213: Character Study — Jacob, Part 2

BEMA Episode Link: 213: Character Study — Jacob, Part 2
Episode Length: 45:58
Published Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2021 01:00:00 -0700
Session 6
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings finish the conversation for this particular character study of Jacob. They suggested in the last episode that God was with Jacob, even if He did not approve of his actions. Why does God delay justice and/or punishment?

Discussion Video for BEMA 213

Genesis: A Parsha Companion by Rabbi David Fohrman

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Rashi — Wikipedia

Sefaria: A Living Library of Jewish Texts

Transcript for BEMA 213

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 213: Character Study - Jacob, Part 2

Title & Source Summary

Episode: 213 - Character Study: Jacob, Part 2 Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Focus: Genesis 29-35, 48; The story of Jacob’s consequences, God’s delayed justice, and ultimate reconciliation with Esau

This episode continues the character study of Jacob, exploring why God delays justice and punishment when Jacob clearly acts deceptively. The hosts examine Jacob’s arrival at Laban’s house empty-handed, his years of hardship, his eventual reconciliation with Esau, and how these narratives reveal that true biblical justice (mishpat) is found not in immediate punishment but in redemptive reconciliation. The episode also connects Jacob’s story to Jesus’s Parable of the Prodigal Son and explores how Jacob’s life journey teaches about forgiveness, consequences, and God’s patient work toward restoration.

Key Takeaways

God stayed with Jacob throughout his deceptive actions, not because He approved, but because He was committed to fulfilling His promise and bringing Jacob through a redemptive journey
Jacob arrived at Rachel empty-handed due to the consequences of his own choices, facing years of deception and hardship under Laban as a result
The Midrashic tradition suggests Eliphaz (Esau’s son) pursued Jacob to kill him but spared his life, taking all his possessions instead, leaving Jacob penniless
Jacob’s weeping when he met Rachel was not just joy but the realization he had lost what should have been his - he had nothing to offer her
God delayed justice for Esau because true mishpat (restorative justice) awaited in Esau’s eventual forgiveness of Jacob, which is more redemptive than immediate punishment
The reconciliation between Jacob and Esau (Genesis 33) forms the foundation for Jesus’s Parable of the Prodigal Son, with the forgiving brother becoming the forgiving father in Jesus’s retelling
Jacob’s prophetic premonition about not being buried with Rachel was fulfilled when she died giving birth to Benjamin on the road to Bethlehem
At the end of his life, Jacob finally achieved clarity about God’s redemptive work through all the dysfunction, wrestling with both his Jacob identity and Israel identity until the end

Main Concepts & Theories

The Question of Delayed Justice

The episode opens with a fundamental theological question: Why does God delay justice and punishment when Jacob is clearly in the wrong? This question is framed using two Hebrew concepts:

Diyn - judgment or punishment
Mishpat - restorative justice, putting things back in their proper place

The hosts suggest that both Esau and Jacob have claim to the firstborn blessing, creating a complex situation where simple judgment would not truly restore what was broken. God’s delay is not passive approval but strategic patience aimed at deeper restoration.

Jacob’s Empty Hands - The Consequences of Deception

Genesis 29 describes Jacob arriving at the well where he meets Rachel. The rabbinical interpretation, particularly from Rashi, focuses on Genesis 29:11: “Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.”

Rashi offers two interpretations of Jacob’s tears:

Prophetic Premonition: Jacob had a vision that Rachel would not be buried with him, indicating future tragedy
Empty Hands: Jacob wept because he arrived with nothing to offer Rachel, unlike Eliezer who came to court Rebekah with bracelets, rings, and jewels

The Midrashic tale explains Jacob’s poverty: After deceiving Esau, Eliphaz (Esau’s son) pursued Jacob at Esau’s command to kill him. However, because Eliphaz had been raised on Isaac’s lap and understood the promise of God, he couldn’t bring himself to kill Jacob. Instead, he took all of Jacob’s possessions. Jacob reasoned, “Take my possessions and I will be a poor man. A poor person is as good as death.”

This interpretation reveals that Jacob’s deception created consequences he would have to live with - arriving penniless, unable to build the life he wanted, forced to work for Laban through deception and shrewdness for years.

The Hebrew Phrase “Weep Aloud”

The phrase “weep aloud” (used in Genesis 29:11) is significant in Hebrew literature. The rabbis note that this phrase appears in other key moments:

Esau’s response (Genesis 27): When Esau discovers Jacob stole the blessing, he “weeps aloud” - a cry of loss
Jacob’s meeting with Rachel (Genesis 29:11): Jacob “weeps aloud” - also a cry of loss

Both brothers lost something that was supposed to be theirs due to the family dysfunction. Esau lost his birthright and blessing; Jacob lost the ability to court Rachel properly and start his family with dignity and resources.

