GENESIS: 7 October 2008
16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian named Hagar. 16:2 Sarai said to Abram, “See now, Yahweh [the LORD] has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my handmaid. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” 16:4 Abram went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 16:5 Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my handmaid into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Yahweh judge between me and you.”The basic drama of GENESIS is "beginning." This involves BIRTH. So the stories are all related to birth and, beyond that, to the "promise" God gives Abraham that he will be father of many. How will this promise be fulfilled if Sarah (now called Sarai) is sterile and old too? And Abraham is also old. The point of the Bible is God is in control, not our bodies.
16:15 Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16:16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless. 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 Neither will your name any more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
Already the universal motif has been introduced; but it's implicit from the beginning. That is, ALL NATIONS are under God, not just the Jews. In fact, the Jewish covenant does not begin until the third Covenant, though it's hinted at in the Abrahamic Covenant, since already the Jewish ritual of circumcision is required. Even this rite suggests birth, since it involves the male organ involved in birth. So Genesis is very much a drama of birth. And these births are mainly miracles. Finally, this theme of miracle births continues in the New Testament, in the birth of Jesus.
17:10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. 17:11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations.”
Note, circumcision is not restricted to Jews. But the difference is in other cultures circumcision is usually a puberty rite as the male child reaches young adulthood. Here circumcision is done at birth; probably to emphasize that all births come from God, not from man. Regardless, circumcision becomes an enduring part of the Jewish religion, finally rejected by the first Jewish Christians.
As for the change of names, this is common when there's a major change of life. Even today, a young writer may change her name; movie stars change their names. Children known as Ricky request to be called Rick instead, as a sign of maturity. Most scholars don't see much difference between the names Sarah and Sarai, both of which mean "princess." "Abraham" means father of many nations.
17:15 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah."
17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” 17:18 Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”
17:19 God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.”
17:23 Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money; every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him.
Note Abraham's perfect faith and perfect obedience. Hence he becomes a model of faith for St. Paul in the New Testament.
17:24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
18:1 Yahweh appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 18:2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him.
18:16 The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 18:17 Yahweh said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do, 18:18 since Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 18:19 For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.” 18:20 Yahweh said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
Here we are introduced to the famous story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the twin evil cities destroyed by fire and brimstone for sin. Today the sin is commonly thought of as sex; but later prophets suggest it was pride. Needless to say, Hollywood found in this story possibilities for entertainment. Note the emphasis on justice above and below. It's possible that God put the idea into Abraham's head to fight for justice in 18:19, when God asks Abraham "to do righteousness and justice." What follows is a brilliant bargaining scene with God. The "three men" are images of God; perhaps of God's perfection (3=perfection); though one of them is actually identified with God. This is all "anthropomorphic" of course. That is, it's the only way for humans to speak of God. Note this is a J text, with emphasis on God with human traits. For example, God must "find out" whether something is true or not; but of course God would KNOW, without having to find out.
18:22 The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. 18:23 Abraham drew near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? 18:25 Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
18:26 Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake.”
18:32 He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”
19:1 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. 19:3 He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. 19:5 They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”
19:6 Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him. 19:7 He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. 19:8 See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
One of the more shocking scenes in the Bible. Not knowing these "men" are angels (in fact, God himself) the men of the city want to have homosexual relations with them. This is a serious violation of the code of hospitality in cultures of that time. Yet Lot's offering his two daughters (and tempting the men by calling them "virgins") is no better. Perhaps Lot is punished when his two daughters force sex on him in a later scene.
19:9 They pressed hard on the man Lot, and drew near to break the door. 19:10 But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 19:11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
19:15 When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” 19:17 It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, or you'll die in the fire!”
19:24 Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. 19:26 But Lot's wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
This is an etiological story explaining mounds of salt that resemble a woman. It's also related to other stories where people look back and ruin their hopes. Jesus may be referring to this story when he says that anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God. Looking back suggests one is of two minds: past and future. One can't change like this. As Jesus says, you cannot serve God and Mammon (money). Abraham became a model of faith for St. Paul because he never looked back once God told him to do something. Note that the Sodom and Gomorrah story may be another type of Flood story, or may derive from a model of this type. Because apparently there are nobody on earth left for the daughters to make children with:
19:30 Lot lived in a cave with his two daughters. 19:31 The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. 19:32 Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s seed.” 19:33 They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. 19:34 It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s seed.” Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. 19:37 The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 19:38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
Another etiological tale that explains both the corruption and enmity of two of Israel's enemy countries: Moab and Ammon.
