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Bestseller
BestsellerE-book
Author Greenspahn, Frederick E., 1946-

Title When brothers dwell together : the preeminence of younger siblings in the Hebrew Bible / Frederick E. Greenspahn.

Publication Info. New York : Oxford University Press, 1994.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xi, 193 pages)
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-174) and indexes.
Summary Although primogeniture is commonly assumed to have prevailed throughout the world and firstborns are regarded as most likely to achieve success, many of the most prominent figures in biblical literature are younger offspring, including Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, and Solomon. Adducing evidence from a wide range of disciplines, this study demonstrates that ancient Israelite fathers were free to choose their primary heirs. Rather than being either legally mandated or a protest against the prevailing norm, the Bible's propensity for younger offspring conforms to a widespread folk motif, evoking innocence, vulnerability, and destiny. Within the biblical context, this theme heightens God's role in supporting ostensibly unlikely heroes. Drawing on the resources of law, anthropology, folklore, and linguistics, Greenspahn shows how these tales serve as complex parables of the relationship of God to his chosen people, also reflecting Israel's own discomfort and confusion about the contradiction between its theology of election and the reality of political weakness.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Bible. Old Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Bible. Old Testament.
Bible. Old Testament.
Bible. Old Testament.
Brothers in the Bible.
Brothers in the Bible.
Sisters in the Bible.
Sisters in the Bible.
First-born children in the Bible.
First-born children in the Bible.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Other Form: Print version: Greenspahn, Frederick E., 1946- When brothers dwell together. New York : Oxford University Press, 1994 0195082532 (DLC) 93028112 (OCoLC)28424205
ISBN 0585332118 (electronic book)
9780585332116 (electronic book)
1280443421
9781280443428
0195082532 (acid-free paper)
9780195082531