History Characters / BookOfGenesis

%%* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman

* GirlInABox: According to Jewish tradition, when her family went to visit Esau, Jacob was afraid Esau would want to marry her, so he locked her in a box. He is rebuked by {{God}} for doing so. According to this tradition, her destiny was to become Esau's wife (well, one of them, since by then he was already married to three pagan women), and serve as a MoralityPet for him.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Responsible to Cain's foolish. It's implied that the reason why God favored him was that Abel sacrificed the absolute best of his flock while Cain only sacrificed his spares.

* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Presumably dark skinned given the setting.

* CursedWithAwesome: God marked him so that any damage done to him would happen to his attacker sevenfold.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Apart from the fact that she eventually goes to Egypt with her family, we never know what happens to her after her brothers rescue her from Shechem, making her a tragic OneSceneWonder. Some Midrashic tales say that Dinah gave birth to Shechem's daughter, who was spirited away to Egypt to be raised as the daughter of Potiphera, Priest of On, and that it was this daughter, Asenath, who was given in marriage to Joseph. The rather UnfortunateImplications of this tale is that it puts Joseph in a squicky uncle-niece relationship. However, most scholars dismiss this story as a {{Fanon}} attempt to make Joseph's sons of pure Jewish lineage. Others believe that she married her brother Simeon (at her request), because [[DefiledForever no one would want her now that she was no longer a virgin]]. According to this school of thought, it was a SexlessMarriage, simply to ensure that she would be provided for and protected.

!!Genesis 1--11 (Adam through Abraham)

* TookALevelInJerkass: The first time we see him (in the context of his sister Rebecca's wedding), he seems like a NiceGuy. By the time Jacob goes to work for him, he's turned into a ManipulativeBastard ''[[UpToEleven par excellence]]''.

* KissingCousins: His eventual wife, Rebecca, is his cousin--being the daughter of Abraham's brother, Nahor.

* TheChosenOne: He was chosen by God to

'''Genesis''' | [[Characters/BookOfExodus Exodus through Deuteronomy]] | [[Literature/BookOfJoshua Joshua]] | [[Characters/BookOfJudges Judges]] | [[Characters/BooksOfSamuel Samuel]] | [[Characters/BooksOfKings Kings]] | [[Characters/BookOfEsther Esther]] | [[Characters/BookOfJob Job]] | [[Characters/TheFourGospels Matthew through John]] | [[Characters/ActsOfTheApostles Acts]]]]-]]]

'''Genesis''' | [[Characters/BookOfExodus Exodus through Deuteronomy]] | [[Characters/BookOfJudges Judges]] | [[Characters/BooksOfSamuel Samuel]] | [[Characters/BooksOfKings Kings]] | [[Characters/BookOfEsther Esther]] | [[Characters/BookOfJob Job]] | [[Characters/TheFourGospels Matthew through John]] | [[Characters/ActsOfTheApostles Acts]]]]-]]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Despite causing the following: Mankind receiving knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden and being cursed, the existence of death, the existence of the entire human race, and the first evil act ever, the snake absolutely disappears off of the face of the earth after the whole "Eden" incident. It is possible that he is Satan, but The Bible is not explicit about this.

* VillainsNeverLie: Everything it says to Eve is true. Its crime was not explaining that "eat it and die" was a threat, not a warning of poison, which it may not have understood itself.

* IncestIsRelative: Reuben slept with the mother of 2 of his half-brothers. This led to him losing his birthright as firstborn.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Apart from the fact that she eventually goes to Egypt with her family, we never know what happens to her after her brothers rescue her from Shechem, making her a tragic OneSceneWonder. Some Midrashic tales say that Dinah gave birth to Shechem's daughter, who was spirited away to Egypt to be raised as the daughter of Potiphera, Priest of On, and that it was this daughter, Asenath, who was given in marriage to Joseph. The rather UnfortunateImplications of this tale is that it puts Joseph in a [[{{Squick}} squicky]] [[IncestIsRelative uncle-niece relationship]]. However, most scholars dismiss this story as a {{Fanon}} attempt to make Joseph's sons of pure Jewish lineage. Others believe that she married her brother Simeon (at her request), because [[DefiledForever no one would want her now that she was no longer a virgin]]. According to this school of thought, it was a SexlessMarriage, simply to ensure that she would be provided for and protected.

