Jacob the Righteous – Chapter Four -pts 1 and 2

This is the fourth chapter of my book on the Patriarch Jacob. The introduction and chapters 1-3 can be found in previous posts. The purpose of this book is to present Jacob in a different light than he is often portrayed. We have been taught things about Jacob that I believe are not consistent with scripture. Please enjoy and do not hesitate to comment. Shalom! Mike

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field;

and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Genesis 25:27 KJV

Chapter Four

Jacob – Pt 1 – No “Momma’s Boy”

Character assassination:

The deliberate and unfair destruction of someone’s reputation.

Macmillan Online Dictionary[1]

I have often asked people to describe the character of Jacob. I am struck by the variety of responses that always paint a negative picture of the patriarch. I am told things like, “he was a supplanter,” “a deceiver,” “he was dull,” “he was feminine,” “tied to his momma’s apron strings“, and “he was a momma’s boy!” J.M. Boice in his commentary on Genesis, Vol. 2, A New Beginning, went so far as to call Jacob, “that sniveling sissy, Jacob.” [2] Ouch!

John Calvin, in his Commentary Upon the Book of Genesis, says this of Jacob, “he loved the quiet of home so much, that he might seem to be indolent” and that the disposition of Jacob, “had nothing worthy of commendation.”[3]

The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary gives the definition of indolent as: Averse to activity, effort, or movement: habitually lazy[4].

Calvin doesn’t mince his words. He calls Jacob “a lazy, good for nothing!”

When I ask people why do they think Jacob was a “momma’s boy”, the answers range from, “He lived amongst the tents with the women“, or, “He was cooking in the kitchen,” “His father loved Esau and his mother loved him.” Are they developing this idea from a close examination of the scriptures, or are they just following along with an idea that may contain prejudice and that has been taught from the time of the reformation?

When I ask people why they call him a deceiver, they reply, “He stole the birthright from his brother,” or “He deceived his father into giving him the blessing“. I also hear, “He manipulated the flocks and herds of his Uncle Laban and snuck away without saying good-bye.” Rarely do I get a response such as, “he was an upright man“, “he was righteous“, or, “Jacob was a God-fearing man.”

I will never suggest that Jacob, like his forefathers, did not have his faults; but to summarize his character in a negative manner makes the phrase, “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” appear incongruent. The reputation of Jacob is most often developed and propagated through a very poor interpretation of Genesis 25:27 and through pastors and teachers accepting and promoting the testimony of individuals, like Laban and Esau, whose character the Scripture clearly call into question.[5]

It is beginning to appear that the character of Jacob may have been the target of deliberate and unfair destruction.

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field;

and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Genesis 25:27 KJV

Jacob – Pt 2 – A tam Man

The Hebrew word translated as quiet in the KJV, or plain in the NIV is tam. Tam is translated as peaceful in the NASB. Tam is used 15 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and is only once translated as quiet, or peaceful. The remaining times it is translated as perfect, blameless, complete, guiltless or integrity.

Job 1:1 says, “There was a man in land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

The NET Notes for Job 1:1 state,

[T]he word Mt (tam) has been translated “perfect” (so KJV, ASV). The verbal root Mmt (tamam) means “to be blameless, complete.” The word is found in Gen 25:27 where it describes Jacob as “even-tempered.” It also occurs in Ps 64:5 (64:4 ET) and Prov 29:10. The meaning is that a person or a thing is complete, perfect, flawless. It does not mean that he was sinless, but that he was wholeheartedly trying to please God, that he had integrity and was blameless before God.[6]

If in the above passage – Genesis 25:27 – the author intended to show contrast between the sons of Isaac, it would have been difficult for the translators to show contrast between a hunter and a righteous man. Had the interpreters correctly identified Esau as a godless tyrant, Jacob’s righteousness would have provided the proper contrast. Poorly interpreting yada tsayid as “cunning hunter, a man of the field” put the translators in a position in which living among the tents would have to appear to be tame and thus create the necessary contrast between the sons of Isaac. This verse presents a great example of the danger of eisegesis – placing one’s own interpretation over that of the meaning intended by the author – and creates an improper picture of Esau as “a man’s man” and Jacob as a “Momma’s boy.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Proper contextual study clearly shows that “dwelling in tents” does not imply that Jacob is attached to his mother’s apron strings. What is stated is that Jacob is carrying on the vocation of his father and grandfather. I’m not so sure too many people would have called Abraham a “sissy”!

