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<\/a>Today, I\u2019ve got a bit of writing about these chapters in General, an article I wrote in the past on Genesis 38, and some useful tidbits<\/p>\n
Before talking about the stories in today\u2019s chapters, let\u2019s introduce a relevant principle. When we get to Exodus 20 in a few weeks, we\u2019ll encounter the idea that God is \u201ca jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me\u201d (Exo 20:5). There\u2019s a particular interpretation of this I like, but first let\u2019s counter the context-free \u201cmean Old Testament deity\u201d interpretation by pointing out that in the next verse God is said to \u201cshow kindness to the thousandth generation<\/em> of those who love Me and keep My commandments.\u201d If we are to understand these as saying that God punishes even the 4th generation of children for the parent\u2019s sin, let us point out that if the parental faithfulness reverberates equally down through not the 4th but thousandth generation. The rhetoric portrays God as 250x more \u201cmerciful\/kind\/loving\/loyal\u201d than he is punitive. (It\u2019s hard to translate \u1e25esed<\/em>. See this excerpt from the <\/a>Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary<\/a>,<\/em> \u201cLove.\u201d)\u00a0However, let\u2019s take a different tack. Some have looked at the first verse from a sociological<\/em> perspective; parental sins and mistakes often echo down through the lives of their children for several generations because children emulate their parents, not because of divine decree.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve brought up this verse in order to take a closer look at the chain of deception initiated by Jacob and how that reverberates through his children and grandchildren. Not all of these examples are direct, but I believe they are included in the text and made literarily significant in order to demonstrate something like Exodus 20:5. \u201cDeceive, and both you and your children in turn will deceive and be deceived.\u201d So who deceives whom, and with what?<\/p>\n For Genesis 38, here\u2019s an article I wrote a few years ago in Religious Educator <\/em><\/a>that explains what\u2019s going on and shows \u00a0a few of the connections to \u00a0the surrounding chapters. Please read that as the rest of this post. And if you need background on Religious Educator<\/em>, go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tidbits-<\/strong><\/p>\n It is intriguing that Dinah\u2019s brothers are outraged because such \u201ca disgraceful thing [is not done] in Israel.\u201d There was no territory named Israel either in the time of the patriarchs or in the time when the Israelites were in the desert, though during the latter period it would not be unusual to say that something is not done among the people of Israel. This stands as a good example of the author\u2019s use of anachronism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2013 NIVAC, Genesis<\/a>.<\/p><\/li>\n one of the most disturbing stories in the Bible. Many Christians ignore it altogether. It makes people uncomfortable, but it also brings important matters to the church\u2019s attention. Similarly, readers wanting the Bible to give them a set of directions will be disappointed. Genesis 34 doesn\u2019t prescribe a course of action. It doesn\u2019t tell readers what they should do in response to the rape of a loved one. It doesn\u2019t end with a tidy solution. Instead, the story closes with an unanswered question. After Jacob condemns his sons for their genocidal vengeance, they reply, \u201cShould our sister be treated like a whore?\u201d (v. 31 NRSV). The text never offers a response. The story ends with a question mark.<\/p>\n Readers are left to wrestle with the human condition in all its limitations, confusion, and pain: What is the proper response to sexual violence? What should one do when a family member has been harmed and there are no good options for punishing the wrongdoer? How does one exact justice in the absence of possibilities commensurate with the offense? How can we create communities free from rape and violence? [Schlimm then quotes Tikva Frymer-Kremsky\u2019s Reading the\u00a0Women of the Bible <\/em><\/a>under the heading\u00a0]\u00a0Critiques Rather than Approvals<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cUnderstanding that [the Bible\u2019s] stories are frequently told as critiques of the social situations that they portray rather than in approval of them can lead us to applaud rather than deplore their inclusion in Scripture. Contemporary readers can read with a \u2018hermeneutics of grace,\u2019 a method of interpretation that recognizes the basic decency and well-meaning character of the biblical authors.\u201d<\/p>\n [Schlimm then concludes]<\/p>\n The Bible describes a violent world because our world is violent. If we ignore the violent nature of our world, we also ignore victims of violence. And we cannot ignore those who suffer if we are God\u2019s people. [Seems very fitting for this moment in time.