The Untold Truth Of The Book Of Genesis

Genesis contains three very similar stories, in which biblical patriarchs travel to foreign lands and pretend that their wife is their sister to avoid violence. PerMy Jewish Learning, the first and second instances are both courtesy of Abraham, who pretends that his wife, Sarah, is actually his sister while the pair are traveling in Egypt

Genesis contains three very similar stories, in which biblical patriarchs travel to foreign lands and pretend that their wife is their sister to avoid violence. Per My Jewish Learning, the first and second instances are both courtesy of Abraham, who pretends that his wife, Sarah, is actually his sister while the pair are traveling in Egypt and elsewhere. His reasoning? Sarah is apparently very, very attractive, to the point where heart-eyed locals might consider doing away with Abraham to get access to his wife.

Isaac, another Biblical patriarch, does pretty much the exact same thing with his own wife, Rebekah, in a later chapter. All in all, it's not an especially good look, with two major figures in Genesis capitulating to their own fears and denying key relationships, all to save their own skins.

What's going on here? There's repetition all over Genesis, sure, but this is arguably more extensive than emphasizing words or themes over and over again. These may be variations on a single story or quasi-manufactured narratives created to make a point about power and will, according to the journal Judaism. It could also be that they were meant as a reflection of complex social and political states in the ancient world. My Jewish Learning notes that it might also reflect "wife-sistership," where a wife could be adopted as her husband's "sister" and given the increased rank of being a blood member of her husband's family.

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