Genesis 37-50 -- While there is no condemnation for having a clear favorite among his sons, we see that Israel nonetheless suffers much for it. The expensive, ankle-length robe appears to have been a symbol of Israel's intention of making Joseph his prime heir. Whether his older sons lacked character, or were a product of Israel's failure to teach them better, they continued to display immoral behavior. In the face of the constant provocation from Joseph, the Dreamer, they first conspired to murder him. Scarcely to their credit, they sold him into slavery instead. Only Reuben acted responsibly, in planning to secretly rescue his little brother. Judah's inspiration to sell him to their relatives, the Ishmaelites and Midianites, was hardly for the money. It was a convenient and bloodless way to get rid of him. The caravan route was within hailing distance. Rather than starvation at the bottom of a dry water storage pit, Israel's favorite son faced a life of slavery. As the eldest, Reuben was still responsible for his siblings' welfare. The cover story was sufficient to deceive the old deceiver, their father.
The inserted tale of Judah's misadventures serves as a further contrast to Joseph's moral uprightness. The custom of a surviving sibling impregnating his deceased brother's wife was to preserve the dead brother's share of the estate. Onan's refusal was likely based on greed over Er's assets. Onan stood to gain in a redistribution of Er's double portion if he failed to produce sons in his brother's name. He may also have resented being saddled with a wife not his own choosing. He would have had to provide for her and her children along with his own. Onan joined his elder brother in tasting Jehovah's displeasure. Sons of their father, Judah was little better. He neglected his promise, and was himself deceived. It was the custom for a Canaanite temple prostitutes to hide her face, to preserve the notion that her customers were focused on worshiping Astarte, whom she served. A man of wealth and power like Judah would have had an official seal-- usually a small cylinder-shaped object, carved so that rolling it in soft clay left a unique mark representing the signature of its owner. It would have hung on a cord of better material, perhaps a family color, to be worn around the neck. Some translations of the Bible choose alternative terms more fitting to a later period in history: signet ring and bracelet. The staff was a shepherd's crook, the ubiquitous symbol of power in that part of the world. Indeed, the word for staff also means one's tribe or clan.
By the time Joseph arrived in Egypt, around 1800 BC, the native pharaohs would have delegated important royal functions to the nobility. This was a political necessity, since it was they who maintained his position. His presumed divinity was an imperfect protection. Potiphar is an Egyptian title that seems to mean "Chief Slaughterer," perhaps in charge of providing meat for Pharaoh's sacred table. Joseph was so upright in his service that he was quickly promoted to chief steward, or manager, of Potiphar's entire household, including the details of his service to Pharaoh.
Egyptian records of that period, the XII Dynasty, support the precedent of foreigners in high positions. Even as a prisoner, falsely accused, Joseph remained true to Jehovah's standards, quite the opposite of his brothers. He served faithfully as the prison trustee. As a result, Jehovah prospered everything he touched, and he was gifted with interpreting dreams. One of Pharaoh's customs was, on the anniversary of his ascension to the throne (his "divine birthday"), to selectively pardon some of his failed servants. In belatedly keeping his promise, two years after his release from prison, the Chief Butler recommended Joseph to interpret Pharaoh's perplexing dreams. The royal magicians and priests would have searched an extensive collection of dream analysis texts, dating back more than a millennium. This time they searched in vain. When it was Joseph's turn, the court attendants made some hurried changes in Joseph's appearance. It was customary for anyone entering Pharaoh's divine presence to have his head shaved and to be dressed in white linen. Joseph's analysis of the dreams was too obviously correct, and his advice too wise, for him to serve anywhere below Viceroy of Egypt.
With his promotion, Joseph received the native name Zaphenath-paa'neah, implying that he was the voice of God. No doubt Pharaoh associated Joseph's Jehovah with On, the god of the sun, and at that time the chief deity of the Nile Valley. Thirteen years after arriving as a slave, Joseph now ruled Egypt as Pharaoh's prime minister. He was in a perfect position to save his family back in Canaan from the impending famine. While famines in this part of the world were not rare, ones so protracted and widespread were. By this time, the population of Egypt was sufficient to make extended droughts a serious problem, despite the proximity of the Nile River. Even the Nile could be reduced to a mere trickle by comparison to its normal flow. Foreigners from nearby lands seeking to buy grain would only increase the pressure on resources. An additional duty of Joseph's was Granary Steward. It was his duty to collect and rotate the annual surplus from the fat years, so that there would be plenty in the lean years. He was also responsible for balancing the need to feed Egyptians first, with the need to boost Pharaoh's power and prestige by trading the excess grain to foreigners.
