Abstract
ABSTRACT Popular readings, for example, sermons appear to exonerate Rebekah and Jacob (Gen. 25: 19-34; Gen 27-29, 33), as if they want to salvage the relation between faith and good character. Scholarly readings are more ready to question Rebekah and Jacob on a continuum between Rebekah and Jacob as deceitful and rescuing the Abrahamic covenant. Who are to be regarded as the perpetrators perverting justice in this narrative? In this essay, I would optfor Esau as the injured party of the fraud perpetrated by his mother and brother. The argument starts with the notion of moral perversity as framed by the concept of moral injury as well as disgust expressed at moral digressions. This discussion will be followed by an explanation of four sermons on Jacob, Esau, Rebekah, and Isaac. The argument will be directed to a discussion of selected scholarly interpretations of the story cycle. Keywords: Rebekah, Jacob, Esau; Isaac, Perpetrator Studies, Sermons, Covenant, Reception, Contextualisation, Ethics of Interpretation, Decolonization, Postcolonialism
Highlights
Popular readings, for example, sermons appear to exonerate Rebekah and Jacob (Gen. 25: 19–34; Gen 27–29, 33), as if they want to salvage the relation between faith and good character
This discussion will be followed by an explanation of four sermons on Jacob, Esau, Rebekah, and Isaac
This essay is structured in three main parts. It starts with the notion of moral perversity in terms of moral injury, as well as disgust expressed at moral digressions. This discussion will be followed by a brief explanation of four sermons on Jacob, Esau, Rebekah and Isaac
Summary
I employ perpetrator studies as a theoretical framework to interpret Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s story cycle. “Readers’ Disgust in the Case of Rebekah, Jacob, Isaac, and Esau: Perverters of Justice?” Old Testament Essays 33 no. In line with my research on perpetrators[4] and associative as well as cathartic identification with Esau,[5] I opt for Esau as the injured party of the fraud perpetrated by his mother and brother They perverted the justice that Isaac sought to provide in the light of Esau’s status as the firstborn, despite the story laying the blame on Esau. This discussion will be followed by a brief explanation of four sermons on Jacob, Esau, Rebekah and Isaac. A final concluding section will draw the threads of the discussion together
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