21:5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him. 21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 21:7 She said, “Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
22:1 It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
22:2 He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”
This is called the Aquedah in Jewish literature, meaning the "binding": a more accurate word than the "sacrifice," as it's known in Christian literature. Note how the writer emphasizes Abraham's loss of his "son, his only son, whom he loves"! So Isaac too becomes a type of Jesus, God's "only son." (Earlier the writer emphasized Abram's leaving home in the same triplet formula: leave home, father, country. The dialogue below is brilliant in its suggestion of Isaac's slow realization of what's happening:
22:6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. 22:7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?”
He said, “Here I am, my son.”
He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
22:8 Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together. 22:9 They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. 22:10 Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
22:11 The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
22:12 He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
Again we get the formula, "your son, your only son." This becomes a model of perfect faith. The Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard wrote an entire short book on the binding called Fear and Trembling. Bear in mind, not only a son is at stake; but God's promise; for without the son how could the promise be fulfilled? And if the promise is not fulfilled, then God is a liar; not God. So this becomes a model of perfect faith, beyond human norms of conduct, as Kierkegaard wrote. Of course, this can lead to abuse too, if someone THINKS he's following God's command. Nothing in the Bible can be used indiscriminately (without some kind of judgment). Note that these are etiological stories too (naming the mountain):
22:13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”
22:15 The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, 22:16 and said, “I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. 22:18 In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Note the theme of universalism again ("all the nations of the earth [will] be blessed). This theme is omitted after the Sinai Covenant with the Jewish nation as a whole but is revived in the later prophets. By the time of St. Paul in the New Testament, the Sinai Covenant is ignored in favor of the Abrahamic Covenant with all peoples. It's possible Jesus' entire mission may symbolically encapsulate (sum up) this change; first Jesus ignores the gentiles (non-Jews) then he and his apostles turn their attention to the gentiles instead, when the Jews reject Jesus' message.
24:1 Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things. 24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. 24:3 I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. 24:4 But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
25:20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife. 25:21 Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 25:22 The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it be so, why do I live?” She went to inquire of Yahweh. 25:23 Yahweh said to her,
Another etiological tale, explaining the rivalry between Israel (Jacob) and Edom (Esau), sibling children of Isaac.
“Two nations are in your womb.
Two peoples will be separated from your body.
The one people will be stronger than the other people.
The elder will serve the younger.”
25:24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau. 25:26 After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
25:27 The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. 25:28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob. 25:29 Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 25:30 Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
The story of Esau selling his birthright to feed his belly became a cautionary tale of how to lose advantage by giving in to one's momentary appetites:
25:31 Jacob said, “First, sell me your birthright.”
25:32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?”
25:33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”
He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob.
25:34 Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.
27:1 It happened, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son?”
He said to him, “Here I am.”
27:2 He said, “See now, I am old. I don’t know the day of my death. 27:3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison. 27:4 Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.”
27:5 Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. 27:6 Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 27:7 ‘Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.’ 27:8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. 27:9 Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good young goats. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. 27:10 You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
27:11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 27:12 What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.”
27:13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me.”
27:14 He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved. 27:15 Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. 27:16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. 27:17 She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
This is like a contemporary TV sitcom of a dysfunctional family. There's humor here too. Note, like father like son: the father has the same hunger for food as his son showed when giving up his birthright.
27:18 He came to his father, and said, “My father?”
He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.”
27:20 Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”
He said, “Because Yahweh your God gave me success.”
Note that "Yahweh" is still called "your God" by Jacob; as if Jacob worshiped another God.
27:21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
27:22 Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 27:23 He didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 27:24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
He said, “I am.”
27:25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you.”
He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.
27:26 His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said,
“Behold, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.
27:28 God give you of the dew of the sky,
of the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
27:29 Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers.
Let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you.
Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”
Apparently a blessing, once spoken, could not be undone, even though it was given by deception.
27:30 It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 27:31 He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me.”
27:32 Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?”
He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
27:33 Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.”
27:34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, my father.”
27:35 He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.”
27:36 He said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing.” He said, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?”
27:37 Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?”
27:38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father.” Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.
27:39 Isaac his father answered him,
“Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling,
and of the dew of the sky from above.
27:40 By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother.
It will happen, when you will break loose,
that you shall shake his yoke from off your neck.”
27:41 Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
27:42 The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 27:43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. 27:44 Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away.”