Pharaoh's court ruled on the basis of presumed divinity, and everything in his service had pagan religious overtones. With Joseph appearing so totally Egyptian, apparently with Jehovah's permission to engage in some of the pagan practices, his brothers never recognized him. Joseph would have maintained a ritual purity by putting as much distance as possible between himself and these unholy foreign visitors. Even when he knew the language they used, he would engage an interpreter rather than speak directly to them. The Hebrew scribe makes mention of this policy in regard to the shared meal. Once Joseph had ascertained their repentance for past wrongs, he was able to reveal himself to them.
The entire account of Joseph is one of the better literary pieces in the Pentateuch. The details match known customs of the XII Dynasty, and much of the story is structured according to the same customs. Pharaoh's grant of Goshen was easy for him; though rich pasture lands, it was away from the irrigation canals and unfit for the sacred Nile-centered agriculture of the Egyptians. It was also quite far from his capital in Thebes, which sat far to the south of the Nile Delta. Thus, he gained a strong ally as a buffer on the northeast, his weakest border. At the same time, it cost him almost nothing. Under Joseph's administration, Pharaoh gained full feudal ownership of all but the priestly estates. The instability witnessed by Abraham much earlier on his visit to Egypt was resolved. We are allowed to see that the elder brothers of Joseph finally rise to Jehovah's standards. At the same time, Israel's prophetic utterances over them serve to reveal the unmitigated character flaws of some. He promotes Joseph's sons as his own, giving them an equal share in the birthright. Judah is formally given the status of first-born. Yet his brothers still recognized Joseph's very real power over them. They were certainly safe during their father's lifetime. After Israel's funeral, they threw themselves on Joseph's mercy, and learned that he had never intended them harm.
For Christians today, the primary lesson of Joseph's life is a promise: If we grasp our calling with both hands, we have every reason to expect that Our Lord will prosper our efforts. Those two hands are (1) a complete abandonment of self in faith and trust in God, and (2) a determination to act on our best knowledge of His will for us. While proclaiming a calling from God would sound boastful in our politically correct times, publicly acknowledging that call is the first step on the path of Joseph.
Recent archaeological digs in Egypt have uncovered what is believed to be Joseph's retirement villa, in the midst of a large settlement in Goshen. Graves nearby are purely Asiatic (as opposed to Egyptian), including one for an Asiatic nobleman. On top of this villa was built the Hyksos palace. The Hyksos (Eqyptian for "Foreign Rulers") arrived shortly after 1700 BC from Syria, and developed a strong presence in the East Delta region. From this power base, they eventually conquered Egypt, and took the place of the native ruling elite. Having adopted the bulk of Egyptian culture, they were referred to as "Egyptian" in contemporary records.
The Hyksos altered a few cultural details in Egypt. For example, they instituted the practice of using the Pharaoh's personal name in written records, but not those of vanquished enemies. They also introduced the horse-drawn chariots and bronze weapons, which enabled their conquest in the first place. Thus, pretending to be true Egyptians, chosen by the Nile gods to rule, they clearly distinguished themselves from the native regime of their predecessors. It has proven exceptionally difficult for historians to determine if it was they or a later regime that enslaved the Hebrew people. No one of several suppositions adequately answers all the difficulties. 1 Kings 6:1 places the Exodus 480 years prior to Solomon's 4th year of reign, known to be around 967 BC. This puts the Exodus around 1447 BC. Based on this internal evidence from Scripture, we will assume here that the pharaoh of enslavement was Hyksos, but that the enslavement was continued after they were expelled.
As a further note, much of what we know in the Ancient Near East is dated from the basis of Egyptian history. It is quite possible the currently accepted system of dating for Eqypt is a house of cards, ready to collapse with the next discovery. Already, there have been credible scholars challenging the system. While I have used the accepted timeline for my work in these lessons, nothing important hangs on that system. Let every human idea be found false, but the Lord found faithful and true. His Word is the rule.
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Ed Hurst
revised 30 January 2004
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