Ethical Dilemmas in the Book of J (Literature & Language Essay)

Write 2–3 pages (typed, double-spaced) as prompted below.
Hava defies Yahweh; Jacob cheats his brother and, with his mother Rebecca’s help, also deceives his father; Rachel steals from her father and lies about it; Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute to get pregnant by Judah.
We argued in the lecture that part of J’s great originality is to use these tales as a narrative bridge from the creation story with which she begins to the emergence of Israelite identity in the Egyptian exodus story. In short, she has very clearly gone to a lot of trouble to write-in these characters as ancestors of her people. Why? Consider: What sort of idea of morality is operating here? How could these characters be seen as moral exemplars? Why would one want these people as one’s ancestors?
Reference Style: Please do not use the M.L.A. style. Use short-form in-line references, following the conventions below. Full references are not necessary for required course texts, nor are lists of works cited. Don’t include author or title unless necessary. Note that line numbers of the translations are sometimes uneven—it’s fine to approximate.
Tanakh & New Testament: Do not italicize titles of individual books or letters. Give title as necessary, then chapter and verse. Note translation only if necessary. [Matthew, 7:7-11] [Job, 42:6, NRSV]
Book of J: Give chapter numbers of Rosenberg’s translation：
(1) all the introductory material through page 55, (2) the translation of the Book of J itself, pages 57-172, (3) the translator's appendices, pages 325-335.
Content:
The papers and homework assignments that you will be writing are mostly openended. We will be asking you how and why questions and asking that you try to figure out something about the text or texts in question. These assignments are intended to get you thinking about the texts and as occasions for you to begin to explore the ideas they treat. We’re less interested in you getting the right answers than we are in training you in how to ask the right questions as you interrogate a text. For these reasons they may also ask you to work on a text before we begin to discuss it in class. In general, these assignments should not include opinions on matters of taste, nor should they use personal experience as a kind of evidence. Rather they should pay close attention to the textual evidence and proceed by reasoned inquiry to critical judgment—and keep in mind that delving deeper into a text may mean that you raise new questions rather than coming to conclusive “solutions.” Note, too, that everything we are reading is in translation. You should therefore be careful to avoid philological arguments. The assignments are meant to be concise. This is intentional on our part and is meant to keep you from padding your papers with fluff. Finally: Do not engage in empty speculation. For example, no college paper should ever begin “Since the beginning of time....”