The Bible is Art: Seeing Three Literary Structures in Genesis 28

The Bible is art. And for new creations in Christ, who are the workmanship of God (Eph. 2:10), it is good for us to see all the ways that God’s Spirit inspired the Scripture. For just as the beauty of our creator is made visible in the heavens and the earth, so his majestic wisdom is found throughout the Bible. And this Sunday, we have a passage whose art is worth observing.

When I say art, I have in mind the literary beauty of the Bible. Yes, there is artistic elegance in the way that God works in, among, and behind the events of the people who star in God’s Book. In all of these historical dramas, God brings beauty from ashes, blessings through curses (Gal. 3:13–14), or even an eternal promise of life (think God’s promise to Abraham) through the sinful brother who threatens death (think Esau). Truly, there is art in the stories of the Bible.

But the art I am describing has everything to do with the selection, arrangement, and purpose of the words that tell the stories. And in Genesis 28:10–22, when the Spirit inspired Moses to tell the story of Jacob at the House of God, we find at least two literary structures that organize the scene—one chiastic and one pattern that doubles. Add to this the overarching chiasm of Genesis 25:19–35:29, and you can see how the Spirit enabled Moses to write Scripture with beauty and glory, just like he skilled Bezalel to build the tabernacle with the same (Exod. 31:1–11).

So, as we prepare to meet God meeting Jacob in Genesis 28:10–22, let’s turn our attention to these three literary structures.

The Chiastic Structure of Jacob’s Generation (Genesis 25:19–35:29)

In Genesis 25:19, Moses begins a new section of Genesis, stating, “These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son.” In Genesis, the book is organized by these toledot clauses (“These are the generations . . .”). And the next one we find is in Genesis 36:1. This means that Genesis 25:19–35:29 form one unit. And incredibly, when we look closely at these eleven chapters, we find a discernible chiasm that moves from the birth of Jacob and Esau to the death of their father Isaac. Yet, most importantly these chapters center on the birth of Abraham’s seed, the twelve sons of Jacob (Gen. 29:31–30:24).

As Gordon Wenham frames it, here is the chiastic structure of Genesis 25:19–35:29. ^[1]

 A 25:19–34        Jacob and Esau Born
          B 26:1–33           Isaac and the Philistines
              C 26:34–28:9  Jacob Receives the Blessing
                   D 28:10–22       Jacob Meets God at Bethel
                       E 29:1–14            Jacob Arrives at Laban’s
                            F 29:15–30        Laban Outwits Jacob
                                 X 29:31–30:24                  Israel’s Son
                            F’ 30:25–31:1  Jacob Outwits Laban
                       E’ 31:2–32:1     Jacob Leaves from Laban’s
                   D’ 32:2–3            Jacob Meets Angels of God at Manaheim
             C’ 32:4–33:20 Jacob Returns Esau’s Blessing
         B’ 34:1–31          Levi and the Hivites
 A’ 35:1–29          Jacob and Esau Die

From this arrangement, we find evidence for the Spirit’s inspiration of the text, and we find help in discerning the main point of this section. What does God want us to see? He wants us to keep our eyes open for the promised seed. As with the birth of Isaac, this section of Genesis moves from the promised seed of Jacob to the birth of his twelve sons. And while, there is more to the story than the number or order of their births, in a book full of genealogies, these birth stories do play a central part. And how do we know that? Because the literary structure shows us.

 The Twin Structures of Genesis 28:10–22

If the Old Testament scholar, Gordon Wenham, reminds us that the Spirit organizes large parts of Scripture (e.g., Genesis’s organization by generations), he also shows us how the Spirit inspired Moses to organize smaller sections too. And in Genesis 28:10–22, we actually find two overlapping structures. That is to say, we find a chiasm in verses 10–19 and a storyline that clearly divides into two panels in verses 10–16 and verses 17–22.^[2]

From his commentary on Genesis, Wenham first observes that the narrative employs a chiastic structure on the basis of repeated words. Here’s how it looks:

 (A) “place” (v 11),
       (B) “take stones, make a headrest” (v 11),
            (C) “sky” (v 12),
                  (D) “God” (v 12),
                        (E) “the Lord” (v 13),
                        (E) “the Lord” (v 16),
                  (D) “God” (v 17),
            (C) “heaven” (v 17),
       (B) “take stone, make a headrest” (v 17),
 (A) “place” (v 19).

From this arrangement, we can see what Moses is stressing: The LORD, the God of heaven, is in this place! Incredibly, just as the God of heaven revealed himself to Jacob at Bethel, so this inspired word reveals the God of Jacob to you and me. And if we have eyes opened by the Spirit, we will see that this same God is present with us as we read this story.

Still, this chiastic structure does not stand alone, as Wenham observes. He writes, “There is also repetition [in the text], so that the two halves of the tale fall into parallel panels.”^[3] Critically, the evidence for this literary structure does not originate in the mind of the interpreter, but in the text itself—a fact made evident in the chart below.^[4]

“place”(v 11 3x)	“place” (vv 16, 17)
“stones,” “headrest” (v 11)	“stone,” “headrest” (v 18)
“I am really with you” (v 15)	“If God will be with me” (v 20)
“guard you wherever you go” (v 15)	“guard me on the journey I am undertaking” (v 20)
“bring you back to this land” (v 15)	“return in peace to my father’s house” (v 21)
“I shall not leave you” (v 15)	“and the Lord is my God” (v 21)

As before, this literary structure is pregnant with meaning. But what is it? As I read the parallelism, it appears that Jacob’s vow does not originate with him, nor is it an attempt to manipulate God with his conditions. Instead, as his words echo the Lord’s, it demonstrates a budding faith. Later, Joel 2 teaches us that those who call on the Lord (v. 32a) are the ones called by the Lord (v. 32b), which is another way of saying that those who confess the faith (Rom. 10:8) are simply professing the words that God puts in their hearts (Rom. 10:8; cf. Deut. 30:6. 14). In Genesis 28, that appears to be happening to Jacob: he is pledging himself to the God of heaven in the words that Yahweh has given to him. And our confidence in this reading is based upon the repeated words we find in the text.

A Final Word about Bible Reading

The Bible is art. And, over time, followers of Christ should become connoisseurs of Scripture’s literary features. Importantly, salvation does not depend upon seeing all the glories of Scripture, but sanctification does and so does faithful interpretation. And that is why I am sharing what I learned from Gordon Wenham, a faithful Bible teacher.

While many Bible readers might not see these structures (immediately), they are there. And one of the roles of Bible scholars and pastors is to help show God’s people what is in God’s Word. And as Genesis 28 shows us, he has not simply given us a binary code of information. He has inspired a tapestry of text that reveals his wisdom and beauty through divinely-inspired literature. And thus, to know God and his Word means learning to read the text as he inspired it.

Therefore, as we continue to meditate on Genesis, let us remember the main point as revealed by the large literary structures. And then, as we look at the smaller narratives, let us expect to see further literary elements that help us understand the text. For truly, in seeking to understand Scripture, as the Spirit inspired it, God protects us from error and conforms us into the image of Christ.

^{[1] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 169.
[2] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 219.
[3] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 219.
[4] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 219.}