DAILY Q8 (02/06)

After everything Joseph has been through as a result of his brothers’ jealousy, I think it is more than understandable that he will want to test if they have changed or not when he sees them again in Egypt. Like it is described through Gen 37, Joseph is “clearly favored over [his] blood brothers” (Gary Anderson) and even though Joseph’s brothers decide to fake Joseph’s death, they all initially attempted to kill him. Joseph is thrown into a pit with no food or water whilst his brothers watch and eat from above, and despite the fact that Joseph doesn’t physically die, I agree with Gary Anderson’s claim that it appeals to death in the sense that throwing him to a pit not only humiliates him but basically reinforces the concept of sacrifice that is currently alluded throughout the Bible, as “entrapment in a pit is strongly associated with entering the underworld”. 

Regardless of Joseph being sold to a caravan as a slave and being taken to Egypt, he eventually manages to escape slavery and become a very influential figure in Egypt; this is taken to the extent where he becomes “the provisioner not only of his family in Cannan but of the entire known world” during the seven year famine that the world is suffering. His brothers eventually come to Egypt to seek Joseph’s help, and even though they don’t recognize their brother, Joseph does, and he decides to test them. Joseph commands that they fill all his brother’s sacks with food, and put Joseph’s silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. I think that whilst this can be an act of vengeance from Joseph’s side, deep down it is a test that will prove whether his brothers are still the jealous brothers who threw the favorite son to the pit or not now that Benjamin is the favored son.

When Benjamin is discovered with the silver cup, Judah offers his life in exchange for his brother’s and it is at this point that Joseph reveals his true identity and forgives them. Overall this story suggests a parallelism with all of the Genesis stories of the beloved son, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; Joseph not only is able to accept the cost of election, but he also shows love and forgiveness to those who betray him.