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  33:20 erected an altar. In the place where Abraham had first built an altar (12:6, 7), Jacob similarly marked the spot with a new name, incorporating his own new name (32:28), “God, the God of Israel,” declaring that he worshiped the “Mighty One.” “Israel” perhaps foreshadowed its use for the nation with which it rapidly became associated, even when it consisted of not much more than Jacob’s extended household (34:7).

  Genesis 34

  34:1–31 The tawdry details of the abuse of Dinah and the revenge of Levi and Simeon are recounted in full, perhaps in order to highlight for the readers about to enter Canaan how easily Abraham’s descendants might intermingle and marry with Canaanites, contrary to patriarchal desires (cf. 24:3; 27:46; 28:1) and God’s will (Ex. 34:6; Deut. 7:3; Josh. 23:12, 13; Neh. 13:26, 27).

  34:1 to see the daughters. Little did Dinah (see 30:20, 21) realize that her jaunt to the nearby city to view how other women lived would bring forth such horrific results.

  34:2 saw…took…violated. Scripture classifies Shechem’s action as forcible rape, no matter how sincerely he might have expressed his love for her afterwards (v. 3) and desire for marriage (vv. 11, 12). Other expressions in the account underscore the clearly unacceptable nature of this crime, e.g. “defiled” (vv. 5, 13), “grieved and very angry” (v. 7), “a disgraceful thing…which ought not to be done” (v. 7), and “treat our sister like a harlot” (v. 31).

  34:5 Jacob held his peace. In the absence of further data, Jacob’s reticence to respond should not be criticized. Wisdom dictated that he wait and counsel with his sons, but their reaction, grief, anger, and vengeance hijacked the talks between Jacob and Hamor (v. 6) and led finally to Jacob’s stern rebuke (v. 30).

  34:6–10 The prince of Shechem painted a picture of harmonious integration (v. 16, “become one people”). However, Shechemite self-interest and enrichment actually prevailed (v. 23).

  34:7 in Israel. Already Jacob’s household is being called by the name God had given him as father of the coming nation (32:28).

  34:13–17 Feigning interest in the proposals put forward and misusing, if not abusing, the circumcision sign of the Abrahamic Covenant (see notes on 17:11–14), Jacob’s sons conned both father and son into convincing all the men to submit to circumcision because the outcome would be to their favor with marriages (v. 9) and social, economic integration (v. 10).

  34:19 He was more honorable. Meaning that the men agreed to such an excruciating surgery (vv. 24, 25) because they had so much respect for him and because they anticipated mercenary benefit (v. 23).

  34:20 gate of their city. The normal place for public gatherings.

  34:25–29 A massacre of all males and the wholesale plunder of the city went way beyond the reasonable, wise, and justly deserved punishment of one man; this was a considerably more excessive vengeance than the Mosaic law would later legislate (cf. Deut. 22:28, 29).

  34:27 The sons of Jacob. Simeon and Levi set in motion the barbarity of that day and attention validly falls upon them in the narrative (vv. 25, 30; cf. 49:5–7), but their brothers joined in the looting, thereby approving murder and mayhem as justifiable retribution for the destroyed honor of their sister (v. 31).

  34:30 You have troubled me. Vengeance exacted meant retaliation expected. Total loss of respect (“making me obnoxious”) and of peaceful relations (v. 21) put both him and them in harm’s way with survival being highly unlikely. This threat tested God’s promise of safety, giving Jacob cause for great concern (28:15; 32:9, 12). Perizzites. See note on 13:7.

  Genesis 35

  35:1 Bethel. This was the place where God confirmed the Abrahamic Covenant to Jacob (28:13–15).

  35:2–4 Put away the foreign gods. Moving to Bethel necessitated spiritual preparation beyond the level of an exercise in logistics. Possession of idolatrous symbols such as figurines, amulets, or cultic charms (v. 4, “earrings”) were no longer tolerable, including Rachel’s troubling teraphim (31:19). Idols buried out of sight, plus bathing and changing to clean clothes, all served to portray both cleansing from defilement by idolatry and consecration of the heart to the Lord. It had been 8 or 10 years since his return to Canaan and, appropriately, time enough to clean up all traces of idolatry.

  35:4 terebinth tree…Shechem. Possibly this was the same tree as in Abraham’s day (12:6).

  35:5 the terror of God. A supernaturally induced fear of Israel rendered the surrounding city-states unwilling and powerless to intervene and made Jacob’s fear of their retaliation rather inconsequential (34:30).

