A Journey Thru The Bible's First Book

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:1a . .Two years later

Poor Joseph. He's now at the very threshold of his fourth decade of life and still
hasn't slept with a girl, nor does he even really have a life of his own. He was under
his dad's thumb for seventeen years as a kid, a slave in a foreign country for
thirteen; and thus far nothing to show for it.

• Gen 41:1b-7a . . Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.
And lo, from the Nile there came up seven heifers, sleek and fat; and they grazed
in the marsh grass. Then behold, seven other heifers came up after them from the
Nile, ragged and bony, and they stood by the other heifers on the bank of the Nile.
And the ragged and bony heifers ate the seven sleek and fat ones. Then Pharaoh
awoke.

. . . And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain
came up on a single stalk, plump and good. Then behold, seven ears, shriveled and
dehydrated by the east wind, sprouted up after them. And the shriveled ears
devoured the seven plump and full ears.

Pharaoh's dreams are all the more disturbing because they contain incidents that
are contrary to nature. Cows, as a rule, aren't carnivorous; and ears of grain derive
their nourishment from the stems of their own parent plant, not dining upon each
other.

The scenes in both dreams are extremely violent with the cows and the ears not
just sitting down to dinner, but literally attacking their neighbors with desperate
savagery, like ravenous caribes: eating everything-- flesh, hide, hooves, bones,
grains, chaff, and all --raw and uncooked.

• Gen 41:7b . .Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

The first dream was disturbing enough to wake Pharaoh from his sleep. But the
second was so vivid and so real that when he awoke, he was actually surprised it
was just a dream. And with that last dream, I'd not be surprised he was very
relieved to discover it wasn't a reality.

• Gen 41:8a . .The next morning, as he thought about it, Pharaoh became agitated
as to what the dreams might mean. So he called for all the magicians and wise men
of Egypt and told them about his dreams,

Magicians in those days were not the same as the sleight-of-hand entertainers of
our own day. Those occultists were scary; they used dark arts that actually worked,
and they were really and truly in touch with paranormal powers. The magicians who
opposed Moses (Ex 7:11) were able to duplicate several of God's miracles; so
ancient magicians were legitimately powerful sorcerers and to be seriously
reckoned with.

I think it was mentioned previously that "wise men" were highly educated men of
extraordinary intelligence; sort of like ancient college professors and wiz kids.
Although Moses himself isn't stated to have been a wise man; he is stated to have
been educated in all that Egypt had to offer. (Acts 7:22)

Incidentally, although Genesis never mentions God directly in Joseph's life, Stephen
confirms that it was God's providence that made the young man so successful, and
protected him from mortal harm. (Acts 7:9-10)

• Gen 41:8b . . but not one of them could suggest what they meant.

No doubt the magicians and wise men would normally have guessed the meaning of
Pharaoh's dreams in an instant via their connections with the dark world. But this
time the dark world wasn't responsible for those two dreams.

That had to be a very tense moment for the think tank. Potentates have been
known to execute brain trusts for failure to produce. (Dan 2:1-12)
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:9-13 . .Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh: Today I am reminded of
my shortcomings. Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned
me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. Each of us had a
dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.

. . . Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.
We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the
interpretation of his dream. And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to
us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.

Why wait till now to talk about Josephs' abilities? Well . . first off, God more than
likely put a mental block in the cupbearers head to forget all about Joseph; and that
mental block could have been something as simple as a very reasonable decision on
the cupbearer's part. Pharaoh already had a corps of magicians and wise men who
were actually very proficient at their jobs. What need was there to suggest taking
on another one; and a Hebrew slave at that?

No doubt during the performance of his duties over time, the cupbearer had seen
lots of dreams correctly interpreted, so Joseph's dog and pony show was nothing
new to him. The kind of mental block where people talk themselves out of
something, is quite normal and very common. But now, circumstances are going to
twinge the cupbearer's conscience, not just about Josephs' ability, but the fact that
Joseph had practically begged the man to talk to Pharaoh and get him released as a
return for the favor.

• Gen 41:14a . . So Pharaoh sent for Joseph,

Normally, Egyptians didn't associate with Hebrews (cf. Gen 43:32) and that cultural
barrier no doubt factored in to the cupbearer's mental block. But Pharaoh was at his
wit's end, and was favorably disposed to swallow his pride for a matter that, to him,
seemed of the utmost importance to not only himself, but also to the welfare of his
whole country.

• Gen 41:14b . . and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.

All this was done so that Joseph could appear in court that very day, not some
other time. Pharaoh was anxious.

• Gen 41:14c . .When he had shaved and changed his clothes,

Shaving for an Egyptian meant not only trimming and sculpting their beards (by
now, Joseph must have looked like Rumpelstiltskin) but also cutting their hair;
actually shaving their scalps bald like Vin Diesel. According to Herodotus, the
Egyptians had extreme care for cleanliness and would let their hair and beards grow
out only during periods of mourning.

• Gen 41:14d . . he came before Pharaoh.

Jiminy! Here's this no-account sheep rancher from the outback getting the full-on
attention of one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, monarchs in the
world of that day!

You know, there comes a day-- and that day may never come for some people
when you get that big break. It's at that moment when you better have your ducks
in a row and your peas in their pods because opportunity knocks only for those who
are prepared for it. For all others, it's bye-bye; and don't call us; we'll call you-- or
worse. If Joseph blows his big moment, he could very well end up not just sent
back to prison for life; but gibbeted just like the baker. This is a tense moment, and
somebody's life is about to change.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:15 . . I had a dream last night; Pharaoh told him; and none of these men
can tell me what it means. But I have heard that you can interpret dreams, and
that is why I have summoned you.

Potiphar of course would have been responsible for delivering Joseph, and probably
informed him of the purpose. But just to set his mind at ease, I'm assuming
Pharaoh himself personally informs Joseph of the reason why he's there because
when prisoners like Joseph were summoned to a Pharaoh, it was more than likely
for trial.

• Gen 41:16 . . It is beyond my power to do this; Joseph replied. But God will tell
you what it means and will set you at ease.

A verse like that is ambiguous since the Hebrew word translated "God" in that verse
is plural so that verse could just as accurately be read: "But the gods will tell you
what it means . . ." However, Pharaoh would have no problem with the god being
Yhvh because his land was literally infested with gods and were a common part of
everyday Egyptian life.

Although Mr. Pharaoh is probably not going to like what he hears, at least he'll have
the peace of mind of knowing what to expect. How many of us really want our
doctors to lie to us? No, we want the truth; even if it's terminal cancer.

• Gen 41:17a . . So Pharaoh told him the dream.

Pharaoh is really grasping at straws here since Joseph had no credentials nor could
produce any references aside from the cup-bearer's to recommend him and vouch
for his skills; and he had only one successful interpretation to his credit thus far; so
you can see just how desperate Pharaoh really is.

• Gen 41:17b . . I was standing on the bank of the Nile River; he said.

The Nile River's role in the dream is highly significant since it was a major factor in
Egypt's economy; especially its agriculture. Every year the Nile overflowed it banks;
leaving behind a deposit of silt; which kept the land's flood plain replenished with a
nice new layer of fresh topsoil. Take away the Nile's flooding, and eventually the
soils would become depleted in an era when hardly anybody knew anything about
crop rotation.

Not only that, but winds coming in from the eastern deserts would not only dry the
soils out and blow them away, but in the process leave behind sands that would
eventually render the land unproductive like during America's depression era when
its croplands turned into dust bowls.

Lower the Nile's water level significantly, and it would make irrigation very difficult
in a time without pumps powered by internal combustion engines or electric
motors.

Joseph is going to predict a famine; and in those days, as even now, famines were
caused by insufficient rainfall. Reduced rainfall results in less natural irrigation and
less runoff, so that Egypt's worst fears will be realized: crops will dry up, the Nile
won't overflow its banks, and its levels will shrink.

Back in chapter 2, Genesis says that a flow welled up from the ground to water the
whole surface of the earth, and a river watered the garden of Eden. River systems
irrigate the subsoil and replenish aquifers. Lower a river system too much, and see
what happens.

I can recall an instance, I think it was somewhere in Australia, where the natural
aquifer below a farmer's land went down because a marsh nearby was drained for
commercial purposes. The aquifer was like a dam. When it went down, salt water
moved in to take its place and the stuff percolated up and flooded the man's
property. All his trees died and the land became good for nothing. Tamper with
nature too much; and nature will tamper with you.

