Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/457

THE HISTORY OF JACOB.

Chs. XXV. 19-XXXVI.

Setting aside ch. 26 (a misplaced appendix to the history of Abraham: see p. 363), and ch. 36 (Edomite genealogies), the third division of the Book of Genesis is devoted exclusively to the biography of Jacob. The legends which cluster round the name of this patriarch fall into four main groups (see Gu. 257 ff.).

A. Jacob and Esau:

1. The birth and youth of Esau and Jacob (25^19-28). 2. The transference of the birthright (25^29-3:). 3. Jacob procures his father's blessing by a fraud (27).

B. Jacob and Laban:

1. Jacob's meeting with Rachel (29^1-14). His marriage to Leah and Rachel (29^15-30). The births of Jacob's children (29³¹-30²⁴). 4. Jacob's bargain with Laban (30^25-43). 5. The flight from Laban and the Treaty of Gilead (31¹-32¹).

C. Jacob's return to Canaan (loose and fragmentary):

1. Jacob's measures for appeasing Esau (32^4-22).[*] 2. The meeting of the brothers (33^1-17).^[1] 3. The sack of Shechem (34). 4. The visit to Bethel, etc. (35{{sup|1-15). 5. The birth of Benjamin and death of Rachel (35^16-20). 6. Reuben's incest (35^21f.).

D. Interspersed amongst these are several cult-legends, connected with sanctuaries of which Jacob was the reputed founder.

1. The dream at Bethel (28^10-22)—a transition from A to B. 2. The encounter with angels at Mahanaim—a fragment (32^2f.). 3. The wrestling at Peniel (32^23-33). 4. The purchase of a lot at Shechem (33^18-20). 5. The second visit to Bethel—partly biographical (see below) (35^1-15).

The section on Jacob exhibits a much more intimate fusion of sources than that on Abraham. The disjecta membra of P's epitome can, indeed, be distinguished without much difficulty, viz. 25^{19. 20. 26b} 26^34f. 28^1-9 29^{24. 28b. 29} 30^{4a. 9b. 22a} 31^{18a(Greek characters)b} 33^{18a(Greek characters)} 35^{6a. 9f. 11-13a. 15. 22b-26. 27-29} 36[A]. Even here, however, the redactor has allowed himself a freedom which he hardly

1. Gu. recognises a second series of Jacob-Esau stories in C. 1, 2; but these are entirely different in character from the group A. To all appearance they are conscious literary creations, composed in a biographical interest, and without historical or ethnographic significance.