Jacob
Jacob, the second and more prominent son of Isaac, is one of three aptly named Patriarchs of the Hebrew Bible. Much like his father and grandfather, Jacob earns the right to be known as one of God’s chosen men by being one whose “descendants shall be as the dust of the earth“ (Gen 28:14). Despite this, Jacob is a truly a flawed human being. While he is able to overcome these flaws to become the patriarch of the Israelite people, and receive a portion of the covenant God had promised to his grandfather, Abraham, his sins in life negatively affected future generations of Israelites in the form of slavery in Egypt.
When examining the original text, it becomes clear that Jacob’s flaws are a very important part of his overall disposition. His flaws are much more apparent in his early life; as evidenced by his various sins during the first part of his appearance Genesis. First, in Gen. 25:30-34, Jacob essentially steals his brother Esau’s birthright. Esau is “famished,” and asks his brother for food. Jacob agrees to feed his brother, but only if Esau is willing to “sell me [Jacob] your birthright,” which Esau agrees to do (Gen. 25:30-34 NJPS). This method of receiving the birthright points to two attributes that are very important Jacob’s personality: first, this episode illustrates Jacob’s Machiavellian tendencies, and second his proper application of intelligence. This characteristics are displayed again two chapters later in Genesis, when Jacob and his mother, Rebekah, trick his ailing father into giving him the blessing intended for Esau by dressing in Esau’s clothes and putting the skins of slaughtered goats on his hands and neck to simulate Esau’s hairiness. While Isaac is at first skeptical, he believes that Jacob ...
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...eward from God, Jacob’s descendants are punished by God in the form of slavery in Egypt. By the end of Genesis, it is not uncommon for collective punishment to be used; all living things are destroyed by the Flood in Gen. 6-9, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are annihilated in Gen. 19. By this reckoning, it is not at all a stretch to believe that sins of the Patriarchs, and in particular Jacob‘s sins, are the direct cause of for hundred years of slavery in Egypt.
Works Cited
Berlin, Adele, and Marc Z. Brettler, eds. Jewish study Bible [featuring the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh translation]. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.
Tullock, John, and Mark McEntire. Old Testament Story, The (8th Edition). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2009.
Zakovitch, Yair. Why Were the Israelites Enslaved in Egypt. "And You Shall Tell Your Sons..." Jerusalem: Magnes P, 1992.
The Bible: The Old Testament. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 1. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 47-97.
The irony exposed in Jacobs’ writings serves to show how desperate the slaveholders are to maintain their power, and how this desperation reveals the depravity of slavery. They are fully cognizant that having the word of God on their side affords them even more power over their slaves, and they use this knowledge as a channel through which slave behavior may be controlled. “After the alarm caused by Nat Turner’s insurrection had subsided, the slaveholders came to the conclusion that it would be well to give the slaves enough religious instruction to keep them from murdering their masters” (Jacobs 57). This passage is the first to demonstrate whites using religion as an oppressive force.
Overall, the fact that their bodies were not their own was perhaps the most terrible component of slavery for women-they were looked upon as sexual objects that existed for their masters to enact their most depraved sexual fantasies upon rather than a human being. Jacobs tries to give full emphasis to this fact in order to sway the sentiments of northern readers, particularly white women who would be most likely empathetic to her predicament. A Christian master knew the word of God or what we would call the teachings of the Bible, so he was able to intentionally misconstrue biblical verses to his advantage. Yet, white southern “Christians” committed these cruel acts, believing their behaviors were neither wrong nor immoral (BN 1).
Jacob's name means "deceiver" and he lives up to his name. His deceitfulness began with stealing his brother's birthright. One day, Esau came in from the fields famished and found Jacob cooking a meal. Jacob offered his half-starved brother, "Give me the birthright and I'll give you some soup." Esau being starved, sold his birthright to Jacob. (Genesis 25: 29-34). Sometime later when Isaac thought he was going to die, he called Esau into his tent and told him to kill an animal and make him some soup. Isaac's wife overheard this and connived a plan with Jacob to deceive Isaac. Jacob disguised himself as Esau and obtained his blind and dying father's blessing (Genesis 27).