• Gen 41:18a . . when out of the river

That is so perfect because the Nile was Egypt's source of life; so that whatever
happened to the Nile, or whatever the Nile produced, effected Egyptian life in a big
way.

During Moses' confrontation with Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, the Nile was
turned into blood (Ex 7:17-25), and subsequently Egypt's streams, rivers, ponds,
and their pools. Next, God made the Nile produce myriads of frogs (Ex 8:1-6), so
that the frogs were so thick, they became a serious infestation. So then, the Nile,3
which ordinarily was a blessing, became a superfund site.

• Gen 41:18b-24a . . there came up seven heifers, sleek and fat; and they grazed
in the marsh grass. After them, seven other heifers came up-- ragged and bony, I
had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. The hideous heifers ate up
the seven fat heifers that came up first. But even after they ate them, no one could
tell that they had done so; they looked just as hideous as before. Then I woke up.

. . . In my dreams I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a
single stalk. After them, seven other heads sprouted-- withered and thin and
dehydrated by the east wind. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good
heads.

This second dream sounds like a redux of The Little Shop Of Horrors.

• Gen 41:24b . . I told this to the magicians, but none could explain it to me.

Since Pharaoh's brain trust couldn't figure out the dreams, then they certainly
wouldn't be able to devise effective contingency plans to deal with their meanings.
It's always nice to know the future so you can get ready for it; and certainly nobody
likes to be kept in the dark.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:25a . .Then Joseph said to Pharaoh:

Note Joseph's quick response time. He didn't even go off and pray about it and wait
for an answer from God-- no; he hopped right to it. Seeing as how Genesis doesn't
say that God whispered inside Joseph's head, or spoke to him by an audible
dictation that only Joseph's own ears could hear; then I think it safe to assume that
God gave Joseph the interpretation of those dreams by means of his own intuition
so that Joseph knew what they meant without even having to think about it.

Divine inspiration is very subtle at times and pretty amazing too. Back in the early
days of Christianity, certain individuals were supernaturally enabled with a variety
of useful skills and abilities; e.g. Rom 12:5-8 and 1Cor 12:1-11. Compare those
passages with Exodus 31:1-6.

• Gen 41:25b-32 . . Both dreams mean the same thing. God was telling you what
he is about to do. The seven fat cows and the seven plump heads of grain both
represent seven years of prosperity. The seven thin, ugly cows and the seven
withered heads of grain represent seven years of famine. This will happen just
as I have described it, for God has shown you what he is about to do.

. . .The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of
Egypt. But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the
prosperity will be forgotten and wiped out. Famine will destroy the land. This
famine will be so terrible that even the memory of the good years will be erased. As
for having the dream twice, it means that the matter has been decreed by God and
that he will make these events happen soon.

The "twice" method was first seen in Gen 37:5-11. Peter's vision (Acts 10:9-17)
was the same one three times over, while Joseph's and Pharaoh's two dreams
apiece were redundant, indicating that God meant business and wasn't going to
change His mind regarding this matter. You know though, with some people, no
matter how many times, or in how many ways, you try to tell them something, they
refuse to listen; like when a girl keeps saying NO to a boy's advances and he just
keeps coming on anyway because for some strange reason the boy thinks she
doesn't mean it; and he's somehow convinced that her protests aren't serious.

Everybody accepted Joseph's interpretation without question-- Pharaoh and all the
magicians and wise men (Gen 41:37) --and that is pretty amazing in itself.

Suppose you were a US President in San Diego for a one-night fund raiser and a
Secret Service agent assigned to protect the President said he heard that the
Border Patrol had an illegal immigrant from Sinaloa in custody down in San
Ysidro charged with rape who says he knows exactly how to balance the Federal
budget, solve all your problems with Iran, China, and North Korea, and get America
out of Afghanistan. Would you be interested? I don't think so; you'd have to be
pretty desperate.

I believe that while Pharaoh and his corps of geniuses were listening to Joseph's
interpretation, God was doing a number on their minds so that they would accept
what Joseph was telling them; and by the time he finished, they were amazed that
they hadn't thought of the interpretation themselves because it seemed not only
quite simple, and obviously true; but also the only possible explanation.

God wasn't bringing all these things to pass for the purpose of embarrassing or of
dethroning the king of Egypt (not this one anyway). As a matter of fact, Pharaoh's
control over the country would be strengthened by these events. The underlying
purpose of it all had to do rather with God's plans and purposes for the people of
Israel. Therefore, not only did God give Pharaoh the dreams, and give Joseph the
true interpretation of the dreams, but also provided an effective action plan for
Egypt's survival.

» People often complain that they can't respect a hell-fire God because He only
uses the threat of eternal suffering as coercion to get people in line. But the Bible's
talk of Hell and eternal suffering isn't meant to intimidate people. No, it's just like
Pharaoh's dreams: talk of Hell and eternal suffering is meant as an early warning of
things to come-- inevitable things.

A Danger Foreseen;
Is Half-Avoided.
(Cheyenne Proverb)
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:33-36 . . Now therefore I suggest Pharaoh look out a man discreet and
wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint
officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven
plenteous years.

. . . And have them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up
grain under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. And that
food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be
in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.

A grain czar "wise and discreet" was necessary so that the man appointed wouldn't
be tempted to profit from his own country's misfortune like so many of Wall Street's
psychopathic barracudas are wont to do. Thank God Pharaoh had the cool to
realize that what his country faced was not just long lines at the gas pumps, but
nothing less than a full blown national emergency.

On the other hand, a central bureaucracy could easily lead to despotism, red tape,
favoritism, cronyism, nepotism, corruption, payoffs, bribes, artificial shortages,
black marketing, and political manipulation; especially if all the available food
supplies were in the hands of self-serving corporations like ENRON, Monsanto,
Bechtel, and Nestlé.

The success of Joseph's plan relied heavily upon the integrity of its administrator.
The right man would be a savior; the wrong man could become a tyrant; and if the
top man was a crook, everybody under him could be expected to be crooked too,
and instead of a program intended to help the poor, it would only serve as a golden
opportunity to line the pockets of officials like Indian Agents of the old west who
embezzled Native Americans out of thousands of dollars worth of food, tools,
livestock, implements, shelter, and clothing.

It's been shown by historians that tithing was practiced in ancient Egypt and other
nations, as a form of taxes or tribute to the king; but a 20 percent levy would be
very unusual, and might well be resisted, especially if enacted by an unpopular
sovereign. Thus, the chief administrator of Joseph's plan would have to be skilled in
diplomacy and persuasion: a veritable expert on how to win friends and influence
people.

Actually, the 20 percent wasn't a hardship. Egypt's agricultural production was so
good that no doubt at least 20 percent went to waste anyway even after all the
people were satisfied and Egypt's export commitments were fulfilled. (Here in the
USA, we waste upwards of 40% of our annual purchases of food)

Some citizens might gripe at first, but it's hard to feel deprived when things are
going good. The seven years of plenty would be a time of bumper crops and
overabundance; and heck, you could give the children's food to the dogs and not
hurt them. The only real malcontents in Egypt would be people who are never
happy about anything anyway.

Americans themselves have so much left over that there's enough perfectly good
food thrown out in the dumpsters behind super markets and fast food chains like
Wendy's, Carl's Jr, Subway, McDonalds. Arby's, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken,
and Burger King to easily feed every homeless person in the USA three meals a
day. And that's not even counting all the other restaurants and food courts that are
tossing out literally tons of edible garbage every hour of the business day.

Although someone might get the wrong impression, there was really no indication
in Joseph's presentation that he was throwing his hat in the ring. Such a thought
could hardly have crossed his sheep-herder's mind. The last thing Joseph wanted
was a long-term commitment to Federal employment in a foreign country when the
only thing on his mind was getting back home to his dad in Hebron.

Joseph was not only an alien, but a slave; and a jailbird accused of rape. He had
never held a political office of any kind whatsoever. His only experience in business
management was the oversight of Potiphar's household affairs; nor had he any
experience in either running or participating in a bureaucracy of the magnitude of
which he spoke.

But there are people like Joseph who have a God-given natural aptitude in certain
areas. They don't need training and they don't need experience. They're like some
combat platoon sergeants who, when you throw them into the mouths of canons,
don't panic and don't get flustered. They perform like they've been doing that sort
of thing all their lives.

