(JE.) The Narrative of Joseph and his Brethren The remaining Chapter s of the book, with the exception of chap. 38, deal with the story of Joseph. In its way this story is probably unsurpassed. Its vividness of narrative is extraordinary. It contains scenes of great pathos. In the delineation of ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_sojournings_ Cf. Genesis 17:8; Genesis 28:4; Genesis 36:7 (P).... [ Continue Reading ]
_These are the generations_, &c. The formula of a new section in P.... [ Continue Reading ]
(JE). Joseph sold into Egypt 2 b (J). _and he was a lad with_, &c. The English here gives an awkward rendering. The meaning is, "he was keeping sheep, being still a lad, with his brethren, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah," i.e. Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Joseph's home at this time seems to have... [ Continue Reading ]
_Israel_ In J this name is generally used. Contrast the use of Jacob by P in Genesis 37:2. _the son of his old age_ This is hardly the description that we should expect from chap. Genesis 30:22-24, which records the birth of Joseph. The phrase is used in Genesis 44:20 of Benjamin with greater appro... [ Continue Reading ]
(J). Joseph and his Brethren... [ Continue Reading ]
(E). Joseph's Dreams 5. _dreamed a dream_ The influence of dreams in the E narrative is conspicuous; cf. Genesis 20:3. Dreams were regarded by the Oriental as intimations from another world, and were invested with the sanctity of a divine oracle. The dream and its significance entered deeply into t... [ Continue Reading ]
_sheaves_ Joseph's dream presupposes that the patriarch was leading a settled and agricultural life (cf. Genesis 26:12). In Genesis 46:31-34 Jacob and his family are shepherds and herdsmen, but the fact that the failure of crops compels them to seek for corn in Egypt, Genesis 42:1, shews that they w... [ Continue Reading ]
_reign over us_ Perhaps with a reference to the future kingdom of Ephraim, or to the leadership of "the house of Joseph" (Judges 1:22).... [ Continue Reading ]
_another dream_ The repetition (cf. Genesis 41:5-32) seems to indicate stronger certainty and greater importance. The first dream had its symbolism on earth, the second in the heavens. The first included the brethren only. The second included the father and the mother in the same act of obeisance wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy mother_ Implying that Rachel was still alive. Her death was recorded in Genesis 35:19 (J). Presumably this version (E) assumed that her death occurred later. The sun represented his father, and the moon his mother; each of his brethren is represented by a star. There is nothing in this scene w... [ Continue Reading ]
_envied_ This is the envy of malice rather than of jealousy: it denotes resentment against Joseph for being favoured, and a desire to see him deprived of his privileges. _kept the saying in mind_ Lit. "kept the word." LXX διετήρησεν. Lat. _rem tacitus considerabat_. This phrase is the origin of the... [ Continue Reading ]
(J). Joseph's Mission to his Brethren in Shechem 12. _in Shechem_ The region of Shechem was famous for its fertility and pasturage. The fact that Jacob's brethren selected it for pasturing their flocks, indicates that the Dinah narrative, recorded in chap. 34, belongs to a separate group of Israelit... [ Continue Reading ]
_the vale of Hebron_ The residence of Jacob; cf. Genesis 35:27.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a certain man_ Evidently Joseph and his brethren were well known, and not unfavourably, in the region of Shechem. The lad's wandering in uncertainty appeals to the reader's sympathy. The Targum of Palestine says the "man" was the angel Gabriel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Dothan_ Familiar to us as the name of the city in which Elisha was beset by foes and divinely protected (2 Kings 6:13-15). The modern _Tel Dothan_probably preserves the site, a hill on the S. side of the plain of Jezreel, and some 15 miles N. of Shechem. It is mentioned frequently in the book of Ju... [ Continue Reading ]
(JE). Joseph is sold into Egypt The composite character of the narrative becomes at this point very evident. J (Genesis 37:21_; Genesis 37:25_b, Genesis 37:31) relates that _Judah_restrains his brethren from murder, and persuades them to sell Joseph to passing Ishmaelites, who sell him as a slave t... [ Continue Reading ]
