JOSEPH, SON OF JACOB. The eleventh son of the patriarch Jacob and the main character in the biblical narrative of Genesis 37-50.
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A. The name
B. The Tribe
c. the story
1. Topic: Family Conflict
2. Plot
3. Theological concerns
D. Sources
E. Genera
1. Sitz im Leben
2. Appointments
F. Purpose of the story
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A. The name
The name itself is derived from the Hebrew verb ysp. It maintains its verb form with an appropriate meaning: “He adds.” The popular etymology of the name in Genesis 30:24 suggests that the divine name was the subject of the verb and that the meaning of the name is: “May the Lord add (to me another son)”. In fact, it is clear that names of this type commonly employ an additional element, the name of the deity that would support the power of the name given to a human. From extrabiblical sources, for example, the name “Jacob-El” illustrates the form. That combination is implicit in the explanation of the name Joseph. But this hypothetical long form is not attested in the Old Testament traditions about Joseph.
B. The Tribe
The Old Testament tradition regarding Joseph does not include him in the list of the patriarchs of Israel, but instead lists them as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 2:24; 3:6, 15; 4:5; etc.). Joseph belongs to the next generation, as one of the eponymous “fathers” of the twelve tribes of Israel (eg Joshua 18:11; Judges 1:22; 2 Sam 19:21; 1 Kings 11:28).
Tradition recalls that the tribe of Joseph was divided, perhaps at the point in the tradition’s history when Levi ceased to function as a secular tribe: Joseph’s subdivision produced two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, preserving the number twelve in the process, a structural structure. constant in the political organization. This division appears in the narrative about the Joseph tradition in Gen 48:1-12 and in the report of the patriarchal blessing in vv 13-20. The same tradition is reflected in Joshua 14:4; 16:4; 17:17, and in the Blessing of Moses in Deuteronomy 33. In Deuteronomy 33:13-17, Moses blesses the tribe of Joseph. But the final line, v 17b, acknowledges the split in Joseph’s tribal structure between Ephraim and Manasseh. Furthermore, the Joseph unit becomes symbolic of the Nkingdom, the nation of Israel, in contrast to the Skingdom, the nation of Judah (Ezekiel 5:6; 37:19; Obd 18; Zechariah 10:6).
c. the story
For Old Testament tradition, it is important to note not only that Joseph is the son of Jacob, one of a group of brothers who give their names to the union of twelve tribes that comprises Israel, but also that Joseph is the son of Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. The birth story puts the Joseph tradition in the form of a folk tale. Rachel, his favorite wife, had been barren. Leah, Rachel’s sister and Jacob’s second wife, had given birth to Reuben and Simeon. Rachel had adopted the son of her servant Bilhah and named him Naphtali. But only after the competition had carried Leah through six children did Rachel finally break free of her barrenness. The text explicitly makes the event an act of God’s intervention: -God remembered Rachel. . . and opened her womb.” Thus, as in the saga of Abraham, where Sarah had been barren and competed with Hagar, so in the saga of Jacob, Rachel, who was once barren, gives birth to a son in the middle of the family competition, in fact, the family struggle. That son is José.
1. Topic: Family conflict. In addition, the story of Joseph’s birth is set against other traditions surrounding struggles in the family. The theme of the contest belongs to the complex of narrative motifs developed along the gamut of the saga of Abraham and the saga of Jacob. In fact, the position of the account of Jacob’s death in Genesis 49 suggests that the Joseph tradition has become linked to the structure of the Jacob saga. From its larger context, Joseph’s story inherits a means of struggle.
The position of the report of Joseph’s death in Genesis 50:22-26, an element that forms a counterpoint to the story of Joseph’s birth, suggests that the patterns of a Joseph saga can still be seen in the Genesis narrative. Furthermore, immediately before the report of José’s death, a recapitulation of the motifs from earlier stages of José’s narrative suggests that, at José’s death, the strife-torn family has yet to find reconciliation. In this short segment of the narrative, the brothers approach Joseph, who has the power of life and death over them, and weave a story about Jacob’s last wishes for reconciliation between the brothers and Joseph. José responds favorably and grants his forgiveness to his brothers and, through that act, makes his contribution to the reconciliation of the family. But the narrator suggests by the particular construction of the scene that the reconciliation achieved is actually a farce. The brothers’ story of Jacob’s dying wish is unparalleled in previous narratives. Apparently, the brothers tried to trick José into obtaining asylum. And with that act of deception, the story of a broken and suspicious family comes to an end.
