Bledstein's
assertion that trickster Isaac knew Jacob's true identity all along and sought
to test his "resolve and stamina" before passing on "the mantle
to the next-generation trickster" ("Binder, Trickster, Heel and
Hariy-Man," p. 288-289) has little support from the text. Rather it
reflects yet another attempt typical of Rabbinic exegesis to deny or in some
way justify the weakness of the father(s). This reading disempowers true tricksters,
attributing the success of their plots to the patronage of the powerful.