Jacob gets me angry. In Genesis, it tells us that he loved Joseph more than any other of his sons (37:3). Though Scripture doesn’t offer explicit commentary on this favoritism, Jacob’s preference unleashes a family narrative that ends with Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery. I get angry every time I read it
But this story has a history. Before Jacob’s blatant favoritism, he was betrayed by his Uncle Laban and was given a wife he did not choose. This forced polygamy on Jacob, and we can more or less understand why he had a preference for the son of his chosen spouse. So polygamy is a culprit. Jacob was also victimized by the favoritism of his parents. His brother Esau was favored by their father and Jacob was favored by their mother. Horrible all around. There were all kinds of mitigating circumstances in the Joseph story, but I am still angry at Jacob. He sinned against his family, perpetuated a wretched tradition, and we have no reason to think he owned his part.
And, still today, few people own it. Ask anyone if their parents had a favored child and too many will immediately say yes, and the siblings
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