Why does Mosaic Law insist on primogenitur even when the dad despises the first born son's mother?
score:6
This Mosaic Law on family inheritance is borne out of the story of Jacob and Joseph.
As you may remember, Jacob loved Rachel, and worked 7 years for her uncle, Laban, in order to be able to marry her. Sadly, Jacob must have gotten really drunk, because of the day of his wedding, he finds out that Laban has tricked the trickster, and he's ended up being married to Rachel's older sister, Leah. This being the day of polygamy, Laban says "Hey - don't worry! Just give me another 7 years, and you can have Rachel."
As a dad whose first daughter is named Rachel, I can understand why Jacob would worked 14 years as a bargain. But I digress.
Once Jacob has the two wives, the baby-making war begins. God sees Leah's sorrow and devotion, and so opens her womb first. Jacob's first-born son, Rueben, should, as the first born son, have all the privileges. But, the truth is that Jacob loves Rachel, not Leah. As the story continues, Leah keeps popping out the little ones, but Rachel can't seem to make a baby. Much fuss ensues, and like any good modern reality series goes, Rachel gets Jacob to make babies with her maid, then Leah does the same thing, and before you know it, Jacob has a lot of boys - but Rachel is still not pregnant.
Then, finally, the big day arrives. Rachel gets pregnant, and Jacob is way, way, happy. The boy, Joseph, quickly becomes Jacobs absolute favorite. Hands down. In fact, Jacob loves Joseph so much that he gives him a technicolor coat and arranges for Andrew Lloyd Webber to write about him nearly 4000 years later. Well, we all remember what happens from there - big brothers get angry, sell Joseph off into slavery, and pretty much fill out the rest of Genesis.
(Incidentally - bonus points if you know who Rachel's only other boy is. That's right - Benjamin - the son of his right hand. Rachel dies in childbirth, and when Joseph later uses a ruse to put his only full brother in prison, the other boys realize this would pretty much kill their dad, hence the hysterics to get him back.)
This part of the covenant then, is as much symbolic as it is practical. It is direct, received wisdom from the experience of Jacob and his favorite sons.
Is it possible for a despised wife to have a beloved son? Sure. But we don't have any biblical stories about those prior to this law. The more practical point is "Don't gip your boys in the will," but the precedent that backs it up has its roots in history.
More post
- 📝 How were missionaries able to convert native populations?
- 📝 Can the laity use exorcised salt? If so, what are the rules for the proper use, handling, and storage of exorcised salt?
- 📝 What author gave this illustration of truth via a backyard fence?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, is assassinating politicians ever justifiable under the Natural Law?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the personhood of the Holy Spirit?
- 📝 In the Gospels, is there any recorded instance of the Pharisees quoting Scripture?
- 📝 Were Luther and Calvin Aphthartodocetists?
- 📝 What did C. S. Lewis base his idea of sehnsucht/joy on?
- 📝 Is Mary omniscient (by participation, not by nature)?
- 📝 According to the the Catholic Church is ASMR an illicit form of self-stimulation?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for spiritual encounters leading to instant deliverance from addictions?
- 📝 What was written on the two stone tablets of Moses?
- 📝 What are ways in which God reveals Himself to a Christian in the context of a two-way, one-on-one relationship?
- 📝 In the Anglican Church, how is the Archbishop appointed?
- 📝 Did the Catholic Church infallibly define that we can demonstrate with certainty the existence of God with the light of natural reason only?
- 📝 Reconciliation of all things
- 📝 How old was Timothy when he became a Christian?
- 📝 What is courting according to the Catholic interpretation of the Natural Law?
- 📝 Do Christians need to keep the 10 commandments?
- 📝 Why does Jesus not want people to repent and be forgiven in Mark 4?
- 📝 What is the Protestant interpretation of Philippians 3:12?
- 📝 What significance do Catholics see in the fact that Adam and Eve 'knew each other' only after original sin?
- 📝 According to Reformed theology, where is the Scriptural evidence for h*m*ousion?
- 📝 Did Luther consider Erasmus an unbeliever, and if so, why?
- 📝 Is God the Son's divine nature human?
- 📝 Is there a co-relation between the name or Bethlehem and Jesus' teachings?
- 📝 The Bible and Gender
- 📝 In Marian Consecration, does invincible ignorance apply to grace as well as sin?
- 📝 Distributism and Subsidiarity beyond the counsel of Jethro in the Bible
- 📝 Are the Gospels considered anonymous by historians only or by the Catholic Church also?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why does Mosaic Law insist on primogenitur even when the dad despises the first born son's mother?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, why does Paul spend so much time arguing that the law doesn't apply, when Jesus seems to indicate that it does?
- 📝 Why does the Mosaic Law demand the death of so many innocent people?
- 📝 According to reformed theology, why are certain important doctrines not "obvious"? [i.e. why does the Westminister Confession even exist?]
- 📝 When and where does the statement, "Christ paid the penalty for our sins" first appear?
- 📝 Does the seal of confession apply even when the sin is intended and there is no desire to repent?
- 📝 What does the Bible say about this question- Why do Jesus and God have two seats in heaven when they are the same God?
- 📝 When and why did the Catholic Church first start issuing annulments?
- 📝 Why was Esther not sinning when she broke the law and approached the king?
- 📝 Who first explicitly understood "works of the law" in Galatians 3:10 as referring to only the ritual law, and not the Mosaic law generally?
- 📝 Why does church tradition teach that one third of the angels fell with Lucifer when no verse supports that
- 📝 What does Paul mean when he says that we are no longer under the law but under grace?
- 📝 When and why were stained glass windows first incorporated into the design of a Christian place of worship?
- 📝 Why does the bible say that David kept all the commands of the Lord when he so clearly didn't?
- 📝 Why does the priest say the words of the consecration in a low tone in the EF when Jesus probably did not say it in a low tone?
- 📝 Why Does Herod Say He Had Beheaded John the Baptist When He Knows He's in Prison? (Mark 6)
- 📝 Why does the Catechism of the Catholic Church abridge the first commandment?
- 📝 When the Bible talks about wine does it mean alcoholic wine?
- 📝 To what extent does the Law of Moses still apply?
- 📝 When does the Pope speak ex cathedra?
- 📝 Can somebody summarize the different "branches" of Christianity to me, and explain why they exist in the first place?
- 📝 Why does Jesus refer to himself as the "Son of Man"?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled the law but did not abolish it?
- 📝 Why does the LDS Church put an emphasis on prepping?
- 📝 When in the development of trinitarian doctrine was the word "persons" first applied to God?
- 📝 Why does the (N)KJV put Jesus' name in all caps in Matthew 1:21 and Luke 1:31?
- 📝 When did the one-way monologue sermon first become a normal feature of church assemblies?
- 📝 Why does the Salvation Army not administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper?
- 📝 When does the bread and wine become Body and Blood?
- 📝 Why does God command the Israelites not to boil a goat in its mother's milk?