  35:7 built an altar there. Through this act of worship, fulfillment of his vow (28:20–22), and renaming the site, Jacob reconfirmed his allegiance to God, who also affirmed His commitment to Jacob by re-appearing to him, repeating the change of name (v. 10; cf. 32:28), and rehearsing the Abrahamic promises (vv. 11, 12). In response, Jacob also repeated the rite he had performed when he first met God at Bethel (v. 14) and reaffirmed its name (v. 15).

  35:11 kings shall come from your body. God’s words, here included for the first time since His promises at Abraham’s circumcision (17:6, 16), served as a reminder of future royalty.

  35:13 went up. The presence of God was there in some visible form.

  35:14 A commonly done way to make a covenant (see note on 28:18–21).

  35:16 Ephrath. A more ancient name for Bethlehem (v. 19; 48:7; cf. 5:2).

  35:18 Ben-Oni…Benjamin. The dying mother appropriately named her newly born son “Son of my sorrow,” but the grieving father named him “Son of my right hand,” thus assigning him a place of honor in the home. Her prayer at the birth of her firstborn was answered (30:24).

  35:20 The memorial to Rachel could still be seen in Moses’ day, about one mi. N of Bethlehem.

  35:21 tower of Eder. Likely a watchtower for shepherds, near Bethlehem.

  35:22 the sons of Jacob. The birth of Benjamin in Canaan (v. 18) furnished reason to simply review the sons born outside of Canaan, with only one sad note preceding it, i.e., the sin of Reuben, which tainted the qualifier “Jacob’s firstborn” in the listing (see 49:3, 4; Deut. 22:30; 1 Chr. 5:1, 2).

  35:27 Mamre…Hebron. See note on 13:18.

  35:29 his sons Esau and Jacob. Ca. 1885 B.C. Isaac’s funeral brought his two sons back together, as Abraham’s funeral had done for Isaac and Ishmael (25:9). Jacob, back in the land before his father’s death, fulfilled yet another part of his Bethel vow (28:20, “come back to my father’s house in peace”).

  Genesis 36

  36:1—37:1 The genealogy of Esau (v. 1).

  36:1–19 The taking up of “the history of Jacob” (37:2), the next patriarch, is preceded by a fairly detailed genealogy of Esau, to which is appended both the genealogy of Seir the Horite, whose descendants were the contemporary inhabitants of Edom and a listing of Edomite kings and chiefs. Jacob’s and Esau’s posterities, as history would go on to show, would not be in isolation from each other as originally intended (vv. 6–8). They were to become bitter enemies engaged with each other in war.

  36:1 Edom. Cf. v. 8; see note on 25:30; see Introduction to Obadiah.

  36:7 too great for them to dwell together. Crowded grazing and living conditions finally clinched the decision by Esau to move permanently to Edom, where he had already established a home (cf. 32:3; 33:14, 16). Since it was Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob who would possess the land, it was fitting for God to work out the circumstances providentially of keeping Jacob’s lineage in the land and moving Esau’s lineage out. It is not revealed if Esau had understood and come to accept the promises of God to Jacob, although his descendants surely sought to deny Israel any right to their land or their life.

  36:8 Mount Seir. This was divinely assigned as Esau’s place (Deut. 2:5; Josh. 24:4).

  36:10–14 Cf. 1 Chr. 1:35–37.

  36:15 the chiefs. This term, “ruler of a thousand,” apart from one exception (Zech. 12:5, 6), is used exclusively for the tribal princes or clan leaders, the political/military leaders in Edom. It
may suggest a loosely formed tribal confederacy.

  36:20–28 Cf. 1 Chr. 1:38–42.

  36:31–39 kings…before any king…of Israel. Sandwiched in the genealogical details of Edom is a statement prophetically pointing to kingship in Israel (17:6, 16; 35:11; 49:10; Num. 24:7, 17, 18; Deut. 17:14–20). The kings’ list does not introduce a dynasty, each ruler not being the son of his predecessor. “Kings” more likely suggests rule over a more settled people than tribal groups.

  36:43 father of the Edomites. The closing title of the genealogy calls attention to the Lord’s words to Rebekah at the birth of her sons, “two nations are in your womb” (25:23); here was the nation from the older.

  Genesis 37

  37:1 father was a stranger. This by-line into the story of Jacob’s son, Joseph, informs the reader that Jacob’s father, Isaac, hence his sons as well, though in the land, had not yet entered into possession of their inheritance. They were still alien residents.

