Jacob’s Blessing
We are still in the early chapters of Genesis, and we have visited the theme of ‘brothers’ several times already. We’ve talked about Cain versus Abel, we’ve looked at the trouble among Noah’s three sons, and we saw what happened …
Category: Isaac’s generation
Nicolas Poussin, Rebecca at the Well, 1648, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Rebekah at the Well: A compositional study
After the death of Abraham’s wife Sarah (Genesis 23), the focus of the story shifts to the next generation: their son Isaac and his wife Rebekah. In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his most trusted servant to find a wife for our second patriarch, and that scene is the subject of one of my favorite paintings.
Abraham and Isaac: The ultimate sacrifice
The story of Abraham and Isaac is one of the most frustrating and fascinating stories in the bible. It’s frustrating because God gave Abraham an impossible task, and we’ll never know what would have happened if an angel had not interceded at the last minute. It’s fascinating for many, many reasons including the fact that artists nearly always depict the exact same moment of this complex story.