In Genesis 36, we find a transitional account of Esau's family tree that's worth both skimming and reflecting on, if only briefly. For just as yesterday's reading reminds an exiled people of their homeland, today's passage connects their lineage to the Edomites, the "foreigners" to the East of Palestine. Can't you just hear the lawyer now, asking Jesus, "But who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29)? Can't you just hear Jesus respond, "Have you read Genesis 36? Those 'foreigners' aren't just your neighbors; they're your own kin!"?
Of course, as the opening chapter of Joseph's story—or any family therapist—will suggest, it's often our own kin we have the hardest time dealing with. You've met the obnoxious, bragging tattletale who's the favorite younger child; you recognize the domineering older siblings who'd lock that younger one away, if only for a while; you know the oldest, the family loyalist, who steps forward to rein everybody in.
But Genesis 37 offers more than a portrait of family dysfunction. It's also the opening scene of an extended narrative—a "little novel" in scholars' estimation—that dramatizes questions of power, integrity, loyalty, and faith. It's also a story that reminds us of God's work in our midst when things aren't going so well. As you read through the rest of the story, you might be on the lookout for these things:
- Notice how "non-religious" the story is. God appears only infrequently—at least in an explicit way.
- Notice how often we find fortunes reversed. Things are often going well, until they aren't.
- Notice how God weaves together the destiny of Israel with the fortunes of "the other."
- To what extent do you claim "kinship" with those who are different—in religion, nationality, ethnicity, ideology? What difference does it make?
- What's your experience of sibling rivalry? Where does it come from? How do you respond?
- What other details did you notice in today's reading?
Prayer: We tend to define ourselves by difference, O God, and more often than not, difference means superiority. Nudge us to claim solidarity, even in little ways. Amen.
Breath Prayer: His brothers // were jealous.
