| abstract | The identities of Jacob and his assailant have long presented an exegetical quandary for interpreters examining the encounter at the Jabbok. Characterizing Elohim/ish is particularly complex, as evidenced by the sheer number of possibilities offered by scholars--a river demon, a specter of Esau, Yahweh in disguise, and even Jacob's own psyche. Moreover, Jacob himself is plagued by his dual nomenclature and by an ambivalent relationship to the land he has been promised. In this dissertation, I argue that the ambiguous identities of this story's characters are strategic in that they create a permeable narrative space for the anxieties and desires of the exilic and post-exilic community to find voice. A number of metaphors/images in the text--name, face, wound, darkness, and crossing--allow the community producing the story narrative places to wrestle with their origins, their relationship to proximate others, and to God. At the Jabbok, Jacob says his name, inquires about his assailant's name, and is renamed (Gen.32:27-29). The polynomialism of Elohim/ish, as well as the place label, Peniel, obscures his identity, as does his refusal to disclose his name. When Jacob wrestles with his opponent, he claims to have seen God "face to face," yet this figure is cloaked in darkness (Gen.32:30; cf. 33:10). Jacob also sustains an invisible wound at the hand of this invisible opponent (Gen.32:25, 31-32). At the Jabbok, Jacob is in darkness (Gen.32:22-24), and examination of the larger narrative reveals that it is in darkness where Jacob frequently deceives others, is himself deceived, or encounters God (Gen. 27:1-29; 28:10; 29:21-30). Finally, the metaphor of the crossing (Gen.32:23) symbolizes Jacob's exile and return from home. Each of these metaphors/images contributes to the identity of the exilic/post-exilic community by constructing a story that depicts its ambivalent relationship to itself, to others, and to God. Therefore, this story is no casual, disinterested recollection of a shared past. Rather, it is a highly charged textual space where the communal memory of wounded storytellers is recalled. |
