Joseph

• Introduction
• • Meaning of the name Joseph is "one who adds"
  • The 11^th son of Jacob's 12
  • As the firstborn son of Jacob and Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife, Joseph was the favored child - he and his brother Benjamin were especially favored after Rachel died
  • Literary elements
  • • Not a collection of tribal memories but a sustained and well-crafted narrative - as such it is different from the Abraham and Jacob narratives
    • Basic differences from other patriarchal stories
    • • Characteristics of wisdom literature - good is rewarded and evil is punished - the oppressed righteous man comes out on top
      • God guides Joseph through the events and circumstances of life rather than through divine messengers and theophanies
      • Egyptian background - words, social customs, and procedures indicate a familiarity with Egypt - this may be a result of either historical remembrance or literary skill
    • Formation of the tradition
    • • Two approaches
      • • Time of Solomon as the best milieu for the production of the narrative - during this period Israel came into contact with the intellectual thought of the surrounding nations - in such an environment Israel's faith had to find a new method of expression - the Joseph narrative reaffirmed the reliability of God working in history but stated that God worked in hidden and unnoticed ways
        • The account is an invented, literary production designed to link the patriarchal accounts to the story of the exodus - basically the account "filled the gap" between the patriarchal traditions and the exodus tradition explaining how Israel got into Egypt
      • Both of these approaches may contain some measure of truth but the narrative deserves attention as an integral part of the patriarchal narratives
    • Two elements of the literary shape
    • • The dream in Gen. 37:5-9 drives the story forward to the dream's realization
      • The statements by Joseph in Gen. 45:4-8 and 50:19-20 are the major theological statements which interpret the entire narrative
• The Basic Narrative
• • The young dreamer
  • • A favored son (Gen. 37:1-11)
    • • His "coat of many colors" or "long-sleeved coat"
      • • May be of many colors and thus expensive
        • May be a long-sleeved coat
        • In either case, it is not a coat to do work in
      • As the favorite son with nothing of substance to do, Joseph has ample time to dream of where his current status will lead him
    • The dreams
    • • His brothers' 11 sheaves bow down to his (Gen. 37:5-8)
      • The sun, moon, and 11 stars bow down to him (Gen. 37:9-11)
    • The price of the dreams is tension (Gen. 37:10-11)
    • • Such dreams lead the dreamer to think too highly of himself or herself - service is replaced with lordship
      • The brothers certainly are angered by Joseph's arrogance and pretension - they want to remove this favored son and restore family balance
      • Jacob is afraid of the dreamer and his dreams - perhaps the situation is too reminiscent of his own - again favoritism has created a monster
  • The dreamer stopped (Gen. 37:12-36)
  • • The brothers plan to kill him but Reuben/Judah sells him as a slave to the Ishmaelites/Midianites - due to the fact that two individuals and two groups are credited with selling and buying Joseph respectively, some scholars believe two accounts of the selling of Joseph have been merged into one
    • The dreamer is then sold to Potiphar, the captain of the guard in Egypt
    • Jacob, the old trickster, is tricked by his own sons - he is shown a bloodied coat of many colors and allowed to surmise what has happened to Joseph - he surmises the worst - Jacob who stole what belonged to his brother now has his son stolen from him
  • The dreamer's rise to power (Gen. 39:1-41:57)
  • • He succeeds well with Potiphar and is elevated to manager of the household
    • When Potiphar's wife makes a pass at him, he rejects her - his moral standards are the highest of all the patriarchs (cf. Gen. 12:11-13, 20:2, 26:7)
    • Potiphar's wife accuses Joseph of attempted rape and Joseph is imprisoned - in prison, his administrative abilities become obvious and he manages the prison
    • When Pharaoh's chief butler and baker are imprisoned and have dreams, Joseph correctly interprets them - the chief butler is restored to his position, the chief baker is executed, but Joseph is forgotten
    • When Pharaoh has two dreams about 7 lean cows consuming 7 fat cows and 7 thin ears of corn consuming 7 plump ears of corn, the chief butler remembers Joseph
    • • Joseph correctly interprets the dreams as referring to 7 years of good harvests followed by 7 years of famine
      • Joseph suggests that Pharaoh find a good administrator to store food during the good years in preparation for the bad
      • Pharaoh selects Joseph for the position - this may have been when the Hyksos ruled Egypt because they would have been much more open to a foreigner having power in Egypt
    • Joseph becomes second only to Pharaoh
    • Joseph marries and has two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim - the two tribes which descend from the sons become the strongest tribes in northern Israel
    • His career is much like that of Daniel
  • Reuniting with his family (Gen. 42:1-47:31)
  • • The famine is not confined to Egypt and forces Joseph's brothers to come to Egypt to buy food
    • Joseph recognizes them but they do not recognize him - why?
