Give Truth to Jacob

In the Hebrew Bible, Micah declares that God will “give truth to Jacob and lovingkindness to Abraham”(Micah 7:20). One might think, given the deception and acts of cunning with which Jacob is involved, in his early life (as described in the book of Genesis) – bribing his way into the portion of the firstborn, and disguising himself so as to receive his brother's blessing from his visually impared father – that Jacob is in particular need of the gift of truth. Perhaps this gift will make up for the deficit of truth in his youth. But that's not how the Rabbinic tradition understood this verse at all. On the contrary, just as Abraham was taken to be an exemplar of lovingkindness in this world, Jacob was taken to be an exemplar of truthfulness. By rewarding Jacob with truth and Abraham with lovingkindness, God will – on this account – be paying them both their dues. In concert with this tradition, the Midrashic literature surrounding the book of Genesis develops a close reading of the acts of deceit and cunning in Jacob's early life and finds them to be, not merely consistent with, but essential to his role as an exemplar of truthfulness. In this paper, I defend that Midrashic reading as – in essence – faithful to the original narrative and as a rich source of philosophical insight regarding the nature of truth and truthfulness; according to which “truth sprouts from the ground, whilst justice looks down from heaven”(Psalms 85:12).