In the previous article, we considered the life of Abraham up to the birth of Isaac and the way in which his life up to that point foreshadows later redemptive history. Our reason for this consideration was at the Gospel of Matthew’s behest. He pointed us in that direction. He carefully and cleverly crafted his genealogy to serve a dual function. The opening verses of his gospel summarize all of redemptive history and make the point that this history was pre-summarized in the lives of the patriarchs. But do these parallels continue after the birth of Isaac? I contend they do.

Following the structural cues Matthew provides in his genealogy, we will now examine the connections that exist between the narrative events beginning with the birth of Isaac up to Jacob’s departure into Egypt and the narrative events from the time of King David up to the Babylonian exile.

Isaac to Jacob in Egypt	King David to the Exile in Babylon
Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech, king of the Philistines (Genesis 21:22-34)	David and Goliath, champion of the Philistines (I Samuel 17)

We last left Abraham when he had the heart-rending task of having to send Hagar and Ishmael out of his dwelling place and away from Isaac. Sometime shortly after this event, Abimelech shows up for a visit with the commander of his army to request that Abraham make a covenant with Abimelech that he deal kindly with both him and his descendants. Abraham acquiesces to this request, instituting peace between the two parties, and Abraham “sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.” Such peace, however, will not characterize the corresponding narrative in I Samuel 17. Once again, the parties are the descendants of Abraham, David, and the Philistines, yet this time the circumstances are for battle. The ultimate showdown takes place between David and Goliath, the champion of the Philistine army. David rather handily defeats Goliath and the soldiers of Israel pursue the rest of the Philistine army. Here we have the contrasts between the wisdom of Abimelech to pursue peace with Abraham and the cowardice of Saul, who was too fearful to challenge Goliath, the respective commander and champion of the Philistine army, and the contrast between peace and hostility.

The sacrifice of Isaac on Mt. Moriah (Genesis 22)

Solomon builds temple on Mt. Moriah (II Chronicles 3:1)

The next pericope in Genesis may be one of the most terrifying episodes in all Scripture. Yahweh tells Abraham that he must sacrifice his only son, the son whom he loves. Abraham obediently carries out this heart-rending command, yet he was not without faith that God would resurrect Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:19). With this confidence, Abraham sets out with wood, fire, and knife to the place God will show him on Mt. Moriah. Many centuries later, Solomon builds the temple on Mt. Moriah to worship God and offer up sacrifices to him. The temple is the pre-eminent location of wood, fire, and knife, and just as God spared Isaac at the last possible moment and provided a replacement for him, so too is the temple the place where the Israelites would be spared and a substitute offered up in their stead.

Abraham purchases a field where he might bury Sarah (Genesis 23)

David purchases a field where he might build an altar (II Samuel 24:18-25; I Chronicles 21:18-22:1)

After the dramatic events of Mt. Moriah and Isaac facing almost certain death comes the real death of Sarah. The primary concern of Genesis 23 is the purchase of a field where Abraham might bury Sarah.  Abraham refuses to take the field gratis, and after the customary niceties of negotiation, Abraham pays its price and purchases the land from Ephron the Hittite. In a similar fashion, David is looking for a place to build an altar.  He is told to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Araunah offers to give the threshing floor to David as a gift, but David refuses and pays for it just as Abraham did.

Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24)

Solomon and the Shulammite (Song of Songs)

Now that Abraham has taken care of the burial of his wife, he sets out to find an appropriate bride for Isaac. A number of thematic parallels arise between the story of the finding of Rebekah for Isaac and the story of Solomon and the Shulammite woman. To wit:

1. Both are about betrothal and marriage and focus mainly on the brides, while the bride-grooms are mentioned more sparingly.
2. Both are hard workers. Rebekah draws water for all ten of Abraham’s servant’s camels (“And the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master… and she said, ‘I will draw water also for your camels until they finish drinking’” Genesis 24:10,19), which is no mean feat and demonstrates that she was used to hard work. The Shulammite woman in Song of Songs is also accustomed to hard work in the vineyards under the sun because of the anger of her brothers (“Do not look at me because I am dark because the sun has gazed at me/the sons of my mother were angry with me, they appointed me to guard the vineyards,” Song of Songs 1:6).  Rebekah may also have had an abusive brother, Laban, who appears to be interested only in the gifts Abraham’s servant provides (Genesis 24:30), and who later treats Jacob as well as his two wives, Laban’s own daughters, poorly (Genesis 29-31). Laban is like the brothers in Song of Solomon.
3. Both are also under the authority of their brother(s), even over the arrangement of their marriages. It is primarily Laban who discusses the marriage of Rebekah with Abraham’s servant (Gen. 24:29-60). Similarly, the Shulammite woman is under the overbearing and protective authority of her brothers (Song of Songs 1:6; 8:8, 9).
4. Jewelry is associated with both women. Rebekah is given jewelry by Abraham’s servant (“And the man took a gold ring, a half shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands” Genesis 24:22), and the Shulammite woman is given jewelry (“Strings of gold we will make for you together with beads of silver” Song of Songs 1:11) and compared to it (“Your cheeks are pleasing with strings [of jewels], your neck with strings of pearls” Song of Songs 1:10; cf. 4:9; 7:1).
5. Rebekah is a virgin (“a virgin and a man had not known her” Genesis 24:16). The Shulammite is also a virgin (“I am a wall” Song of Songs 8:10).
6. Both women are described as beautiful (“The maiden was very good in appearance,” Genesis 24:16a; “Behold, you are beautiful,” Song of Songs 1:15a).

