The Jesse Tree ~ December 7: Jacob

Symbols: ladder

Gen. 25:1-34; 28:10-15

¹Abraham married another wife whose name was Keturah;² and she bore him Zimram, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushim and the Leummim.⁴ The descendants of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah.⁵ Abraham left all his possessions to Isaac.⁶ To the sons of his concubines Abraham made grants during his lifetime, sending them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the Land of the East.⁷ The number of years Abraham lived was a hundred and seventy-five.

⁸ When Abraham had breathed his last, dying at a happy ripe age, old and full of years, he was gathered to his people.⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah facing Mamre, in the field of Ephron the Hittite son of Zohar.¹⁰ This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites, and Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there.¹¹ After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac settled near the well of Lahai Roi.¹² These are the descendants of Ishmael son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave-girl.¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael by name and line: Ishmael’s first-born was Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa,¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.

¹⁶ These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, according to their settlements and encampments, twelve chiefs of as many tribes.¹⁷ The number of years Ishmael lived was one hundred and thirty-seven. When he breathed his last and died, he was gathered to his people.¹⁸ He lived in the territory stretching from Havilah-by-Shur just outside Egypt on the way to Assyria, and he held his own against all his kinsmen.¹⁹ This is the story of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel the Aramaean of Paddan-Aram, and sister of Laban the Aramaean.²¹ Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife, for she was barren. Yahweh heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.²² But the children inside her struggled so much that she said, ‘If this is the way of it, why go on living?’ So she went to consult Yahweh,²³ and Yahweh said to her: There are two nations in your womb, your issue will be two rival peoples. One nation will have the mastery of the other, and the elder will serve the younger.

²⁴ When the time came for her confinement, there were indeed twins in her womb.²⁵ The first to be born was red, altogether like a hairy cloak; so they named him Esau.²⁶ Then his brother was born, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old at the time of their birth.²⁷ When the boys grew up Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open country. Jacob on the other hand was a quiet man, staying at home among the tents.²⁸ Isaac preferred Esau, for he had a taste for wild game; but Rebekah preferred Jacob. ²⁹ Once, when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau returned from the countryside exhausted. ³⁰ Esau said to Jacob, ‘Give me a mouthful of that red stuff there; I am exhausted’ — hence the name given to him, Edom.³¹ Jacob said, ‘First, give me your birthright in exchange.’ ³²Esau said, ‘Here I am, at death’s door; what use is a birthright to me?’ ³³Then Jacob said, ‘First give me your oath’; he gave him his oath and sold his birthright to Jacob.³⁴ Then Jacob gave him some bread and lentil stew; he ate, drank, got up and went away. That was all Esau cared about his birthright..

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.¹¹ When he had reached a certain place, he stopped there for the night, since the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he made it his pillow and lay down where he was.¹² He had a dream: there was a ladder, planted on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; and God’s angels were going up and down on it.¹³ And there was Yahweh, standing beside him and saying, ‘I, Yahweh, am the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you are lying I shall give to you and your descendants.¹⁴ Your descendants will be as plentiful as the dust on the ground; you will spread out to west and east, to north and south, and all clans on earth will bless themselves by you and your descendants.¹⁵ Be sure, I am with you; I shall keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this country, for I shall never desert you until I have done what I have promised you.’