Breadcrumb: I'll take your word for it

Pharaoh appoints Joseph to be his second-in-command after Joseph's skilful interpretation of his dreams. (Gen. 41:37-41) Specifically, the interpretation is that seven years of famine will follow seven years of plenty. It is amazing to note, however, that Pharaoh appoints Joseph before his interpretations are proven true! Joseph might have been the biggest con-man in history, and had seven years of plum living before he'd need to devise another scheme! He was given power over all Egypt, answerable only to Pharaoh, for a prediction that would not be proven true for seven years!

Now that's a talent I'd like to have.

Genesis 41-42: Rags to Riches

Today's reading is Genesis 41-42 (read it in the KJV or NIV)

Today's passage covers Pharaoh's dreams and Joseph's interpretations of them; Joseph's rise to second-in-command of Egypt; the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine; and Jacob's other sons going down to Egypt and dealing with Joseph for the first time.

I'd like to talk today about Joseph's meteoric rise to power. The first thing we must note is how massive a change it was: Joseph had been in prison for two more years after the butler was restored to his former position (Gen. 41:1). Though he was well-liked within the prison and given some measure of responsibility, he was still a prisoner. And yet, with one command from Pharaoh, he suddenly found himself second-in-command of an entire country. (Gen. 41:39-41) And not just any country, but Egypt: one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the region. One day, prison. Next day, luxury. That sort of thing doesn't often happen anymore. Although, I suppose it could be argued that it didn't happen much then, either.

It is important to remember that, despite the rapid change in fortunes, the decree was a long time in coming. Joseph had been in prison for an unspecified time before the arrival of the king's butler and baker. (Gen. 39-40) After the release of the butler and the execution of the baker, it was another two years before Joseph was given his chance to interpret Pharaoh's dream. Finally, there was no guarantee that Joseph would be the one Pharaoh appointed to oversee the collection of grain during the good years. Joseph merely says that Pharaoh should appoint someone (Gen. 41:33-36). It is Pharaoh who decides this someone should be the dream-interpreter, Joseph. (Gen. 41:37-41) Joseph was ready, but his moment of ascent took a long time to arrive.

Did I mention that Joseph was just thirty years old when he was granted this power? (Gen. 41:46)

How, then, is the second-in-command of all Egypt treated? The text tells us that Joseph received new linen clothes and a golden chain of office (Gen. 41:42) and the "second chariot" of Pharaoh (41:43). He was granted a procession in front of the people of Egypt, so they would know him and cheer him (41:43). He was also granted protection by Pharaoh that no one would attack him in all Egypt (41:44).

Furthermore, Pharaoh gave him a new, Egyptian name, Zaphnathpaaneah (41:45). Pharaoh chose him a wife, the daughter of one of his priests (41:46), by whom he had two sons (41:50-52). In other words, by the end of this, Joseph was completely assimilated into the Egyptian culture, at least by outward appearances.

As the comics say, "with great power comes great responsibility." However, to all intents and purposes, Pharaoh's trust in Joseph was not misplaced. He actually did a very good job at preparing for the seven years of famine. When other countries were in the midst of severe famine, Egypt had fully-stocked granaries. People from other lands came from afar to partake in Egypt's good fortune (or good planning). Among the petitioners were ten of Joseph's brothers, all but Benjamin, his only full brother (the rest had different mothers). This leads us to the second part of today's readings.

In Chapter 42, Joseph begins to show his family stripes. Just as his brothers, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Joseph shows his capacity for deceit. With his new name and trappings of power, none of his brothers recognized their long-lost sibling, though Joseph recognized them (Gen. 42:7, 9). They all believed he was an Egyptian governor, from Egypt. Joseph felt no need to correct their misconception. Instead of the brotherly love we might expect from siblings estranged for twenty years (Joseph is 17 when they sell him to slavery, Gen. 37:2), Joseph decides to toy with his brothers and make them feel truly sorry for what they did to him.

