Jacob, Laban, and a Divine Trickster? The Covenantal Framework of God’s Deception in the Theology of the Jacob Cycle John E. Anderson Baylor University, Waco TX 76798 Introduction: Establishing the Theological “Problem” The biblical character of Jacob presents the reader with some of the most eclec- tic and difficult stories in the entire Bible. Perhaps the most pervasively troubling issue within these stories is that of Jacob‟s character. He is unabashed- ly portrayed—even named 1 —as one who deceives and tricks to gain what he desires, be it a blessing or a birthright, progeny or protection. Scholars have not failed to recognize the presence of these seemingly unflattering traits and have often responded by reducing Jacob to nothing more than a morally corrupt indi- vidual. 2 A problem then naturally presents itself: why would God select such a An earlier draft of this article was presented at the Southwest regional meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, March 15, 2008. My thanks to those who offered responses to the paper at this meeting. I wish also to extend my sincerest thanks to Dr. W. H. Bellinger, Jr. for the time he freely devoted to reading the various revisions of this study, as well as his comments and suggestions on how to improve it. I am also grateful for the comments of the two anonymous reviewers, both of whom have helped to add clarity and precision to what follows. These „extra eyes‟ and open minds have proven to be invaluable in my desire to offer a fresh and new way of understanding deception in the Jacob cycle. 1 Jacob‟s name is explained by several etymologies in the Hebrew text of Genesis. The first occurs in 25:26, after he and Esau‟s birth, in which Jacob emerges grasping his elder brother‟s “heel.” In 27:36 Jacob is labeled a “deceiver,” as is evident when Esau laments his stolen blessing: “Is his name not called Jacob, for he has deceived me these two times” (all translations mine unless otherwise noted). One final possibility comes from our knowledge of the prevalence of theophoric names in the ancient Near East, of which Jacob may be a short- ened form of Jacob-El “may El/God protect.” See P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., “The Patriarchal Age: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” in Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruc- tion of the Temple (ed. Hershel Shanks; Washington, DC: Prentice Hall, 1999), 26. No doubt each of these identities—heel-grabber, deceiver, and protected by God—are present and em- phasized at various points throughout the Jacob narrative (Genesis 25-36). 2 For instance, Henri Gaubert, Isaac and Jacob, God’s Chosen Ones (New York: Hastings House, 1969), 19, maintains that even in his youth Jacob shows himself to be an egocentric and “disturbing” character who employs “methods which even in those days were hardly to be commended.” Similarly, Terence E. Fretheim, “Which Blessing Does Isaac Give Jacob?” in Jews, Christians, and the Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures (ed. A. O. Bellis and J. S. Kaminsky; Atlanta: SBL, 2000), 290, argues that the deceiver Jacob‟s selection by God reveals that God has little concern to insure His blessing is granted only to the morally upright and that God is thus “not a moralist.” The implication in Fretheim, then, is that Jacob is such a degenerate character that it is striking for God to express any interest in him. Fre- theim, however, here recognizes quite possibly the core idea expressed in the Jacob cycle (that God maintains a relationship with a figure the likes of Jacob) yet sketches it in over- whelmingly negative terms. What remains lacking in Fretheim‟s interpretation will form the