And the Family Grows

As the story of Abraham develops, I have been very curious as to why everyone keeps having children with their relatives, "Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother" (Genesis 24:15). I'm still trying to understand why it is that the only suitable lovers for anyone at this point are in some way related. Incest is something that I've never been able to agree with. I suppose though, that given the small population of people inhabiting the earth, they are all bound to marry a relative. On the bright side, there is something I really liked about these parts: the romance. Well, maybe the Bible is not so romantic but at least everyone is happy loving each other.

One thing that I still haven't understood is how Abraham being more than a century old is still thinking about wives and children. I keep thinking that Abraham must have a lot of energy and love for life in order to continue living. Then again, this was probably God who was handling his lifespan.

I've seen that God's role has become more distant and less direct as the stories have developed. Before, God, Adam and Eve had a very close relationship, now it's more like God now, only God today doesn't actually speak to you (you're supposed to interpret his actions and then make the most of them) anyways, it's as if now, Abraham's growing family has taken the spotlight from God. Another aspect that I've seen throughout the Bible is its normal for Abraham to have many wives. I'd say that it's fine, Abraham can do whatever he wants but this just means that God is fine with it too. This got me thinking that maybe God decided on the ten commandments after looking at Abraham's behavior (even though he never really wished for his neighbor's wife).

Isaac and Rebekah's children are two very different people and this reminded me of Enkidu and Gilgamesh. Esau, with very similar physique to Enkidu and Jacob with very similar characteristics to Gilgamesh. As I read the descriptions it surprised me how similar these characters are yet they are all coming form different backgrounds. Something else that attracted my attention was that Isaac's sons are also similar to Abel and Cain. Jacob, being Abel and Esau, being Cain, the stories are repeating themselves.