Published In

Biblical Theology Bulletin

Document Type

Pre-Print

Publication Date

5-8-2024

Subjects

Literary Criticism, Theology -- Study and teaching -- United States

Abstract

Can the story of Isaac be read with tragedy in mind or is the second patriarch the comedic relief of Genesis? Scholars mostly see Isaac as the book’s fool and thus laughable. Even more clearly so in Gen 26:7-11 which recounts how, during the hunger migration of Isaac and Rebekah to Philistine Gerar, Isaac presented Rebekah as his sister. Comparing Genesis 26 with similar stories about Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 12, 20), Isaac and Rebekah are in lesser danger than Isaac’s parents. This work takes three steps to argue that the story supports the national identity of displaced Israelites. First, I argue that the wife-sister scene isn’t necessarily less frightening than the other wife-sister scenes in Genesis 12 and Genesis 20. Second, I don’t consider the whole Isaac cycle. The reason is that unlike others who try to understand the character of Isaac, as it comes out from Genesis 17-35, I care for the wife-sister motif as a device to engage with fears around immigration. Third, and most untraditionally, I use modern social psychology research on modern societies to speculate about the effect of the story on its original readership.

Rights

© The Author(s), 2024.

Description

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published as: Tragedy, Ownership, and Hospitality in Gerar: Lessons from Social Psychology. Biblical Theology Bulletin, 54(2), 84-88.

DOI

10.1177/01461079241252672

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42186

Publisher

SAGE Publications

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