True Mishpat - Restoration Through Forgiveness

The climactic moment comes in Genesis 33 when Jacob and Esau reunite after years of separation. Jacob approaches his brother with extreme humility, bowing seven times, positioning his family strategically, prepared for death. Instead, verse 4 records:

“Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. He threw his arms around his neck and kissed him and they wept.”

This reconciliation scene becomes the biblical foundation for Jesus’s Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). Key connections:

In Genesis, the brother (Esau) runs to embrace, kiss, and weep over the returning deceiver (Jacob)
In Luke 15, Jesus transforms this - the father runs to embrace, kiss, and celebrate the returning prodigal son
The elder brother in Jesus’s parable represents the Pharisees who refused to welcome sinners
Jesus’s point: The Pharisees should have been like Esau, running to reconcile with their wayward brothers, but instead they stood with arms crossed in judgment

The hosts argue that true mishpat is not found in God immediately punishing Jacob and vindicating Esau, but in the patient work that allows Esau to grow into someone capable of forgiveness. This redemptive forgiveness actually puts the world back together in a way that mere punishment never could.

Rachel’s Death - The Fulfilled Premonition

Genesis 35:16-20 records the tragic death of Rachel during childbirth:

Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin while traveling
She named the child Ben-Oni (“son of my trouble/misery”)
Jacob renamed him Benjamin (“son of my right hand”)
Rachel was buried along the road to Bethlehem, not in the family tomb

This fulfills Jacob’s prophetic premonition from their first meeting - they would not be buried together. The tragedy occurred because of their circumstances, the instability of Jacob’s life, the constant movement and struggle that stemmed from how he had lived.

Jacob’s Confession - “To My Sorrow”

In Genesis 48:7, as Jacob nears death, he tells Joseph:

“As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow, Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath.”

The Hebrew phrase “to my sorrow” can be more literally translated as “because of me” or “it’s my fault.” Two interpretations are discussed:

The Oath Interpretation: Jacob once swore, “May the person who stole your gods die” (not knowing Rachel had stolen Laban’s idols). He may have blamed her death on this curse he unknowingly pronounced on his beloved wife.
The Life Path Interpretation: Jacob is finally recognizing at the end of his life that Rachel’s death, and much of his family’s suffering, resulted from the hard road of deception he chose. He’s telling Joseph, “Your mother died because of how I got us here - I took the deceptive road, the road that led to misery we didn’t have to experience.”

Jacob Wrestling to the End - The Jacob/Israel Duality

Throughout Genesis 48-49, the text alternates between calling the patriarch “Jacob” and “Israel.” Key observations:

When Joseph arrives, “Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed” - representing the future of God’s people finding strength
But “Jacob said to Joseph” - the personal struggle continues
After seeing Joseph’s sons, the name shifts predominantly to “Israel” - he has achieved clarity and sees the redemptive arc
But occasionally the name “Jacob” returns - he wrestles with his identity until his final moments

This duality represents the lifelong struggle between who we have been (Jacob the deceiver) and who God is calling us to become (Israel, one who wrestles with God). Even with clarity and redemption, the struggle continues.

Examples & Applications

The Patience of Redemptive Justice

In modern contexts, we often want immediate justice when wronged. This narrative challenges that instinct by asking: What is more restorative - immediate punishment or the patient work that allows for forgiveness and reconciliation?

The hosts acknowledge this doesn’t apply universally, especially in cases of abuse or severe trauma, but suggest that in many conflicts - family disputes, church divisions, relational breaches - the biblical model points toward the harder but more redemptive path of forgiveness.

Living with Consequences While Experiencing Grace

Jacob’s story demonstrates that God’s presence and promise don’t eliminate the natural consequences of our choices. Jacob experienced:

Years of deception under Laban (mirroring his own deceptive practices)
Family dysfunction and favoritism that would plague his children
Loss of Rachel, the love of his life
Constant instability and struggle

Yet God remained with him throughout, not approving of his methods but faithful to His promise. This reflects how grace and consequences coexist in the Christian life.

The Prodigal Son in Jewish Context

Jesus’s parable gains profound depth when understood as a retelling of Jacob and Esau. His original Jewish audience would have immediately recognized:

The younger son leaving and squandering his inheritance = Jacob
The faithful older son who stayed and worked = Esau
The father running to embrace the returning son = What Esau did, transformed into the father’s role

Jesus’s condemnation of the Pharisees becomes sharper: “You’re supposed to be Esau, running to embrace your wayward brothers. Instead, you stand in judgment. So I, as the Father, must do what you refuse to do.”

