Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 31/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 31

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Rachel, Michal and Terafim

There are several parallels between the stories of Rachel and Michal, icludingthe role played by terpahim nin both.

Tools

• Concordance – Using the concordance to see where "תְּרָפִים" play a role in Tanakh, one sees that the word appears 15 times, one third of which are in the stories of Rachel (Bereshit 31) and Michal (Shemuel I 19). A comparison of the two stories points to further parallels, most notably how both women are entangled in conflict between husband and father and practice deception relating to the use of "תְּרָפִים", perhaps in an effort to save their loved ones.

Articles / Lectures

• In his lecture, The Gods of Deceit- Rachel, Michal and the Terafim,  R. Michael Hattin explores the parallels between the stories of Rachel and Michal. 
• See Rachel's Stealing of the Terafim for various understandings of Rachel's actions, some of which compare her to Michal. For instance, Hoil MosheBereshit 31:34About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi suggests that both Rachel and Michal might have believed that terafim had certain powers to help the infertile.

Sojourning, Slavery and Oppression

Articles

• R. David Silber, in his essay, "Gerut, Avdut, and Innuy: The Covenantal Formula" in Go Forth and Learn: A Passover Haggadah, notes that the root words of גרות, עבדות ועינוי, which appear in the Covenant Btween the Pieces in relation to the Egyptian exile (Bereshit 15:13), also figure in Yaakov’s experience in Lavan’s house (see Bereshit 31:41-42, 32:5).  This indicates that Yaakov experiences, on an individual level, mirror the national destiny of the nation of Israel.  

Yaakov and David

There are a number of parallels between the stories of Yaakov and David, including their difficult relationships with their fathers-in-law and the challenging tasks they must complete as a prerequisite to marriage.

Tools

• Tanakh Lab – As the stories of each figure span multiple chapters (in the case of David, an entire book), it is difficult to linguistically compare the entire story.  However, individual components might more easily be paralleled.  For example, one might compare the tragic stories of the rape of Yaakov and David's daughters, Dina and Tamar, using the Tanakh Lab.¹

Articles

• See Yaakov and David for an exploration of both the plot parallels and linguistic similarities in the stories of these two figures. 

¹ The story of Dina's rape in Shemuel II 13 is the fourth most linguistically similar chapter to Bereshit 34.