Myths of Brotherly Animosity and the Civil Wars of Biblical Israel

Abstract

A recurrent theme in the Hebrew Bible is brotherly animosity. Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, and Solomon and Adonijah are but a few examples. This variety seems to reflect a fundamental conflict in ancient society. In this article, I argue that all these stories function as ethos myths. After describing the various stories with an attempt to single out the motivations behind them, they will be put into the social context that probably fueled them. Although the stories are extremely varied, they all share at least one common element, namely: it is always the younger brother who turns out to be God’s favorite. A second element is the jealousy of the older brother in the special status of the younger. Against the historical background of long-lasting civil war between the smaller kingdom of Judah and the larger, militarily stronger, and more financially stable kingdom of Israel, I argue that these stories were adapted to fit into the Judean narrative for the sake of strengthening its self-image as a small kingdom struggling against a stronger opponent who is motivated by jealousy. The mythical conflict reflects the complexity of the struggle between the two kingdoms, in which Judah identifies itself as being the ‘younger child’ or the ‘little brother’, who is blessed by God. Such myths give justification to the military struggle and feed the self-conviction narratives of the superiority of Judah as being divinely chosen.