Tikvah
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December 14, 2022

Why Jewish Tradition Associates the Biblical Forefathers with the Values They Struggled Most to Uphold

“You will give truth to Jacob, lovingkindness to Abraham.”

In kabbalistic thought, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are associated, respectively, with the divine attributes of lovingkindness, strength, and truth. The prooftext for these correspondences, which eventually became commonplace, is Micah 7:20, which begins (addressing God), “You will give truth to Jacob, lovingkindness to Abraham.” But, Ben Greenfield notes, Genesis shows Jacob as practicing deceit: first by disguising himself as his brother Esau to take his blessing, and then by outmaneuvering his avaricious father-in-law Laban. Passivity, even weakness—rather than strength—seem to characterize Isaac. And Abraham does at times display kindness, but:

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