  37:2—50:26 The genealogy of Jacob (v. 2).

  37:1 land of Canaan. Actually Jacob and his family were in Hebron (v. 14). See note on 13:18.

  37:2 Joseph, being seventeen years old. Eleven years had passed since he had entered the land of Canaan with his family (cf. 30:22–24), since Joseph was born 6 years before departing from Haran. a bad report. Whether Joseph brought this at his own initiative or reported back at the father’s demand on 4 of his brothers (e.g., v. 14) is not elaborated upon, nor specifically cited as the cause of the brothers’ intense dislike of Joseph (cf. vv. 4, 5, 8, 11, 18, 19).

  37:3, 4 Overt favoritism of Joseph and tacit appointment of him as the primary son by the father (see note on 37:3) conspired to estrange him from his brothers. They hated and envied him (vv. 4, 5, 11) and could not interact with him without conflict and hostility. Joseph must have noticed the situation.

  37:3 tunic of many colors. The Septuagint (LXX) favored this translation of the Heb. phrase used by Moses, although some prefer “a long-sleeved robe” or “an ornamented tunic.” It marked the owner as the one whom the father intended to be the future leader of the household, an honor normally given to the firstborn son.

  37:5–10 The content of the dreams which Joseph recounted exacerbated fraternal hostility, with the second one also incurring paternal rebuke. The dream symbolism needed no special interpretation to catch its significant elevation of the favored son to ruling status over his brothers (vv. 8–10).

  37:11 kept the matter in mind. Unlike the brothers, who immediately rejected any meaning to Joseph’s words yet still allowed the dream to sorely irritate them into greater resentment of their brother (v. 19), the father, notwithstanding his public admonishment of Joseph, continued to ponder the meaning of the dreams.

  37:12–17 The assignment to Shechem brought Joseph providentially to Dothan, a site more convenient for contact with merchants using the main trade route on their way to Egypt.

  37:12, 14 Shechem…Hebron. Shechem (see note on 12:6) was located ca. 50 mi. N of Hebron (see note on 13:18).

  37:17 Dothan. Almost 15 mi. N of Shechem.

  37:18–27 The brothers’ plans for murder and cover-up, the fruit of hate and envy, were forestalled by two brothers: first by Reuben, who intended to effect a complete rescue (vv. 21, 22), and then by Judah who, prompted by a passing merchants’ caravan, proposed a profitable alternative to fratricide (vv. 25–27).

  37:25 Ishmaelites. Also known as Midianites (cf. vv. 28, 36; 39:1). The descendants of Ishmael and of Abraham through Keturah and Midian (25:1, 2) were sufficiently intermarried or were such inveterate travelers and traders, that they were viewed as synonymous groups. These were coming W from Gilead. Gilead. See note on 31:21.

  37:27 This criminal behavior would later be prohibited by the Mosaic legislation (Ex. 21:16; Deut. 24:7)

  37:28 twenty shekels of silver. This was the average price of a slave at that time in the second millennium B.C. Although most slaves were part of the booty of military conquest, private and commercial slave-trading was also common. Joseph was sold into slavery ca. 1897 B.C.

  Gen. 37:28

  Joseph’s Journey to Egypt

  37:29 Reuben…tore his clothes. Although he was absent at the time of the sale, he would be held responsible for the treachery, and so joined in the cover-up (vv. 30–35). His grief manifested how much he had actually wanted to rescue Joseph (see 42:22).

  37:31–35 The deceiver of Isaac (27:18–29) was deceived by his own sons’ lie. Sin’s punishment is often long delayed.

  37:35 grave. This is the first OT use of this term for the abode of the dead (in 35:20 it is used to refer to an earthly burial plot). It is a general Hebrew term meaning the place of the dead (Sheol—used 65 times in the OT), referring to either the body in its decaying form or the soul in its conscious afterlife.

  37:36 Potiphar. He was a prominent court official and high-ranking officer in Egypt, perhaps captain of the royal bodyguard (cf. 40:3, 4). His name, a most unusual grammatical form for that period, either meant “the one whom the god Ra has given” or “the one who is placed on earth by Ra,” making it a descriptive epithet more than a personal name. See note on 40:3, 4.

