ABSTRACT
The imperfect Jacob and the perfect miraculously-born Jesus are each emblematic figures defining the profound differences between the believing Jew and the Christian Gentile. To present in such a non-ecumenical mode an interpretation of the Jacob allegory and the Christ myth reveals, it will be said, irredeemable bias. Jacob wrestled with the Man, and so terrifying was that Man that to avoid contemplating the vengefulness of this terminator, he has been metamorphosed by subsequent chroniclers into an angel. Jacob’s Oedipal struggle is first cunningly displaced from one with his father to one with his oppressive father-in-law, Laban. To gain his beloved Rachel, Jacob was required to work for Laban for seven years. Jacob was not to have an easy victory. The castrating Man endeavoured to tear the balls off him but, missing the target, wrenched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, leaving Jacob limping.
