28
1: Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women.
Note that Isaac blesses Jacob again, without being fooled! Thus the "source hypothesis" (theory). These repeats are called "doublets," and seem to combine sources in one "redaction."
10: Jacob left Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.
11: And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.
12: And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
13: And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants;
14: and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves.
15: Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you."
16: Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place; and I did not know it."
17: And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
18: So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone which he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
19: He called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
This is another etiological story (the place must have been a Canaanite holy place so its holiness was explained in Hebrew terms). But it also has an historical purpose. It is believed that E wrote this to situate holiness in the north, whereas J favors the south (thus the story of Melchizedek in Salem (Jerusalem). Note how "God" (not Jehovah/Yahweh) is used in this text.
29
1: Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the people of the east.
10: Now when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
11: Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud.
12: And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father.
16: Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
17: Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful and lovely.
18: Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."
19: Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me."
20: So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
21: Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed."
22: So Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.
23: But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.
25: And in the morning, behold, it was Leah; and Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"
26: Laban said, "It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the first-born.
Notice how Jacob is punished for his deception of his father by being deceived by another father, also involving a matter of the "first-born."
27: Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years."
28: Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to wife.
30: So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
31: When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
32: And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, "Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; surely now my husband will love me."
33: She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also"; and she called his name Simeon.
34: Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, "Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons"; therefore his name was called Levi.
35: And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "This time I will praise the LORD"; therefore she called his name Judah; then she ceased bearing.
30
1: When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!"
2: Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
3: Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her."
4: So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her.
5: And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
6: Then Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son"; therefore she called his name Dan.
7: Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8: Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed"; so she called his name Naph'tali.
9: When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10: Then Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
11: And Leah said, "Good fortune!" so she called his name Gad.
12: Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
13: And Leah said, "Happy am I! For the women will call me happy"; so she called his name Asher.
17: And God hearkened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son (Is'sachar).
19: And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son (Zebulun)..
21: Afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
22: Then God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb (son, Joseph).
25: When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.
26: Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service which I have given you."
32
3: And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Se'ir, the country of Edom.
6: And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him."
9: And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,
11: Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us all, the mothers with the children.
12: But thou didst say, `I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'"
22: The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23: He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.
24: And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
25: When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
26: Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me."
27: And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."
28: Then he said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."
This mysterious encounter with God is one of the most famous texts in Genesis and gave us the phrase, "Jacob's ladder." But it's confusing since God is preventing Jacob from fulfilling God's command! Scholars believe there's trace of dualism here, when there were two equally powerful gods; but later redactors felt that unacceptable and made the adversary God himself. Anyway, Jacob is renamed Israel, with a new destiny given by God.
30: So Jacob called the name of the place Peni'el, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved."
31: The sun rose upon him as he passed Penu'el. . . .
Note the symbolic ending of a tale that begins at night: "the sun rose."
33
1: And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him.
4: But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
The conflict of brothers that began with Cain and Abel begins to be resolved here and will be fully resolved in the Joseph story. Note in this scene that Jacob returns the blessing he stole from Esau.
35
9: God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.
10: And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So his name was called Israel.
Note here is another "doublet," since Jacob was already renamed Israel. Here is the P version, since "God" is called "Almighty."
11: And God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you."
16: Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.
17: And when she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Fear not; for now you will have another son."
18: And as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-o'ni; but his father called his name Benjamin.
19: So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
28: Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.
29: And Isaac breathed his last; and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
In v. 18 we complete the 12 tribes of Israel (Jacob), later adapted by Jesus for his 12 apostles in the New Covenant.
37
1: Jacob dwelt in the land of Canaan.
2: Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought an ill report of them to their father.
This is one of the greatest stories in the Bible and is traced to Solomon's kingdom (10th century BCE) when Solomon maintained good relations with Egypt, though the time of the story itself is earlier. Themes include Jacob's selfish love for Joseph, causing sibling rivalry and Joseph's wisdom. Note that God appears only as he does today, as "providence," not as a vision. The point, as in Wisdom literature, is that God works all things for the best. Chuang-tze has a similar thought, where we never know what is for the best until the end of the history.
3: Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long robe with sleeves.
Andrew Lloyd-Webber wrote a famous musical (his first): Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, about Joseph and his brothers; but the preferred translation is "a long-sleeved coat." This suggests royalty, since laborers would wear short sleeves.
4: But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him.
5: Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him more.
6: He said to them, "Hear this dream which I have dreamed:
7: behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and bowed down to my sheaf."
The irony of Joseph's dreams is that they will indeed come true later in the story when Joseph's brothers, and even his father, will bow to him in Egypt, which Joseph will rule as the Pharaoh's prime minister.
