Digital Commons Network^™

'Who Are You?' Reading And Judging Character In Genesis 26:34-28:9, Nathaniel Q. Hoover

Theses and Dissertations

Genesis 27—the episode where Jacob is disguised as Esau in order to take his blessing—is a morally difficult text. But even though the blessing is gained by deception, no judgment is explicitly made by the characters, by God, or by the narrator. Because of this narrative “gap” of judgment, the reader is invited to participate in the task of judging the characters, either positively or negatively. Using narratological techniques to examine gaps and characterization, this thesis argues that each character—Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob—can be interpreted in both positive and negative ways. This means that if a reader leans toward …