Joseph probably wasn't aware at first that he had a God-given knack for running a
big show like a national food bank. But God was, and that's exactly why He's going
to persuade the top brass to put His own man in charge because the very survival
of the people of Israel heavily depends upon an effective contingency to meet those
inevitable seven years of famine; and even after the famine ended, there would still
yet be a time of recovery before Egypt got back up to speed.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:37-38 . . Joseph's suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his
advisers. And Pharaoh said to his courtiers: Could we find another like him, a man
in whom is the spirit of the gods?

If there was one thing those old-time pagans valued, it was a connection to the
spirit world, and they sensed that Joseph had it. I think they were not only in awe
of him, but maybe even just a bit afraid of him too.

The Hebrew word for "gods" is 'elohiym (el-o-heem') which is both plural and
ambiguous, so you could just as easily translate it gods as God; but in the Egypt of
that day and age, "gods" makes more sense.

Joseph is going to become very popular with Pharaoh, and it's all to the one true
god's credit.

"God was with him . . . and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt." (Acts 7:9-10)

The Greek word for "favor" in that verse is charis (khar'-ece) which is the very word
translated "grace" in English versions of the New Testament. So then, you could say
that Joseph found grace in the eyes of Pharaoh just like Noah found grace in the
eyes of God back in Gen 6:8.

Putting it all together, it says that Pharaoh was inclined to bless Joseph just like
God was inclined to bless Noah; viz: to do good for him; provide for him, and
protect him from harm. God trusted Noah, and assigned him the Herculean task of
building the ark. Pharaoh trusted Joseph, and assigned him the Herculean task of
implementing a plan to save his country from certain ruin. Noah's ark kept the
human race alive. Joseph's plan kept the Egyptians alive (and his family too). Quite
a few parallels in Noah and Joseph.

But in order for Joseph's plan to work, he had to have absolute power in the
country of Egypt. Everybody had to fear him so they'd be sure to cooperate.

• Gen 41:39-43 . .Then Pharaoh said to Joseph; Since God has made all this known
to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my
palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the
throne will I be greater than you. So Pharaoh said to Joseph; I hereby put you in
charge of the whole land of Egypt.

. . .Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger.
He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had
him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him,
"Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Pharaoh's signet ring was for signing documents and authorizing whatever
purchases and requisitions Joseph might need to fulfill his duties; and for mustering
and/or conscripting the necessary manpower to get it all done. That signet ring was
terrifying. With it, Joseph could actually order people gibbeted if he wanted and
nobody would question it. (Hag 2:20-23)

• Gen 41:44 . . Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph; Though I am Pharaoh, yet
without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

Although Joseph was directly responsible to Pharaoh and to no one else, his powers
were limited. He couldn't wage war or set foreign policy. He had no say in the
balance of trade, or the colonization of foreign lands. There were other people
taking care of those operations. Joseph's jurisdiction for the moment was related to
the task he was assigned, sort of like the head of homeland security, a drug czar,
or a FEMA commander. Joseph's position was in supreme oversight of Egypt's
domestic product.

• Gen 41:45a . . Pharaoh then gave Joseph the name Tsophnath Pa'neach, and he
gave him for a wife Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On.

Tsophnath Pa'neach was an Egyptian name, same as Moses is an Egyptian name;
which reflected Joseph's transition from Palestinian goat-herder to a naturalized
Egyptian citizen; which of course had the effect of emancipating him from slavery.

Poti-phera is essentially the same name as Joseph's original master: Potiphar.

The city of On was possibly Heliopolis, a city dedicated to the worship of the Sun
god.

Priests were a highly respected caste in Egypt. Having a father-in-law in the
priesthood secured Joseph a privileged social status appropriate for a man in his
position, and no doubt landed some good connections right in his lap. There's no
record that Joseph protested the marriage, but likely saw it as an advantage he
could exploit.

Everything Pharaoh did for Joseph worked in his favor towards giving him a highly
visible public profile.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:45b-46a . .Thus Joseph emerged in charge of the land of Egypt. Joseph
was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Joseph went from slave to aristocrat practically overnight; and with neither political,
nor business experience on his résumé whatsoever.

• Gen 41:46b . . Leaving Pharaoh's presence, Joseph traveled through all the land
of Egypt.

That reminds me of how U.S. Presidents fly over disaster areas in a helicopter to
"assess" the situation. Well Joseph didn't have a whirlybird at his disposal. If he
was going to assess Egypt's agricultural assets first hand, and decide where to
strategically locate his granaries, then he would have to do it in that spiffy
government-provided conveyance that came with his job.

Joseph would actually get himself dirty down on the ground on Egypt's highways,
byways, townships, and farmlands, rather than cruising aloft in the luxury and
comfort of an Air Force One and delegating all the leg work to a corps of go-fers
and fact-finders.

Joseph hasn't seen his dad for 13 years now, and if there ever was a golden
opportunity for him to escape and get back to Canaan, this was it. But he couldn't.
Joseph was in a catch-22. If he went back home at this point, the coming famine
might destroy his own family. He had to stay and make sure Egypt became the
world's bread basket so his kin would have somewhere to go and get food when
those seven years of desperate want finally came along.

True, Pharaoh could just appoint someone else to the task if Joseph deserted his
post, but Joseph couldn't take the chance his replacement wouldn't be a devil
instead of a savior. Sometimes, when you want the job done right, you just have to
do it yourself.

Then too, taking off now might cause Pharaoh to lose confidence in Joseph's
predictions. He might suspect, and who wouldn't, that Joseph made it all up just
so's he could get out of jail. Then Pharaoh would probably cancel any and all
preparations for the years ahead; with tragic consequences. No, Joseph was stuck.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:47-49 . . During the seven years of abundance the land produced
plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of
abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in
the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of
the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond
measure.

When there's small amounts to work with, it's easy to use small containers to tally
it. But Egypt's abundance was so great that it was impractical to tally the grain with
standard containers. Instead, I would think Joseph did it simply by building his silos
to a standard size and dimension. So, instead of tallying "bushels" of grain, Joseph
simplified the process by tallying silos.

Although storing the grain near the communities where it was grown was a
practical consideration for later distribution, it was also a wise diplomatic move.
When people see their hard-earned things carted off to the unknown, it makes
them nervous about getting their stuff back. Putting his granaries nearby,
reassured local growers and consumers that Joseph meant well by them and wasn't
just taxing their produce for personal profit.

I would like to think that Joseph employed local labor for the construction of his
granaries rather than contracting it out to a global construction company that
polished the apple with him via his father-in-law's contacts; thus once again
showing good faith by injecting wages into local economies. Little by little, Joseph
was gaining the Egyptians' trust, which must have no doubt pleased Pharaoh well
and made him feel pretty good about his choice of man for the job.

Meanwhile, back on the home front, Joseph's marriage was holding up okay and he
became the father of two boys.

• Gen 41:50 . . Before the years of famine came, Joseph became the father of two
sons, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, bore to him.

In the Bible, it's the fathers who determine tribal ancestry; so the two boys were
Hebrews by birth rather than Egyptians. I don't know how Mr. Poti-phera felt about
that, but what was he to do? One of the most powerful, if not the most powerful,
monarchs on earth had arranged his daughter's marriage to Joseph so there really
wasn't much he could say about it.

• Gen 41:51 . . Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said; God has made
me forget all my troubles and the family of my father.

The meaning of Manessah's name in Hebrew is self explanatory. However, there is
just no way that Joseph forgot all about his family. That verse has to be interpreted
according to the progress of the narrative.

I seriously doubt that God deleted Joseph's memory; but rather, helped him to get
over doting about his misfortunes. Doting can lead to serious psychological
damage, dark thoughts, and long term depression, and/or in the case of anger, it
can lead to malice and sleepless nights plotting revenge, or rehearsing retorts over
and over again to counter something someone said that you didn't like.

Though they weren't ideal, Joseph was at peace with his current circumstances.
Exactly how God brought him to that point isn't stated. But in chapters ahead,
Joseph will inform his brothers that his misfortunes actually benefited everyone so
that Joseph became a savior; not only to Egypt, but to his own family as well (Gen
45:4-11, Gen 50:20).

So then, in the end, Joseph accepted his plight graciously and held no hard feelings
towards anyone in particular, nor was he blue and sad about being away from
home all those years because he was fully aware it all worked toward a greater
good.

