Avraham and Yaakov/0
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Avraham and Yaakov
Introduction
Content Parallels
Parallels | Contrasts | |
Leaving Home | ||
Uprooting | Both Avraham and Yaakov are forced to uproot from their families and country. Avraham travels from Charan to Canaan, while Yaakov makes the opposite trek, from Canaan to Charan. | While Avraham leaves upon the command of Hashem, Yaakov's departure is in essence a flight from his brother, Esav. |
Blessing | Both departures are accompanied by a prophetic blessing, the first revelation of Hashem to each of these patriarchs. | While Avraham is blessed before he leaves, Yaakov receives Hashem's reassurance only en route. |
Success | Both Avraham and Yaakov are blessed by Hashem with success and wealth in their new abodes. | While Avraham's success earns him respect from his neighbors, Yaakov's accomplished shepherding leads to Lavan's enmity. |
Coming to Canaan | ||
Route taken | When Avraham enters Canaan, he stops first in Shechem and then in Beit El, eventually making his way to Chevron. When Yaakov returns to Canaan, he takes the same path.1 | While the verses suggest that Avraham merely passed through Shechem, Yaakov buys a plot of land there. |
Altars | In both Shechem and Beit El, both grandfather and grandson build an altar for Hashem. | --- |
No room | When the "land could not contain them", both Avraham and Lot and Esav and Yaakov decide to separate.2 | The text suggests that it is Avraham's initiative in one case, and Esav's in the other. |
Wives | ||
Barren wife | Both Sarah and Rachel are described as beautiful but barren. | |
Giving of maidservants | Both Sarah and Rachel/Leah give their maidservants in marriage to their husbands so they can bear children in the wives' stead. | While Avraham ends up banishing Sarah's servant, Hagar, Bilhah and Zilpah remain married to Yaakov. |
Source of strife | The multiple wives are a source of conflict in the family. | In Avraham's case the enmity is between real wife and servant, while in Yaakov's family, it is the two full wives who struggle. |
Children | In each family, one son (Yitzchak/ Yosef) is favored over the others. | In Avraham's case, this leads to the expulsion of Yishmael, whereas In Yaakov's story, all the sons are chosen in the end. |
Lavan versus Paroh/Avimelekh | ||
Wife-sister trick | Avraham passes Sarah off as his sister instead of his wife, while Lavan passes off Rachel's sister, Leah, as Yaakov's wife. | Avraham's actions are done with Sarah's consent, while Lavan's are aimed at tricking Yaakov. |
Complaint | Afterwards, Paroh and Yaakov both cry "what have you done to me?" | |
Wife taken | Avraham fears that Paroh/ Avimelekh will take Sarah, and Yaakov fears that Lavan will "steal" his wives. | Whereas Sarah is in fact taken, Rachel and Leah are not. |
Hashem's warning | Hashem appears in a dream to Avimelekh/ Lavan warning them not to harm Avraham/Yaakov. | Afterwards, the king ladens Avraham with gifts and offers him to live in his land. Lavan, in contrast, gives nothing and sets up a border between the groups. |
Covenant | Both Avraham and Yaakov make a covenant with the other side. | |
Change of Name | ||
New names | Both Avraham and Yaakov are given new names by Hashem. Avram becomes Avraham, and Yaakov becomes Yisrael. | Whereas Avraham's name changes by but one letter, Yaakov gets a totally new name. In addition, Avraham is never again called by his old name, while Yaakov's names become interchangeable. |
Role of the thigh | The name change is associated with a physical act connected to the thigh.3 | Avraham undergoes the positive act of circumcision. Yaakov, in contrast, is injured in his struggle with the "איש". |
Blessing | The new name is accompanied by a blessing |
Literary Allusions
Analysis
- Degree of similarity –
- Distinctive phrases –