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n -Schlimm, This Strange and Sacred Scripture: Wrestling with the Old Testament and Its Oddities<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/li>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the ancient world the fabrics, ornamentation, colors, length, and hem all played a role in indicating the position of the wearer. Undoubtedly Joseph\u2019s coat designated authority as well as favor, but little more can be said because the Hebrew word occurs only here and in the passage describing [a different] Tamar\u2019s cloak (2 Sam. 13:19). No cognates from comparative Semitic languages offer any confident clarification.\u201d ZIBBCOT<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n So other translations read \u201ca special tunic,\u201d \u201ca long robe with sleeves,\u201d \u201can ornate robe.\u201d There is some much much later\u00a0Jewish (and LDS) speculative interpretation that sees the significance of this coat as being priestly authority in some sense.\u00a0Legends of the Jews<\/i><\/a> (Louis Ginsburg) says that this coat refers to a garment in which figures were embroidered. Coinciding with Ginzberg\u2019s \u201clegend\u201d that Joseph\u2019s coat was priestly garment etc., E. Jan Wilson suggests<\/a> that its Hebrew name derives from pa\u0161a\u0161u<\/em>, a Sumerian word applied the priests\u2019 garment, meaning \u201canointing.\u201d This would change the KJV\u2019s \u201ccoat of many colors\u201d to \u201ccoat of anointing,\u201d which would make him priestly indeed. \u00a0(\u201cInside a Sumerian Temple: The Ekishnugal at Ur\u201d in The Temple in Time and Eternity<\/i>)<\/a>\u00a0Similarly, Jon Tvedntes writes in \u201cPriestly Clothing in Biblical Times<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph\u2019s \u2018coat of many colors\u2019 is said in Keli Yaqar<\/i>, Genesis 37:3, to be the high priest\u2019s tunic, while Dacat and Hadar, on Genesis 30:29-30, indicate that Jacob gave to Joseph the garment of Adam which Esau had taken from Nimrod. Ginzberg explained the reasoning behind this: \u201c####### is a paraphrase of pass\u00eem<\/em> which accordingly is not to be translated \u2018a coat of many colors,\u2019 but \u2018an upper garment in which figures are woven,\u2019 in accordance with Mishnaic [Hebrew text] Jerome, in his commentary on Genesis 27:16, mentioned the Jewish tradition that Adam\u2019s garment was worn anciently by the firstborn in the family, who performed priestly service before Aaron\u2019s time. Other early Christian sources also state that the garments of Adam and Eve were created before the world;\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Both Temples of\u00a0the Ancient World<\/em> and\u00a0The Temple in Time and Eternity<\/em> are good volumes, available online from the Maxwell Institute, and increasingly rarely in print.<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n As always, you can help me pay my tuition here<\/a>, or\u00a0you can support my work through making your regular Amazon purchases through the Amazon links I post. You can also get updates by email whenever a post goes up (subscription box on the right). You can also follow Benjamin the Scribe on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Link to the lesson manual. Today, I\u2019ve got a bit of writing about these chapters in General, an article I wrote in the past on Genesis 38, and some useful tidbits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1720,"featured_media":306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,8,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesis","category-gospel-doctrine","category-old-testament"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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\nAt the outset of this chapter, readers witness a tribal prince rape Dinah. When her father\u2014our patriarch Jacob\u2014learns about it, he does nothing. If his response is appalling, so is that of Dinah\u2019s brothers. They slaughter not only Shechem but also every male inhabitant of his city, grossly distorting the rite of circumcision in the process.\u00a0If we approach the Bible while assuming we should imitate its characters, we\u2019ll give up on reading it.<\/em> There\u2019s no one in Genesis 34 whom readers should try to copy. Shechem\u2019s rape, Jacob\u2019s silence, and the brothers\u2019 violence\u2014all of these actions are horrendous. Readers expecting the Bible to contain rosy and inspiring stories are in for a sore surprise.<\/p>\n
\nWe might prefer to ignore such questions because they involve unpleasant topics. But the Bible refuses to let us do so. It causes readers to recognize how damaging abuse can be and how it can spark incredibly strong reactions. Dinah\u2019s story summons readers to reflect on how abuse can be prevented and how to respond to violence when it does occur. As the text points out, answers may be hard to find\u2014especially in the moment\u2014but that does not lessen the need for communities of faith to reflect on abuse.<\/p>\n\n
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