A Birth of Esau and Jacob (25:19-34) B Blessing of Isaac (26:1-5) C Rebekah in a foreign palace – pact with foreigners (26:1-35) D Jacob Steals Esau's Blessing (27:1-28:9) E Jacob into Exile: God's Promise (28:10-22) F Conflict with Laban: Rachel and Leah (29:1-30) G The Birth of the Patriarchs (29:31-30:24) F' Conflict with Laban: Prosperity/Flight (30:25-31:55) E' Jacob Returning: God's Blessing (32:1-32) D' Esau Reconciles with Jacob (33:1-17) C' Dinah in a Foreign Palace – pact with foreigners (33:18-34:31) B' Blessing of Jacob (35:1-15) A' Birth of Benjamin – Deaths of Rachel and Isaac (35:16-29)
You can see from the outline how book 8 of Genesis is arranged. Genesis 25-35 is the “generations of Isaac the son of Abraham” and the main point of the story is how Jacob inherits the promises to Abraham.
You may have noticed that there are lots of “chiasms” in the Bible. Different cultures have different ways of telling stories.
In our culture, we usually tell stories according to a different pattern. Ever since you were a child, you have been taught that a good story includes conflict that leads to rising action that crescendos to a climax and concludes with a denouement.
But that is not the way that ancient Hebrews thought about story telling. In the ancient world the chiasm was the common structuring device. You would usually tell a story in a way that highlighted parallels.
Here in Genesis 35 we have come to the end of the chiasm, and lots of stories are ending here.
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