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Jacob

What Can We Learn About Patriarchal Blessings from a Congolese Patriarch? (Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 12B)

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Laurent Clément Shambuyi Biaya Katembwe, patriarch in DR Congo

 Photo Essay and Video Shorts for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 12:“Fruitful in the Land of My Affliction”(Genesis 40-45) (JBOTL12B)

Summary: This photo essay with accompanying video shorts are intended to supplement the study of Jacob’s blessings to his twelve sons as recorded in Genesis 49. As part of an assignment to gather oral histories for the Church History Library in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), I was accompanied by Brother Daniel Tusey Kola on a visit to Laurent Clément Shambuyi Biaya Katembwe, one of the first members of the Church in the DRC. Brother Shambuyi has served diligently in many leadership assignments and has now been called as a stake patriarch. The video shorts, subtitled in English, Brother Shambuyi’s answers to three questions: “What is a patriarchal blessing?” “What is the significance of the declaration of lineage?” And “What is the role of revelation in patriarchal blessings?”

The photo essay and video shorts may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL12B — What Can We Learn About Patriarchal Blessings from a Congolese Patriarch?

How Should We Understand the Rich Symbolism in Jacob’s Blessings of Judah and Joseph? (Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 12A)

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Harry Anderson: Jacob Blesses His Twelve Sons

An Old Testament KnoWhy for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 12: “Fruitful in the Land of My Affliction” (Genesis 40-45) (JBOTL012A)

Question: Some of the most significant prophecies in scripture regarding the posterity of Jacob are found in the blessings of Judah and Joseph in Genesis 49. However much of the poetry in the blessings is difficult to understand. How should we understand the rich symbolism of these verses?

Summary: The Hebrew manuscripts of Jacob’s blessings of Judah and Joseph present difficult problems in translation, since they contain several obscure and archaic terms and phrases. Some important passages (e.g., “until Shiloh comes” [49:10]; “Joseph is a fruitful branch” [49:22]) have been particularly troublesome, leaving translators with few options outside of “conjectural emendation” to reconstruct the text. This approach may result in translations of key phrases that differ significantly from what is contained in the LDS edition of the Bible. Adding to the difficulties of interpretation of these blessings is that we have no direct help from modern scripture. Surprisingly, while Joseph Smith made substantive changes in the wording of the blessings of Ephraim and Manasseh in Genesis 48 and in the testament of Joseph in chapter 50, he made no significant changes to Genesis 49. And, apart from brief restatements of a few lines from Jacob’s words to Joseph in an 1833 blessing of Joseph Smith’s father, we have no other known allusions to the specific content of Genesis 49 in the teachings and history of the Prophet. The intent of this article is to make this chapter — arguably “the most difficult segment of the Book of Genesis” — more understandable for LDS readers. More importantly, it is hoped that this understanding will lead us to a greater dedication to our own responsibilities as the posterity of Israel.

The full article may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL12A — How Should We Understand the Rich Symbolism in Jacob’s Blessings of Judah and Joseph?

What Are We To Make of Jacob’s Apparent Deceitfulness? (Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 10A)

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Francesco Hayez (1791-1881): Meeting of Esau and Jacob, 1844

An Old Testament KnoWhy for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 10: Birthright Blessings; Marriage in the Covenant (Genesis 24-29) (JBOTL010A)

Question: Why is Jacob so greatly blessed when “the pivotal moments in the scriptural account of [his] life seem to turn on deceit”?

Summary: Jacob’s youthful deceits are proverbial. Indeed, the Savior Himself praised Nathanael by contrasting him with Jacob, saying, “Behold an Israelite [i.e., descendant of Jacob] indeed, in whom[, unlike his forefather, there] is no guile!” However, as in all scripture stories (as in life), we cannot fully understand the lessons of Jacob’s divine tutorial unless we follow it to its end. In the Bible’s version of measure-for-measure justice, the deceiver will be himself deceived. Eventually, among the happy results of Jacob’s crucible of experience, he will learn humility, forgiveness, and that God has His own ways to fulfill His own promises.

 

The full article may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL10A — What Are We to Make of Jacob’s Apparent Deceitfulness?

 

Abraham’s Hebron: Then and Now, Part 3: Jacob’s Well and the Tombs of Joseph and Rachel (Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 8C)

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Sign at Entrance to Saint Photini’s Greek Orthodox Church and Jacob’s Well Convent, Nablus, Israel

An Old Testament KnoWhy for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 8: Living Righteously in a Wicked World (Genesis 13–14; 18–19) (JBOTL08C)

The purpose of this five-part series of videos is to provide a brief introduction to some of the places linked in tradition to the lives of the family of Abraham and Sarah. Many, though not all, of the sites we will visit are in or near the city of Hebron. Hebron and surrounding areas served as somewhat of a hub for Abraham in his many journeys.

Although archaeology cannot directly substantiate the scriptural stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it can tell us something about the geography, settlements, and daily life of their contemporaries. Learning more about these places helps us get a more realistic sense of the setting in which the patriarchs lived. It is hoped that this series of presentations will increase exposure to these lesser-known sites, so rich in biblical history and tradition.

This third presentation will first take us northward in the West Bank for a visit to the traditional sites of Jacob’s Well and the Tomb of Joseph, then southward again to Rachel’s Tomb.

Although, Jacob’s Well is not mentioned explicitly in the Old Testament, it is not unreasonable to suppose that there was a good water source in “the parcel of a field” that Jacob purchased (Genesis 33:18-20). In John 4:5-42, Jesus used the backdrop of Jacob’s Well to teach a Samaritan woman about how the water He could giver her might become “of well of water springing up into everlasting life.” The beautiful Orthodox Church in Nablus that now stands over the crypt where the well still functions is a rich repository of faith and symbolism.

A short distance further up the road is the traditional site of the Tomb of Joseph. According to the Bible, Joseph gave specific instructions that his bones were not to be interred in Egypt but rather in Israel (Genesis 50:24-26). Accordingly, we are told that Joseph’s bones were removed from Egypt during the Exodus (Exodus 13:19) and buried in the tract of land that Jacob had bought in Shechem (Joshua 24:32). Though the physical site is much less well-attested than, for example, Jacob’s Well or the Tomb of the Patriarchs, it is a symbol of great spiritual significance to people of different faiths.

On the road that joins Bethlehem and Jerusalem, is Rachel’s Tomb. Chapter 35 of Genesis records that after Rachel “travailed, and … had hard labour,” she died in childbirth, calling her son “Ben-oni [son of my sorrow]: but his father called him Benjamin [son at the right hand].” She was buried on the road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Once an isolated and peaceful setting, the tomb is now surrounded by a concrete wall and watchtowers. Within this fortress-tomb, devout Jews gather in a small chapel for study and worship.

 

The video may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL08C — Abraham’s Hebron: Then and Now, Part 3: Jacob’s Well and the Tombs of Joseph and Rachel