{"id":776,"date":"2013-03-29T11:47:42","date_gmt":"2013-03-29T15:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=776"},"modified":"2013-03-29T11:57:41","modified_gmt":"2013-03-29T15:57:41","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjavascript-ga-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=776","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">  var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);  (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();  <\/script>  <\/heat> Jacob\u2019s Deception &#8211; Held on Sunday, March 24, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Personal Note on Posting Timeline<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We will gather next on Sunday, April 7<sup>th<\/sup> so our next post will be no later than Friday, April 12<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Background: Gen. 26: 34 \u2013 28: 09: Jacob, Esau, and the Blessing<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Our editor \/ author weaves together material from both the J and P sources.\u00a0 He uses the P [Priestly] to bookend, as it were, the material from the J [Yahwist] source. In both chap. 26: 34 \u2013 35 and chaps. 27: 46 \u2013 28: 09 the Priestly source provides content that revolves around the wives of the two sons, the contentious wives of Esau and Jacob in search of a wife.<\/p>\n<p>The remainder of the story told by the Yahwist has as two poetic pieces vv. 27 \u2013 29 and vv. 39 40 that serve to focus.\u00a0 Scholars are uncertain of the origin of this material but it could be reflective of the later relationship between the Israelites and the Edomites.<\/p>\n<p>As you read the various episodes in this story, see if you can notice that the author \/ editor keeps the characters separated both in terms of the content and in terms of internal communications.\u00a0 Rebekah never talks to Esau.\u00a0 Jacob and Esau never appear in the same scenes.<\/p>\n<p>Because of the length of this passage, we will deal with it in a series of related episodes.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The first episode is Gen. 26: 34 \u2013 35.\u00a0 <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/26\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/26<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This episode sets the context for what follows.\u00a0 Esau, without parental consent marries two \u201cforeign\u201d women and these marriages are a source of embitterment between them and both Isaac and Rebekah.\u00a0 Esau continues to be painted in a less than admirable manner. \u00a0As you will read though, none of the characters are presented other than as flawed human beings. \u00a0It is this simple fact that enables us to identify with it. \u00a0We know something of this cunning and devious behaviors.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some of the questions that our group engaged in.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>What meaning do these two verses contain for you?<\/li>\n<li>Do they affirm a negative impression of Esau?<\/li>\n<li>What is the significance that the embitterment includes both Isaac and Rebekah?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>The second episode &#8211; Gen. 27: 01 \u2013 04. <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/27\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/27<\/a>.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Isaac in his old age [despite the fact that his death is not announced until 35: 29] makes plans to fulfill his special blessing on his eldest son, Esau.\u00a0 Keep in mind Isaac doesn\u2019t know that Esau sold his birth right.\u00a0 Also scholars don&#8217;t necessarily agree that the birthright and this final blessing are one and the same thing.\u00a0 As we read later, this special blessing has a determined ritual content to it; that is why a meal has to be prepared.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The third episode &#8211; Gen. 27: 05 \u2013 17. <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/27\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/27<\/a>.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Rebekah overhears the conversation between Isaac and Esau, <strong>his<\/strong> son.\u00a0 She turns to Jacob,<strong> her<\/strong> son.\u00a0 The breakdown of communication in the family is evident.\u00a0 Only she knows of the oracle that the Lord spoke to her and thus she adds to her retelling of the conversation, two critical words, \u201cbefore Yahweh.\u201d\u00a0 This addition places her account in a theological, faith context.<\/p>\n<p>It is this faith context that drives her to do all that she does. \u00a0She is not a passive player in fulfilling God&#8217;s will. \u00a0And this fact resulted in a considerable discussion among our group.\u00a0 We ended up discussing questions such as these.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>How would you describe Rebekah\u2019s behavior?<\/li>\n<li>What role does the fact that Rebekah is living in a male dominated,\u00a0patriarchal\u00a0society have to play on her behavior? \u00a0Is that fact something you even thought about?<\/li>\n<li>Why doesn&#8217;t doing \u201cGod\u2019s will\u201d free you from the demands of morality on your behavior?<\/li>\n<li>How can God seemingly accept and work with characters who are presented as conniving, lying, etc.<\/li>\n<li>How do you discuss this type of behavior with others who do not believe and can\u2019t understand how God, \u201cyour God\u201d seemingly approve of such behavior?<\/li>\n<li>What motivates Jacob to follow the directives of his mother?<\/li>\n<li>What does this motivation say to you of the character of Jacob?<\/li>\n<li>What appeals to you in this episode?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Your comments, observations, questions are welcomed.\u00a0 See \u201ccomment\u201d link below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personal Note on Posting Timeline We will gather next on Sunday, April 7th so our next post will be no later than Friday, April 12th. Background: Gen. 26: 34 \u2013 28: 09: Jacob, Esau, and the Blessing Our editor \/ &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=776\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5],"tags":[18,6,19],"class_list":["post-776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-scripture","tag-religion-and-culture","tag-scripture-criticism","tag-scripture-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=776"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":778,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776\/revisions\/778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}