Interpretation Assignment

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Jan 9, 2024

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Interpretation Assignment Genesis 1-11 and Genesis 12-50 In Genesis 3:15, the Bible says, “and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” In an article by David Pettus “Reading a Protevangelium in the Context of Genesis,” Pettus explains that the Protevangelium is part of a divine “curse” on the serpent for his role in enticing Eve to violate God’s command to not eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He explains that God interrogates Adam and Eve, but when it was the serpents turn, God immediately cursed it to crawl on its “belly” without any attempt to uncover the motive. He insinuates that the “seed” of the woman will be the serpents undoing, foreshadowing the coming of Jesus. In an article by Jonathan Canete, “The figure of the woman in the Protoevangelium and the dispute of the sexes: An analysis on Genesis 3:15”, Canete quotes a statement from Walt Kaiser, “Genesis 3:15 has commonly been called the protoevangelium (the “first gospel”) because it was the original proclamation of the promise of God’s plan for the whole world…” Canete claims the Protevangelium sets the mood for an all-inclusive expectation of a person who would redeem humanity from its fallen state. He explains that the author of Genesis has two assertions, one which alludes to the centrality of God, the woman, and the serpent for the salvific promise, and the other which points to a masculine figure to represent the seed/offspring of the woman. In an article by Walter Wifall, “Gen 3:15 – A Protevangelium?”, Wifall says, “Recent critical scholarship has all but completely rejected such "messianic" interpretation,” adding the

quote by G. von Rad, “ it is advisable not to use the Protevangelium anymore and must be “demythologized” as man’s existential predicament in the world. Also that there is no support for the “seed” referencing the “Messiah”; identifying the serpent as “Satan”; or interpreting the passage as a blessing instead of a curse.” Wifall explains Irenaeus, an early apologist, who presents "messianic" interpretation of these passages which can certainly be justified, although now as seen within Israel's royal ideology and not as a direct prediction. The first two articles have a similar conclusion of Jesus being foretold. The third states that it is not enough support for a direct prediction, but that a “messianic” interpretation can justify that ideology. I mostly agree with Canete, the assertion of the centrality of God, the woman, and the serpent being the reason for salvation, and the masculine figure to represent a coming redeemer. I believe Genesis 3:15 is a foretelling of God’s promise to redeem humanity. In Genesis 32:24, the Bible says, “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.” In an article by Steven Molen, “The Identity of Jacob’s Opponent: Wrestling with Ambiguity in Genesis 32:22-32”, Molen says “Exegesis has traditionally identified him as an angel, with reliance upon ample evidence in the text: he appears and disappears out of nowhere; he dislocates Jacob’s hip with just a touch; Jacob identifies him as divine…” Molen counters this claim by breaking down the entire passage using previous verses to paint a clearer picture of his stance. In verses 1-21, Jacobs seems to be avoiding his brother Esau, because he is dangerous and has an army of 400 with him. Molen claims the wrestling match could be a reenactment of the birth of Jacob and Esau when Jacob grabbed the heel of Esau to hold him back from being born first. He also brings into the scene when Jacob claimed he was Esau by wearing sheep’s wool and tricking Isaac into giving him Esau’s blessing. In the article, Molen says when the man

asked Jacob’s name, he was asking for identification of who Jacob really was. When Jacob responded, “ I am Jacob” he was announcing and owning the lie of his identity previously. When Jacob see’s Esau, Esau asked for food because he was famished, indicating he was worn down by something. Molen’s claim on who Jacob’s opponent is appears to be Esau. In an article by Jerome Kodell, “Jacob Wrestles with Esau”, Kodell claims it is all imagery to transform Jacob before going into the land of Cannan(The Promised Land). He discusses the Jacob saga as a whole, from birth to reuniting with Joseph, claiming that the story of the wrestling match is artificially inserted to reveal Jacob’s self-awareness and pushing him forward to into Canaan. Mike Meyer wrote an article titled “Jacob Wrestles the man-God: An Embodied Reading of Genesis 32:24-32”. In this article, Meyer takes an approach to fully understand the wrestling side of it, equal opponents wearing each other down until one of them give up. He says that in order to understand the wrestling match and the result, we have to understand what it means to wrestle. He gives several references and techniques of wrestling that he studied to accomplish this article. His claim is that Jacob’s opponent was a “man-God”, who Jacob was equally matched with and that the “God” part came into view when Jacob’s thigh was touched and dislocated. He also says the wrestling match was probable that it was his memory of play wrestling with Esau when they were younger. I mostly agree with Molen, however, I believe it was a wrestling match between Jacob and God more so. Molen brings a lot of evidence forward, strongly making his claim viable. I do agree that to understand why the wrestling match occurred is to look back on Jacob’s life and to bring in his false identity lie. Jacob’s response saying his real name to the man is finally telling

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the truth about who he was, thus owning up to the lie and now being able to be redeemed from his deception. His redemption was a new name and then being reconciled with his brother Esau.

Bibliography Canete, J. J., O. (2020). The figure of the woman in the Protevangelium and the dispute of the... Microsoft Word - 5726_ijrse_final.doc. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jonathan-James- Canete- 2/publication/346651114_The_figure_of_the_woman_in_the_Protoevangelium_and_the_dispute _of_the_sexes_An_analysis_on_Genesis_315/links/5fcbac4992851c00f854620b/The-figure-of- the-woman-in-the-Protoevangelium-and-the-dispute-of-the-sexes-An-analysis-on-Genesis- 315.pdf?origin=publication_detail Wifall, W. (1974). Gen 3:15—a protevangelium? - JSTOR . GEN 3:15—A PROTEVANGELIUM? https://www.jstor.org/stable/43713761 Pettus, D. (2020). Reading a protoevangelium in the context of Genesis - Liberty University . Reading a Protoevangelium in the Context of Gen. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=jlbts Molen, S. (1993). The identity of jacob’s opponent: Wrestling with ambiguity in Genesis 32:22- 32. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought , 26 (2), 187–200. https://doi.org/10.2307/45228601 Kodell, J. (1980). Jacob wrestles with Esau (gen 32:23–32). Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture , 10 (2), 65–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/014610798001000203 Meyer, M. (2021). Jacob Wrestles the man-God: An Embodied Reading of Genesis 32:24-32 . Meyer-2021-thesis. https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/2292/58596/Meyer- 2021-thesis.pdf?sequence=2

Interpretation Assignment

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