Jacob & the Prodigal

Israel, the community to which Jesus belonged, took its name from their patriarch Jacob. His story of exile and return was their story as well.In the well-known tale of the prodigal son, Jesus reshaped the story in his own way and for his own purposes. In this work, Kenneth E. Bailey compares the Old Testament saga and the New Testament parable. He unpacks similarities freighted with theological significance and differences that often reveal Jesus' particular purposes. Drawing on a lifetime of study in both Middle Eastern culture and the Gospels, Bailey offers here a fresh view of how Jesus interpreted Israel's past, his present and their future.

Kenneth E. Bailey is an author and lecturer in Middle Eastern New Testament studies. He spent forty years living and teaching New Testament in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem and Cyprus. Bailey has written many books in English and Arabic, including The Cross and the Prodigal, Jacob and the Prodigal and Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes.