Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Genesis, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God, Humanity, and Creation
Mistrust, Disobedience, and Death
Covenants and Faith in God’s Promises
The Role of Women
Summary
Analysis
God tells Jacob to settle at Bethel and build an altar there, so Jacob tells his household to get rid of their foreign gods, purify themselves, and worship with him at Bethel. As they go, God causes fear to fall on the surrounding cities so that no one pursues them. They all go to Bethel, where God first revealed himself to Jacob upon fleeing from Esau.
After Dinah’s rape and the subsequent slaughter, the family seeks another new beginning, and God protects them from interference as they go. Part of this fresh start is rejecting “foreign gods,” perhaps remnants of the polytheistic beliefs of Rachel and Leah’s upbringing.
Themes
God appears to Jacob again and says that he will now be called Israel. He commands him to “be fruitful and multiply”; he will make nations and kings from Jacob’s offspring. He promises again to give Jacob the land that he gave to Abraham and Isaac. Jacob establishes a pillar at Bethel.
In Canaan, Jacob has assumed the place of his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham as the one through whom God’s promises are passed down. Here, God repeats his renaming of Jacob as well as his promises of offspring and land.
Themes
As they journey onward from Bethel, Rachel goes into hard labor and dies just as her son is born. Rachel names him Ben-oni, but Jacob calls him Benjamin. Rachel is buried at Bethlehem, and Jacob sets up a pillar at her grave. Then he settles beyond the tower of Eder. (Around this same time, Reuben sleeps with Bilhah, and Jacob hears about it.) Jacob has 12 sons altogether: six from Leah, two from Rachel, and two each from Bilhah and Zilpah. Jacob comes to Isaac at Mamre, and after Isaac dies, Jacob and Esau bury him.
Ben-oni means “Son of my sorrow,” while Benjamin means “Son of the right hand.” While this second son brings Rachel to grief, he adds strength to Jacob. The aside about Reuben and Bilhah (Leah’s maid) comes back to Reuben on Jacob’s deathbed. Genesis sums up Jacob’s descendants and also brings Isaac’s generation to a close.
Themes