Since Joseph couldn't leave Egypt himself to go home and visit his family, then one
has to wonder why he didn't dispatch a messenger to let his dad know he was
okay. Well; for one thing, to do so would have exposed his brothers' murderous
scheme, and who knows what kind of disharmony that would have created in
Jacob's home. This was one of those cases where it's better to follow the advice of
some Beatles' lyrics; "Words of wisdom: let it be."

But seriously, I doubt Jacob would have believed it was actually his very own
Joseph in Pharaoh's court but would have automatically assumed it was a cruel
hoax. Later, Joseph is going to be sure that his brothers understand that they
weren't being told second-hand about his prosperity, nor being fed a rumor; but
were hearing about it from their long-lost brother's very own lips. (Gen 45:12-13)

• Gen 41:52 . . Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said; God has made
me fruitful in this land of my suffering.

Ephraim's name actually means "doubly fruitful" viz: bumper-crop fruitful; which is
obviously in recognition of God's providence in a place where a man of God would
certainly least expect to find it.

I still think that Joseph had given up all hope of having a normal life and a family of
his own; but as it turns out, he got both anyway in spite of his unfortunate
circumstances. Maybe he'd rather have married a girl back home, but you know
what they say: Beggars can't be choosers. At least Joseph was no longer a jailed
slave locked up as an accused rapist with no future at all. Asenath and Poti-phera
may not have been Joseph's ideal in-laws, but they were acceptable; all things
considered.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 41:53-54 . . At last the seven years of plenty came to an end. Then the
seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There were crop
failures in all the surrounding countries, too, but in Egypt there was plenty of grain
in the storehouses.

Joseph had made no mention of the misfortunes of Egypt's neighbors to Pharaoh.
But now comes out the reason for Egypt's incredible over-abundance during the
good years. It wasn't meant just to sustain their own selves that God had so
blessed the Egyptians, no, all around them countries were effected, became
desperate, and forced to look outside themselves for relief.

In order for the countries all around Egypt to experience the famine, it would mean
that they too were experiencing severe reductions in annual rainfall. Though
northern Egypt, around the Nile delta, normally receives very little rain to begin
with, it's agriculture prospers because of heavy rainfalls way down in Africa that
feed tributaries flowing into the Nile; e.g. the Blue Nile. We're talking about a
massive watershed encompassing several thousands of square miles of Africa's
countryside. And that, added to the surrounding countries, really adds up to an
incredibly large geographic area effected by an unbelievable large-scale drought.

• Gen 41:53-56 . .Throughout the land of Egypt the people began to starve. They
pleaded with Pharaoh for food, and he told them; Go to Joseph and do whatever he
tells you. So with severe famine everywhere in the land, Joseph opened up the
storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians.

Advocates of a welfare state might question Joseph's ethical integrity and want to
know why he "sold" grain to his fellow citizens instead of just doling it out in soup
lines. Well, for one thing, quite a few of the Egyptians had good incomes (Ex 3:20
22, Ex 11:2). They were quite prosperous and could easily afford to pay— at least
at first. Secondly, Joseph answered to a higher power than himself. It was his duty
to look out for Pharaoh's best interests, and make sure his boss received adequate
taxes even during lean years. (cf. Matt 25:14-30, 1Cor 4:1-2, 1Pet 4:10)

• Gen 41:57 . . And people from surrounding lands also came to Egypt to buy grain
from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.

The "world" likely refers to a political region rather than geographical. In other
words; the world in Gen 41:57 was their world rather than the whole planet.
Compare that to the world of Jesus' day.

"Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went
out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us
nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!" (John 12:18-19).

Wherever the famine was, it was severe; as opposed to severe in some places while
tolerable in others; viz: nobody had it good. Wherever that famine went, if it went
there at all, then it was all bad rather than some bad and some not so bad.

At this point, Joseph had been away from home for twenty years (cf. Gen 37:2,
Gen 41:46, Gen 41:53) and had seen neither his dad nor his brothers even once in
all that time. When he was sold into slavery, Joseph was just a young teen-ager;
now he's in his late thirties. He was just a boy then; now he's a man.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 42:1 . .When Jacob learned that there were rations of grain in Egypt, he said
to his sons; Why do you just keep looking at each other?

You can just picture what was going on. One brother would turn to another and
ask; What are we going to do for food? And the other would just shrug and raise his
eyebrows. They must have been doing that a lot lately because apparently it was
beginning to grate on their dad.

NOTE: In that day, people considered grain a necessity, i.e. the staff of life: in our
day, not so much; and I think it's due to modern grains being hybridized and
genetically modified for maximum yields while at the same time reducing their
nutritional value as food. We have literally walls of bakery products for sale in
supermarkets. So they're plentiful enough; but if we should attempt to live on modern
bakery products alone, we'd likely risk dying from diabetes and/or malnutrition.

• Gen 42:2-4 . . He continued: I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down
there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die. Then ten of Joseph's
brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin,
Joseph's brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to
him.

To Jacob's knowledge, Joseph was dead. His mother was certainly dead, having
died giving birth to Benjamin back in chapter 35. So, to Jacob's mind, all that's left
of the love in his life is Benjamin. So that if something were to happen to him, he
would have nothing left to remind him of Rachel, and that whole side of the family
would be gone.

Benjamin, at this time, wasn't a little kid. He was born when the family moved
south from Bethel to Hebron back in chapter 35. And as Joseph was now about 38,
and sold into slavery at 17 while Jacob was at Hebron, then Benjamin is, at the
bare minimum, at least 21.

• Gen 42:5 . . So Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the
famine was in the land of Canaan also.

That must have been an interesting sight. The brothers mingled in with caravans
traveling to (and from) Egypt, and there must have been a lot of them because the
drought had effected the whole land of Palestine, possibly even clear up into Syria
and Lebanon. Traveling in a caravan had its benefits. With food so scarce, grain
would be more valuable than money, and lone travelers would be easy targets for
desperate clans; and brigands too.

• Gen 42:6a . . Now Joseph was powerful in the land; the one who sold grain to all
its people.

Apparently, before anybody could obtain grain, they had to first go by the Minister
Of Agriculture's office and purchase a permit in the form of an official receipt, which
was then taken to a designated silo and redeemed for grain. Apparently, collecting
the money, and issuing permits, was a task that Joseph personally supervised
himself rather than delegate to subordinates: which tells me that Joseph trusted no
one. And no surprise.

Those permits were a golden opportunity for graft and/or embezzling. A dishonest
clerk could smuggle some of those permits out of the office and distribute them to
friends and relatives and/or peddle them on the black market because they were
just as valuable as Cap & Trade emission permits and food stamps. You could
probably scalp those grain coupons for at least double the original price.

• Gen 42:6b-8 . . So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with
their faces to the ground. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them,
but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. Where do you come
from? he asked. From the land of Canaan, they replied, to buy food. Although
Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

One can hardly blame Joseph for acting like a stranger. For all he knew, his
brothers were still toxic; and might be inclined to find new ways to mess up his life
yet once more like they did when he lived at home. When people have been burned
by someone they trust; that trust is not easily regained; nor does it deserve to be.
Those men tried to murder Joseph-- his own flesh and blood kin tried. That's
something that's neither easily forgotten, nor easily forgiven; and shouldn't be.
Joseph's reluctance to befriend his brothers at this point is fully justified. Only a fool
would try to kiss a rattlesnake twice after the first time one bites him on the nose.

But at the same time, this presents a dilemma for Joseph. No doubt he's anxious
for an update of his father Jacob's health and welfare, and also of his one full
brother Benjamin; against whom Joseph harbored no bad feelings whatsoever. I
sincerely believe that if it wasn't for Joseph's concern for his father and kid brother
back home, that he never, ever would have told his brothers anything about
himself. They would have come and gone with no consciousness at all that they'd
ever passed his way.

It's not surprising that Joseph's older brothers didn't recognize him. He was just a
shiny-faced, 17 year-old teen-ager the last they saw him. They haven't seen their
kid brother for the past 21 years. In that time his face and his voice had aged to
that of a matured 38 year-old man. Plus he's cultured far different than any of
Palestine's sheep herders. He has an Egyptian hair cut, an Egyptian beard, speaks
the Egyptian language, wears the expensive clothing of Egyptian aristocrats; and
he's a top-of-the-heap Egyptian government official; a position in which they would
never in a million years expect to find their sheep-herding kid brother.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 42:9a . .Then he remembered his dreams about them

When Joseph had those dreams back in chapter 37, he probably had no clue as to
how they would be fulfilled. He was only aware, from his father Jacob's
interpretations, that he would one day be lord over his whole family, including his
parents. Now it's becoming clear to him just exactly how those dreams were to play
out in real life.

