Genesis and Exodus
| Jacob: favoratism and trickery |
| Jacob and Esau: rivalry between hunters and pastoralists? |
| a new version of Cain & Abel? |
| Rebekah and Jacob deceive Isaac |
| ladder-dream at Bethel (Gen 28:10-19) |
| God tells him to return home (Gen 31:3) |
| Jacob wrestles with God (Gen 32:24-32) |
| name-changed to Israel 'he who strives with God' |
| Jacob peels rods (Gen 30:37-43; J) |
| God sends a dream of the flocks (Gen 31:6-15: E) |
| Younger offspring favored |
| God no longer acts directly |
| in Egypt (Joseph understands) |
| Joseph tests his brothers |
| Judah's speech and Joseph's reply (ch. 44-45) |
| inversion of folktale motif |
| each plague follows a clear pattern |
| God hardens the heart of Pharaoh |
| a contract with the entire people |
| Hebrews called to establish a just society |
| Ten commandments: twofold purpose |
| maintain exclusive loyalty to God |
| preserve justice in covenant community |
| the Mosaic covenant produced three habits of mind |
| 1. the Hebrews drew sharp distinctions between the sacred and the profane |
| the Chosen people (sacred) kept separate from other peoples (profane) |
| 2. they had a legal mode of thinking |
| 3. they thought historically |
| Genesis through Kings is a history |
| God is viewed as acting in and through history |
| origin of western sense of history |
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