28:10 Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 28:11 He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. 28:12 He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 28:13 Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. 28:15 Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”
28:16 Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn’t know it.” 28:17 He was afraid, and said, “How dreadful is this place! This is none other than God’s house, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Bethel means "house of God" (beth=house, el=God; as in the Arabic, Allah too). Bethlehem means "house of bread." "El" is common in many Hebrew names (Michael, Rafael, Gabriel), because one wants the name "God" in the child's name. Yahweh (another name for God, or Lord) appears, in shortened form, in many names too, in the "iah" ending of many names such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Josiah, etc.
28:18 Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top. 28:19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
29:19 Laban said [to Jacob], “It is better that I give [his daughter, Rachel] to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.”
29:20 Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.
29:21 Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”
29:22 Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 29:23 It happened in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him. He went in to her. 29:25 It happened in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. He said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Didn’t I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”
Note that the deceiver is himself deceived; the position of children is stressed by Laban: "It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn," as indeed Jacob replaced the firstborn by trickery!
29:26 Laban said, “It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn. 29:27 Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me yet seven other years.”
29:28 Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. 29:30 He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
After many years, Jacob decides to return to Canaan.
31:17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels, 31:18 and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.
32:22 He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok. 32:23 He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. 32:24 Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the break of day. 32:25 When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained, as he wrestled. 32:26 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.”
Jacob said, “I won’t let you go, unless you bless me.”
32:27 He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
32:28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
This is another famous story. Jacob wrestles with what may be an angel or God himself. The match causes a life change in Jacob, symbolized by his permanent limp and his name change. Psychologically, it can be seen as a struggle within himself that produces a change of life. There is also some suggestion of a vampire myth here, since the angel must escape before daylight.
The following 12 sons of Jacob with his two wives (Leah and Rachel, and their two maids) become the 12 tribes of Israel (Jacob is also called Israel), which will later become the foundation of the Israelite nation. In turn, Jesus models his 12 apostles on these 12 tribes, thus forming a New Israel.
35:22 Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
35:23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 35:24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 35:25 The sons of Bilhah (Rachel’s handmaid): Dan and Naphtali. 35:26 The sons of Zilpah (Leah’s handmaid): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram. 35:27 Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.
37:1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan.
37:2 This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father. 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. 37:4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
The story of Joseph and his brothers is another very famous story. Indeed, it became the basis of a famous musical by Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Here we get another image of a "dysfunctional" family of sibling rivalry. Joseph is not exactly a model of perfect behavior, but note that his dreams come true. And, like the philosopher Rene Girard points out, Joseph's innocence is clearly stated in the story, despite the fact that his brothers plan to murder him. This is a basic motif in the Bible according to Girard: defending the victim. Jesus becomes the perfect example of this: the innocent who is killed as if he were guilty. This story of Joseph ranks among the earlier perfect short stories in world literature.
37:5 Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. 37:6 He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 37:7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
37:8 His brothers said to him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. 37:9 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 37:10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?” 37:11 His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
37:12 His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 37:13 Israel [that is, Jacob] said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”
37:14 He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.”
Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
37:18 They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 37:19 They said one to another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. 37:20 Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”
37:21 Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” 37:22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 37:23 It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; 37:24 and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.
Note how cold-hearted the brothers seem to be, eating bread after abusing their brother!
37:25 They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 37:26 Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 37:27 Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 37:28 Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.
The pit can be symbolic here: Joseph goes down under (as if dead) then rises from the dead to command Egypt.
37:29 Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 37:30 He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” 37:31 They took Joseph’s coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. 37:32 They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son’s coat or not.”
Note again, the deceiver (Jacob/Israel) is deceived in the same way he deceived his aged father to steal Esau's blessing!
37:33 He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” 37:34 Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 37:35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.
37:36 The Midianites sold Joseph into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.
39:1 Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there. 39:2 Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 39:3 His master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did prosper in his hand. 39:4 Joseph found favor in his sight. He ministered to him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 39:5 It happened from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Yahweh blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of Yahweh was on all that he had, in the house and in the field. 39:6 He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate.
Joseph was well-built and handsome.
39:7 It happened after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.”
39:8 But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. 39:9 He isn’t greater in this house than I, neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
39:10 As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. 39:11 About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. 39:12 She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!”
He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.
39:13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside, 39:14 she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. 39:15 It happened, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside.” 39:16 She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. 39:17 She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, 39:18 and it happened, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside.”
