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Jules Michelet, France's foremost historian in the
nineteenth century, who had asserted that the God of the Hebrew Bible always preferred "the weak over the strong," and thus preferred Jacob, "delicate and sweet ['fin et doux'] like a woman" over "the valiant Ishmael and the strong Esau".
This is an interesting observation. It recalls of God declaring "I am a jealous God" in Exodus 34:14 and Exodus 20:5. There's also the recuring them of referring to men as God's children; even Christ teaches in Matthew 18:3-4 that believers must "become like little children" to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ built his Church on Peter, a murderer and a coward who denied Him three times and was caught fleeing his own martyrdom; much like Jonah fleeing his own calling. In Exodus 4:10, Moses tells God he is "slow of speech and tongue" and feels inadequate to lead. Even the "great" king David was an adulterer and a coward who embarrassed God before His enemies.
It's a curious theme where God chooses not only weak men, but selfish cowards that either get put in a corner or guilt-tripped into doing God's Will.