Identity

1. Identity Identities are complex and multiple and grow out of a history of changing responses to economic, political, and cultural forces, almost always in opposition to other identities. - Kwame Anthony Appiah

2. Gen 11:27-12:1  Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran. Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. People organized in a bet ‘av for land use and inheritance, production of goods related to survival, and protection; could be 50-100 people When Isaac is to take a wife, a servant is sent back to Abraham’s bet ‘av (Gen 24: 40, for example); but note also the mention of bet ‘em or the mother’s house (Gen 24:28) Similar story involving Jacob in Gen 28 when he is sent back to the house of his mother’s father for a wife. The Family

3. Isaac his Abraham’s son; He marries Rebekah; Rebekah is Abraham’s great niece and Isaac’s 1st cousin once removed; Rebekah is Jacob’s mother; Rachel and Leah are Jacob’s wives and his mother’s nieces; Isaac is Jacob’s father; Rachel and Leah are his 1st cousins twice removed

4. Women were seen as the “carriers of culture” No formal schooling Children of both genders spend significant time with their mothers; boys only go to fields and other work when physically large enough to assist the men What they learn about life and the way things are done comes mostly from their mothers Women performed key rituals In the family household in a small village, little formal religious worship Many of the activities of faith took place in the home “Household” gods and goddesses Women had power in the household and thus influenced religious practice in a dramatic way Why Women Were A Problem

5. Note how Sarah takes control when she cannot get pregnant; “You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go into my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children through her.” (16:2) Sarah, eventually, has Hagar cast out as well; “Cast out this slave woman with her son….” (21:10) Rebekah makes the choice to go to Isaac (sight unseen): Gen 24:58 Rebekah sets up Jacob’s success with his father (27:5-17) and then protects him (27:46) Rachel and Leah compete with one another for affection and assure Jacob a large family (29:31-30:24); look especially at mandrake incident (30:14-18) They support Jacob in his decision to return to Canaan (31:14-16) Rachel is wily to protect her husband from her father (31:25-35) The role of women in families

6. Subsistence Average life spans: 40 for men, 30 for women As many as half of children born did not reach adulthood; you needed 2x the number of pregnancies to get family size desired Poor diet and chronic malnutrition Higher rates of disease Avg family size of 4-8 people (extended family) Agricultural and herding lives were labor intensive and you needed people to do basic tasks: Clearing fields, planting and harvesting Preparing food for consumption and storage – and creating the utensils necessary for both Gathering the material for clothing, shoes, household items – spinning material – and then making it Tending animals and making items from their produce Why is family important?

7. Abram – tent (13:3-5; 18:1). Nomadic existence. Sheep and goats were the general mainstays of a herd Avg herd size was 50-100 animals Milk, wool, hides, bone/horns, meat, fertilizer and animals for sale were the produce Goats reproduce more quickly and have short life cycles. That makes for good milk and a source of meat The wool of a sheep made it of great value By Jacob’s generation, it was houses (27:15; 29:13) “Four-room” or “pillared” house most common Several dwellings can be grouped together around a common courtyard for a family grouping Nomadic/pastoral life is then combined with more agricultural pursuits Living Arrangements

8. Beersheba – Families shared homes or lived in proximity to one another Pillars subdivide the rooms Work areas and living areas Courtyard for stabling animals Household tasks done near the entrance Long-term storage often in the back 2nd floor could be added for sleeping Roof was generally on poles and made of branches Four-Room House

9. The bet ‘av is patrilineal (descent traced through the male line) and patrilocal (women join the household of their husband) Women’s place in the household was assured first by their fathers; when they married the power shifted to their husbands in his familial household and, upon the death of the husband, women depended on their son(s); See Gen 21:10 “the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac” Relationships within the family were ordered carefully; once large enough, the bet ‘av also becomes part of a mispacha or clan Clans are larger kinship groupings; marriage is within the clan or endogamous Ownership of any land or goods passed through the male line; women did not stand to inherit Eldest sons have some priority in inheritance, although all sons get a share. Of greater significance, eldest sons typically had more stature within these groupings Inheritance

10. Family is a primary source of identity in this ancient period The bet ‘av or father’s house is the building block; the mispacha or clan is next You were known by who your parents (with emphasis on the father) were. Father/mother, husband/wife, son-in-law/daughter-in-law, brother/sister were just some of the roles you could assume. Of course, you were often many of these things simultaneously. Death could really rearrange the family structure. Births and marriages did so to a lesser extent. Other familiar forms of identifying oneself have not yet come into play There are no set geographical borders to give you any sense of a national identity and government as well as judicial affairs tended to be handled by families and so you would not have identity as a resident of a particular village The “people” of God were not yet known as the “people of Israel.” While Jacob’s name is changed in Gen 32:28 to Israel, the line continues to be his family. It is safe to say “Israelites” or “those descended from Jacob” by the time Exodus gets going, but the unification of this people as a people must wait for the covenant and then is consolidated when they come into the land and start really building a nation Some Tentative Conclusions