39:19 It happened, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” that his wrath was kindled. 39:20 Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody. 39:21 But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
41:1 It happened at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river. 41:2 Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. 41:3 Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. 41:4 The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke. 41:5 He slept and dreamed a second time: and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good. 41:6 Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. 41:7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 41:8 It happened in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt’s magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh. 41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
41:16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
41:25 Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. 41:26 The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. 41:27 The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. 41:28 That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh. 41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. 41:30 There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, 41:31 and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. 41:32 The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
41:33 “Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 41:34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plenteous years. 41:35 Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 41:36 The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine.”
41:37 The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. 41:38 Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” 41:39 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as you. 41:40 You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” 41:41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 41:42 Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, 41:43 and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt. 41:44 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” 41:45 Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
41:46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 41:47 In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. 41:48 He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was around every city, he laid up in the same. 41:49 Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. 41:50 To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. 41:51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” 41:52 The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
41:53 The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. 41:54 The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. 41:56 The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 41:57 All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
42:1 Now Jacob saw there was grain in Egypt, and said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 42:2 He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.” 42:3 Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 42:4 But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.” 42:5 The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 42:6 Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. 42:7 Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?”
Note that Joseph's dream has come true! His brothers bow down to him!
They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
42:8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. 42:9 Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
42:10 They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 42:11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
42:13 They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”
42:14 Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ 42:15 By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. 42:16 Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” 42:17 He put them all together into custody for three days.
42:18 Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God. 42:19 If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. 42:20 Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.”
They did so.
Note how the brothers begin to change their hearts:
42:21 They said one to another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.” 42:22 Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.” 42:23 They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. 42:24 He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. 42:25 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them.
42:26 They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there. 42:27 As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” 42:29 They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them.”
42:35 It happened as they emptied their sacks, that behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 42:36 Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”
42:37 Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”
43:11 Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this. Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; 43:12 and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. 43:13 Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man. 43:14 May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”
43:15 The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon.”
43:17 The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. 43:18 The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we’re brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” 43:19 They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, 43:20 and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. 43:21 When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. 43:22 We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.”
43:23 He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them. 43:24 The man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. 43:25 They prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.
43:26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth. 43:27 He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?”
43:28 They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly. 43:29 He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 43:30 Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there. 43:31 He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.”
This short story is a masterpiece of the genre and the first complete story in the Bible. Characters are vividly drawn and they change over time. The theme of betrayal and forgiveness is clear; the innocence of the victim is clearly stated. Details are powerful, as the detail just above of Joseph weeping then washing the tears off his face.
44:1 He commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in his sack’s mouth. 44:2 Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with his grain money.” He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. 44:4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good? 44:5 Isn’t this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.’” 44:6 He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.
44:7 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! 44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house? 44:9 With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondservants.”
44:10 He said, “Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless.”
44:11 Then they hurried, and each man took his sack down to the ground, and each man opened his sack. 44:12 He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 44:13 Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.
44:14 Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. 44:15 Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?”
44:16 Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”
44:17 He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
Now Judah tries to protect Benjamin. Note how Judah has developed from a selfish child willing to kill his brother to a child considerate of others:
44:30 “When I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy’s life; 44:31 it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. 44:32 For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’ 44:33 Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers. 44:34 For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me?—lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”
45:1 Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 45:2 He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. 45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Does my father still live?”
His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence.
45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.”
They came near. “He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
45:5 Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 45:8 So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 45:9 Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait. 45:10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.” 45:14 He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 45:15 He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them.
47:11 Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 47:12 Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
48:1 It happened after these things, that someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
48:13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him. 48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 48:15 He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, 48:16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
48:17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 48:18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
Note in the Bible the younger child is always chosen! This again puts God's choice above mere biology.
48:19 His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations.”
49:1 Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.
49:9 Judah is a lion’s cub.
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down, he crouched as a lion,
as a lioness.
Who will rouse him up?
49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs.
To him will the obedience of the peoples be.
49:11 Binding his foal to the vine,
his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;
he has washed his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
49:33 When Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.
50:1 Joseph fell on his father’s face, wept on him, and kissed him. 50:2 Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. 50:3 Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days.
50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him.” 50:16 They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, 50:17 ‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 50:18 His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 50:19 Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive. 50:21 Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.
Note that the motif of sibling rivalry ends happily. Joseph's forgiveness ends the cycle of revenge, a theme later taken up by Jesus.
50:22 Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father’s house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years. 50:23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. 50:24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 50:25 Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 50:26 So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
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