2. Trace. A carefully constructed narrative about Joseph appears in the midst of the larger saga about Jacob with its emphasis on the struggle that tears a family apart. This narrative about Joseph falls within the confines of the hypothetical Joseph saga, which is framed by a birth report and a death report. This narrative is different from the surrounding stories about Jacob and his family. It is not a collection of individual stories built into a family saga. It is a unit from the first scene to the last. It begins at 37:1 with a note that “Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s wanderings, in the land of Canaan.” And it ends in 47:27 with an exact parallel to its beginnings, the only two changes reflecting the consequence of the long related story: “Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen.”
The structure of the story framed by these two parallel sentences reveals a clearly constructed plot: (1) exposition (Genesis 37:1-4); (2) complication (Genesis 37:5-36); (3) digression (Genesis 39-41); (4) complication (Genesis 42-44); (5) denouement (Genesis 45); and (6) conclusion (Genesis 46:1-47:27). In addition, the unifying theme for the development of this plot is the same that dominates the saga of Abraham and the saga of Jacob: the struggle in the family. Here is some indication of a central role for the promise theme in patriarchal traditions. For example, in Joseph’s speech, 45:4b–13, Joseph states that -God sent me before you to preserve life. . . . God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep many survivors alive for you. So it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God. . . . -The many survivors fulfill the promise of a great posterity, the promise that the descendants would become a great nation. But the dominant theme in Joseph’s story is the struggle in a family, the broken family structures, and ultimately the reconciliation that restores the family to a position of unity. The nature of that reconciliation is key to the Joseph traditions in the Pentateuch, indeed, to the theological structure of the Pentateuch itself.
Amidst the rather tight structure of the Joseph story, Genesis 39-41 represents a discrete, perhaps originally self-contained, story about Joseph. The story has been used by the author of the larger narrative about Joseph. But in its current position as a digression in the narrative movement about Joseph and his brothers, this unity reveals its character as a story within a story, a story with its own independent structure, genre, and intent. The stand-alone story structure comprises three distinct scenes, each designed to portray Joseph as the ideal administrator. The first scene, chap. 39, puts Joseph in Potiphar’s house. Finding favor with Potiphar due to his skill as a household manager, Joseph rises to the position of household overseer. When Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him, he refuses, not only because submitting would be a “sin against God,” but also because he would violate his responsibility as steward of Potiphar’s household. His refusal brought false accusations of the woman and Potiphar’s imprisonment, but clearly that fate occurs with Joseph’s integrity intact. In prison he rises to a position of trust in the eyes of the captain of the guard, taking responsibility for two of the pharaoh’s servants imprisoned when they had fallen from pharaoh’s favour. The servants dream prophetic dreams, report them to Joseph, and despite one’s negative meaning, receive interpretations from Joseph. Forgotten by the lucky servant restored to pharaoh’s favor, Joseph waits in prison until the pharaoh dreams a dream. When none of Pharaoh’s professional sages could interpret it, the prison servant remembers Joseph’s abilities and recommends him to Pharaoh. Called into the royal chambers, José interprets the royal dream. Pharaoh listens to Joseph’s suggestion to appoint a steward for the grain gathered during the years of plenty. That steward must be wise and perceptive (the characteristic virtues of a skilful manager); and since José fulfills those virtues, he is appointed to the position.
As a whole story, this depiction of Joseph shows a pattern of virtue for all administrators to emulate. But in Joseph’s larger story, the digression fulfills the narrative function of the transition. He transports Joseph, the reckless but abused brother of Jacob’s family, from his position in Canaan to his position in Egypt, where, in his new position of power, he can choose to be reckless in turn. and abusive.
The second complication in Joseph’s story structure reverses the role of the protagonists as they appeared in the first complication. In the first complication, José is cheeky but is at the mercy of his brothers. In fact, the brothers make up a story to fool the elderly father and set the stage for the broken family. In the second complication, Joseph is still cheeky. But in this case, the unsuspecting brothers are left at the mercy of the strange Egyptian who controls the food reserves. Joseph plays with them before breaking the tension of the scene. First, he accuses them of spying. To prove their innocence, the brothers must return home to bring Jacob and Rachel’s youngest son to the mysterious vizier. But in the process, they must leave a brother in Egypt, in prison,
However, the brothers delay their return to Egypt until the…