• Gen 42:9b . . and said to them: You are spies! You have come to see where our
land is unprotected.

That was a reasonable suspicion. Incursions into Egypt by Asians coming via the
Way of Horus-- a military highway from Canaan that led through Gaza to El-'Arish
--were a recurrent problem. So it would be only natural to assume that if Egypt
was raided from the northeast during normal years, it could be expected to be
raided even more often, and with greater boldness, during a food-related crisis that
was effecting a huge part of the world of that day.

Foreign invaders would of course be encouraged to think that maybe the Egyptians
were so distracted by just trying to survive that they'd let their guard down and
have no heart for fighting. A nation in crises is a plausible target of opportunity for
any ambitious conqueror. It of course fell to Joseph's responsibility to carefully
screen foreigners to be certain of their true purposes for entering Egypt. Were they
looking for food; or were they looking for weak points in Egypt's defenses?

Joseph really had no good reason at all to trust his own brothers. Not only had they
been so callous as to plot their own kid brother's murder, and sell him to slave
traders, but he no doubt remembered how two of them viciously hacked to death
the entire number of men in the town of Shechem back in chapter 34. So far as he
was concerned, they were capable of anything, even of pillaging a vulnerable Egypt
under the guise of ordinary people just looking for something to eat like everybody
else.

• Gen 42:10-11 . . But they said to him: No, my lord! Truly, your servants have
come to procure food. We are all of us sons of the same man; we are honest men;
your servants have never been spies!

Ten men all together is too obvious. I think that professional spies would split up
and not travel together nor even enter Egypt on the very same day. Perhaps they
hoped that by divulging details about their family, it would help convince their
inquisitor that they weren't entering Egypt for military purposes. But even that
story could be perceived as a cover to an official in Joseph's position.

• Gen 42:12 . . And he said to them: No, you have come to see the land in its
nakedness!

A word like "nakedness" can imply any number of things but in this application it
probably refers to destitution; which would mean that Egypt's ability to wage war
was severely limited and thus vulnerable to invasion, pillage, and conquest.

• Gen 42:13 . . But they replied: Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of
one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and
one is no more.

For the second time they volunteer personal information about themselves; and
probably for the same reason as the first. However, it was music to Joseph's ears
because no doubt when he didn't see his kid brother Benjamin traveling with his
eldest brothers, he began to be concerned that they had done to him what they had
previously wrought upon himself. Although they lied about the "one" who is no
more (lying about Joseph was by now probably a reflexive habit) they certainly
weren't lying about the youngest because there was no reason to. If Benjamin were
dead, then they simply would have said "two" are no more.

• Gen 42:14 . . Joseph said to them: It is just as I told you: You are spies!

With Joseph's intelligence, and from his day after day experience with an endless
stream of truly desperate people, he would have known by now (especially with
that incredible intuition of his) that the ten weak-knees guys standing before him
certainly weren't professional soldiers. He's being deliberately obtuse, and it's
becoming obvious now (at least to us Bible students who know Joseph's true
identity) that he's feeling his brothers out to ascertain whether or not they're the
very same unrepentant, unremorseful, cold-blooded, steely-eyed, deplorable
scoundrels they were in the past. Until he's certain they can be trusted, Joseph isn't
going to afford them the even tiniest hint of who he really is.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 42:15-17 . . By this you shall be put to the test: unless your youngest
brother comes here, by Pharaoh, you shall not depart from this place! Let one of
you go and bring your brother, while the rest of you remain confined, that your
words may be put to the test whether there is truth in you. Else, by Pharaoh, you
are nothing but spies! And he confined them in the guardhouse for three days.

During those three days the brothers must have felt like they were in a purgatory
as they endured unbearable anxiety while conferring amongst themselves about
their current state of affairs. They were no doubt positive that Jacob would never
allow his favorite little boy to be taken down to Egypt where this obtuse Egyptian
big shot just might lock him up with the others so that in the end, all surviving
eleven of Jacob's sons would never be seen again.

• Gen 42:18-20a . . On the third day Joseph said to them: Do this and you shall
live, for I am a God-fearing man. If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be
held in your place of detention, while the rest of you go and take home rations for
your starving households; but you must bring me your youngest brother, that your
words may be verified and that you may not die.

This reversal of terms couldn't have done anything other than to reinforce the
brothers' fears that not only was this Egyptian big shot obtuse, but also
unpredictable.

Turning loose nine of the ten men would be dumb because, militarily, sacrificing
one to save nine is an acceptable loss. Joseph's excuse for this obvious military
blunder is that he's a "God-fearing" man; viz: just in case their story is true, he
didn't want to be responsible for the starvation of innocent families.

Joseph had the advantage of knowing far more about their family than they
dreamed. As it turned out, Jacob would have gladly sacrificed the brother who will
be chosen to remain behind in order to protect Benjamin, except that to not return,
meant certain starvation; and no doubt Joseph easily foresaw Jacob's dilemma in
that matter. He really had them in a catch-22.

• Gen 42:20b . . And they did accordingly.

The men agreed to Joseph's terms, but not without going around the room about it
first. These guys are dumber than a stack of bricks. They discussed their current
predicament, and their consciences, all within Joseph's hearing. (Never assume
foreigners don't know your language just because they aren't speaking it.)

• Gen 42:21-23 . .They said to one another: Alas, we are being punished on
account of our brother, because we looked on at his anguish, yet paid no heed as
he pleaded with us. That is why this distress has come upon us. Then Reuben spoke
up and said to them: Did I not tell you, do no wrong to the boy? But you paid no
heed. Now comes the reckoning for his blood. They did not know that Joseph
understood, for there was an interpreter between him and them.

Apparently the interpreter had been either dismissed and/or sent on an errand and
left Joseph guarding the men by himself while they deliberated amongst
themselves.

Isn't it interesting that those men carried the guilt of their treatment of Joseph all
those 21 years that he was away from home? This probably wasn't the first time
they blamed their bad luck on Joseph. Probably every time one of them hit his
thumb with a hammer, or bumped his head on a shelf, he thought of Joseph.

Those men's minds hadn't enjoyed a moments peace since the day the slave
traders carted their kid brother off to the big unknown in Egypt. At night, when the
demons come, their minds would once and again, for the Nth time, rehearse his
awful wailing and begging down in that hole, and see the pain on his face, a pain
that was burned into their memories like a rancher's cattle brand. No doubt those
poor guys all suffered from recurring nightmares about the incident too.

All those 21 years, Jacob hadn't stopped grieving for Joseph; so that every
morning, those guys were treated to the sight of their father all blue and depressed
at the loss of his favorite boy. Those poor guys. It was impossible to forget Joseph
with their dad moping around all the time in a sorrowful state to remind them.

• Gen 42:24a . . He turned away from them and wept.

Genesis offers no explanation whatsoever for Joseph's weeping; and I half suspect
it's because unless somebody has actually themselves lived through an experience
similar to his, then there is just no way even the brightest of Bible students can
fully relate to what Joseph was feeling at that moment no matter how skillfully the
best writers on earth tried to explain it. His weeping wasn't a matter of the mind;
no, it was a matter of the heart; and oftentimes those kinds of matters can't be put
into words by the very people themselves who are awash with those kinds of
emotions.

Joseph certainly had no good reason to feel any particular bonding with his
brothers. If anything, he should be feeling totally disconnected from them. They
were never his friends, and not once did anything good by him; the rather, he was
disowned in his own home by the very people who by all rights should have loved
and supported him the most.

Although Joseph grew up with big brothers, he didn't, if you know what I mean. His
only trusty companions at home were his dad Jacob, and his kid brother Benjamin;
and it seems clear to me that it's for their sakes alone that he's tolerating these ten
felons for even another minute. It must have taken a Herculean effort on Joseph's
part to restrain his natural impulses to order their bodies immediately gibbeted and
set out for the vultures.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 42:24b . . Returning, he talked some more with them. He then chose Simeon
from among them and had him shackled in their sight.

Rueben had shown some good colors back at the pit in chapter 37, so the lot fell to
Simeon seeing as how he was next in the line of seniority of the ten brothers (Gen
29:31-33). Simeon was a good choice since he and his brother Levi had so far
shown themselves to be the cruelest among the brothers in the matter of Dinah
back in chapter 34. Let's just give Simeon a taste of mortal fear for a change and
see how he likes it.

