Genesis 28:1-9

Genesis 27:46 to Genesis 28:9. Jacob is Sent from Home to Marry into his Mother's Family. The reader may readily suppose that Rebekah uses the unfortunate marriage of Esau as a pretext to hide her real reason for sending Jacob away, which was to baulk Esau of his revenge. But this section comes from P and links on to Genesis 26:34 f. Intermarriage with Canaanites was contrary to the ideals of Judaism; Edom may do such things, but not Israel. When Esau learnt that his father was not pleased with his wives, and in sending Jacob to Laban had given him the blessing of Abraham, he married the daughter of Ishmael, his cousin, though not so pure in breed as his own family, since her grandmother was Egyptian. It is noteworthy that if Genesis is a unity, Jacob is sent off to marry at the age of seventy-seven, when Rebekah had put up with her unwelcome daughters-in-law thirty-seven years. He is eighty-four when he actually marries! The documentary analysis saves us from such absurdities.