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The Bible's propensity for younger offspring, Greenspahn shows, reflects neither a legally mandated norm nor a protest against the prevailing custom, but rather conforms to a widespread folk motif, evoking innocence, vulnerability, and destiny.

The Bible's propensity for younger offspring, Greenspahn shows, reflects neither a legally mandated norm nor a protest against the prevailing custom, but rather conforms to a widespread folk motif, evoking innocence, vulnerability, and destiny. Within the biblical context, this theme heightens God's role in supporting ostensibly unlikely heroes.

Greenspahn Frederick E. (EN). Although primogeniture is commonly assumed to have prevailed throughout the world and firstborns are regarded as most likely to achieve success, many of the most prominent figures in biblical literature are younger offspring, including Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, and Solomon. Adducing evidence from a wide range of disciplines, this study demonstrates that ancient Israelite fathers were free to choose their primary heirs.

Home Browse Books Book details, When Brothers Dwell Together: The Preeminence o. .When Brothers Dwell Together: The Preeminence of Younger Siblings in the Hebrew Bible. By Frederick E. Greenspahn. Rather than being either legally mandated or a protest against the prevailing norm, the Bible's propensity for younger offspring conforms to a widespread folk motif, evoking innocence, vulnerability, and destiny.

Sibling relationships in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in Genesis .

Sibling relationships in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in Genesis, symbolize Judah and Israel’s position among rivals in the ancient Near East. David is the youngest of six brothers and is chastised by his eldest brother, Eliab, for leaving the family’s sheep and coming to watch the battle with the Philistines (1Sam 17). However, it is in the book of Genesis that a recurrent motif of the younger son prevailing over his older siblings is set up as a dynamic plot device, driving the narrative forward.

For various issues pertaining to the firstborn in Israel, see my recent books, Studies in Biblical Law: From the Hebrew Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls, JSOT Monograph Series 176 (Sheffield, 1994), pp. 166–281, and Issues in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Hebrew) (Tel Aviv, 1994), pp. 13–75. Recommend this journal.

Rather than being either legally mandated or a protest against the prevailing norm, the Bible's propensity for younger offspring conforms to a widespread folk motif, evoking innocence, vulnerability, and destiny.

Although primogeniture is commonly assumed to have prevailed throughout the world and firstborns are regarded as most likely to achieve success, many of the most prominent figures in biblical literature are younger offspring, including Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, an.

Although primogeniture is commonly assumed to have prevailed throughout the world and firstborns are regarded as most likely to achieve success, many of the most prominent figures in biblical literature are younger offspring, including Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, and Solomon.

Greenspahn, F. E. 1994. When Brothers Dwell Together: The Preeminence of Younger Siblings in the Hebrew Bible (New York: Oxford University Press). Greenspahn, F.

He has written numerous books and articles, including An Introduction to Aramaic and When Brothers Dwell Together, the Preeminence of Younger Siblings in the Hebrew Bible. He was president of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew and has served on the boards of the Association for Jewish Studies and the Society of Biblical Literature. From his days at a graduate. xii Notes on Contributors. student at Harvard University, he has been interested in translations of the Bible.