* OutnumberedSibling: She's the only girl among 13 siblings.

%%* BedTrick: Subject to Tamar's.

* BlackSheep: Dan is seen as this. He hated Joseph the most (folklore) and his land is associated with evil (Jeremiah). His most famous descendant is [[Literature/SamsonAndDelilah Samson]]. In the Literature/BookOfRevelation, the tribe of Dan is not listed as one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

* BlackSheep: Dan is seen as this. He hated Joseph the most (folklore) and his land is associated with evil (Jeremiah). His most famous descendant is Literature/{{Samson}}. In the Literature/BookOfRevelation, the tribe of Dan is not listed as one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

* SinsOfOurFathers: While Esau himself forgave Jacob, his descendants, the Edomites, weren't as kind, as they continued to harass the Israelites for a long time, denying passage to the Israelites who left Egypt under the guidance of God and Moses.

* ParentalFavoritism: He was the favorite son of Jacob, being the first child of his favorite wife. Joseph himself [[{{Averted}} averts]] this trope in relation to his own two children, Manasseh and Ephraim. He isn't very happy when Jacob resorts to his old habit of [[YoungestChildWins favoring the younger child]] by giving the greater blessing to Ephraim.

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Is Jacob's 13th child, and...well, see above.

* InUniverseCatharsis: After twenty years of estrangement, Joseph [[InelegantBlubbering cries uncontrollably]] at the moment of his reconciliation with his brothers.

He and his family were called by God to build a boat filled with one male and female of each animal while He flooded the world. Afterwards, God made a covenant with him to never flood the world again.

* CoolBoat: The Ark, big enough to house at least two of every animal and Noah's entire family.

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* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Foolish to Abel's responsible. Tradition holds that Cain only offered his spare produce while Abel offered the best of his livestock.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Responsible to Cain's foolish. Tradition holds that the reason why God favored him was that Abel sacrificed the absolute best of his flock while Cain only sacrificed his spares.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Many biblical scholars argue that Adam was the most handsome man and Eve the most beautiful woman, being directly created by God.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: She is described as more beautiful than her sister, who isn't a bad person, but is certainly angry and bitter.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: "Joseph was handsome in form and appearance." Additionally, according to Muslim tradition, "One half of all the beauty God apportioned for mankind went to Joseph; the other one half went to the rest of mankind."
* BigBrotherInstinct: Joseph's reaction on seeing Benjamin for the first time in more than 20 years: "God be gracious to you, my son. [[RunningAwayToCry He then has to leave the room to regain his composure]].

* YoungestChildWins: He is Jacob's 11th son, and grows to become the most prominent of them all.
[[/folder]]

* TeensAreMonsters / BigBrotherBully: His younger half-brother Isaac was born when he was fourteen years old. When Isaac's mother Sarah caught him mocking Isaac, she was so upset she saw to it that her husband send Ishmael and his mother Hagar away from them permanently, so they will not share in the inheritance that was meant for Isaac. Abraham became worried about this, but God told him to do as Sarah told him, for He will make Ishmael into a great nation all the same.

* HumansAreBastards: (according to Christians) disobeying God by eating the forbidden fruit is referred to as being the Original Sin, and as such all their descendants are born with inclination towards sin. While never fully erased, God does help humans resist it by sending prophets to teach his word and by coming down to Earth as Jesus and dying for humanity's sins. ** Jews are much more lenient on this topic: while eating the fruit was disobeying God and therefore a sin, there's no halakha about descendents somehow sharing in it. And of course, no Jesus to help.

* HumansAreBastards: Disobeying God by eating the forbidden fruit is referred to as being the Original Sin, and as such all their descendants are born with inclination towards sin. While never fully erased, God does help humans resist it by sending prophets to teach his word and (according to Christians) by coming down to Earth as Jesus and dying for humanity's sins.

* [[Irony]]: After tricking Esau and father, and obtained his brother's birthright, he in turn ends up being deceived by his uncle and kept him away from his birthright for at least fourteen years.