2.4 The Joseph Story: Genesis 37-50

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2.4 The Joseph Story Genesis 37-50

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General Remarks

• 1. "We begin with a brief word about the literary
  quality of the Joseph story as a whole. It is
  distinct from all previous narratives because of
  its unusual length, for it considerably exceeds
  the length of the longest of the patriarchal
  stories, the one about Eliezer's suit of Rebekah
  (ch 24). Further, it has not attained this length
  by means of a gradual comprehensive composition
  of individual narrative units. It does not belong
  to an 'epic cycle,' but it is from beginning to
  end an organically constructed narrative, no
  single segment of which can have existed
  independently as a separate element of
  tradition." von Rad, Genesis OTL, 347

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General Remarks

• 2. "It is at once the most intricately
  constructed and the best integrated of all
  patriarchal histories. For sustained dramatic
  effect the narrative is unsurpassed in the whole
  Pentateuch. The theme is essentially personal and
  secular. Other aspects, to be sure, are in
  evidence here and there, yet they are never
  allowed to distract attention from the central
  human drama." Speiser, ABGen, 292

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General Remarks

• 3. "The Joseph narrative offers a kind of
  literature which is distinctive in Genesis. It is
  distinguished in every way from the narratives
  dealing with Abraham and Jacob. The intellectual
  world of this narrative has much more in common
  with the David story of 2 Sam 9-20 than it does
  with the ancestral tales.... Its presuppositions
  suggest a cool detachment from things religious
  that is contrasted with the much more direct
  religious affirmation of the Abraham and Jacob
  stories. This narrative appears to belong to a
  generation of believers in a cultural climate
  where old modes of faith were embarrassing."
  Brueggemann, InterpGen, 288

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Structure

• 1. "The point of unity in this composition
  derives from a common subject - Jacob and his
  sons.... Indeed, within the scope of the Joseph
  story itself, the interplay between Joseph and
  his brothers consistently holds Jacob, the
  father, as a foil." Coats, FOTLGen, 259

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Structure

• 2. "At the crucial point of transition between
  the complication and retardation in the plot's
  movement produced by the digression, the
  narrative breaks, and a distinct story about
  Judah and Tamar is inserted. The Judah-Tamar
  story, secured in its position by recapitulation
  of a transition sentence (37.36 and 39.1),
  develops none of the narrative motifs from the
  Joseph story, although it fits into the unity of
  the overall collection as a story about one of
  Jacob's sons." Coats, FOTLGen, 260

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Structure

• 3. Main block of Joseph narrative 37 39-45
  46.28-47.27. While there can be separated others
  elements
• (a) Gen 38 Jacob, Tamar story conclusion to
  Jacob story
• (b) Gen 46.1-7 a theophany account of Jacob
  28.10-22 32.1-2 32.22-32 35.1-15
• (c) Gen 46.8-27 a genealogy.
• (d) Gen 47.28-48.22 49.28-33 50.1-14 diverse
  material related to Jacob's death.
• (e) Gen 49.1-27 last blessing of Jacob tribal
  history conclusion to Jacob story
• (f) Gen 50.15-26 the death of Joseph.

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Structure

• 4. Note the use of Leitmotif Westermann,
  Genesis 37-50, 246
• a. "First there is the dream motif in the three
  pairs of dreams Joseph's dreams, the dreams of
  the officials, the dreams of the Pharaoh."
• b. "Then there is the motif of the tunic.
• c. "...the greeting in word and gesture, with
  obeisance and the word wlv this is of great
  importance in content for the narrative as a
  whole, as well as in form for the frame."

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Structure

• d. "...another leitmotif is the famine, whereby
  the narrator describes the two aspects of its
  importance, for the starving nomad families and
  for the concern of a king for his realm."

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Critical Considerations

• 1. The Joseph narratives sustain artistic
  characteristic. Therefore establishing "The
  movement of this narrative from the initial dream
  of Joseph (37.5-9) to the secure settlement of
  Israel in the land under the governance of Joseph
  (47.27)." Brueggemman, InterpGen, 290

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Critical Considerations

• 2. The Dream and fulfillment as threat throughout
  narrative 37.5-9 (bow-down) gt 42.6 43.26, 28b
  50.18. Also the disclosure texts of 45.4-8 and
  50.19-20 play crux roles.