Later, at home, neither Jacob nor the others will seem overly concerned that
Simeon was selected to be detained, and the total focus will be upon Benjamin's
safety rather than upon Simeon's rescue; in fact, Jacob will write him off as dead.

Apparently, Simeon wasn't all that appreciated by his own family: and no wonder
with that savage nature of his. They were probably all, including Jacob, relieved to
be rid of his company. Joseph's own lack of popularity among his elder brothers
was a natural friction stemming from old fashioned sibling rivalry. But Simeon was
just plain mean; while Joseph was likely a pleasant sort of guy and easy to get
along with. Difficult people shouldn't be surprised when others around them spit on
their graves.

• Gen 42:25-26 . . Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men's sacks with
grain, but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother's payment at the
top of his sack. He also gave them provisions for their journey. So they loaded up
their donkeys with the grain and started for home.

Returning his family's money was something that Joseph did for himself. How could
he possibly make his own desperate kin pay for food under his control? He couldn't.
In his position, Joseph could easily provide for all of them at no cost to themselves
whatsoever.

"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he
hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." (1Tim 5:8)

Joseph was a man of honor. No doubt he made up for their payment out of his own
pocket so that no one could accuse him of abusing his privileges and giving
Pharaoh's grain away for nothing to people who had demonstrated that they had
the wherewithal to pay for it. A man's reputation, after all, is his singular most
valuable asset.

"Choose a good reputation over great riches; for being held in high esteem is better
than having silver or gold." (Prov 22:1)

Giving them free provisions for the trip would have included food and water not
only for themselves, but also their beasts. That was a diplomatic gesture, and
would go a long ways towards making the family feel welcome down in Egypt, and
encourage them to return since they had certainly been given a degree of fair
treatment way beyond what they had any right to expect from a foreign dignitary.

• Gen 42:27-28 . . As one of them was opening his sack to give feed to his burro at
the night encampment, he saw his money right there at the mouth of his bag. And
he said to his brothers: My money has been returned! It is here in my bag! Their
hearts sank; and, trembling, they turned to one another, saying: What is this that
God has done to us?

Why is it people always tend to blame God for their misfortunes? But in this case,
their perceived misfortune is not that at all. If only they hadn't been so infected
with guilt they would have easily seen that the Egyptian big shot was
demonstrating that he meant only the best by them. But no; instead, they go off
the deep end and interpret their host's graciousness as an ill omen rather than a
token of good will. Some people are so suspicious of anything nice that people do
for them-- always looking for an ulterior motive and/or a hidden agenda.

• Gen 42:29a . .When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan

If Jacob was still living in Hebron, the distance the men traveled to get back home
was roughly 250 miles if Joseph's headquarters was possibly either in, or near to,
the city of Memphis, which is about ten miles south of today's Cairo.

NOTE: In the millennia prior to mechanized conveyances, the greatest obstacle to
travel was distance. Today the average American zips around in a vehicle that can
easily travel 55 miles in just one hour. That same distance would take eleven hours
at a burro's pace. In other words; in the time it takes a burro to walk 55 miles, an
automobile at 55 miles an hour can travel 605.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 42:29b-34 . . they told him all that had befallen them, saying; The man who
said to him: We are honest men; we have never been spies! There were twelve of
us brothers, sons by the same father; but one is no more, and the youngest is now
with our father in the land of Canaan.

. . . But the man who is lord of the land said to us; By this I shall know that you
are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take something for your
starving households and be off. And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may
know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then restore your brother to
you, and you shall be at liberty to move about in the land.

When they got home, they proceeded to report to their father Jacob the details of
their experience. In spite of his age, which was near 130, Jacob was still the
dominant figure in the family; and apparently well respected since no one seems to
feel inclined to question his authority.

• Gen 42:35 . . As they were emptying their sacks, there, in each one's sack, was
his money-bag! When they and their father saw their money-bags, they were
alarmed.

It must have seemed to Jacob that his sons stole the grain, or why else would they
still have their money? To the men, it must have seemed like the obtuse Egyptian
big shot was toying with them; to set them up for a charge of theft. As these
thoughts raced through every man's head, Jacob became a bit paranoid; which
Webster's defines as: a psychosis characterized by delusions of persecution; as in
"Why's everybody always pickin' on me?" (lyrics from a cute song by The Coasters,
1959)

• Gen 42:36a . .Their father Jacob said to them: You have deprived me of my
children.

Jacob held his eldest sons responsible for Joseph's demise. But he is even more
complicit. Jacob should have known better than to send his young teen-age son all
by himself to find the others a good many miles from home in a mostly wilderness
area. That was irresponsible.

• Gen 42:36b . . Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to
take Benjamin. Everything is against me!

Poor ol' Jacob. Little did he know that the night gets darkest before the dawn. Mr.
Israel had little to celebrate at this point; but morning was right around the corner.

They all, including Jacob, should have thought the whole situation through for a
minute. The big shot accused the brothers of spying. So now why would he trump
up a charge of theft against them? Which is worse, spying or theft? Spying, of
course, is much worse than theft. And how ever could thievery prove the big shot's
much more serious charge of spying against them?

It couldn't. No proficient spy is going to do something dumb that is sure to draw
attention to himself. When Joshua's spies entered Jericho (Josh 2) did they begin
shop-lifting, or taking things off of people's clothes lines? No. They were discreet.
Jericho's authorities still caught on to them anyway, but at least it wasn't for
something stupid.

So the men must have reasoned that the big shot was hedging his bets. If he
couldn't get them on a charge of spying, then he would get them for the lesser
charge of theft. But they should have asked themselves: Why would the obtuse big
shot be so anxious to nail them at all? Is that how he amused himself; by framing
people and throwing them in jail for something they didn't do? That's not an
unusual police activity. In our own day, Iraqi authorities, under the auspices of
Saddam Hussein, used to do that all the time.

For some reason, it just never occurred to the men that maybe the big shot down
in Egypt simply pitied them. He had, after all, professed to fear God; and by doing
so, implied that just in case their story were true, he didn't want to be responsible
for causing their families any undue hardship; but no, they assumed the worst
instead.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 42:37 . .Then Reuben said to his father: You may put both of my sons to
death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him
back.

It would have been interesting to ask Reuben's boys how they felt about their dad's
rash offer to trade their lives for Benjamin's. That is the very same stupid kind of
deal that Lot offered the Sodomites back in chapter 19, only Lot's was dumber
because he offered to trade his wife's babies for two perfect strangers' lives. What
did men in those days think their offspring were? Cattle? Commodities? God pity
kids that grow up in a home with parents that think so little of them.

And did Reuben really think that slaying Jacob's own grandchildren would somehow
make him feel any better about losing Benjamin? That's like burning my house, and
then stealing my car to make me feel all better about the loss of my home. Reuben
either had a very low IQ, or must have been out of his cotton-picking mind!
Sometimes I think Joseph rather pitied his elder brothers for being such imbeciles.
Small wonder God chose Joseph to go down to Egypt. The rest of them had no
more intelligence than a bar of soap.

• Gen 42:38 . . But he said: My son must not go down with you, for his brother is
dead and he alone is left. If he meets with disaster on the journey you are taking,
you will send my white head down to sheol in grief.

Some translators render sheol (sheh-ole') as the grave; a place to inter a corpse.
But though sheol can include one's grave; it's not the whole picture.

A specific Old Testament word for grave is qeber (keh'-ber) which first appears in
Gen 23:4, and something like 67 instances thereafter.

Qeber is the equivalent of the New Testament word mnemeion (mnay-mi' on). It
first appears at Matt 8:28, and something like 41 instances thereafter; for example
Matt 27:52-53, Matt 27:59-60, John 11:18, John 11:38, and John 12:17.

According to 1Thess 5:23, human life consists of at least three components: body,
soul, and spirit. Though the body is easily killed, the soul can only be killed by the
hand of God. (Matt 10:28, Luke 12:4-5)
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 43:1-7 . . But the famine in the land was severe. And when they had eaten
up the rations which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them: Go
again and procure some food for us.

. . . But Judah said to him: The man warned us "Do not let me see your faces
unless your brother is with you". If you will let our brother go with us, we will go
down and procure food for you; but if you will not let him go, we will not go down,
for the man said to us "Do not let me see your faces unless your brother is with
you".