1. The common theme of the maiden staying at the house of the mother is also evident. In Song of Songs, this image has a positive connotation (“I will lead you and bring you to the house of my mother” Song of Songs 8:2a; cf. 3:4), while in Genesis 24, the image seems to have a more negative connotation since Rebekah declines to stay at home with her mother ten more days and chooses to leave with Abraham’s servant instead (“And her brother and her mother said, ‘Let the maiden remain with us a few days” Genesis 24:55).

Abraham’s descendant, Sheba (Genesis 25:1-18)

Solomon is visited by the Queen of Sheba (I Kings 10:1-13)

Genesis 25:1-18 recounts the descendants of Abraham by Keturah. One of these descendants was Sheba.  Later during the reign of Solomon, the queen of Sheba, having heard of his greatness and wisdom, came to test his wisdom to inquire for herself if the rumors were indeed true. Solomon passed her test to such a degree that the Queen was left breathless!

Jacob, Esau and the birthright (Genesis 25:19-34)

Split of Northern and Southern kingdom and the right of worship/Israel and Judah’s continuing battles with Edom (Jeremiah 49:8, 10; the book of Obadiah; Malachi 1:1-5; II Kings 8:20-22, 14:1-10)

The next episode in the narrative of the patriarchs concerns the birth of Jacob and Esau. These two infants represent two nations and are struggling with one another from the womb, a struggle that will carry on for much of the remainder of their lives. Jacob greatly desires the birthright and the blessing of the elect line. This episode in some measure is similar to the division between the Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel just after the death of Solomon. It also points forward to the continuing struggle between the Northern and Southern kingdoms and the Edomites, who are the descendants of Esau. This struggle between Israel and Edom carries on even to the days of Jesus and Herod the Idumean.

Before we continue with the remainder of our brief examination of how the lives of the fathers foreshadows the lives of the sons, we need to take note of one thing. The next episode in Genesis recounts the interaction between Isaac and the Philistines while he is in Gerar. This story is strikingly parallel to the story of the interaction between Abraham and the Philistines while he was sojourning in Gerar. Given the closeness of these two stories, we are in a sense starting over, so we should expect the events of Isaac’s stay in Gerar to parallel the same or nearly the same events as the story of Abraham’s stay in Gerar. This repetition might even be why the kingdom period is narrated for us twice in the Bible.

Isaac and the Philistines in Gerar (Genesis 26)

David and the Philistine, Goliath (I Samuel 17, 19)

Isaac settles in Gerar and uses the same strategy to protect Rebekah that his father used to protect Sarah… he told everyone she was his sister. This strategy worked for awhile, and after strife arose between Isaac and the inhabitants of Gerar, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of the Philistine army, show up again to have a chat with Isaac. The long and short of it is they want Isaac gone, a not so subtle hint which Isaac takes and promptly leaves. This story parallels David and Goliath, for once again we have interaction between the Philistines and Israel, but unlike the peace that existed between Abraham and Abimelech, the strife that exists between Isaac and Abimelech is much more closely in line with the relationship between Israel and the Philistines during David’s time. Isaac is confronted by the king of the Philistines and the commander and told to leave. David must confront the champion of the Philistines due to the weakness of his own king because the Philistines want to make Israel their servants.

Isaac blesses Jacob, Esau rejected (Genesis 27:1-28:9)

David blessed and Saul rejected (I Samuel 16-19)

Fast forward a number of years, and Isaac is ready to give the blessing to Esau. Rebekah intervenes on behalf of Jacob, and Isaac is tricked into giving the blessing to Jacob. Esau is rejected by God to carry on the elect line, and Jacob is chosen over him. Fast forward again to David and Saul, and we have the same kind of occurrence. David is the one who is blessed and chosen to be the newly anointed king, and Saul is rejected as king over Israel due to his sin and unrepentance. For both Jacob and David, this event leads to extreme hatred by Esau and Saul, from which both men have to escape.

