Jacob and Laban

• When Jacob was approaching Haran (where his uncle Laban lived), he saw a beautiful woman at a well and fell in love.

• This woman was Rachel, Laban’s daughter.• Laban wanted to pay Jacob for his work so he

asked Jacob what he wanted and he replied: “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Gen 29: 18

Jacob and Laban

• After the seven years, on the wedding night, Laban gave Jacob Leah instead of Rachel.

• This was because it was customary to marry off an older daughter before younger ones.

• A week after marrying Leah Jacob was given Rachel as a second wife and was required to work another seven years.

Jacob’s Twelve Sons

• Rachel was barren, so Jacob had six sons with Leah: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zeubulun. Also, they had one daughter: Dinah.

• Rachel told Jacob to have children with her maid Bilhah, so he had two sons with her: Dan and Naphtali.

• Leah then told Jacob to have children with her maid Zilpah, so he had two sons with her: Gad and Asher.

• Rachel finally had a son with Jacob and she named him Joseph.

Jacob outwits Laban

• Jacob and Laban made another agreement that Jacob would get all spotted goats and sheep in the flock if he worked for a few more years.

• Both tried to “rig” the bargain so they would come out with more livestock, but Jacob came out ahead in the end and became rich.

Jacob flees Laban

• Jacob noticed that Laban and his family were becoming angry with Jacob for accumulating wealth from Laban’s property.

• Then, God told Jacob to flee Laban (Gen 31: 3)

• Eventually Laban caught up to Jacob, but all ended well.

Struggle with the Angel

• As Jacob was preparing to meet Esau, an Angel began to wrestle with him.

• The fight ended in a tie, and the Angel then renamed Jacob “Israel,” which means “he who strives with God”

• According to the Catholic Church this passage is a metaphor for prayer as a “battle of faith” (CCC 2573).

Jacob and Esau Meetand the rest of Jacob’s life

• Jacob meets Esau and no fight ensues, instead it is a festive reunion.

• God reaffirms the change of Jacob’s name to “Israel” in Gen. 35: 10-12.

• Rachel gave birth to her second son Benjamin (Jacob’s 12th son) and then she died in childbirth. This is why she is buried on the road to Bethlehem and not in Hebron.

• Jacob returns to the home of Isaac and when Isaac dies, Jacob and Esau bury him.

Joseph

• Joseph was hated by his brothers for a variety of reasons:– Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son.– Jacob gave him a new coat.– Joseph interpreted his dreams and prophesized

that he would rule over his brothers:• First dream: Gen 37: 5-8• Second dream: Gen 37: 9-11

Joseph Sold into Slavery• Joseph’s brothers decided that they wanted to kill

Joseph.• Reuben convinced them that they should throw him

in a well (this was because Reuben planned to rescue Joseph).

• The brothers threw him in the well, but as a caravan bound for Egypt passed by, they decided to sell Joseph as a slave for twenty pieces of silver.

• They then killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s coat in its blood and had it sent back to Jacob to make it seem like Joseph was killed by an animal.

Joseph in Egypt

• Joseph was sold to Potifar, a courtier of the Pharoah.

• Potifar’s wife liked Joseph and wanted to be with him, but he refused. This angered her and she got him thrown into prison

• While in prison, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners and hoped they would tell Pharoah when they were released.

Joseph in Egypt• They forgot about Joseph once out of prison until

Pharoah had two strange dreams that he couldn’t interpret.

• The two men told Pharoah about Joseph and he interpreted Pharoah’s dreams: there would be seven years of abundant crops and then seven years of famine.

• Pharoah then made Joseph chief-minister of Egypt and named him Zephenath-peneah.

• Joseph had two sons with Asenath named Manasseh and Ephraim.

Joseph meets his Brothers

• When the famine struck, all the lands around Egypt went there for food.

• Joseph was in charge of distributing the food and one day his brothers came. He decided to play tricks on them to make them suffer a bit for what they did to him.

• He finally revealed himself and his family (Father Jacob and his brothers and all their relatives) moved to Egypt.

• Jacob dies and is brought to Hebron to be buried. Joseph later dies in Egypt and asks that one day his remains be brought out of Egypt.

Joseph meets his Brothers

• When Joseph’s brothers came to him for food they bowed down to him, thus fulfilling the prophesy in his dreams.

• Joseph is a type of Christ for many reasons, one of which is that he was betrayed and sold, but that betrayal would be used to save his family. Just as Christ was betrayed and sold, but used that betrayal to save humanity.

• This sets the stage for the Moses story…