Encounters in the Dark: Identity Formation in the Jacob Story by Noel Forlini Burt

Abstract

Reviewed by: Encounters in the Dark: Identity Formation in the Jacob Story by Noel Forlini Burt Brian Peterson noel forlini burt, Encounters in the Dark: Identity Formation in the Jacob Story (SBLSS 96; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2020). Pp. viii + 186. Paper $33. Noel Forlini Burt’s central purpose in this work is to examine the meaning of the Jacob narrative, specifically Jacob’s encounter with God at the Jabbok, for the biblical author’s proposed postexilic audience. In the introduction, B. sets forth her methodology and gives a summary of each chapter. Using a self-described “eclectic” (p. 2) methodology, B. draws on collective memory studies, while employing an “array of lenses, including deconstruction, psychoanalytic theory, feminist analysis, Levinasian ethics, narratology, and socionarratology” (p. 3). B. divides her study into six chapters: The Name, The Face, The Wound, The Dark, The Crossing, and Facing the Dark. In chap. 1, B. covers the implications Jacob’s name had for the immediate narrative in Genesis 32, and for Jacob’s life. She also examines the role that the names Israel and Jacob had for the nation. B. ends the chapter with a detailed treatment of the implications and ambiguity associated with “The Name’s” (i.e., God’s) refusal to disclose the divine name to Jacob at the Jabbok. This examination gives way to chap. 2, where B. studies the deep theological and narratival meaning that the motif of the “face” has in the Jacob narrative and the larger ancestral narratives. She examines the significance of the author’s use of the word “face” specifically zeroing in on Jacob’s nocturnal face-to-face encounter with the “man” at the Jabbok/Peniel and Jacob’s face-to-face reunion with Esau the following day. Focusing in chap. 3 on the literal “wound” inflicted on Jacob by the “Wound” (i.e., Elohim/Ish—B.’s terminology), B. examines the implications of this wounding event for the life of Jacob (and Israel) and how his earlier experiences of wounding led him to this integral moment in his life. Building on this, the motif of darkness found in the Jacob cycle and the Jabbok event serves as the backdrop for chap. 4. B. examines the numerous ways in which literal and metaphorical darkness informs the reader about the greater purposes of the author. From the “darkness” of Rebekah’s womb and Isaac’s eyes when Jacob deceived him, to the “darkness” of the Bethel encounter and the Jabbok wrestling event, the motif offers B. another point of contact for making application of the text. In chap. 5, B. undertakes a diachronic analysis of the Jacob narrative especially as it relates to the postexilic community. Drawing on collective memory theory, B. offers an overview of the pertinent literature related to one’s understanding of the connections [End Page 484] between Israel/Jacob and Edom/Esau and the possible Sitz im Leben that may have fostered the development of the Jacob-Esau accounts as well as the connections between Israel/Jacob and Aram/Laban. This chapter leads naturally to B.’s concluding chapter, where she summarizes her findings by focusing on the theological and ethical implications as well as the “political strategies” for her proposed audience. In her concluding comments, B. notes, “[T]he images [of] . . . name, face, and dark—each attest to the complexity of the postexilic community’s relationship to God and the dark time space of the exile” (p. 164). She follows this with the comment, “The chapters ‘The Wound’ and ‘The Crossing’ articulate the proposition of specific political strategies for the postexilic community” (p. 165). True to her proposed methodology, B. is to be commended for her grasp and utilization of a broad range of literature on this topic. She even engages with the archaeological data related to Edom and Israel’s development (pp. 143–47). That said, B. makes a few questionable comments that some may find problematic. For example, her assertion that Abraham placed Ishmael on Hagar’s shoulder when he sent them away (p. 46) seems to be reading too much into the grammar. And on p. 77 she states that Rebekah comforted Isaac after his father’s death, but...