of his natural birthright. But Jacob's deliberate deception of both Isaac and Esau can also be interpreted as a gesture of identity assertion. That is, Jacob appreciates the value and power of Isaac's patriarchal blessing and will not abuse his privilege too far. A further comment on this comes from a footnote explanation of what happens after Jacob receives Isaac's blessing: Jacob leaves the family altogether and goes to Paddan-aram. Rebekah is anxious about Jacob's remaining with the family because he might marry a Hittite woman; the footnote commentator says that Jacob leaves "to preserve racial purity among the chosen people." The varieties of more or less impure peoples are the issue of Esau, who takes numerous wives of different lands. From a historical perspective, this helps explain the emergence of the distinctive identity of Jews in ancient history, both as a landed nation and across a variety of lands i
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