Isaac and Saul

Peter J. Leithart November 18, 2006

I don’t recall now if I noticed the connections between Isaac and Saul in 1 Samuel. Isaac abuses his divinely favored son Jacob; Saul abuses his son-in-law David. Isaac preferred Esau, the eldest, to the second son; Saul prefers Jonathan to David. One of the key discontinuities is Jonathan’s behavior. He is the anti-Esau, the older son who willingly cedes his place of priority to his younger “brother” David.

Peter J. Leithart

Peter J. Leithart is president of the Theopolis Institute, Birmingham, Alabama. He posts regularly at his Substack, Notes from Beth-Elim.

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