He begins by accusing his brothers, claiming that they were spies. No matter how much the brothers denied the accusations, Joseph remained resolute. (Gen. 42:9-14) He tells them the only way to clear their names is to have their youngest brother come down to Egypt. He then proceeds to throw them all in prison for three days. (Gen. 42:17)

After three days, Joseph appears to have a change of heart. He informs the brothers that they may take back food to their starving families, but one of them must stay behind to ensure that Benjamin come to Egypt and clear their names. (Gen. 42:18-20) The brothers are full of remorse, sure that they are being punished for their former treatment of Joseph, whom they believe to be dead. Through all this, Joseph is listening to their lamentations. But, again the successful deceiver, none of the brothers realize it, because Joseph had been using an interpreter to speak to them. At length, the brothers agree that Simeon will remain behind, and Joseph binds him before their eyes. Then the rest depart.

But Joseph is not finished toying with his brothers yet. In each sack of food, they find the money they used to buy the food. (Gen. 42:35) Instead of being pleased at their windfall, the brothers are afraid. After all, they've just been accused of spying against Egypt. Could this be another ruse? Should they tell the governor that they had regained the money they used to pay him? Would that make him even angrier? Would he accuse them of theft, as well as spying? (Indeed, Joseph does exactly this later, in Gen. 44, with his brother Benjamin.)

What do we learn about Joseph through these episodes? First, he has clearly settled into his power. He has no fear of reprisal from Pharaoh, or anyone else, at the way he treats these Hebrew brothers. He also has clearly picked up his family's penchant for deception: throughout their conversations, his brothers never recognized him. Finally, he shows that he has a vengeful streak in him. We can probably forgive him his anger at his brothers. After all, they nearly killed him and sold him into slavery, and he spent years in prison indirectly because of them. But Joseph plays a particular game with them, taking out his vengeance in a particularly cruel way, by making his brothers face what they did to him all those years ago.

In short, Joseph rose from pauper to prince in a day, and fully intended to take advantage of his position. Perhaps his story is not so different from one we'd read in the tabloids today.

Breadcrumb: Thanks for nothing!

Joseph knew from interpreting the butler's dream that the man would be restored to his former position of power. He asks, in the manner of social climbers everywhere, that the butler put in a good word with the king for poor Joseph. (Gen. 40:14) However, though the butler is restored to his former station, he forgets all about Joseph. (Gen. 40:23) Whether this is because he didn't want to be indebted to a Hebrew slave, or because he was in his own cups, we will never know. All we know is that then, as now, some men pay their debts better than others.

Breadcrumb: A butcher, a baker...

In prison, Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's butler and his baker, both imprisoned with him. The butler's dream is very favourable: within three days, the man will be restored to his former position of power. The baker, hearing this interpretation, rushes to tell Joseph his own dream. His, however, is an ill omen: within three days, he will be hanged. The dreams, on the surface, were similar, but the outcomes diametrically opposite. This proves the usefulness of a skilled interpreter... or at least an author with a sense of the dramatic.

Genesis 38-40: More crafty women

Today's reading is Genesis 38-40 (read it in the KJV or NIV)

Today's passage covers the story of Judah, his sons, and his daughter-in-law; Joseph in the house of Potiphar and his imprisonment; and Joseph's interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh's imprisoned butler and baker.

In these readings, as in so many previous occasions in Genesis, we have examples of women being sneaky, particularly when it comes to sex and relationships. Today, we are faced with two wily women who, when snubbed, decide to get even rather than get mad.

First, we have Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law. Judah, we recall, is Joseph's brother and Jacob's son. In chapter 38, he has gone away from his brothers, married a Canaanite, and begun to raise a family. He has three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah, this last one a fair amount younger than the other two.

Judah finds a woman named Tamar to marry Er, and for a time all is well. But Er "was wicked in the sight of the lord" (Gen. 38:7), so God killed him. Judah, not wanting to waste the situation, marries Tamar to his next son, Onan. However, due to certain indiscretions, God killed Onan as well.

