Theme Of Forgiveness In The Book Of Genesis

Superior Essays
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Throughout The Book of Genesis, conflict reveals the imperfection of God’s creation of man; however, forgiveness is what proves that man is not completely evil. Whether the conflict be man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. God, etc., forgiveness is never an easily accomplished task. The acts of begging for or providing forgiveness can take extensive amounts of time to build strength to do. The concept of forgiveness in The Book of Genesis teaches that the act of forgiving requires audacity on both ends of a conflict in the stories of Jacob/Esau and Joseph.
Both Jacob/Esau and Joseph end up having to endure the challenge of forgiveness as a result
…show more content…
In response, Esau says he will come, with the company of 400 men. This leaves Jacob to be incredibly apprehensive as to what his near future could look like as well as instilling the fear of possible death in him. Sure enough, Esau arrives with 400 men alongside him, but his reaction to Jacob is completely contradictory to what is expected: “And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept” (33:4). In chapter 37, Joseph is sold at 17 as a slave to Potiphar, one of the Pharaoh 's officers, by his eleven brothers. Joseph suffers for years from harsh treatment and false accusations, until he is able to redeem himself through his skill of interpreting dreams. Having knowledge of a coming famine, Joseph gathers all of the food/grain he can, and he eventually moves to Egypt to provide for all of the countries suffering from starvation. To his surprise, in chapter 42, his brethren arrive, and he accuses them of being spies. To prove they are not spies, they are to bring their youngest brother Benjamin back. When they do, “...he fell upon his brother Benjamin 's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed all his …show more content…
Cultures who study this text religiously are more likely to have this bravery to forgive or be forgiven, as many people of the culture apply how the characters function to their own lives. They may have better relationships with the people in their lives than other cultures because of this. In both stories, courage is displayed within both sides of each conflict; while one perspective is always distinct from the other and different types of courage are displayed, they share the same message. This is that forgiveness from either standpoint in a conflict requires confidence to feel able to take a risk that can change their lives forever. Marianne Williamson once said, “Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” Despite the pain that can come with forgiveness, it is what heals wounds and allows people to accept their flaws and learn from their wrongdoings. If there is anything that a culture who does not study the stories of Genesis should take from the book, it is the power of forgiveness, and how forgiveness is never not

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Life lessons are very important when it comes to being successful in life. If you don't open your mind to learn and discuss you won't go anywhere. In the novel “Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelson Cole didn't open his mind and thoughts to anyone until he got taught a lesson. After the mauling of the spirit bear, Cold changed. He began to forgive himself which was a very big step for him.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Judaism, their perspective on this concept is that one who has mistreated another must earnestly seek forgiveness from them, and they are expected to do so a number of times. The victim will be held accountable for the individual’s actions if they do not grant forgiveness, as it is their religious responsibility to do so, and thus, the person who has pursued their pardon will receive this from God instead. This concept of forgiveness is applied throughout the teachings of Judaism. However, if Christians endeavour to achieve forgiveness from God, and have exhibited this to others, the Lord will absolve these individuals from sin. Followers also request that God absolves the acts of unjust from those who committed a sin towards the individual.…

    • 1690 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Moreover, when people forgive their offenders, it shows that justice has been served. Furthermore, when people do what is just, by forgiving their offenders, their view of the world will change. One of the reasons why forgiveness and justice go hand in hand is when an immoral person receives retributive justice, it causes people to repent on their wrongdoings thus making them a better person when they’re also forgiven by their victims. Take, for example, the older brother from “What We Plant We Will Eat”. At the beginning of the story, he was arrogant and kicked his younger brother out…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Divine forgiveness is only due to pure agape love and this love is wholly transformative as it is wholly foreign to depraved humanity: “in charity we are loved, not because we are lovable, but because love Himself is in those who love us” (Okita, 72). Thus, Lewis presents agape as the only acceptable Gift-Love as Need-Love as it is boundless and unwearied in giving” (FL, 8). The gift of agape is not cause for pride, but for humility in that it highlights an utter inability of the self and reliance on another. Only in accepting perfect love is one able to infuse it among other…

