The Integration of Temples and Families: A Latter-day Saint Structure for the Jacob Cycle

Scholars from many religious backgrounds--including Latter-day Saints--have noted both temple themes and parallel structures in the Jacob Cycle (Genesis 28-35). The present paper surveys that body of work and then offers a new structural understanding of the text, one that is uniquely LDS. This interpretation focuses on the entwining of temple and family themes in the narrative, showing how the form of the text uses each to support the other.