8: His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us?" So they hated him more.
9: Then he dreamed another dream and said, "Behold, I dreamed another dream; and the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
10: But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, "Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?"
12: Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.
14: So Israel said to him, "Go see if it is well with your brothers, and with the flock; and bring me word again." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
18: They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them they planned to kill him.
19: They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer.
20: Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams."
There's a development of the motif of "going down": first into the pit, then into Egypt, then into prison, before Joseph rises again in fulfillment of his dreams.
21: But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."
22: And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; cast him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him" -- that he might rescue him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
23: So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore;
24: and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water in it.
28: Then Mid'ianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ish'maelites for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.
29: When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes
30: and returned to his brothers, and said, "The lad is gone; and I, where shall I go?"
31: Then they took Joseph's robe, and killed a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood;
32: and they sent the long robe with sleeves and brought it to their father, and said, "This we have found; see now whether it is your son's robe or not."
Note this punishment fits Jacob's deception of Isaac (his father) & with the same motive: sibling rivalry.
33: And he recognized it, and said, "It is my son's robe; a wild beast has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces."
34: Then Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
35: All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, "No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning." Thus his father wept for him.
Note that Jacob still cares for one son more than all the others; even in his grief he repeats the cause of the problem he grieves over.
36: Meanwhile he was sold in Egypt to Pot'i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.
38
1: It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
2: There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her,
3: and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.
4: Again she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.
5: Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.
6: And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar.
7: But Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
8: Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother."
9: But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother's wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother.
10: And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD, and he slew him also.
This story in the middle of the Joseph story has importance for several reasons. First it reflects some values in the Joseph story: where Joseph controls his sexual appetite with Potiphar's wife, Judah gives in. Where Potiphar's wife acts for base reasons, Tamar acts for noble reasons (remember, God said to "be fruitful and multiply"). Tamar also has great importance because she appears as part of the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, as one of several women! Other issues is the Levirate, mentioned in Leviticus, where a brother was supposed to have sex with his brother's widow to give the dead brother an heir. Onan refused to do this and was killed by God. This has caused great confusion to this day, since this punishment is used as a warning against masturbation (sexual self-stimulation is still called "onanism"). Actually, what Onan did is in Latin called (even today) "coitus interruptus," which means spilling the seed before it enters the woman's womb. Every verse is important in the Bible and has had major impact, as in this instance. Other themes in the Judah story is that of deception, which appears throughout Genesis (note the motif of the goat, which appears in Jacob's deception of Isaac and Joseph's brothers' deception of Jacob).
11: Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up" -- for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
12: In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died; and when Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
13: And when Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,"
14: she put off her widow's garments, and put on a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage.
15: When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, for she had covered her face.
16: He went over to her at the road side, and said, "Come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?"
17: He answered, "I will send you a kid from the flock." And she said, "Will you give me a pledge, till you send it?"
18: He said, "What pledge shall I give you?" She replied, "Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand." So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.
19: Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.
20: When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, he could not find her.
21: And he asked the men of the place, "Where is the harlot who was at Enaim by the wayside?" And they said, "No harlot has been here."
22: So he returned to Judah, and said, "I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, `No harlot has been here.'"
23: And Judah replied, "Let her keep the things as her own, lest we be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her."
24: About three months later Judah was told, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; and moreover she is with child by harlotry." And Judah said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned."
25: As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, "By the man to whom these belong, I am with child." And she said, "Mark, I pray you, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff."
26: Then Judah acknowledged them and said, "She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not lie with her again.
27: When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb.
28: And when she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, "This came out first."
29: But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out; and she said, "What a breach you have made for yourself!" Therefore his name was called Perez.
30: Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread upon his hand; and his name was called Zerah.
This repeats the twin rivalry of Jacob and Esau.
39
1: Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Pot'i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ish'maelites who had brought him down there.
4: So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
5: Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking.
7: And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, "Lie with me."
10: And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her.
11: But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house,
12: she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and got out of the house.
13: And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled out of the house,
Note how the garment "motif" is repeated here.
14: she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice;
15: and when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house."
20: And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.
21: But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22: And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he was the doer of it;
23: the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.
41
1: After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,
2: and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows sleek and fat, and they fed in the reed grass.
3: And behold, seven other cows, gaunt and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
4: And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke.
5: And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.
6: And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind.
7: And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
8: So in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it to Pharaoh.
The point is that Joseph's God is more powerful than the Egyptian gods, as Joseph's wisdom, based in God, is greater.
9: Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, "I remember my faults today." [In chapter 40, Joseph, two years before, successfully interpreted the chief butler's dream while in prison. but he forgot to speak of Joseph to the Paraoh as he had promised to do.]
14: Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph.
[Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream, evoking God]:
28: God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
29: There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt,
30: but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land,
31: and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that famine which will follow, for it will be very grievous.
32: And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass."
39: So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are;
41: behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."
45: And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaph'enath-pane'ah; and he gave him in marriage As'enath, the daughter of Poti'phera priest of On.
50: Before the year of famine, Joseph had two sons.
51: Joseph called the name of the first-born Manas'seh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house."
52: The name of the second he called E'phraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
42
1: When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"
2: And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live, and not die."
3: So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
4: But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might befall him.
Note that Jacob still favors one of two children he had with the wife he loved, Rachel.
6: Now Joseph was governor over the land; he it was who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came, and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
Note that Joseph's dream is fulfilled!
8: Thus Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him.
9: And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them; and he said to them, "You are spies, you have come to see the weakness of the land.
15: By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
21: Then they said to one another, "In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he pleaded and we would not listen; therefore is this distress come upon us."
22: And Reuben answered them, "Did I not tell you not to sin against the lad? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood."
Note this is part of a later Wisdom literature, with no emphasis on God's revelation; justice works by conscience.
23: They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them.
24: Then he turned away from them and wept; and he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
25: And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
26: Then they loaded their asses with their grain, and departed.
27: And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack;
28: and he said to his brothers, "My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!" At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, "What is this that God has done to us?"
Their consciences awakened in distress, they think of God's hand.
43
[They return to Egypt with Benjamin.]
16: When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon."
30: Then Joseph made haste, for his heart yearned for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there.
31: Then he washed his face and came out; and controlling himself he said, "Let food be served."
44
1: Then he commanded the steward of his house, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack,
2: and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain." And he did as Joseph told him.
3: As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their asses.
4: When they had gone but a short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, `Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup?
5: Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he divines? You have done wrong in so doing.'"
6: When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words.
7: They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!
8: Behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; how then should we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?
9: With whomever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's slaves."
10: He said, "Let it be as you say: he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be blameless."
11: Then every man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and every man opened his sack.
12: And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
13: Then they rent their clothes, and every man loaded his ass, and they returned to the city.
14: When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there; and they fell before him to the ground.
15: Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that such a man as I can indeed divine?"
16: And Judah said, "What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord's slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found."
More irony, as throughout. Joseph's "dreams" are proved true, while the brothers' consciences torment them.
17: But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."
The following shows a real change in Judah's feelings and moral sense:
18: Then Judah went up to him and said,
33: Let your servant, I pray you, remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord; and let the lad go back with his brothers.
34: For how can I go back to my father if the lad is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would come upon my father."
45
1: Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him; and he cried, "Make every one go out from me." So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
4: Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
5: And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6: For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7: And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
8: So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
This is the moral of the tale, based in the Wisdom tradition, where God is shown by good conduct and practical living, ending in success.
9: Make haste and go up to my father and say to him, `Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry;
10: you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have;
11: and there I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come; lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty.'
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1: Then Jacob called his sons, and said, "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in days to come.
2: Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob, and hearken to Israel your father.
3: Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the first fruits of my strength, pre-eminent in pride and pre-eminent in power.
4: Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it -- you went up to my couch!
Reuben had sex with his father's maid, which was insulting to the father. These are the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus will later replace these 12 tribes with 12 apostles, in the "New Covenant."
5: Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords.
7: Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
Simeon and Levi took revenge on the "rape" of their sister, Dinah, omitted in this handout, which caused problems for Jacob. Hence Jacob predicts these sons (tribes) will be scattered. In fact, Levi became the priestly tribe known as the Levites.
8: Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you.
9: Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up?
10: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Judah in fact will become the most important tribe, as this blessing shows.
11: Binding his foal to the vine and his ass's colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes;
12: his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
26: The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills; may they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was separate from his brothers."
33: When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
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15: When Joseph's brothers saw their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil we did to him."
16: So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this command before he died,
17: `Say to Joseph, Forgive, I pray you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.' And now, we pray you, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18: His brothers also came and fell down before him, and said, "Behold, we are your servants."
19: But Joseph said to them, "Fear not, for am I in the place of God?
Note more deception by Joseph's brothers; also note the closure with the beginning of Genesis where, after eating the apple, Adam and Eve threaten God; here Joseph humbly says, "am I in the place of God?" The book ends on the theme of God's providence, or Good, which is how the Bible began: God saw that it was good, and "be fruitful and multiply."
20: As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
21: So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones."
26: So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
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