Bible Quiz #8 -- Isaac & Rebekah

Rebekah at the Well

[See "Bible Quiz  #7 -- Sacrifice of Isaac"]

In addition to its obvious religious importance, the Bible is a significant work of literature. However, much of what we know about the Bible is through hearsay and forgotten lessons. The following is an educational lesson of sorts. It is in "quiz" format, but it will not affect your grade point average.

The Bible in this case refers to the Hebrew Scriptures: the TANACH. For the translation from Hebrew, I will use the Jewish Publication Society's version (2001) of the Masoretic Hebrew text. This quiz will only cover the passages regarding the events described in Genesis 23-27.

I will provide some insight into TANACH passages that are hidden from English readers. If your computer screen does not display the Hebrew characters correctly, it's no big deal, since you cannot read them anyway, right?

For atheists, don't slink away. This is not a religious or theological lesson, nor a conversion attempt. It's just a parsing of a unique piece of literature from a unique perspective.

QUESTIONS

1. God has repeatedly promised Abraham lands for his future generations. How does Abraham acquire the first parcel of the Promised Land?

2. Abraham’s concubine, Hagar, bore him a son, Ishmael. Abraham’s wife, Sarah, bore him a son, Isaac. Did Abraham have any other named sons?

3. How/why does Rebekah come to be Isaac’s wife?

4. What is the pre-marital relationship between Isaac and Rebekah?

5. Rebekah gives birth to fraternal twin brothers -- Esau the first born, and Jacob the younger of the two. Why does Esau sell his birthright to Jacob?

6. Isaac tells a lie to King Abimelech of Gerar. It is the same lie that Isaac’s father, Abraham, told to this King Abimelech’s father, who had the same name. What is this lie?

7. After tricking Esau out of his birthright, Jacob then tricks him out of his blessing from their father Isaac. How does Jacob fool Isaac into thinking he was blessing Esau?

ANSWERS

1. Abraham purchases land for a tomb.

After his wife Sarah dies at the age of 127, Abraham arranges to purchase the Cave of Machpelah and surrounding land from Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, for a sum of 400 shekels (approximately 160 grams of silver).

Genesis 23:3-20

2.  Abraham has six sons by Keturah.

Abraham takes Keturah as a wife, although she is subsequently referred to as a concubine. She bears him six sons, who are safely sent away to live in other places.

Genesis 25.1-6

3. Abraham sends his servant to find a suitable wife for Isaac.

Abraham sends his (unnamed) head servant to his family’s tribal area to find a wife, so Isaac would not marry a local Canaanite. The servant selects Rebekah because of her kindness, and she agrees to marry Isaac without first meeting him.

Genesis 24

4. Isaac and Rebekah are first cousins, once removed.

Rebekah is the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. Therefore, Abraham and Nahor’s father, Terah, is Isaac’s grandfather and Rebekah’s great-grandfather. In other words, Isaac married his fraternal first cousin’s daughter.

Genesis 24:24

5. Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.

Esau is famished after returning from outside activities, and demands to be fed. Jacob offers him some bread and lentil stew in exchange for Esau’s birthright. Esau is so hungry, he agrees.  

Genesis 25:29-34

 6. Isaac tells King Abimelech that Isaac’s wife Rebekah is Isaac’s sister.

Isaac is afraid that he would be killed so the king or his people could possess Rebekah, because of her beauty. This is the same excuse that Abraham used when describing his relationship with his wife Sarah. In both cases, the king discovers the lie, and the reason, and proclaims that the couple and their extended family must be unharmed.

Genesis 26:6-11

7. Jacob dons Esau’s clothes, and covers his arms with goatskins, to fool the sight-impaired Isaac.

Even though Isaac thinks he hears Jacob’s voice, he feels and smells the animal skins and Esau’s clothes, so he believes he is giving his blessing to Esau.

 Genesis 27:5-27

Esau’s play on words: Esau is understandably upset when he discovered that Jacob tricked their father into giving his blessing to the wrong son. One of his first reactions is to rhetorically ask his father about Jacob: “Was he, then, named Jacob that he might supplant me these two times?” [Genesis 27:36]

Jacob’s name is יעקב (Ya’akov), derived from the Hebrew root letters עקב, which form the verb “to follow at the heel” – based on the fact that Jacob had grasped Esau’s heel as they were being born. However, those same root letters also form the verbs “to supplant” or “to deceive.”

Esau continues his complaint to Isaac: “First he took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing!” [Genesis 27:36] Esau is again playing with words, by comparing the similar-sounding “birthright” (b’khorah) and “blessing” (b’rakhah).