Jacob at Bethel and sees the “House of God” (Genesis 28:10-22)

David given plans for temple (I Chronicles 28:19)

While Jacob was on his journey to the house of Laban, he has a vision in a dream of a ladder reaching to heaven with angels ascending and descending the celestial stair. At the top of this visionary ladder, Jacob sees Yahweh. When Jacob awakens, he names the place Bethel, which in Hebrew means “house of God.”  The house of God has obvious associations with the Temple, which Solomon constructed from plans David had received from the hand of Yahweh. The Temple is the point of intersection between heaven and earth and the celestial ladder that reaches up into heaven where God is at the apex seated upon his throne.

Jacob’s wives, children and Laban (Genesis 29-31)

David’s wives, children and Saul/Nabal (I Samuel 18, 19, 24-25)

Mark E. Biddle points out a number of commonalities between Jacob’s time in Laban’s household and the incident between David and Nabal.1 To summarize and abridge Biddle:

1. Both Jacob and David portray themselves as faithful in the protection of his master’s flock.
2. Both Jacob and David ask for something.
3. Both Laban and Nabal claim that Jacob and David, respectively, have no claim to the good intended for payment.
4. Both Jacob and David are innocent of the incident of the stolen teraphim.

Jacob encounters Esau (Genesis 32-33)

David encounters Abigail and Nabal (I Samuel 25)

On Jacob’s return journey home, he encounters Esau, and David encounters Abigail and Nabal as he marches to presumably have a few choice words for Nabal, if not to outright kill him, for his rudeness to David’s young men. Biddle here, once again, sets forth a number of parallels between these two encounters:

1. Jacob sends servants ahead to greet Esau, and Abigail sends servants ahead to greet David.
2. Jacob greets Esau by bowing down and so does Abigail to David.
3. Both Jacob and Abigail offer gifts to Esau and David.
4. Esau and David both have 400 men in their retinue.

Dinah and the Hivites/Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34)

Tamar and Amnon/Absalom (II Samuel 13)

Peter Leithart, in his commentary on I & II Samuel,2 identifies a number of allusions between the events surrounding Dinah and Tamar. Both women are violated, and both acts by Shechem and Amnon are said to be a “disgraceful thing.” Both perpetrators are killed in the end, each by the respective brother(s) of the woman violated. Simeon and Levi kill Shechem as well as all the men of the city, and Absalom murders Amnon. One additional similarity arises by way of contrast. Shechem, we are told, loves Dinah, while Amnon hates Tamar after his violation of her.

Jacob, the covenant, and his sons (Genesis 35)

David, the covenant, and his sons (II Samuel 7, 16, 24)

Leithart, here too, lays out the correspondences connecting the encounters above. “David presided over a divided house much as Jacob did, and like Jacob, David lost control of his sons. In Genesis, Jacob’s older sons were one-by-one eliminated from being heirs: Reuben lost his position by a sin against his father, taking his concubine (Genesis 35:22; 49:4), and Simeon and Levi were cursed because they slew the circumcised ‘brothers’ in the city of Shechem (Genesis 34:1-31; 49:5-7). As a result, the fourth son, Judah, became preeminent among his brothers. In David’s family, Amnon was killed, Absalom died during the civil war, and later Adonijah was put to death after an attempt to take the kingdom from Solomon (I Kings 2:13-25). When the dust cleared, Solomon, the fourth son and true ‘Judah,’ remained on the throne.”3 The only additional connection to notice is that Jacob and David had sons who slept with one to more of their wives.

Esau’s descendants (Genesis 36)

Esau’s descendants (I Chronicles 1:34-54; 2 Samuel 8:2, 13-14 and I Kings 11:14-17)

These particular passages might be the easiest to connect as they list the descendants of Esau and demonstrate that Esau keeps popping up from time to time to continue the animosity of old.

Joseph’s dreams/Hostility from brothers (Genesis 37)

Jeremiah’s visions/Hostility from fellow Judahites (Jeremiah)

Genesis now begins to turn our attention to the story of Joseph. A number of intertextual similarities exist between this story about Joseph and the prophet Jeremiah, which we will now explore. Joseph was given dreams concerning his own place of rule over his brothers in a foreign land, and Jeremiah was given visions/revelations concerning the eventual rule of Babylon over Israel and Judah (e.g., Jeremiah 3:6-6:30).  Joseph was hated by his brothers for what he had said just as Jeremiah was also hated because of the things he spoke. Joseph was thrown into a cistern without water.  Jeremiah was also thrown into a cistern without water. Interestingly, Jeremiah is also taken down into Egypt against God’s command just as Joseph is sold into slavery and taken down to Egypt.

Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38)

The kingdom of Judah and its fall and prostitution (II Kings 24:18-25:21; II Chronicles 36:11-21; Jeremiah 52)

The story involves Judah and his fall, prostitution (“And he assumed her to be a prostitute” v. 15), and the death of Judah’s sons. That Judah’s sin with Tamar in some way foreshadows the overthrow of Judah at the end of the kingdom period is evidenced by the fact that Judah gives Tamar, a gentile, his staff and seal (vv. 18, 25). These emblems are symbolic of rule and authority, which is exactly what the southern kingdom of Judah gives up when it falls to the Babylonians (II Kings 24:18-25:21; II Chronicles 36:11-21; Jeremiah 52). Judah’s downfall and rebellion is called prostitution and harlotry against Yahweh (Jeremiah 3:1-5, 8-9; Ezekiel 16, 23:44). After the siege against Judah by Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar had the sons of Zedekiah put to death in front of him (II Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 52:10). Similarly, the sons of Judah, Er, and Onan, were also put to death by Yahweh (vv. 1-10). Moreover, Judah says, concerning himself and Tamar, that she is more righteous than he (“And Judah said, ‘You are more righteous than I,’” v. 26). Likewise, Jeremiah declares about the kingdom of Judah and Israel that Israel is more righteous than Judah (“Apostate Israel is herself more righteous than treacherous Judah” Jeremiah 3:11). In addition, an intertextual link becomes evident between Genesis 38:14-16 and Jeremiah 3:2. In the Jeremiah verse, Israel is likened to a prostitute who has sat by the roadside waiting for lovers (“by the roads you sat waiting for them [ravishers]”). In the Genesis verses, Tamar dresses as a prostitute who sits by the roadside waiting for Judah (“and she sat at the entrance of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah… and he [Judah] assumed her to be a prostitute”). So, clear thematic and textual links connect the story of Judah and Tamar with the story of Judah and Israel’s fall and destruction.

Joseph in prison because of Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39-40)

Jeremiah in prison because of Irijah (Jeremiah 37)

Joseph and Jeremiah are both thrown into prison unjustly. Joseph is thrown into prison after Potiphar’s wife accuses him of attempted rape. Jeremiah is thrown into prison after falsely being accused of desertion to the Babylonians. The charge against Joseph incurs the anger of Potiphar, and the charge against Jeremiah incurs the anger of the officials. Providentially for both men, they each receive an improvement of their situation during their imprisonment, with Joseph put in charge of the prison and Jeremiah moved to the court of the guard.

Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, his rise to power and wise rule (Genesis 41:1-52)

Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, his rise to power and wise rule (Daniel 1-2)

Joseph and Daniel are the preeminent interpreters of dreams in the Old Testament. Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams concerning the coming years of plenty and the coming years of famine. Likewise, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams even to the point of having to determine what the dream was, a task possible only by divine revelation. The miraculous interpretations of these dreams led to each man’s being elevated in power second only to the men whose dreams they interpreted. They also distinguish themselves by their wise and just rule and administration over the empire.

Jacob in exile in Egypt (Genesis 41:53-47:13)

Judah and Israel in exile in Babylon (II Kings 25; II Chronicles 36:17-23; Jeremiah 52)

Due to a severe famine in the land, the one God had foretold to Pharaoh in his dream, Jacob is forced to take his family down into Egypt, out of the land God had promised to him and his descendants. Much of this feat is accomplished by the craftiness of Joseph to save his family. But as long as Israel is out of Canaan, he is in a sense in exile. Years later, Judah and Israel are also forced into exile, but this time because of their sins.  They are finally vomited out of the land, taken into captivity by the Babylonians, and scattered throughout the land, which was ultimately intended for the good of the peoples of the earth just as Joseph’s disapprobation into slavery by his brothers resulted in the good of the peoples of the earth at that time.

Thus, we can see that the events beginning with he birth of Isaac and continuing to Jacob’s move to Egypt do, indeed, foreshadow the history of his descendants. In the next part of this investigation of Matthew’s genealogy, we will consider the parallels between the Genesis narrative, extending from Jacob’s journey to live in Egypt to Joseph’s death and the events extending from the Babylonian exile to the Christ.

Kelly Kerr teaches at Franklin Classical School in Franklin, Tennessee.

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1     Mark E. Biddle, “Ancestral Motifs in 1 Samuel 25: Intertextuality and Characterization,” Journal of Biblical Literature 121: 4 (2002) 617-638.

2     Peter J. Leithart, A Son to Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel (Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 2003) 230-232.

3     Ibid., 229.