Deception and Recognition in Genesis: How Jacob’s Lineage is Ironically Punished Cade Aguda 12th Grade

In Genesis, recognition is consistently paired with deception in the sense that the former almost always is a cause of the latter. This creates several type scenes that are most notable past the births of Jacob and Esau. In fact, deception appears to be an inherited trait in Jacob’s lineage: throughout his family’s cycles, individuals take advantage of opportunities to exploit others. Characters who orchestrate the deception have very evident and arguably crucial reasons, though often they are acting solely out of self-interest. Even so, the deceivers are punished quite heavily and very ironically, regardless of their intentions. Certain physical objects which are very indicative of a certain character are used as a tool to force recognition upon someone. This moment of recognition can even serve as a punishment per se. These typical scenes, when read in conjunction, are very indicative of a karma in Genesis which exists to profoundly and usually ironically punish those who have deceived their family or others using recognition.

ebekah’s favoritism for her son Jacob is important because it is the cause of a deception type scene in Genesis. She seizes the opportunity to deceive Isaac when she learns of his intention to bless...