Cry Me A River

Wow. I can't believe the Egyptians wept for seventy days.
Now that's a lot of weeping.

Jacob will be missed. He was very sovereign and lied and was normal.
When Joseph presented his grandchildren to receive his blessing, he switched his arms so the younger child would get his right arm, thereby receiving the bigger blessing. I liked that part. Go Jacob!

That's awesome... he knew what it was like to be the younger child and be automatically undervalued because of it. He was so unloved and overshadowed by the adored Esau, he lied and stole his blessing. I think Issac was as much to blame as Jacob for that wrongdoing. When a parent ignores a kid and chooses favorites, the lesser of the two children always wigs out.

Also.. Jacob does not bless his first son, Reuben, who slept with his Bilhah, nice work. He also denies a blessing to Simeon and Levi (you know the ones who avenged Dinah's rapist and all the Canaanites in the most obscene way, and God did not intervene or punish) Good Work. So the rights of the first born fall on the fourth son, Judah, who slept with Tamar thinking she was a prostitute. He didn't know it was Tamar so it wasn't his wrongdoing. That's right Jacob. He deserves the blessing.

What? A prostitute, isn't that wrong? No. Not at this point in the book. Judah is only "shearing the flock" or spreading his seeds to the "sacred" prostitutes that are supposed to grant you fertility. So typical in the ancient world, men create these selfish "rituals" to consecrate their extramarital affairs. The bible then condemns these affairs with prostitutes later in the book, with the same purpose of regulating sexual behavior (so now prostitution is underground and sleezy instead of sacred).

Yes Jacob rocks. Finally, someone I respect. I know why they cried for 70 days, I'd be cryin' too.

I have officially finished Genesis.

One book down, a bunch more to go...