To what extent can “blessing” be seen as the theme of the patriarchal narratives?
Blessing is one of the core themes of the patriarchal narratives along with obedience and covenants.
Blessings can be seen throughout the biblical narrative in various forms and happen for many reasons. The theme of blessing in the patriarchal narratives sits alongside, and in conjunction with other core themes. From the first three verses in Genesis chapter 12 to the 49th chapter of the same book, blessings abound; they are central to its overarching message, which reaches its fullest patriarchal expression in Genesis chapters 48 and 49.
To know what extent blessing can be seen as a theme, we must first look at what is meant by blessing. A blessing can come in an abundance of forms with a multitude of reasons. It may be useful to consider five dimensions of these blessings: future versus present; temporal versus eternal; conditional versus unconditional; spiritual versus physical; and, with respect to God, mediate versus immediate.
Consider, as an example of both future and present blessing, as well as an immediate blessing, Genesis 28:13-15:
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
Genesis 17:1-14 provides an example of conditional, spiritual and eternal blessings:
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly." Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."
And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Genesis 48:8-9 and verses 15-16 demonstrate mediate, unconditional, physical and temporal blessings:
When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, "Who are these?" Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them." . . . And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
These varied aspects of blessings are seen throughout the Bible and especially in Genesis chapters 12-50. With this in mind an examination of the themes of the patriarchal narratives becomes a priority.
There are several themes that dance with each other, weaving their way in and around the characters whilst revealing the metanarrative of God[1]. The most notable is the theme of God’s covenant; His covenant with Abraham which extended through Isaac and Jacob to Abraham’s descendants and as can be seen through later scripture, to Christ, and thus impinges upon all believers. The Lord is a God of promise and blessing. He does these things by establishing covenants requiring obedience which will result in blessings or curses as an outworking of consequences.
God’s sovereign choice of people who will belong to Him in a personal and intimate way manifests itself in the following passage:
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly." Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."
And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
Throughout the patriarchal narrative, God’s covenantal intentions are seen in similar fashion. Alongside the themes of covenants and blessings sits the theme of obedience, or lack thereof. God is faithful even when man fails to be obedient; disobedience, as prevalent as it is, still carries consequences but the will of God can never be thwarted. Obedience is always seen in conjunction with covenants or blessings in the patriarchal narratives. The theme of obedience or disobedience can be seen in the following passages.
Genesis 16:1-4:
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
Genesis 17:17-18
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"
And Genesis 21:1-7
The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me." And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
Both obedience and disobedience can be seen from these interactions; when people attempt to achieve God’s promises through plans outside His plans, God works within the situations, but still fulfils His promises via His plans. As Mary Anne Isaak says:
God’s plan is to bless people. God promises and fulfills the blessing according to that plan. However, just as that blessing cannot be manipulated by people, neither can it be rushed. From the human standpoint, at moments it may seem that the blessing has been bestowed on the wrong people, come to a standstill, or even disappeared altogether. Yet the book of Genesis confirms that the story of God’s interaction with humanity is a story of blessing[2].
There are times when the Lord blesses, and no obedience is required, and neither are stipulations attached, for those who are to be blessed. Jacob frequently lives up to his name and yet God continues to bless him and all he possesses[3].
There is one theme yet to be mentioned which is a subcurrent throughout the whole Bible. The sovereignty of God underpins all His actions in Genesis12-50, and in fact the whole of created life. This can be seen in God’s choosing Abram to begin His nation[4], and the choice of Jacob over Esau[5].
Now that blessing has been established as a theme, consideration should be given as to the extent of that theme within the patriarchal narratives. The Hebrew words related to the root ברך, blessing, are mentioned over 70 times in the patriarchal narratives. This is an average of nearly twice per chapter, and is spread throughout the narrative as a whole, indicating that it is not merely something mentioned on a whim. Each of the characters seen in Genesis 12-50 is aware that it is the Lord who blesses and takes away; with this knowledge they direct their lives; the ebb and flow of the narrative rises and subsides with the main characters on this voyage, showing how important and relevant blessings are. Without understanding the significance of the blessings, poor exegesis draws nigh and the true meaning of these passages will be left by the wayside.
The extent to which blessing is seen as a theme of the patriarchal narratives is shown in the passages involved. The narrative should be viewed in light of blessing as a key theme without neglecting the other major themes. Blessing is a theme to the extent that it is a core theme in the message of the patriarchal narratives.
Bibliography
Isaak, Mary Anne. "Literary Structure and Theology of the Patriarchal Narratives : The Three-fold Blessing." Direction 24, no. 2 (September 1, 1995): 65-74. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2011).
Premasagar, Peddi Victor, Bp. "Theology of promise in the patriarchal narratives." Indian Journal of Theology 23, no. 1-2 (January 1, 1974): 112-122. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost(accessed May 4, 2011).
Clines, David J.A. The Theme of the Pentateuch. London: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997
[1] The following discussion bears some resemblance to that of Peddi Victor Premasagar, Bp. "Theology of promise in the patriarchal narratives." Indian Journal of Theology 23, no. 1-2 (January 1, 1974): 113.
[2] Mary Anne Isaak. "Literary Structure and Theology of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Three-fold Blessing." Direction 24, no. 2 (September 1, 1995): 65-74.
[3] Genesis 27 and 30:43
[4] Genesis 12:1ff
[5] As summarised in Malachi 1:2-3