The first mention of tents in the Bible is directly related to the raising of livestock. Genesis 4:20 states that, “Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.” We also find in Genesis 13:5 that Jacob’s grandfather Abraham and his nephew Lot, “also had flocks and herds and tents.”

It is clear that by using Scripture to explain and understand Scripture, that “staying in tents” had nothing to do with one’s masculinity or a perceived lack thereof. A more literal interpretation of Genesis 25:27 might read, “When the boys grew up, Esau forsook the promises of God and became a godless tyrant while Jacob followed in the path of his fathers as a righteous shepherd.”

“Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright.”[7]

Recognizing Jacob as a righteous man, a man of integrity, gives us better insight into his purpose for desiring the birthright and the blessing that was culturally reserved for Esau. How did Jacob develop his desire for the righteous ways of God? Scripture states that Abraham spent time dwelling with his son Isaac. Hebrews 11:9 states,

“By faith he [Abraham] lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise.”[8]

Jewish traditions also teach that both Esau and Jacob spent time learning in the tents of Shem and Eber.[9] If the legend of Esau and Jacob with Shem and Eber is true, and knowing that Scripture is God-breathed and reliable; Esau and Jacob may have heard from Shem, himself, of God’s displeasure with sinful men that led to the Great Flood. They would have certainly been aware of the division of people and the confusion of the language at the Tower of Babel. They must have shaken at the story of the Mighty Tyrant, Nimrod. How often had they heard their grandfather Abraham retelling the story about the covenants that God had made with him? They must have sat amazed at how Grandpa had met the malak of Elohim and had been promised a son. Their father had been promised by angels! They sat in awe to hear the story of how God spoke directly to their grandfather. They must have been told how through Abraham’s seed – and through their father’s seed – the whole world would be blessed. Hearing the stories and promises of God, Jacob desired intensely to have that promise fulfilled through his seed.

Did Jacob sense a cavalier attitude about the promises of God in his brother Esau? Had Esau already dismissed his calling as the firstborn by choosing to pursue game as opposed to pursuing God? Shouldn’t his heart have been swelling with expectation knowing that he was the firstborn and heir to the birthright? Didn’t he recall when he claimed to be “starving to death” that his father had already been raised from the dead, but instead, “for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son”? [10]

I believe that Jacob, who Scripture identifies as a righteous man, could not bear the thought or sight of his immoral brother placing upon himself the priestly robe of righteousness and standing before the Lord on behalf of his family. Jacob would look for an opportunity for the righteous to take hold of the priestly mantel. This would not be accomplished without conflict. Recognizing Jacob as a tam, or upright man should provide us with better insight into the adversary Jacob wrestled with at Peniel, the night before his brief reunion with his brother Esau.

[1] http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/character-assassination, retrieved June 21, 2010

[2] J. M. Boice, Genesis, A New Beginning, p 756

[3] Calvin’s Commentaries vol. 1, Commentary Upon the Book of Genesis, chap XXV, pg 49, published by Baker Book House Co. Grand Rapids, MI

[4] indolent. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved June 22, 2010, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/indolent

[5] In Genesis 27:36, Esau accuses Jacob of taking away his birthright. The text of Genesis 25:32 clearly demonstrates that Esau knowingly sold his birthright to Jacob. Genesis 31, Laban accuses Jacob of deceiving him by slipping out of PaddanAram without notice. The texts of Genesis 29 and 31 show that it was Laban who had dealt deceptively with his nephew Jacob and that it was by instruction from God that Jacob left the house of Laban to return to the land of Canaan. Reference has already been given for Boice and Calvin’s impressions of the Patriarch Jacob.

[7] Proverbs 29:10 NIV

[8] Hebrews 11:9 NAS

[9] Lewis Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, chapter VI, Jacob, The Favorite of Abraham, “In their childhood, both brothers went to school, but when they reached their thirteenth year, and were of age, their ways parted. Jacob continued his studies in the Bet ha Midrash of Shem and Eber, and Esau abandoned himself to idolatry and an immoral life. Both were hunters of men, Esau tried to capture them in order to turn them away from God, and Jacob, to turn them toward God.”

[10] Hebrews 12:16 NIV

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