In the story of the ancestors in Genesis, we can easily find examples of wounds being passed on to one another, and Jacob is a negative example of this. He grew up in a family of origin that was full of favouritism, and the negative effects of this favouritism were with him.Jacob's mother favoured him and his father favoured his older brother Esau, resulting in brotherly discord that would later become a feud. When Jacob founded his family and faced a pair of sisters, he favoured his sister Rachel, causing the sisters to be constantly at odds with each other out of jealousy, and even the names of the many sons implied the mother's rivalry (Genesis 29:30-24).Jacob still does not seem to understand the disadvantages and consequences of favouritism. Of the many sons, Jacob loved Joseph more than the others, for Joseph was born to him in his old age (and to his favoured wife Rachel). He made Joseph a long coloured coat (it was usually the eldest son who had the right to have a long coat). When Joseph's brother saw that his father favoured Joseph, he hated him and could not speak peacefully with him. (Genesis 37:3-4)The brother's hatred thus sprang up and Joseph was finally sold into Egypt by his brother. Hadn't Jacob suffered the consequences of his parents' favouritism that left them to fight each other as brothers? Why did he not learn from history and repeat the same mistake himself, favouring one wife or son over another, the influence of the family of origin being passed on unnoticed by man.
