Rudolf Otto and the Fearful Numinous: Jacob and Moses Wrestle with the Dangerous Divine; An Investigation of Genesis 32:22-33 and Exodus 4:24-26

Abstract

This article investigates two unique narratives contained in Genesis 32:22-33 and Exodus 4: 24-36. Both stories share elements of what on the surface appear to be violent and fearful encounters with the divine. Ottonian analysis is used to understand how the placement of these narratives in their context allows the larger text and the reader to understand these episodes as not simply fearful, but as moving from fear to awe as the encounter reveals a piece of the fabric of the intimacy between man and God. Ultimately it is the entire narrative taken within its place in the Hebrew Bible, along with later discussion and commentary, that allow these episodes to develop into the story of a rich and complex relationship between man and a God who cannot be reduced to either an unspeakable experience or an articulable set of concepts, but is at once fully mysterious, numinous, and self-revelatory.