  Genesis 38

  38:1–30 The Judah-Interlude, as it is sometimes known, is bracketed by references to the sale of Joseph to Potiphar (37:36; 39:1). Such a parenthesis in the Joseph story demands some reason why a chapter laced with wickedness, immorality, and subterfuge should of necessity be placed in this spot. The answer is that the events recorded are chronologically in the right place, being contemporary with the time of Joseph’s slavery in Egypt (v. 1, “at that time”). The account is also genealogically in the right place, i.e., with Joseph gone (seemingly for good), with Reuben, Simeon, and Levi out of favor (for incest and for treachery), Judah would most likely accede to firstborn status. It provides a contrast because it also demonstrates the immoral character of Judah, as compared with the virtue of Joseph. Canaanite syncretistic religion and inclusivism threatened to absorb the fourth and later generations of Abraham’s heirs, but Egyptian exile and racial exclusivism produced not loss of their ethnic identity, but preservation of it.

  38:1 Adullamite. Adullam was a town about 1 mi. NW of Hebron.

  38:2–5 Judah’s separation from his brethren was marked by more than the geographical; it involved integration. His Canaanite wife had 3 sons for his family line.

  38:6–10 Two sons were executed by the Lord, one for unspecified wickedness and one for deliberate and rebellious rejection of the duty to marry a relative’s widow, called a levirate marriage. This was a rather dubious distinction for the line of Judah to gain. For details on levirate marriage according to later Mosaic law, see note on Deut. 25:5–10; see Introduction to Ruth.

  38:11 Remain a widow…till my son. Taking her father-in-law at his word and residing at her father’s household as a widow would do, Tamar vainly waited for Judah’s third son to protect the inheritance rights of her deceased husband (v. 14) and finally resorted to subterfuge to obtain her rights (vv. 13–16). In so doing, she may have been influenced by Hittite inheritance practices which wickedly called the father-in-law into levirate marriage in the absence of sons to do so.

  38:12 Timnah. The specific location in the hill country of Judah is unknown. Cf. Samson, Judg. 14:1.

  38:13 shear his sheep. Such an event was frequently associated, in the ancient world, with festivity and licentious behavior characteristic of pagan fertility-cult practices.

  38:14, 15 Feeling that no one was going to give her a child, Tamar resorted to disguising herself as a prostitute, obviously knowing she could trap Judah, which says little for his moral stature in her eyes. Judah’s Canaanite friend, Hirah (vv. 1, 20), called her a shrine-prostitute (v. 21), which made Judah’s actions no less excusable just because cultic prostitution was an accepted part of Canaanite culture. He solicited the iniquity by making the proposal to her (v. 16), and she played the role of a prostitute, negotiating the price (v. 17).

  38:18 signet
and cord, and your staff. A prominent man in the ancient Near East endorsed contracts with the cylinder seal he wore on a cord around his neck. Her request for the walking stick suggests it also had sufficient identifying marks on it (cf. v. 25, “please determine whose these are…”). The custom of using 3 pieces of identification is attested to in Ugaritic (Canaanite) literature.

  38:20–23 It was not good for one’s reputation to keep asking for the whereabouts of a prostitute.

  38:24 let her be burned! Double standards prevailed in that Judah, no less guilty than Tamar, commanded her execution for immorality. Later Mosaic legislation would prescribe this form of the death penalty for a priest’s daughter who prostituted herself or for those guilty of certain forms of incest (Lev. 20:14; 21:9).

  38:26 more righteous than I. This was not an accolade for her moral character and faith, but a commendation by Judah for her attention to inheritance rights of her family line and his shameful neglect thereof. Her death sentence was rescinded.

  38:29 Perez. This first of the twins, born of prostitution and incest to Tamar, nevertheless came into the messianic line, which went through Boaz and Ruth to King David (Ruth 4:18–22; Matt. 1:3). His name means “breach” or “pushing through.”

  Genesis 39

  39:1 Potiphar. See note on 37:36. Ishmaelites. See note on 37:25.

  39:2 The LORD was with Joseph. Any and all ideas that Joseph, twice a victim of injustice, had been abandoned by the Lord are summarily banished by the employment of phrases highlighting God’s oversight of his circumstances, e.g. “with him” (vv. 3, 21), “made all he did prosper” (vv. 3, 23), “found/gave him favor” (vv. 4, 21), “blessed/ blessing” (v. 5), and “showed him mercy” (v. 21). Neither being unjustly sold into slavery and forcibly removed from the Land (37:28), nor being unjustly accused of sexual harassment and imprisoned (vv. 13–18) were events signaling even a temporary loss of divine superintendence of Joseph’s life and God’s purpose for His people, Israel.