Here, Judah pauses. He knows a pattern when he sees one, and consequently tells Tamar to return home to her father as a widow until his youngest son, Shelah, is old enough to be married. The day never comes. Shelah grows up, but Tamar remains an unmarried widow. Here, she hatches her plan:

Tamar dresses as a prostitute and intercepts Judah when he's in the field. He, not recognizing her, asks to sleep with her. She agrees, at the price of one goat from Judah's flock. However, as a pledge that he will give her the goat, he lends her his signet ring, his bracelets, and his staff. They sleep together, and he departs. When he sends his friend Adullamite to find her, she is nowhere to be found. Judah shrugs and returns to his business.

In fact, Tamar has returned to her father's house and re-doned her widow's clothing. Time passes, and it turns out she is pregnant. Judah is enraged that his daughter-in-law played the prostitute and orders her to be burned. Instead, she produces the ring, bracelets, and staff. Judah acknowledges his indiscretion and sin in not allowing Shelah to marry her. Tamar goes on to give birth to twins, Pharez and Zarah.

Let us consider this episode. Tamar is a woman slighted: she knows that Judah will never give her his son to marry. Furthermore, she knows that as a widow, she is not nearly as valuable to marry as a virgin wife. Finally, she knows that her father-in-law is a rich man from a wealthy family, who presumably is not giving her a fair share of the family fortune. She is a woman who knows what she wants.

We might see Tamar as brave. After all, even though Judah didn't recognize her, she certainly knew who he was when she slept with him. It was, after all, the point. Furthermore, she was probably hoping to become pregnant, so that she could expose Judah before his men. If she were not pregnant, no one would accuse her, and she would not be able to present her evidence. Her own sacrifice allowed her to make the slight against her public.

A final note: we do not know whether Tamar ever married Shelah. We know she had twins by Judah, but we do not know what happened to her after. Judah never slept with her again (Gen. 38:26), so presumably he did not marry her. But we don't know whether she married anyone else or merely lived the rest of her days as a widow.

The second "hell hath no fury" episode takes place in the next chapter, Gen. 39:7-20. Joseph had been living as a servant in the house of Potiphar, Pharah's captain of the guard. In fact, he had done very well for himself, earning the trust of his master and rising in rank until he was second-in-command of the entire household. Such power naturally attracted Potiphar's wife, and she asked to sleep with Joseph. He, the dutiful servant, refused. No matter how often she asked, his answer was always "no."

Here, Potiphar's wife (whose name we never know) put her own plot into motion. One day, when none of the men were home, she went to Joseph and asked him to sleep with her. Again, as usual, he refused, and fled her presence. But this time, she managed to grab some of his clothes.

She called to the men of the household and accused Joseph, the Hebrew slave, of trying to rape her. She claimed that she shouted, and he fled without taking his clothing. They believed her. When her husband came home, she told her story again. He believed her, and had Joseph thrown into prison.

Some of us might consider Joseph a dupe. After all, he had a powerful woman asking to sleep with him, and refused. In his defence, it is certainly possible that if he had slept with her, she might have exposed the affair to her husband, and he may have found himself in prison regardless. To continue the hellish metaphor, "damned if you do, damned if you don't." She, on the other hand, played her cards masterfully and managed to punish the man who snubbed her.

It is interesting to note the actions that got Joseph and his brother Judah in trouble. Judah's initial mistake was that he did not marry Shelah to Tamar. His second mistake was to sleep with a woman he believed was a prostitute. Joseph, on the other hand, erred in not sleeping with someone, his master's wife. What message are these stories, so close after one another, trying to tell us about sexuality? Judah had sex outside marriage and was punished; Joseph didn't and was likewise punished.