_this dreamer_ Heb. _master of dreams_. This and the following verse are from E. Joseph's brethren speak derisively of this "master (Heb. _baal_) of dreams" (cf. Genesis 49:23, "archers" = "masters of arrows"; 2 Kings 1:8, "a hairy man" = "a master of hair"). They will kill him, and so stop his drea... [ Continue Reading ]
_one of the pits_) Cisterns, or tanks, are necessary in that country for the storage of water. Long droughts are frequent, and the heat very great. Water is needed for the flocks and herds. The tanks are frequently covered with a stone. The aperture is narrow, and the sides of the tank converging.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Reuben_ Reuben's name is probably here substituted by the Compiler (R) for that of Judah. Reuben speaks in Genesis 37:22; and it is unlikely that two consecutive clauses would begin with Reuben speaking. Probably this verse comes from J, and is carried on in Genesis 37:26, with Judah's attempt to r... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Reuben said_ This and the next two verses are from E. Reuben, the eldest, interposes to save his brother's life; cf. Genesis 42:37. _Shed no blood_ Reuben's warning is that there should be no bloodshed, as if murder without bloodshed would be a less evil. His proposal is that Joseph should be... [ Continue Reading ]
_the pit was empty_ Cf. the incident in the life of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:6). Presumably this was the reason why Reuben proposes to "cast him into this pit" (Genesis 37:22).... [ Continue Reading ]
_to eat bread_ i.e. to take their meal; cf. Genesis 31:54; Genesis 43:25. The E narrative is here interrupted, and is resumed at Genesis 37:28. 25 b. _a travelling company_ "A caravan." Cf. Job 6:19, "the caravans of Tema, the companies of Sheba"; Isaiah 21:13, "travelling companies of Dedanites.... [ Continue Reading ]
_conceal his blood_ Referring to the superstition that blood, which was not covered, would cry for vengeance: see note on Genesis 4:10. Cf. Job 16:18; Isaiah 26:21; Ezekiel 24:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
_let us sell him_ Judah proposes to sell Joseph, in order to save his life. Judah takes the lead in J's version, as Reuben in E's. See Genesis 43:3 ff., Genesis 44:18 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Midianites_ The first part of this verse resumes E's narrative from Genesis 37:25. According to E, "Midianites," merchantmen, pass by, traders from the desert on the east of Jordan. The term is descriptive, and not genealogical: for Midian, like Ishmael, was a son of Abraham (Genesis 25:2). The sug... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Reuben_ Reuben returning to "the pit" finds it empty. The Midianites had carried off the lad. Reuben's distress reveals his purpose to his brethren. Clearly this is a different picture from that of the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The child is not_ Cf. Genesis 42:13; Genesis 42:32; Genesis 42:36; Genesis 44:31; Jeremiah 31:15; Lamentations 5:7. The word "child," _yeled_, is appropriate for a small boy: see Genesis 21:8; Genesis 21:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
The continuation of the J clause in Genesis 37:28. Having sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, the brothers have to plan how to explain his disappearance to Jacob. According to J, they sent the coat to Jacob: according to E, they dipped it in blood, and brought it to Jacob.... [ Continue Reading ]
_an evil beast_ Jacob interprets the message, as they had intended. They never asserted his death, but asked him to draw the inference. The clause is repeated from Genesis 37:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
_rent his garments_, &c. Jacob mourned with the mourning rites of the Israelites. The rent clothes, the sackcloth, and the ashes, denote the exact opposite of festal array, new garments, soft raiment, and ointment. For "sackcloth" in mourning, see 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 6:30.... [ Continue Reading ]
_his daughters_ Either a different version from that in chap. 30 where Dinah is his only daughter; or referring to his sons" wives. _the grave_ Heb. _Sheol_, the name of the abode of the dead, answering to the Greek ᾅδης, e.g. Acts 2:27. _Sheol_, as the region of the dead, is, according to Hebrew id... [ Continue Reading ]
_Midianites_ Heb. _Medanites_. This verse, from E, resumes the narrative from Genesis 37:29. _Potiphar_ An Egyptian name, denoting "the gift of Ra," the sun-god. It appears as "Potiphera," Genesis 41:45; Genesis 46:20. LXX Πετεφρῆς, Lat. _Putiphar_, reproducing the Egyptian _Pedephrç_= "he whom the... [ Continue Reading ]