In fact, the broadening out of the narrative to include all the sons of Jacob represents a departure in the book of Genesis and distinguishes this final section from those that precede it. Earlier, Genesis records that God made a covenant with Abraham, which was transmitted to one of Abraham’s sons, Isaac, and not to the other son, Ishmael. The same pattern of single transmission is repeated with Isaac, where it is Jacob who is chosen to bear the family line and not Esau. But simple logic tells us