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Notes on video lecture:
The Story of Jacob and his Sons
Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
powerful, Reuben, die, geopolitical, Joseph, twelve, longest, barren, Genesis, Naphtali, opportunist, map, beloved, tribes, Zebulum, characters, priestly, inheritance, hiatus, narrative, readers, know
Jacob became the              tribes of Israel
Leah
although the first born, was the less                of Jacob's two wives
she gave birth to Jacob's first sons             , Simeon, and Levi
Rachel
in despair over her              state, provides Jacob with her maidservant Bilhah
the idea being that the sons that Bilhah conceives, Dan and                 , will be adopted by Rachel as her very own
Leah
ever the                        and not to be outdone by this stratagem, matches Rachel's Bilhah with her own maidservant Zilpah, and produces yet another pair of sons, Gad and Asher
then Leah's womb grows fertile once more and she produces her final set of sons, Judah, Issachar, and               
only at this point when the family seems nearly complete, does Rachel finally conceive and bear her first son, whom she names Joseph, then after a considerable              in time, Rachel conceives a second time, and bears a son by the name of Benjamin
tragically, however, she will        while giving birth to this last of her two sons
the twelve Sons of Jacob can be placed on the map of ancient Israel
two exceptions
Levi
because this is a                  clan whose heirs won't have need for land
Joseph
although his areas are considered to be Ephraim and West/East Manasseh
these are the two sons that Joseph had who Jacob adopted as his own, a story told in                48:1-4
the right of a first-born son in the Bible means that he has the right to inherit two parts of the father's                       
so even though Reuben was the firstborn,              can be seen as being treated as the first born since he gets the two shares from his sons
each character in the story of Jacob and his sons represents a                          entity
ancient Israelites knew when they heard these names in this story, that they represented real             
to understand the effect of this story, one could write a story using the names of the Continental United States as the characters in your story
you would be free to create any story you wanted
but you wouldn't be able to describe the                      in any way you wished
since your                would bring to the story what North Carolina is like, what New York is like
they would except that the characters in your story reflect what they          about those states
each one of these sons represented a place on the       
each one was a tribe that was well known in the land of ancient Israel
so as the Biblical writer begins to tell a story using these tribes as names, he has to tell the story in the way that the readers identify with who these tribes functioned in ancient Israel
some of the most                  tribes were the Josephean tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and the tribe of Judah, from these tribes Israel's kings and its royal cities emerged
in the story about Jacob's sons, these are the two sons that emerge as the most important since these were the two tribes who were the most significant geopolitical entities in the area
it can't be accidental that the story of Jacob and his sons is the                continuous narrative in the Genesis, since it is in this                    that the writer of Genesis is going to establish what it means to be the people Israel through a story about the twelve tribes, or the twelve characters, who represent the people of Israel

Ideas and Concepts:

From the reads-like-a-soap-opera department via tonight's Jesus in Scripture and Tradition class: "While in Aramea, Jacob met two women, Leah and Rachel, and married them both. Leah, although not Jacob's favorite, gave birth to his first sons Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. Rachel, in despair over her barren state provides Jacob with her maidservant Bilhah, with the idea that the sons Bilhah conceives, Dan and Naphtali, will be adopted by Rachel as her very own. Leah, ever the opportunist and not to be outdone by this stratagem, matches Rachel's Bilhah with her own maidservant Zilpah, who lies with Jacob and produces yet another pair of sons, Gad and Asher. Then Leah's womb grows fertile once more and produces her final set of sons, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulum. Only at this point when the family seems nearly complete, does Rachel finally conceive and bear her first son, Joseph, and, after a considerable hiatus in time, conceives a second time, bearing a son by the name of Benjamin. Tragically, however, she dies while giving birth to this last of her two sons."
Understanding eponymous ancestral stories of the Bible, via this morning's Jesus in Scripture and Tradition class: "It can't be accidental that the story of Jacob and his sons is the longest continuous narrative in Genesis, since it is in this narrative that the writer of Genesis is going to establish what it means to be the people Israel through a story about the twelve tribes, or the twelve characters, who represent the people of Israel. As each character in the story represents a geopolitical entity, ancient Israelites knew when heard the names in this story that they represented real tribes living among them. To understand the effect of this story on ancient Israelites, you could imagine writing a story using the names of the Continental United States as the characters in a story. If you wanted to create a believable story, you wouldn't be completely free to do with the characters anything you wished since your readers would bring to the story ideas of what North Carolina is like, what New York is like, how Pennsylvania is different than Rhode Island, etc. They would expect that the characters in your story reflect what they know about those states. In the story of Jacob and his sons, each one of these sons represented a place on the map, each one was a tribe that was well known in the land of ancient Israel. So as the Biblical writer begins to tell a story using these tribes as names, he has to tell the story in the way that the readers will identify with how these tribes functioned in ancient Israel. The three most powerful tribes were the Josephean tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and the tribe of Judah, as from these tribes Israel's kings and its royal cities emerged, and so in the story about Jacob's sons, these are the characters that emerge as the most important since these were the two tribes who were the most significant geopolitical entities in ancient Israel."
Eponymous Ancestors in the Bible
The Story of Jacob and his Sons
The Biblical Motif of First Born Son
The Shepherd Motif
Joseph's Dreams
The Problematic of Chosenness: Samuel and Joseph
Joseph in the Pit: Descent and Ascent
The Three Descents and Ascents of Joseph
Change in the Non-Elect
Joseph's Prison Dreams
The Symbolic of Joseph's Dreams as Service Not Power
Judah Pleads to Joseph for Benjamin
Judah as Most Important Son of Jacob
The Concept of Salvator Mundi
Transition from Israel to Jesus
Elijah and the Restoration of Israel
Preparing for the Restoration
Historical Jesus and the Importance of Criteria
The Historical Jesus and the Criteria of Coherence
Jesus: Who Do You Say I Am?
Chosenness and Responsibility to Love and Service
Discipleship as Service to Others
The Travel Narrative: Humanity's Blindness
Who was Responsible for the Death of Jesus
Rembrandt's Depictions of the Trial of Jesus