    • • May not expect him to be alive - certainly a slave would not have survived long in Egypt
      • Time has passed and he has changed - he was younger than his brothers and had changed more in the intervening years than they had
      • He has adopted Egyptian dress and customs - he speaks to his brothers through an interpreter implying to them that he does not understand their language
      • The brothers certainly do not expect someone sold as a slave to have become the second most powerful man in Egypt
    • Joseph does not identify himself to his brothers but asks them to bring their youngest brother (Benjamin) if they ever come again - he also sneaks their money into their grain sacks rather than taking it
    • The brothers are forced to make a second trip when the grain runs out and have to persuade Jacob to let Benjamin accompany them - Jacob does not want to lose his last reminder of Rachel - Judah, who had earlier sold Joseph, promises to stand by Benjamin and forfeit his life if harm comes to Benjamin
    • Joseph treats his brothers much the same and sends them toward home with their grain, money, and his favorite silver cup in Benjamin's sack - he then sends his men to catch them and accuse them of stealing his cup - when the cup is discovered in Benjamin's sack, Joseph threatens to execute him
    • Judah offers to die in Benjamin's place pleading that Benjamin's death will kill his father
    • Joseph tells his brothers who he is and insists they return home and bring everyone to Egypt so they might have food
    • Jacob and the family come to Egypt and Joseph is reunited with his father - Joseph's family settle in Goshen, an area in Egypt suitable for pasturing flocks
  • The dream reinterpreted (Gen. 48:1-50:26)
  • • Jacob blesses Joseph's two sons, giving the younger the more favored blessing - the pattern of skipping the oldest son continues
    • Jacob blesses his sons and then dies - his body is embalmed and he was returned to be buried in the cave where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah had been buried - Leah at least is buried with her husband while the favored Rachel is not - only in death is Leah truly Jacob's wife
    • The brothers wonder if Joseph will now try to take revenge on them since Jacob is dead (cf. Gen. 27:41)
    • Joseph, however, has understood his dream in a new way - his brothers had indeed bowed before him but the purpose of the dream had not been to exalt him but to save Israel and the world
    • Joseph and his brothers have all matured
  • Before Joseph dies he makes his sons promise to bury his bones in Israel when his people go home in the future - the promise is fulfilled (Exod. 13:19, Josh. 24:32)
• Some Theological Points
• • Lordship and service
  • • Joseph's dreams initially seem to promise power and control - Joseph seems to like that, even in Egypt as he toyed with his brothers
    • But Joseph comes to understand that servanthood is preferred by God - only God can be Lord
    • The dream is not the dream of a selfish man but is given by a loving God
  • What does it mean to trust God in a world where knowledge and ability rule?
  • • The dilemma
    • • A world in which human knowledge and ability are emphasized may be "embarrassed" by faith and thus emphasize human activity - a temptation in our world too
      • Yet to work and be involved when people think you should be patiently waiting on God can also be a problem
    • The Joseph narrative allows God's providence to work itself out in history in ways that are often hidden or quiet - human decisions play a large role but God's purposes are still realized by God
  • Political power
  • • Conventional wisdom would state that the strong should care for the weak and thus Egypt should have cared for Israel - this happens in the account but only because the weak nation has helped the stronger by providing a strong leader - to some degree the roles are reversed
    • Political power here is viewed as a good thing because it is used for the good of the entire community
    • In Egypt, Israel has an opportunity to be a blessing to the nations - not only is Israel fed and cared for, but through Israel the entire world is fed and cared for
  • Barrenness and promise
  • • At the end of Genesis, Israel is in Egypt and the promise of the land seems threatened - the situation seems devoid of hope but that has happened before especially in the barrenness of Sarah
    • Both Jacob and Joseph cling to the promises - they make their children promise to bury them in the Promised Land (Canaan) believing the promises will come true
• Judah and Tamar - An Interruption? (Gen. 38:1-30)
• • Judah's family
  • • Judah has three sons: Er, Onan, Shelah
    • Er marries Tamar
    • For some reason, God does not like Er and kills him (Gen. 38:7)
    • Tamar then is given to Onan for Onan to marry her and impregnate her so that she can have children to carry on for her dead husband and to inherit his share - Onan refuses and God kills him (Gen. 38:10)
    • Judah refuses to let Tamar marry Shelah and sends her home to her father
  • The charge of adultery
  • • Judah's wife dies
    • Tamar discovers Judah is coming her way to shear his flocks - she dresses nicely and sits by the gate of a city Judah is passing through - Judah propositions Tamar not knowing who she is (she is probably veiled)
    • Judah promises to pay her well and, at her suggestion, gives her his signet ring and staff (two items that identify Judah) as a pledge he will return and pay
    • They sleep together and Tamar becomes pregnant - Judah's search to find and pay Tamar is futile and he gives up on ever seeing his signet ring and staff again
    • Upon realizing Tamar is pregnant, her father asks Judah to deal with her - Judah summons her to be burned as an adulteress
    • Tamar identifies Judah as the father and Judah confesses he is far less righteous than Tamar
    • • Both have committed adultery
      • But Tamar has done what she could to have a child by someone in the family of her deceased husband - Judah has abandoned Tamar who is his responsibility, hoping that she would never return or perhaps die - he has treated her as a non-person
  • Some theological points
  • • Being respected in the community can sometimes help you do things others cannot get away with - power and privilege can be abused
    • Righteousness depends on how we treat others rather than on our community standing or on how many sins can be discovered about us
    • The account illustrates that righteousness is not based on what is visible - God looks at the heart when often we only care to look at the outside
    • For Christians, it is no accident that Tamar is included by Matthew in the ancestry of Jesus (Matt. 1:3) - her righteousness is much like the kind Jesus proclaims while he criticizes the external righteousness of the powerful

Artwork by Diego Velazquez (Velasquez) from the WebMuseum