The Gift of a Redemptive Perspective

Jacob’s deathbed scene shows a man who has finally achieved perspective on his life’s journey. Despite all the pain, dysfunction, and “hard road,” he can see how God wove it together redemptively. His grandsons (Ephraim and Manasseh) fill in gaps in his own story. This perspective allows him to:

Bless Joseph’s sons
Ensure his descendants remember they belong in Canaan, not Egypt
Pass on not just a blessing but a vision of God’s faithfulness through the mess

This models how suffering and struggle, when met with faith and reflection, can produce wisdom and spiritual clarity.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

Deeper Study of Midrashic Interpretation: How does Jewish interpretive tradition work? What are the rules for valid Midrash? How do multiple interpretations coexist?
The Book of Esther Connections: Fohrman apparently traces the Jacob/Esau conflict through to Esther via Eliphaz, Agag, and Haman. How do these generational conflicts carry forward, and how does Esther resolve them?
The Theology of Divine Patience: How does God’s patience with Jacob relate to 2 Peter 3:9 (“The Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish”)? What is the theology of divine patience in both testaments?
Rachel in the Larger Biblical Narrative: Why does Matthew 2:18 quote Jeremiah 31:15 about “Rachel weeping for her children” in connection with Herod’s massacre? How does Rachel become a symbol of maternal grief?
Comparative Study: Jacob vs. Judah: Both brothers undergo significant transformation. How do their arcs compare? What role does each play in Israel’s future?
The Dinah Narrative: The hosts mention skipping the rape of Dinah (Genesis 34). How does this traumatic story fit into the family’s dysfunction and eventual restoration?
Laban as Jacob’s Mirror: How does Laban’s deception of Jacob (switching Leah for Rachel) serve as poetic justice? What does this teach about reaping what we sow?
The Significance of Jacob’s Name Change: When and why does Jacob become Israel? What does it mean to wrestle with God? How does this relate to spiritual transformation?
Joseph as Redeemer of His Father’s Story: How does Joseph’s role in Egypt redeem the family narrative? In what ways does Joseph complete what Jacob began?
Forgiveness as Mishpat in the New Testament: How does Jesus expand the concept of restorative justice? What does “forgive seventy times seven” mean in light of Jacob and Esau?

Comprehension Questions

According to Rashi’s interpretation, why did Jacob weep aloud when he first met Rachel, and how does this differ from the typical reading of joyful tears?
Explain the difference between diyn and mishpat and how both concepts apply to the situation between Jacob and Esau. Why does God delay judgment in Jacob’s case?
How does the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33 serve as the foundation for Jesus’s Parable of the Prodigal Son? What key element does Jesus change in his retelling?
What does the Hebrew phrase “to my sorrow” (Genesis 48:7) literally mean, and what are the two interpretations given for why Jacob says Rachel’s death was his fault?
Why does the biblical text alternate between calling the patriarch “Jacob” and “Israel” in his final chapters? What does this duality represent about his character and spiritual journey?

Personal Summary

This episode profoundly challenges simplistic notions of divine justice by asking whether immediate punishment or patient redemption better restores what is broken. Jacob’s story reveals that God’s presence with us doesn’t equal approval of our methods, and His patience isn’t passive but purposeful, aimed at transformation.

The most powerful insight is that true biblical justice - mishpat - often requires the harder path of forgiveness rather than the satisfaction of judgment. Esau’s growth into someone capable of embracing his deceiver brother represents a more complete restoration than any punishment of Jacob could achieve. This finds its ultimate expression in Jesus, who transforms the story by taking the role of the father who runs to embrace the wayward son, doing what the Pharisees (the “elder brothers”) refused to do.

Jacob’s journey from deceiver to patriarch illustrates how God works redemptively through our consequences, not by removing them but by remaining present through them. His tears when meeting Rachel - tears of loss for what could have been - echo throughout his life until his final days when he achieves clarity: the hard road he chose led to pain, but God wove even that into a redemptive narrative. The wrestling between his Jacob identity and his Israel identity never fully resolves, modeling the lifelong spiritual struggle we all face between who we have been and who God calls us to become.

Ultimately, this episode teaches that forgiveness and reconciliation, though costly and difficult, are more powerful tools of restoration than judgment and punishment. They don’t erase consequences or pretend wrong didn’t happen, but they create the possibility for true mishpat - putting the world back together again.

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S6 213: Character Study — Jacob, Part 2

Family Dysfunction [45:58]