    • 2400 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Character traits a Louie zamperini Did you know that 33% of POWS died in POW camps that Louie was in but Louie still made it through? Louie started out as a troubled kid who stole things, drank alcohol, and smoked cigarettes. Then his brother convinced him to do track and he was great at it.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The holocaust is one of the most horrific events in history. Eliezer Wiesel”s Night describes the horrifying events Eliezer experiences in multiple concentration camps during the holocaust. Eliezer goes through the loss of his loved ones, the loss of his faith, and the thinning of his soul. Eliezer goes through many changes, some might be drastic, some might not, as he progresses as a character throughout the book. At first, Eliezer is faithful to Jewish culture.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Through this story, he teaches his readers that even though one may be misunderstood, or even vengeful, forgiveness can wash all of it away and help people see what is truly important in life.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As Christians, we understand God forgave of our sins, and as Christians, we must forgive others of theirs. The better understand what forgiveness is, Sande and Johnson point out what is and what is not forgiveness. Within this last step, we find a solution for the conflict, one that embodies what the Lord has commanded us to do. The method presented by Sande and Johnson is yet another way to resolve conflict. For Christians, it offers a way to resolve conflict through their values and beliefs.…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people consider forgiveness as a virtue and something desirable. Nevertheless, people define it differently, probably depending on circumstances. As Jeffrie Murphy puts it, forgiveness is the forswearing of resentment- the resolute overcoming of the anger and hatred that are naturally directed toward a person who has done an unjustified and non-excused moral injury. According to this statement, forgiveness is directly related to moral obligation from individuals. It suggests that unjustified moral injury to a person may cause anger and hatred that can only be overcome through forgiveness.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    We humans doubt our actions when we fight our own battles. The author of The Sunflower, Simon Wiesenthal, went through a sentimental battle. He was a Jew in the Holocaust, while working one day he was taken by a nurse to meet a SS Nazi soldier who was close to death. This SS Nazi soldier surprisingly told Wiesenthal, a Jew in the Holocaust, about all the crimes and death he has done and then he asked for forgiveness for all the people he has killed or potentially hurt. The author Wiesenthal never replied to the plea for forgiveness.…

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This can be seen in the example of Conor Mcbride. Conor stated “with the Grosmaires’ forgiveness, I could accept the responsibility and not be condemned” (Kumar 74). Through restorative justice he received a second chance on life. On the other hand, Kumar also achieved his goal through the victim's family. Ann’s mother notes, “Forgiveness for me was self-preservation” (Kumar 74).…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humans are imperfect creatures. In the time that humans have existed on this planet they have created countless conflicts for a plethora of reasons. When humans wrong each other for any reason, forgiveness is an essential part of repairing the resulting damage. Forgiveness plays a large role in moving forward from these wrongs against one another. Forgiveness is most commonly defined as the loss of resentment.…

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Together, their heroic traits of bravery, strength, determination, and cunning helped them come up with a plan to defeat their enemy, the suitors who were at their house surrounding Penelope, Odysseus’ wife and Telemachus’ mother. A similar father/son relationship existed in the Bible between Joseph and Jacob who were separated for many years. But after years of prison, Joseph stayed true to his father and invited him and his family to live in Egypt with him. Nearing the end of his life, Jacob asked his son Joseph: “If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, they hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt,” (Genesis 47:29), which Joseph sore to him to bury him with his fathers out of Egypt. Jacob also blessed Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim, that they would be fruitful and multiply into a multitude of…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Something we go through, work out and resolve. In the end, we may feel we can never totally forgive the other person. But we can work on minimising our negative feelings” (Reed,1). After his encounter with God, Mack had to learn to forgive himself just as God…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Forgiveness, as seen by most people, sounds simple and easy, but it has a deeper meaning. My favorite quote in this particular story is," '...forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion. '" (Quiñones p.87) I have always viewed forgiveness as a simple, "I 'm sorry", but after reading this story, I have undertaken a new meaning of forgiveness. My first reaction to reading the story was sorrow and anger.…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays