Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/223

 The Unity of winning

Jacob's

of

the Jacob Story

Rachel

having

without

Esau's hatred of Jacob and of the

latter's

205 first

told

consequent

of

flight

from home, would be tantamount to beginning a long serial knowing anything of the causes and events which preceded and paved the way for this Or, even more indicative, the story of Jacob's final episode. meeting and reconciliation with Esau would be absolutely unintelligible without a full knowledge of their previous relations. In other words, unlike the creation-flood and Abraham cycles of stories, we have here, in the present Biblical form, not a group of independent Jacob stories, united by a common theme, but one single Jacob story, which story in the middle without

is

a unit of narration as well as of thought.

The procedure

of the compilers

is

easily perceived.

They

took the old, independent Jacob traditions, and wove them together

womb

one complex and highly dramatic narrative.

into

The legend

of

the

of

struggles

two brothers

the

in

the

of their mother serves as an effective introduction or

prelude to the story, in that

it

foreshadows dramatically the

future relations of the two men.

The

story of the father's

blessing, -originally, in all likelihood, a parallel version of the

birthright story, they presented as a subsequent

mentary incident

in the relations of

and supple-

Jacob and Esau. Thereby

heightened the dramatic effect of the situation and brought out the contrasted characters of the two men more

they

pointedly and emphatically. in

Esau

unspiritual,

rash,

lacking

foresight and judgment, revengeful, animal in his uncon-

trolled desires

and passions, yet not without the saving grace

And Jacob restrained, cunning and deceitful, unscrupulous in

of loving consideration for his father. foresighted,

selfish,

securing his ends, yet managing always to justify himself in

some way, and superficially

brother,

to

secure illegitimate gains by dubious, yet

legitimate

methods.

and Jacob must

beginning of his journey

flee

Hence

for his

God

Esau hates his But at the very Himself to him and

life.

reveals