Jacob's Name Change in Genesis

The purpose of this research is to provide an exegesis of a portion of Genesis regarding the meanings and implications of the change of Jacob's name to Israel. The plan of the research will be to set forth the background and context of the events in which the name change is described, and then to discuss ways in which the change reaches narrative and theological meaning for the writers of Genesis and the audience at which the book was directed.

Jacob's name change is specifically cited in two places in Genesis, at 32:23-31, when the angel that Jacob wrestles with says that Jacob's future name will be Israel, and at 35:10-12, when God appears to Jacob and more formally blesses him and designates the change. The most important feature of the background of and context for these passages is the status of Jacob among his people. Jacob is a proxy for the clan of Abraham, which eventually becomes the clan of the Israelites as a whole. Indeed, Jacob makes a project of seeking leadership in the clan, beginning with his swindling Esau out of the birthright by obtaining the firstborn's blessing, and continuing with his repeated requests for blessings, whether from God, the angel, Esau, or Laban. If the figure of Jacob is interpreted metaphorically as a personification of the Israelites, then it is not too much to say that the Israelites, too, persistently seek blessings, indeed, persistently seek a special status in the universe and special relationship with the Lord of the universe. Ja

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ins His power and immediately obliges Israel to be fruitful, multiply, and take permanent possession of the "land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac . . . And to your descendants after you / will I give this land." Boadt explains that the appearances of God to Jacob at Bethel mark the first and last times God appears to Jacob, and that at the final appearance in Gen. 35, "God reconfirms that Jacob will from now on be Israel and the promise of a great nation of descendants is on the verge of fulfillment." This whole narrative line provides a framework of spiritual understanding for the reading audience of Genesis. The figure of Jacob, personified as Israel, is a witness to God's direct engagement with human experience. After he speaks directly to God for what will be the last time, Jacob takes his family to the land of Canaan. So far, so good. But the narrative of Genesis proceeds to shift, with the misfortunes of Joseph, to Egypt, and Israel and his family also shift, out of Canaan to Goshen by way of Egypt. Israel does prosper in Goshen, but by the time Jacob and then Joseph die, the people of Israel are certainly no longer in the land promised to them by the God of Abraham. Keller suggests that Israel's people simply ease thems

Category: Philosophy - J