There was a thread here months ago about the 2 Jacob-to-Israel stories -- can't find it. Anyway, thought this might be of interest:
Jacob's name change to Israel -- happens twice?
by srd 3 Replies latest jw friends
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Sulla
Yeah, there's lots of that. My favorites are the two stories of Sarah (and one of Rebecca) getting taken away by local warlords and their husbands claiming their wives are their sisters. Seems like the editors wanted to collect all the variations of a particlar story rather than simply selecting one.
Of course, these are "contradictions" only under a particular type of hermeneutic. Put differently: the Jews and Christians have been reading these stories for a couple thousand years, it's not a surprise to them.
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mP
@Sulla:
Its amazing how a man of Faith like Abraham had to sell his wife twice once to Pharoah and another time to another king because he feared them. Where was his trust in Jehovah ?
Actually Abraham was not lying when he claimed Sarah was his sister, she was his half sister sharing a father. I guess that means according to the BIble its okay to marry your half sister.
http://bible.cc/genesis/20-12.htm
? Genesis 20:12 ?
New International Version (©1984)
Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.New Living Translation (©2007)
And she really is my sister, for we both have the same father, but different mothers. And I married her. -
Bobcat
Here is what the NAC-Genesis commentary has to say about the duplicate naming (Vol. II p.621)
The significance of the redundancy in v. 10 is to reinforce the message of the new name but with a different emphasis. 581 In the first naming [Gen 32:28], the context of chaps. 32-33 focused the reader on the patriarch's transformation, from "Jacob" the trickster to "Israel" the one blessed of God. Here [chap. 35] the context highlights the national and royal importance of the name, shown by the new character of the promises in v. 11 and the first formal listing of his twelve tribal descendants (vv. 23-26).
The footnote numbered 581 says:
Sarna observes that the second naming in Canaan matches up with the first naming on the transjordan side (32:28[29]; Genesis, 242).
