Reading John Edward Anderson’s Jacob and the Divine Trickster recently brought some further insights into the Jacob cycle and the message it is trying to convey. Among other things, Anderson points out that most English Bible translations fail to bring out the ambiguity of the final statement in Gen 25:23. Most versions render the verse something like this:
And the LORD said to her [Rebekah], “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples shall be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.“
The problem with such a translation is that the Hebrew text does not use the terms usually employed for the “older” and the “younger” but literally speaks of the “greater” and the “lesser/smaller.” While the first term is never used as a designation for the “older” in the entire Hebrew Bible, the second term often occurs in connection with the term “firstborn” (in particular in Genesis) and in those instances clearly designates the younger child. However, the fact that Gen 25:23 does not have “firstborn” but “greater” complicates matters. Should the second term be understood as “younger” or as “lesser/smaller”? The juxtaposition with “greater” would suggest the latter, yet this would be the only instance in Genesis where the term would be used this way. The fact that everywhere else in Genesis it denotes the “younger” could, on the other hand, lead one to interpret “greater” as “older.” Thus it seems that the final statement in Gen 25:23 could be interpreted either as “…and the older shall serve the younger” or as “…and the greater shall serve the lesser” or as a combination of the two (“…the greater shall serve the younger”?).
Though one might be tempted to favor the first option as many translations have (and as Rebekah herself may very well have done), it is not entirely clear whether this is indeed the intended meaning. Instead of unambiguously predicting that Esau (the “older”) will serve Jacob (the “younger”), the statement, when translated literally, leaves the reader (and most likely the protagonists themselves) wondering what the meaning of the oracle really is. Is it about age or status or both? It almost seems that in a cycle of stories where the key protagonists are constantly playing tricks on each other in order to get ahead in the game, God is the master trickster who opens the cycle with a very ambiguous statement that keeps the protagonists (and the reader) guessing throughout and at the same time cleverly sets up a trap for them. For while they are constantly trying to get ahead of each other, the divine oracle implies that as soon as they have achieved their goal they are actually in the position of the “lesser.”
(To be continued)
Homework
Think about how this dynamic plays out as the story unfolds in the stories following Gen 25:23.
The Word 
Hi, thanks for reading and posting. These are gifts, to know something you wrote is being read…. and that others are interacting with it. I look forward to further installments and hope the book continues to inform and engage.
Shalom!
ja
You’re very welcome! Thanks for commenting! And thanks for stimulating my thinking. Feel free to critique my posts. Blessings to you and look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Hello, I read your post here and it seems a bit interesting, although God definitely does not want the reader (His children) to guess about anything. The Holy Bible (His actual Word) is amazing and alive and will only truly be understood with the fulfillment of the Holy Spirit. God wants us to KNOW who HE is, and BELONG to Him, rather than just simply reading any translation of his ACTUAL Word. Only God Himself will tell you beyond the text what He is saying in His Word, and that is why the fulfillment of the Holy Spirit is necessary. Anyone can read any translation and interpret His Word differently, which causes problems and divisions, and we ought to know that God is not about confusion or disorder. He knows what He is doing.
Fascinating. I recently had a conversation regarding different translations of the Bible and paraphrases. The person I was talking to was telling me how the New Living Translation was so easy to understand. And I remember sharing that sometimes there are ambiguous texts that are explained away while other, more faithful translations pass the ambiguity on to the reader. But as yo just pointed out, nothing matches reading the text in its original language.
Thanks for these posts.
They help us engage with the Scriptures and wrestle with the text instead of simply skimming over the surface.
I have been looking for years for a theological take on the ambiguity of this very verse. I am now going to find a copy of John Anderson’s book.
Mark
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