Many Bible-thumpers would likely say that Joseph was in the right. Judah's behaviour, sleeping with a prostitute (his own daughter-in-law, no less!), is clearly not the sort of thing we want to condone in moral, right-wing society. They would therefore need to give a reason for Joseph, the morally upright man, to be punished. Some people might say that Joseph's imprisonment was for the greater good. After all, it was indirectly because of his time in jail that he rose so high in the ranks of Pharaoh's hierarchy.

I disagree. Joseph had no reason to know his time in jail would bring anything but misery. And we will never know if Joseph could have risen equally high in the ranks of Pharaoh's men without the time of imprisonment.

Perhaps the only conclusion we can draw from these instances is that Judah's way is more fun, so long as you don't get caught. Or perhaps the moral is, don't mess with smart women.

Breadcrumb: This town isn't big enough for the both of us

In Gen. 36:6-7, for the second time in Genesis, we learn that two rich men could not live in the same land. Esau and Jacob had both grown very rich over the years, and owned many possessions, including much cattle. Unfortunately, the land could not support so many men and so much cattle, so Esau was forced to leave. Unlike today, when the rich tend to cluster in small communities and keep the plebeians at arms' length, this was not possible when a man's riches were only as good as the land that supported them.

For the curious, the first instance was when Abraham and Lot separated ways in Gen. 13,

Breadcrumb: An unpleasant first

In Gen. 35:16-19, we have another Biblical first: the first death from childbirth. Rachel had hard labour with her second son, Benjamin, and in fact died. It is not surprising that a matriarch died in childbirth; it is more surprising that it took so long for the text to mention such an occurrence. After all, one of the leading causes of female death throughout history, until very recently, was childbirth. The text, here, is only pointing out the obvious to its readers: women, even important women, often died while giving birth.

Genesis 35-37: Supporting Cast - Reuben

Today's reading is Genesis 35-37 (read it in the KJV or NIV)

Today's passage covers the travels of Jacob and his family to Bethel, a second version of the renaming of Jacob to Israel, Rachel's death in childbirth, several more genealogical tables (of Esau and of the kings of Canaan before the Israelites), Joseph's first two dreams, and the sale of Joseph to Midianite traders by his brothers.

Featuring prominently in today's passage is Reuben, Jacob's firstborn son. Though each episode is short, together they form a cohesive picture of a man who learns and changes with circumstances. To demonstrate this, I will stray a little further afield from our limited readings, to point out some incidents before and after these three chapters.

Reuben was Leah's son, likely born within the first seven years of her marriage to Jacob. His name comes from the Hebrew, "He has seen my misery." (Gen. 29:32) The next time he is mentioned by name, he is a pawn in the power struggles between Rachel and Leah, discussed in the last essay. It is Reuben's mandrakes that Rachel and Leah bargain over. (Gen. 30:14) Since Reuben likely gave the roots directly to his mother, we can assume that he was still a boy during this episode. If he were older, he would probably have kept them for himself.

The next time we hear of Reuben is within the passages we read today. In Gen. 35:22, we find out "Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it." (KJV) Here we find Reuben, likely a teenager or a young man, involved in an act of great rebellion, sleeping with his father's concubine. We know that he was caught, but not his punishment. In fact, we don't know of any consequences for this act until fourteen chapters later, which we will discuss in due time. However, it seems as though there must have been some punishment, because the next time we read about Reuben, he has mended his rebellious ways and has taken on a position of much more responsibility.

In Gen. 37, we learn there is great enmity between Joseph and his brothers, including his brother Reuben. Joseph has already had his first dreams, in which his brothers and even his parents bow down to him. (Gen. 37:6-11) Joseph was Jacob's favourite son, which also caused problems with his brothers.

