The Reception of Rebekah Within Genesis

The purpose of this dissertation is to critically assess the relationship between the character of Rebekah and her reception history. This dissertation aims to understand how she has been received by scholars and artists in comparison with how Rebekah is literarily portrayed in the biblical text. This dissertation utilises two key methodologies, reception history and textual analysis, which have been utilized to understand Rebekah’s presentation in Genesis through undertaking an independent reading of the texts to assess how she is portrayed. To investigate Rebekah’s reception, it is important to understand Reception Theory and the emphasis on including all areas of reception as viable. This dissertation contains three main chapters, each dedicated to a prominent passage in Rebekah’s narrative, Genesis 24, Genesis 25: 19-28 and Genesis 27, investigating both her portrayal and their receptions. Throughout this study it is demonstrated that Rebekah’s reception history is complex and diverse, which does not always align with her textual presentation. Throughout the text of Genesis, Rebekah is first introduced as a holy woman. This is built upon through the developing passages, where she receives divine knowledge from God and eventually sees God’s plans reach fruition in Genesis 27. Beginning in Genesis 24, Rebekah is understood as the ideal woman. However, she is edited by scholars, like Josephus, who portray her as the ideal woman but not so important she was chosen for Isaac by God. However, as her narrative develops her reception changes from an ideal woman to a manipulator, with little regard for her motives for tricking Isaac. There is a lack of presentation of her prophetic nature. Instead, her reception history focuses on Genesis 27, where she is portrayed as Lady Macbeth, controlling the men in her life.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Forbes, Alison

• BR Cristnogaeth
• BS Y Beibl

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:3129