"Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." Genesis 12:1
These are God's words to Abram. These are the words that begin the great saga of Hebrew patriarchs. These are the words that begin what I like to call Stranger in a Strange Land syndrome. It begins when Abram leaves his homeland. He becomes a nomad and a wanderer. One may wonder about the similarities between Cain, the wanderer and fugitive and Abraham's wanderings. It seems that Abraham's kin however are doomed to be wanderers. "Put your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites." These are Abraham's words to his servant. He was going out to search for a wife for Isaac. "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women." Jacob is also fated to marry someone out of the country in which he lived. These two statements may seem to be random and just part of the Bible's lacunae. I remember, however, the story of Noah's sons. Noah had had a little too much to drink one night and lay uncovered in his tent. One of his sons "knew" him. When Noah awoke and found out what had happened, he cursed Canaan, his nephew. He told him that he and all his descendants would be servants and slaves. This story seems to be directly related to Isaac and Jacob's wives but one still wonders about Cain and his relation to the story.
There is magical power everywhere. Even in the Bible. Joseph is proclaimed to be a great sorcerer. He divines great things using a little silver cup. This was also the tool used to trick his brothers and show their true natures. Moses is also a master of illusion. "The Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' He said, 'A staff.' And he said, 'Throw it on the ground.' So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses drew back from it. Then the Lord said to Moses 'Reach out your hand, and seize it by the tail' - so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became the staff in his hand." The Lord bestows the powers of illusion upon Moses so that the people of Egypt will believe Yahweh's plea. This trickery, deceiving, and sorcery is something that the Lord readily bestows upon his patriarchs. Joseph deceives his brothers. They think that he is a great Egyptian lord instead of their dopey dreaming brother. Jacob deceives poor and blind Isaac and receives Esau's blessing. This is something that is not frowned upon by the Lord but rather encouraged. If we were all to live as the Hebrew scriptures dictate things would be very different. Joseph is also an artist however. He weaves a tale of deception, a net, if you will, to ensnare the rather slow-witted fish. God is also an artist. He sees the big picture and knows when and when not to intervene. This is a theme reminiscent of Ovid. Ovid is a master of all, he introduces characters and leaves them behind only to show that they are the most important characters in the tale. The trickery is evident in Jove. He disguises himself in different forms to satisfy his enormous lust. Both books have magic but for different ends.
