In Genesis, recognition is constantly paired with deception, in the sense that the former almost always causes the latter. This creates several type scenes that are most notable after the births of Jacob and Esau. Indeed, deception appears to be an inherited trait of Jacob's lineage: throughout the cycles of his family, individuals take advantage of opportunities to exploit others. The characters who orchestrate the deception have very obvious and probably crucial reasons, even if they often act purely out of self-interest. Even so, deceivers are punished quite heavily and ironically, regardless of their intentions. Some physical objects that are very indicative of a certain character are used as a tool to impose recognition on someone. This moment of recognition can also serve as a punishment in itself. These typical scenes, when read together, are very indicative of a karma in Genesis that exists to deeply and usually ironically punish those who have deceived their family or others using recognition. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Rebecca's favoritism for her son Jacob is important because it is the cause of a deception-type scene in Genesis. He takes the opportunity to deceive Isaac when he learns of his intention to bless Esau. Rebekah uses Isaac's failed vision to make him believe that she was blessing Esau when in reality she is blessing Jacob. Rebekah puts Esau's clothes on Jacob and covers his arms and neck with her hair, which further defines Esau's physical character. These devices of deception create a parallel for a later type scene between Joseph and his brothers. Isaac is deceived and the key word “recognize” is used: “But he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like those of Esau, and he blessed him (27.23-24).” Now Jacob has not only taken from him Esau's birthright, but also his father's blessing, although typically the firstborn enjoys both of these privileges. Isaac fails to recognize that Jacob is not Esau and thus is deceived and deceived. Soon after Jacob steals the blessing, he is very ironically punished for his deception of his father. Jacob goes to work for his uncle Laban and falls in love with Rachel, his youngest daughter. He agrees to work for Laban for seven years to marry Rachel. After the seven years have passed, he sleeps with Leah, thinking she is Rachel. Jacob has now wasted seven years of his life and has to marry a girl who he later discovers is pregnant because of him, all because he failed to do so. recognize who he was sleeping with. This is karmic in itself because it is the same predicament he imposed on his father, Isaac, who failed to recognize his son because he was Jacob instead of Esau. This in itself is a fitting punishment for deceiving his father. However, this is taken a step further after Jacob demands an explanation: "And Laban said, 'It is not so among us, to give the younger girl before the firstborn (29:26-27).'" Laban is stating that it is not good etiquette to give the second born, in this case Rachel, the privilege of being chosen to marry before the first born, Leah, even if Jacob wants Rachel is a very fair punishment for Jacob because he himself is the second born his technically inferior status, he still gained many of the advantages that the firstborn typically enjoys, such as Esau's birthright and Isaac's blessing. Now he is told that he cannot marry thesecond-born before the first-born has married, since it is a special privilege that only the first-born can enjoy. The irony is situational because readers expect to see Jacob get what he wants, regardless of his status as the second born. It is unexpected and ironic that he is not allowed to marry someone because he is second born, like him. After In the previous deception type scene, Jacob is punished in a very ironic and karmic way, presumably for their deception. Jacob is punished even more after being deceived about the disappearance of his son Joseph, in a later type scene. Another typical scene that closely parallels how Jacob steals Isaac's blessing is the one with Joseph and his brothers. Joseph greatly irritates his brothers, who sell him into slavery. They initially wanted to kill him, but one brother, Judah, sees no benefit in this and convinces the others: “And Judah said to his brothers: “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and our hand will not be against him (37,26-27)..." And his brothers agreed." The main motivation for selling Joseph into slavery is greed and self-interest. This line also places Judah as a prominent figure in Joseph's disappearance, as opposed to his other ten brothers who mostly remain nameless. After the brothers sell him into slavery, they must deceive their father to avoid being punished for their sin. They show their father the bloody robe that Jacob had once given to Joseph, which he had been wearing before they sold him, covered in blood and torn to shreds. He immediately concludes that Joseph was killed by an animal, because he recognizes the tunic. This is very reminiscent of Jacob and Rebekah's strategy to deceive Isaac. In both cases some type of physical item, being exclusively iconic for a certain character, was used in cohesion with the recognition to achieve the deception. The Joseph cycle is interrupted by chapter 38, which is the equivalent of Jacob's misfortune with Laban for deceiving his father. Judah fails to give her son Shelah in marriage to Tamar, leaving her widowed and socially disgraced for an exorbitant amount of time. Her revenge plan involved pretending to be a prostitute and sleeping with him. As a deposit until payment is made, he takes his seal and his staff. Robert Alter, the translator of this edition of Genesis, notes that taking these “is something like taking a person's driver's license and credit cards in modern society.” .” Later she shows him the seal, the cord, and the staff, and Judah's reaction is a revelation to his actions: "And Judah recognized them and said, She is more right than I, for I did not fail to give her to Shelah, my son? (38.27)” Judah is forced to accept his failure, due to the now indisputable fact of having slept with Tamar. After recognizing the seal, the cord, and the staff, just as when Jacob recognized Joseph's coat, they both have a shocking revelation regarding someone they care deeply about. Judah is again ironically punished for not caring for Tamar, in the same way he had previously deceived his father Jacob by showing him Joseph's robe. A final typical scene that pairs recognition with deception also occurs in the Joseph cycle, when Joseph sees his brothers again for the first time after they sold him into slavery. Joseph, now a man in his thirties, “recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him (42:8-9).” He uses this to his advantage to intimidate and punish them for their previous crimes against him, when he was sold into slavery. Joseph uses the.