. . . And Israel said: Why did you serve me so ill as to tell the man that you had
another brother? They replied: But the man kept asking about us and our family,
saying "Is your father still living? Have you another brother?" And we answered him
accordingly. How were we to know that he would say bring your brother here?

Judah is direct, and right to the point. If Jacob doesn't let the brothers take
Benjamin with them on the next trip, then the family is certain to go without food.
It's just that simple, and there's no use in sugar coating it.

• Gen 43:8-10 . . Then Judah said to his father Israel: Send the boy in my care,
and let us be on our way, that we may live and not die-- you and we and our
children. I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible; if I do not
bring him back to you and set him before you, I shall stand guilty before you
forever. For we could have been there and back twice if we had not dawdled.

At this point, the number of kin for whom Jacob was directly responsible to provide
numbered well over 70, upwards of 100, because the list in chapter 46 doesn't
include his sons' wives, nor any of the wives of his grandsons. Truly, if Jacob wasn't
careful, he would cause the loss of his entire clan in the interest of saving just one.
Since the whole clan was now in mortal danger, they really had nothing to lose by
risking Benjamin's life. He would die anyway from hunger; so why not have him die
trying to obtain some additional grain from Egypt? It was an acceptable risk given
the circumstances.

During all this discussion, the Egyptian big shot is only referred to as "the man"
which means Joseph didn't tell the brothers his official Egyptian name Zaphenath
paneah; and they couldn't have gotten it off their grain permits because Joseph
signed all government documents with that signet gadget given to him by Pharaoh
back in chapter 41.

• Gen 43:11-14 . .Then their father Israel said to them: If it must be so do this:
take some of the strength of the land in your baggage, and carry them down as a
gift for the man-- some balm and some honey, labdanum, pistachio nuts, and
almonds.

. . . And take with you double the silver, carrying back with you the silver that was
replaced in the mouths of your bags; perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother
too; and go back at once to the man. And may El Shaddai dispose the man to
mercy toward you, that he may release to you your other brother, as well as
Benjamin. As for me, if I am to be bereaved, I shall be bereaved.

The "choice" fruits would have to be limited to produce that doesn't spoil easily
since it was probably three weeks travel time via burro.

Balm was a good gift, since it was a trade item (Gen 37:25) and a valuable first aid
treatment.

Labdanum is a soft dark fragrant bitter oleoresin derived from various rockroses
(genus Cistus) and used in making perfumes. Another trade item.

Before the advent of processed sugar and artificial sweeteners, honey was a lot
more popular than it is now. There is no Hebrew word for sugar in the entire Old
Testament. A little-known fact about natural honey is its medicinal value. Honey
fights bacteria in wounds in several ways, including the steady production of
hydrogen peroxide, an antiseptic. One type of honey-- Manuka --is especially
effective.

Honey was valued in the old world; as evidenced by it being one of the nouns to
describe the qualities of the promised land (Ex 3:8). The Hebrew word for honey--
debash (deb-ash') --is a bit ambiguous. It can mean the kind of organic goo
produced in nature by bees and/or can indicate a thick, intensely sweet syrup
produced from dates and grape juice; which Arabs call dibs. In this story, either
one would have been as good as the other since neither were easy to obtain.

I would think that honey-bee honey would be the more prized since there's been
found no evidence of scientific agriculture in the Palestine of that day. Any honey
gathered would have to be found by first searching for it in the wild, and then
braving its angry owners in order to collect it. (cf. 1Sam 14:24-27)

The almonds, honey, and pistachios were just treats; but the other items, given by
a man, to a man, were about the equivalent of giving a girl jewelry. They weren't
cheap. And considering the austere conditions in the land caused by the intense
drought, anything edible would certainly be appreciated far more than normal.

Jacob knew God as Yhvh as well as by His name El Shaddai (Gen 27:20, Gen
28:13) but in this instance he depends upon God as El Shaddai; the God of
Abraham's covenant (Gen 17:1-2, Gen 35:10-12) the God powerful enough to
control nature and make the impossible happen. (cf. Eph 3:20)

NOTE: I'm not sure just how well-informed the ancients were about the nutritional
benefits of almonds; but they are an excellent source of natural riboflavin (B2).
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 43:15-18a . . So the men took that gift, and they took with them double the
money; as well as Benjamin. They made their way down to Egypt, where they
reported to Joseph.

. . .When Joseph saw Benjamin with them; he said to his house steward: Take the
men into the house; slaughter and prepare an animal, for the men will dine with me
at noon. The man did as Joseph said, and he brought the men into Joseph's house.

It's highly unlikely Joseph recognized Benjamin since he was just a little boy when
big brother went off to Egypt. At this point, Benjamin is much older-- over 21 --and
likely much older than that since, at this point, Joseph had already been in Egypt
for at least that long. Later, Joseph will interrogate his elder brothers to make sure
they actually brought him.

• Gen 43:18b . . But the men were frightened at being brought into Joseph's house.

They had good reason to be frightened. It was common for Egyptian big shots to
have dungeons under their homes where they kept their own private little penal
colony.

• Gen 43:18c . . It must be, they thought; because of the silver, replaced in our
bags the first time, that we have been brought inside-- as a pretext to attack us
and seize us as slaves, with our pack animals.

That's actually a pretty good mob trick; it's in movies like Godfather, and in TV
programs like The Sopranos all the time. The mark is thrown off guard with
courtesy, forgiveness, kindness, sympathy, generosity, and friendship; until the
moment of truth when the guns, knives, garrotes, anchor chains, and/or bags of
concrete come out. The men are justifiably worried; and so rather than wait and be
confronted about the silver, they come forward to cop a plea.

• Gen 43:19-22 . . So they went up to Joseph's house steward and spoke to him at
the entrance of the house.

. . . If you please, my lord, they said; we came down once before to procure food.
But when we arrived at the night encampment and opened our bags, there was
each one's money in the mouth of his bag, our money in full. So we have brought it
back with us. And we have brought down with us other money to procure food. We
do not know who put the money in our bags.

No true thief of course would go to all the trouble of actually bringing the silver
back; sort of like people who are given too much change from a purchase and keep
it; saying nothing.

• Gen 43:23a . . He replied: All is well with you; do not be afraid. Your god, the god
of your father, must have put treasure in your bags for you. I got your payment.

In the steward's thinking; which god is the god of your father? If he had used the
name Yhvh it would be easier to answer that question. But in light of the times and
the circumstances, it isn't unreasonable to assume that the steward had no idea
who their own personal god was, nor did he care; since gods were plentiful in Egypt
and the brothers would probably be like everybody else and simply worship the one
they inherited and grew up with at home: whichever that might be.

• Gen 43:23b-25 . . And he brought out Simeon to them. Then the man brought
the men into Joseph's house; he gave them water to bathe their feet, and he
provided feed for their burros. They laid out their gifts to await Joseph's arrival at
noon, for they had heard that they were to dine there.

In the brothers' minds; all the leniency and courtesy being extended to them was
little more than a pretext designed to accomplish just one purpose: to give them a
false sense of security so they wouldn't suspect the real purpose for being brought
to Joseph's home; which they truly believed was to confiscate their goods and their
livestock, and to harness themselves in slavery.

• Gen 43:26-28 . .When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts that
they had brought with them into the house, bowing low before him to the ground.
He greeted them, and he said: How is your aged father of whom you spoke? Is he
still in good health? They replied: It is well with your servant our father; he is still
in good health. And they bowed and made obeisance.

The Hebrew word for "obeisance" is shachah (shaw-khaw') which means to
prostrate oneself in homage. That very same word is translated "worship" in other
places. (e.g. Gen 22:5, Gen 24:26, Ex 34:14)

• Gen 43:29a . . As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own
mother's son, he asked: Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?

No doubt Joseph could tell by the looks on everybody's faces that it was indeed
Benjamin so he didn't have to wait for an answer before responding.

• Gen 43:29b . . May God be gracious to you, my son.

To be "gracious" is the Hebrew word chanan (khaw-nan') which means to stoop or
bend in kindness to an inferior; viz: fraternize with someone below you; viz: waive
the privileges of rank and descend to a less formal or less dignified level-- a
mandated Christian social skill.

"Don't be conceited, and think so highly of yourself as to avoid associating with
people below you." (Rom 12:16)

Somebody might be curious why Joseph called Benjamin "son" instead of brother.
The Hebrew word for son (ben) is ambiguous and has a pretty wide application. It
can mean not only a direct descendant, but also a grandson; or the result of an
action like city building or township founding. It can also mean a subject, like
citizens in a kingdom.