The aim of this paper will be to point out some crucial factors which ultimately shaped the understanding of slavery in the lives of Jacob
...d labor, had made herself a comfortable home, was obliged to sacrifice her furniture, bid a hurried farewell to friends, and seek her fortune among strangers in Canada. Many a wife discovered a secret she never known before-that her husband was a fugitive, and must leave her to insure his own safety. Worse still, many a husband discovered that his wife had fled from slavery years ago, and as “the child follows the condition of its mother,” the children of his love were liable to be seized and carried into slavery” (155) Extremely pity, sorrow, and shame is projected throughout Jacob’s book which covers not only her life, but also the common misfortune of many victims of slavery. Undoubtedly the women slaves were repeatedly abused, discriminated, and harassed not only by the society but also by the sadistic masters becoming the most mistreated of a slavery society.
Robinson, B. A. (2008, March 30). Books of the Hebrew Scripture . Retrieved May 7, 2011, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_otb3.htm
Gender was a main concern that did not make Jacob’s a free woman, in comparison to Equiano. The facts from the bible that does not permit women to own nor to buy land also played a role in gaining her freedom. Christianity hypocrisy or support on slavery had a role in lives of slaves as slaves were supported by Christianity. Jacob’s narrative was definitely written for the same audience as of Equiano’s, her main point while telling her story was to show people what was really going on in the lives of slaves, how they struggled to live a happy life. Strategies that were used by both of the slaves were somewhat different, because gender played a huge role becoming free women in comparison to Equiano. It was truly sad to see these people struggle to live a happy life like every other person, but I liked Jacob’s narrative much more than Equiano’s.
The impressions of Jacob are from many different types of characters in the book. There are random people that we don’t even get the name of, Jacob’s own mother, those that love Jacob and even those whom Jacob love. All these impressions are woven on a common thread, that all human being’s have a need to break isolation and cherish attention, love and concreteness.
During the era of Jacob’s life, women are seen as moral superior beings, being deemed pure, pious, and caring and representing a God like figure. With these moral expectations in mind, women find the most fulfillment in life by caring for their home and their children. For black women in this era, they are deprived from these fulfillments in life due to their lack of human rights and legal protection. This deprivation can be seen clearly in the psychological suffering from sexual abuse.
...e that chattel slavery was a cruel, perverse institution that no human should ever have to endure. Most people realize today how hypocritical it was to call oneself a Christian, while treating slaves so horribly. Throughout her book, Harriet Jacobs, in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, revealed Americans everywhere that slave owners were hypocrites, and calling themselves Christians was perhaps the greatest sin of all.
Slave-owners forced a perverse form of Christianity, one that condoned slavery, upon slaves. According to this false Christianity the enslavement of “black Africans is justified because they are the descendants of Ham, one of Noah's sons; in one Biblical story, Noah cursed Ham's descendants to be slaves” (Tolson 272). Slavery was further validated by the numerous examples of it within the bible. It was reasoned that these examples were confirmation that God condoned slavery. Douglass’s master...
LaSor, W., Hubbard, D., Bush, F., & Allen, L. (1996). Old Testament survey: The message, form, and background of the Old Testament (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
Charlesworth, Matthew. "The Covenants in the Old Testament." Academia.edu. N.p., 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Jacob first appears in the Bible in the book of Genesis. The Bible says that Esau was the firstborn of the twins. “Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.” (Genesis 25:26). The boys grew up, and Esau was described as a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. Once when Jacob was cooking a stew in his tent, Esau came in from the from hunting in the fields and was famished. Jacob told Esau he would share with him his stew on the condition that Esau renounce his birthright to him. Esau accepted. Later, as their father, Isaac sat on his deathbed, he blessed Jacob, who was dressed in fur clothing to imitate Esau who had more body hair than Jacob. Isaac thought it was Esau he was blessing (Meeks 41). After this, Jacob’s mother advised him to go live with his Uncle Labon in Padan-Aram – afraid that Esau would become vengeful and kill Jacob after he tricked their father into giving him his blessing of the first born.