One day, Joseph's brothers conspire to kill him. They've had enough of him and his dreams, and are ready to commit murder and lie about it to their father. But here Reuben steps in and saves Joseph's life. He tells his brothers not to kill him but instead to throw him into a pit (KJV) or cistern (NIV) in the desert. The text tells us that he intended to return Joseph to Jacob. (Gen. 37:21-22)

Indeed, things initially go according to Reuben's plan. The brothers strip off Joseph's many-coloured coat and toss him in the pit. But at some point, Reuben leaves, and the other brothers get greedy. Instead of merely keeping Joseph in the pit, they decide to sell him to Midianite merchants for 20 pieces (KJV) or shekels (NIV) of silver.

Shortly thereafter, Reuben returns and realizes Joseph is not in the pit where he left him. He immediately goes into deep mourning, tearing his clothes and bewailing his fate: "Where can I turn now?" he cries. (Gen. 37:29, NIV) In a hasty plan, he and his brothers kill a young goat, dip Joseph's coat in the blood, and show it to Jacob, who also goes into deep mourning, never knowing that Joseph has been sold a slave in Egypt.

Let's pause for a moment and consider this change in Reuben. This seems far from the man who slept with his father's mistress. Before, he was selfish and rebellious. Here, he is responsible. What happened in the intervening time?

Perhaps Jacob gave him particular responsibility over Joseph. This would explain why Reuben took such pains to save the boy's life, and why he was so distraught when Joseph had gone missing. Perhaps Jacob had not given him that responsibility, but Reuben was smart enough to know that if anything happened to his father's favourite son, heads would roll. Jacob, we know, was not a particularly bold man, but he may have been harsh with his own sons.

By the time we hear again from Reuben, many years later, he is an even more responsible man, whose past actions return to haunt him. In Gen. 42:22, Reuben and his brothers are in Egypt, speaking (though they don't know it) to Joseph. Reuben chides his brothers, saying that the ill treatment they receive at the hands of the Egyptians is just punishment for their crimes against Joseph.

Later in the same chapter, Reuben must bring Benjamin, his youngest brother and his father's new favourite, to Egypt to appease Joseph. Though Jacob is against the idea, Reuben finally convinces him by saying that if he does not bring Benjamin back, Jacob may execute his (Reuben's) two sons. (Gen. 42:37) Surely, this is a man who has learnt his lesson and takes responsibility for his actions. He has certainly come a long way from the carousing, rebellious teenager we encountered many chapters before.

And yet, when Jacob is near death and parcels out blessings to all his sons, what do we find? We read:

"Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength
excelling in honor, excelling in power.
Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father's bed,
onto my couch and defiled it." (Gen. 49:3-4, NIV)

That's right, Jacob apparently held a grudge all those years. Reuben certainly developed as a person, gained responsibility, and raised a family (in Gen. 46:9, we learn he had four sons). He saved Joseph from death at the hands of his brothers, led his siblings to Egypt and back again, and generally proved himself to be a decent person. Yet Jacob remembers the slight Reuben gave him as a youth, when he slept with Jacob's concubine.

I suppose all this shows is that while some people change, others never do.

Breadcrumb: You can't do that to my sister!

Genesis 34 discusses an incident with Jacob's daughter, Dinah. Dinah was "defiled" by Shechem, son of the prince of the country where Jacob was living. Shechem and his father were very gracious about the whole thing, offering to marry Dinah and give her as large a dowry as Jacob wanted. But Jacob's sons, following the family tradition of deception, told Shechem that they would accept if he and every other male in the city were circumcised. Shechem agreed, and when all his men were sore after the operation, Jacob's sons slaughtered them.

All this to say: when you decide to have your way with a girl, first make sure you know who her relatives are.

Breadcrumb: Wrestling with God

In Gen. 32:24-32, Jacob wrestles with a man he believes to be God, and is given a new name, Israel. It is interesting to note that, like the later Jesus stories, the man never identifies himself as God, but merely refuses to give his name. It is Jacob who names the location "Peniel," after the Hebrew for "face of God."

Also, this story reads like a classic myth or fairy tale, because of the ending: "Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he [the man] touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank." (Gen. 32:32, KJV) This is the first instance of such a moral ("this is why we do things today") in Genesis.