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Critical Considerations

• 3. The narrative has a strong Egyptian influence
  in words, social customs and procedures. N.B.
  Westermann

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Critical Considerations

• 4. "The most influential hypothesis is that the
  narrative is part of a major literary attempt of
  the Solomonic period (10th cen. B.C.) to provide
  a statement about the hidden rule of God in the
  affairs of persons and nations (followed by von
  Rad, Old Testament Theology I, 48-86)."
  Brueggemann, InterpGen, 291

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Critical Considerations

• 5. The Joseph narrative as a literary device to
  link they ancestral promises to the Exodus
  narrative. N.B. Noth, The Pentateuchal
  Traditions Coats, From Canaan to Egypt

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Critical Considerations

• 6. One must consider also the history of
  interpretation of the Joseph narratives. Although
  the Jewish interpretations have tended to deal
  with the texts as historical, early Christian
  interpretation has been marked by allegory. F.
  Delitzsch follows Pascal with "Jesus Christ is
  prefigured in Joseph, his father's favorite sent
  by the father to his brothers, the guiltless one
  sold by his brothers for twenty pieces of silver
  and so become their Lord....Such is the Church's
  vital portrayal of the Joseph story from time
  immemorial." in Westermann, Genesis 37-50, 18

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Theology of the Joseph Narratives

• 1. "The theme of the Joseph narrative concerns
  God's hidden and decisive power which works in
  and through but also against human forms of
  power....the theme is that God is working out his
  purpose through and in spite of Egypt, through
  and in spite of Joseph and his brothers."
  Brueggemann, InterpGen, 293 note the texts
  45.5-8 and 50.19-20

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Theology of the Joseph Narratives

• 2. "The narrative is also about the hiddenness of
  God." Brueggemann, InterpGen, 293 note use of
  dreams and the ending doxological disclosure.

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Theology of the Joseph Narratives

• 3. "The overriding power of God's rule is not a
  vacuous sovereignty. Its purpose is to feed a
  people. This hidden God has a quite identifiable
  historical purpose. And though that purpose is
  worked out with reference to imperial power and
  well-being, his goal is the creation of a
  community of liberation (cf. Ex 1, immediately
  after Gen 50)." Brueggemann, InterpGen, 294

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Theology of the Joseph Narratives

• 4. "At another level the story concerns the
  struggle of a family. But it is a specific,
  concrete family." Brueggemann, InterpGen, 295

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Theology of the Joseph Narratives

• 5. "This narrative...suggests new ways to think
  about faith and power in relation to public
  realities....the text approaches the question
  from three perspectives (1) In terms of power to
  address large public problems not caused by human
  agents, (2) in terms of the interaction between
  imperial power and power of the 'least,' and (3)
  in terms of modeling prudent use of power for the
  public good. From each perspective, Joseph is the
  new paradigm for the dynamic power and faith."
  Brueggemann, InterpGen, 296

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Outline

• I. Exposition (37 1-4)
• II. Complication (375-36)
• III. Digression (39-41)
• IV. Complication (42)
• V. Denouement (43-45)
• VI. Conclusion (46 l-4727)
• Coats, George, From Canaan to Egypt, 8

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I. Exposition (371-4)

• 37.1 Connection to Narrative (N.B. 36.8 and
  47.27a)
• 37.2a Toledoth formula
• 37.2b Description of the bad relationship
  Joseph with his brothers
• 37.3 Intensification of tension caused by Jacobs
  love and robe.

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II. Complication (375-36)

• 37.5-8, 9-11 Two dream reports
• 37.12-33 Narrative leading to the Principal
  Crisis
• 37.34-35 A Concluding Soliloquy
• 37.36 Transitional Element

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III. Digression (39-41)

• 39.1-20a Josephs Crisis
• 39.20b-23 Reprisal
• 40.1-23 Administration Dreams
• 41.1-36 Dreams
• 41.37-57 Administration

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IV. Complication (42)

• 42.1-5 Scene 1 Setting
• 42.6-17 Scene 2 Meeting with Joseph
• 42.18-26 Scene 3 2nd Meeting with Joseph
• 42.27-38 Scene 4 Return to Canaan

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V. Denouement (43-45)

• 43.1-14 Preparation to Return to Egypt
• 43.15-34 The Banquet with Joseph
• 44.1-13 Benjamin entrapped
• 44.14-45.15 Resolution of Brothers Conflict
• 44.16-24 Extension by Pharaoh
• 44.25-28 Closure (travel Jacob)

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VI. Conclusion (461-4727)

• 46.1-4 Theophany at Beersheba
• 46.5-26 Travel Report
• 46.27-47.12 Settlement Report
• 46.13-27 Conclusion