Sublime

Do we like Jacob? The likely answer is that we do not. We may revere him; after all, he is one of our three ancestral patriarchs. We may even respect him; he is certainly clever, audacious, and remarkably determined. But there is something fundamentally unlikable about our ancestor Jacob.

We know that when he was younger, he bought Esau’s birthright. Later he dressed in Esau’s clothes, told his blind father that he was Esau, and under that pretense took Esau’s blessing. His very name, Jacob, was given to him because, when he was born, he was holding on to Esau’s heel. Together these amount to a psychologically striking proposition.

As long as Jacob saw himself as Esau, he threatened Esau and felt threatened by him. Only when he became Israel could the two brothers, each secure in his own identity, meet as equals and part as friends.

Jacob did what he did as an expression of love. His feeling for Rachel was overwhelming, as it was for Joseph, her elder son. Love is central to Judaism: not just love between husband and wife, parent and child, but also love for God, for neighbour and stranger. But love is not enough. There must also be justice and the impartial application of the

Reubenites are primarily herdsmen,

Boaz is an image of Jesus, who redeems us from our old identities with his covenant love.