead of sending Rachel into Jacob's tent after dark he sent in Leah, her older sister. Next morning Jacob finds out that he consummated his marriage with Leah, not Rachel. Laban explains,"It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the first-born." He told Jacob that he would give him Rachel if he worked another seven years for her. He agreed and did so. Jacob was now a bigamist. Rachel was unable to conceive, but Leah quickly turned out four consecutive sons for Jacob. Since Rachel was unable to give Jacob any children she told him to "go into" her maid, Bilhah (where have we seen this before?). Jacob put up no resistance to this idea, just like his grandfather, and Bilhah produces two sons for him. Leah had ceased producing children for Jacob (was't four enough?) so told Jacob to "go into" her maid, Zilpah, who produced two more sons for Jacob. Leah got her mo-jo back and produced two more sons and a daughter for Jacob. Then God opened Rachel's womb and she conceived and bore two boys, Joseph (of colourful coat fame) and later Benjamin. Jacob's twelve sons would go on to head the twelve tribes of Israel, and Dinah would later be at the center of a rape and mass revenge massacre, but that's another story.
So, to sum up. what are the patriarchs guilty of? Abraham was guilty of incest, adultery (with Hager), callousness, cowardice and fornication (with his concubines) and he was a liar and a slave owner, Isaac was a coward and a liar and a callous man, more concerned for his own well being than for that of his wife. He was also unbelievably parsimonious with his blessings. Jacob was guilty of adultery (with Bilhah and Zilpah). He was deceitful as well as being a bigamist, a liar and an opportunist. It is hard to believe that these guys were the cream of the crop and were chosen to father a nation. One has to wonder who got passed over before God stumbled onto these three.
Interesting notes:
1. God promised Abraham that he would make a great nation of his descendants, yet many of his descendants got excluded from this promise, ie. Ismael, Abraham's six children he fathered with Keturah, the unnumbered sons he produced with his concubines, and Esau. Why? The bible has nothing bad to say about any of these people, which is more than we can say about the patriarchs.
2. The pericope of "She's my sister, not my wife" has three iterations in Genesis as we've seen here. Some scholars believe that this is really just one story that had changed over time before they were first written down by the different sources. Hence, the changes in characters and settings. The compiler or overall editor(s) of the old testament included all three versions as they were all a bit different.
3. When Jacob went shopping for a bride in the land of his kin he was looking for Laban, his second cousin (Genesis 29:4). He met some men from Haran. He asked them, "Do you know Laban the son of Nahor? They replied, "We know him." Apparently, they didn't know him very well, but then evidently, neither did his second cousin, Jacob. Laban was not the son of Nahor, he was the son of Bethuel who was the son of Nahor, making Laban the grandson of Nahor. Genesis 24:15 and Genesis 29:10 makes this relationship very clear. This error appears in the King James version of the bible as well as the Revised Standard and Living bible versions. However, the editors of the New International version correctly identify Laban as the grandson of Nahor.
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