It was no doubt in the "subject" aspect that Joseph applied it to his kid brother--
not as kin, but as below himself in rank because in Egypt, nobody was higher than
Joseph except his own boss Pharaoh; which made Pharaoh a father to everyone
under his jurisdiction; including Joseph. And besides, Joseph is not quite ready to
reveal his true identity; so he has to maintain an air of aristocracy in order to keep
them guessing.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 43:30 . .Then Joseph made a hasty exit because he was overcome with
emotion for his brother and wanted to sob. Going into his private room, he wept
there.

Only people who have found long-lost relatives can understand the wave of emotion
that swept Joseph at this moment. It's a strange human experience.

When my own full brother found me after losing track of each other for almost 26
years, I broke down and had to call in sick to work the next day. It was
overwhelming; and I don't even like the man.

Somebody might ask: Why don't you forgive your brother and let bygones be
bygones. No; they don't understand. My brother is toxic. He's on a third marriage
and has left behind him a wake of broken-hearted, psychologically damaged wives
and children. Everyone is secondary to his business ambitions. Nobody is on a plane
with those ambitions-- nobody. He's extremely competitive, supercilious, and
always has to be the center of attention at the expense of everyone else's self
respect. My brother is cursed with a natural talent for making people in his
presence feel bad about themselves.

No, it's not as simple as bygones-- it's as simple as self defense. I am not going to
let my brother close enough to de-humanize me all over again, and I am certainly
not going to let him near any of my own family. It's just not going to happen unless
he goes through some very miraculous changes first.

Haven't you noticed how cautious Joseph has been with his own brothers? That's
the lesson of this section; don't miss it. Joseph has been carefully gauging his elder
brothers' reactions through all this to make very, very sure he can trust them
enough to let them back into his life. His brothers had the potential to make things
very difficult for Joseph and there was too much at stake.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 43:31-32 . .Then he washed his face and came out; and regaining his
composure, said: Serve the food. So they set him a place by himself, and them by
themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the
Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the
Egyptians.

Apparently the brothers didn't think anything of Joseph eating alone. Maybe they
just thought (as common Egyptian culture dictated) the other Egyptians were too
far below their host to be considered worthy of an invitation to sit at his table. In
their minds, to do so would have been fraternization; viz: associating with people of
lower official rank; thus implying that they were equal in worth.

NOTE: If the steward had told them Joseph was a Hebrew, I wonder how Jacob's
sons would have reacted to that?

• Gen 43:33 . . And they were seated before him, the firstborn according to his
birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in
astonishment at one another.

Reuben was the natural firstborn; but due to his incestuous tryst with Bilhah (Gen
35:22) Jacob transferred the position to Joseph (1Chrn 5:1). However, seeing as
how Joseph wasn't seated with his brothers, then what would've been his position
around the table defaulted to Reuben.

The seating arrangement wasn't at the brothers' discretion. It was totally under
their host's control and that's why they were all so amazed. According to
permutation, the odds of seating the 11 men according to their respective ages by
coincidence is like 39,917,000 : 1

Since they had no reason to believe that Joseph knew any more about their family
other than what they had already told him, perhaps at this point they suspected he
was either clairvoyant or else blessed with an amazing degree of intuition; and they
would have certainly been correct on that account even if circumstances had been
different because any man with the ability to correctly interpret dreams should have
no trouble figuring out birth orders.

NOTE: A Jewish Midrash (Genesis Rabba 92:5) has Joseph pretending to "divine"
their seating order by means of his special silver goblet-- a key item coming up in
just a few more verses.

• Gen 43:34 . .Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin's
serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they imbibed and were merry
with him.

Every time I read that passage, my mind, like a knee-jerk reflex, instantly
fantasizes a really hulking, heaping, ranch-size platter of vittles placed before
Benjamin like is so often seen at buffets. Instead of making more than one trip to
the food bars, there's invariably at least one person who piles everything they'll
ever want onto just one plate, like Mt. Vesuvius, and then does a delicate balancing
act while cautiously maneuvering their way to a table.

But a 5x serving isn't eo ipso a large amount; it would really depend upon the size
of a standard portion. And if the food was served a' la carte, then five standard
portions of just one item wouldn't necessarily take on the appearance of a banquet.
Gourmet foods, especially, are typically small presentations that would barely
qualify as an hors d'oeuvre to a strapping man like an ice-road trucker or a Pacific
Northwest lumberjack. Five servings of gourmet food to one of those guys would
amount to little more than an appetizer.

But the point is: Benny's plate contained quite a bit more than his brothers' and
that had to raise some curious eyebrows.

NOTE: The Hebrew word for "merry" is shakar (shaw-kar') which means to become
tipsy; in a qualified sense, to satiate with a stimulating drink or (figuratively)
influence; which indicates that the beverage Joseph's brothers were served had
alcohol in it.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 44:1-2 . .Then he instructed his house steward as follows: Fill the men's
bags with food, as much as they can carry, and put each one's money in the mouth
of his bag. Put my silver goblet in the mouth of the bag of the youngest one,
together with his money for the rations. And he did as Joseph told him.

When the brothers threw Joseph into that pit back in chapter 37, they fully intended
to leave him there to die; all alone. So it makes sense that Joseph would want to
gauge their reaction to his kid brother Benjamin being placed in a similar danger.
Would they do to Benjamin what they had done to Joseph? . . . just leave him in
Egypt to rot in a dungeon while they went back home to comfort and safety?

• Gen 44:3-5 . . As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their
burros. They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward: Go
after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them "Why have
you repaid good with evil? Isn't this the cup my master drinks from and also uses
for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done."

Divination cups were usually made out of silver and adorned with symbols, spells,
and religious phrases; and oftentimes the owner's name was inscribed on it too.
Divining cups were a kind of crystal ball for determining future events or solving
current mysteries. I would suspect that Joseph's divination cup was a personal gift
from his father-in-law Mr. Poti-phera; priest of On.

Diviners used their goblets in various ways. Some read surface patterns when a few
drops of one liquid (e.g. oil) was dripped into a second liquid (e.g. water). Others
divined by the movement of objects floating upon, or sinking within, the goblet's
contents. Others yet studied the patterns that particles of gold formed when they
settled to the bottom.

• Gen 44:6-8 . .When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them.
But they said to him: Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your
servants to do anything like that! We even brought back to you from the land of
Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal
silver or gold from your master's house?

The brothers' appeal to reason was of course a waste of righteous passion. It's well
known that kleptomaniacs suffer a persistent neurotic impulse to steal without
economic motive to do so. Booty to them is like blood to a vampire; viz: just the
sight of it excites. Every once in a while, a famous celebrity gets caught shoplifting
and we're all amazed that a millionaire would stoop to such a petty crime.

• Gen 44:9 . . If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of
us will become my lord's slaves.

The brothers' rash response evidences their complete confidence that there is just
no way on God's green earth that any of them would ever steal anything at all; let
alone from an Egyptian big shot's home. Many a poker player has lost it all on just
one hand with that kind of confidence. Sometimes, you just can't tell what the
other guy is holding; and in this case, the situation is a stacked deck.

• Gen 44:10 . .Very well, then; he said; let it be as you say. Whoever is found to
have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.

Either the steward wasn't listening, or he was instructed to say just exactly those
words. They all volunteered to enslave themselves, but he'll settle on just the one
who allegedly took the goblet, and it's because Joseph wants to gauge the elder
brothers' reaction to his own kid brother's danger. If they failed to prove
themselves honorable men, then I really think Joseph planned to harbor Benjamin
and dispatch an escort for his father; but permanently bar the brothers from ever
returning to Egypt. They would just have to make do on their own the best as they
could till the famine was over regardless of their blood kinship.

• Gen 44:11-13 . . So each one hastened to lower his bag to the ground, and each
one opened his bag. He searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the
youngest; and the goblet turned up in Benjamin's bag. At this they rent their
clothes. Each reloaded his pack animal, and they returned to the city.

"they" didn't really have to go back; Joseph's steward had already pre-released
them. But surprise of surprises; instead of leaving Benny to rot in slavery like they
had done to his big brother many years previously, they accompany him back to
Egypt.

This turn of events wasn't due to a sincere concern for Benny's safety. As it turned
out, the real concern was for their father Jacob and how he would handle the loss of
yet another of Rachel's babies.
_