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Study the Word. Meditate on it and let it be your delight and holy guide.
Clique Aliança
Para acessar o
ministério de língua portuguesa
Second Month
Genesis 37- 50
Youth Ministry
Children's Nurture
Mission & Food Pantry
Chapter 37
The Story of Joseph & His Brothers - the Long Saga of the Spread of Abraham’s Blessing
The Joseph saga is the longest sustained narrative in Genesis and is one of the longest in the Bible. (This seems ironic in that no tribe was named after Joseph, beloved son of Jacob and Rachel!) An editor has woven together at least two different strains of the story - sort of like grandma’s version alongside grandpa’s. As you read, you may get a “déjà vu” feeling as the story can seem somewhat repetitious. The details may also change a bit here and there, such as the identity of the people who bought Joseph from his brothers.
It would be helpful for you to jot down the things that strike you as you read this story. Highlight things you’d like to discuss with others in our “discussion” section of the internet.
The story of Joseph can be read in a number of ways. One way is to look at it in terms of spiritual formation. Notice how Joseph matures through the story. As a child, he’s so obnoxious and boastful that his brothers hate him. He demonstrates no sense of diplomacy when he shares his dream with his brothers and seems to have no insight about any possible consequences. Diplomacy and insight develop later, hand in hand with empathy and humility. Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams remains constant; his ability to use his ability productively and wisely, however, grows! (Read Acts 7:13-17 & Hebrews 11:22 to see what the New Testament says about Joseph.)
You may wonder too about what this story is telling us regarding the patriarch’s “parenting styles.” Being chosen doesn’t guarantee instant wisdom! Isaac and Rebekah showed favoritism. Jacob raised a group of brothers who were willing to have one brother permanently removed from the family. What kind of insights does the story give you about family dynamics?
Joseph never talks directly to God. God’s direct action is barely mentioned. Rather, God is the “hidden hand” behind the scene. In this sense, we may be able to more readily identify with Joseph’s life than with Abraham’s. Few of us have spoken directly to God! However, as silent as God may sometimes seem, God is as surely with us as God was with Joseph. As you read the story, ask yourself about God’s role. Is God “leading” the events? Is God transforming hearts? How exactly does God intervene? Before you answer, look at all of the details of the story.
The Joseph story explains how Jacob’s sons got into Egypt. It also tells how God intervened and kept a dysfunctional family united through the slow-in-coming but coming nevertheless repentance and self-restraint of its members.
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Chapter 38 - Judah and Tamar Perhaps to indicate the length of time passing, and perhaps to build suspense, the story of Judah almost intrudes into the story of Joseph. Judah was one of the brothers who had wanted to spare Joseph’s life. Now, in chapter 38, he leaves his brothers. Think about why. Judah married a Canaanite woman and had sons. Enough time passes for the sons to be wed. His oldest, Er, weds a woman named Tamar. Er “was wicked in the Lord’s sight,” so the Lord put him to death. Was Er born wicked? Was Judah a terrible father? What happened? Judah, consumed with the idea that Er’s name must be carried on, invokes the “levirate obligation” rule (see Deut. 25:5-10), and insists that his second oldest assume responsibility for providing Er’s offspring. The second son didn’t want to raise boys in the name of his brother rather than himself, so he “spilled his semen.” The consequence of that was death. Judah decided Tamar was the problem. (Remember how when God confronted Adam at the fruit tree, Adam blamed the problem on Eve, who blamed the snake. What does the Bible tell us about our ability to accurately identify “the problem”?) According to the levirate law, the widow has the obligation to see that the duty of a husband’s brother was performed. Tamar acted (aggressively and not submissively) on a creative interpretation of that law by aiming the law at Judah. (In the Book of Ruth, Ruth had a similar creative interpretation and sought “fertility help” from her uncle, not brother-in-law, Boaz. Read what it says in Ruth 2:12 about Ruth’s actions. Both Tamar and Ruth are mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1). Just as Judah misidentified “the problem” in blaming Tamar for his sons’ deaths, in 38:18 he again “sees” but does not SEE the truth and once more acts on faulty perception. As you read, think about some contemporary examples in which we’ve acted on our faulty perceptions. According to this story, what are some of things that mark the difference between ‘creative interpretation’ of the law and faulty interpretation? Tamar removed her widow’s clothing and created conditions ripe for attracting a male - specifically Judah. The Bible seems to understand that Tamar had reasonable justification for acting like a prostitute. Can you draw any implications about that for today? What does the story tell us in that Judah willingly became “a john,” but preferred losing his seal, cords and staff (identity papers!) rather than make public what he’d done in secret? What price are we willing to pay to hide things we do in secret? While hiding his own sin, Judah orders that Tamar be killed. How is Judah’s hypocrisy reminiscent of our behavior today? Both Judah and Tamar acted in secret. Yet the Bible is clear: Tamar is the more honorable of the two. What are the implications of this? When is deceit justified? Did God bless her deceit? To Judah’s credit, he finally admitted Tamar was more righteous than he. How do we make such admissions? Do you think it was the circumstances alone that forced Tamar and Judah to act with less righteous behavior than the ideal, or did other factors come into play? What does your answer tell us about our situations? The whole point of the intrigue was to produce offspring for Er. Why do you think that when the son was born, he was called the son of Judah and Tamar and not the son of Er? (In the same way, in the Book of Ruth, the son of Boaz and Ruth is not called the son of Mahlon, the man “for whom” he was born.) In this story and in Ruth, the father/uncle replace the sons and do the work of the brothers. Is the older generation always the more responsible? What does it imply that by the actions of the foreign woman, Tamar,Judah was finally able to acknowledge and come closer to the truth? Where do you see God in this story?
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Chapter 39 and following
At long last, the narrator returns us to the story of Joseph. Joseph is grown and overseer of Potiphar’s house. He is unjustly condemned and sent to prison. Bad things happened to good people even then. Notice how the injustice is transformed into an opportunity. Joseph gets noticed by Pharaoh due to the “wise use” of his dream-analyzing gift. Pharaoh is wise enough to act on Joseph’s interpretation and sets Joseph in charge of “famine preparation.”
Once again, a crisis will be transformed by God. The famine will present the opportunity for Jacob’s family to be reunited.
Remember that Joseph was the son of Jacob and Rachel. Do you think the reason Jacob held Benjamin back from journeying with his brothers was simply that Jacob did not want to lose the last of Rachel’s sons? Or do you think something about the way Jacob parented Rachel’s sons made entrusting those sons to their brothers problematic?
Notice that Judah is back among his brothers.
What do you think about how and why Joseph treated his brothers as he did when they sought assistance in the famine?
As you read about the banquet Joseph prepared for his estranged brothers, do any of Jesus’ parables come to mind?
Notice that it is Judah who expresses pain over the family disunity the brothers’ caused. This story tells more than merely the spiritual formation of Joseph.
Joseph sees that the brothers’ selfish and dangerous behavior has been transformed by God, who used it to ultimately protect the chosen family. Notice the interplay of grace and consequence. The brothers had to suffer the consequences of their actions; yet grace prevailed.
The implications of this story are rich both in terms of theology and spirituality. Don’t rush through it! What is God saying to YOU through this story?
Copyright Carrie Scott 2002
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