Part 2 of the Joseph story in Genesis 42-50 overview with commentary. Read part one here.

In Chapter 42, the famine in Canaan struck the house of Israel. So he sent his 10 older sons down to Egypt to buy grain. Benjamin (who is around 21-22 years old) stayed behind because Israel was afraid something could happen to him. Israel’s son came to Egypt and met with the vizier Zaphenath-paneah (who was actually Joseph). They bowed before him, fulfilling Joseph’s dream from 22 years prior, when he was 17 years old. Joseph recognized them, but they didn’t recognize him. To test them and confirm his suspicions, he accuses them of being spies, so they attempt to convince him of their identities and origins. They mentioned their father, Israel, and their youngest brother, Benjamin. Joseph throws them in prison for 3 days, then decides to send them home to get the younger brother so he can verify their story, and he kept Simeon in prison as collateral. Joseph overheard them saying that this was all God’s justice for selling their brother Joseph, and they felt great shame.

Meanwhile, Joseph wept because he felt bad about lying to them and wanted to tell them the truth. They didn’t know Joseph could understand them because he was using an interpreter. He sent them home with the grain they had come to purchase and instructed his servant to put their money back in their bags so that they would be afraid of being accused of theft. On the way home, they realized the money was still in their bags along with the grain they were supposed to pay for, and they were terrified. They told their father, Israel, all of this, and he was distraught, not wanting to send Benjamin out of fear. Reuben offered to guarantee his safety and put up his own sons as collateral, suggesting Israel has the right to kill his own sons if Benjamin dies, but Israel still refuses.

Comment: Since Joseph was using an interpreter unnecessarily, this suggests that he was bilingual (speaking Hebrew and Egyptian) at this point, which lends credence to the idea that he wrote the patriarchal narratives before Moses in the Egyptian language. Then Moses, who was raised in Pharaoh’s house, would have grown up learning both Egyptian and the Hebrew language, since his own mother was his nanny. Additionally, later, while he spent 40 years in Canaan, he may have learned the Proto-Sinaitic script from the Midianites, which is the alphabet used by Semitic languages such as Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. This script is said to have started from a simplification of the Egyptian writing system, so it’s also possible that Joseph or Moses invented it, but it is not necessary. Anyone else connected to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula could have created it. This means that Moses was literate in two languages, knowing both Egyptian and Proto-Sinaitic. This would enable him to translate the creation and patriarchal histories from Joseph’s Egyptian scripts into the Torah’s version of Genesis in a Semitic language during the post-Exodus wilderness journey.

In Chapter 43, Israel and his sons eat all of the food they got from Egypt, and Israel sends them back to buy more. However, they remind him that the Vizier doesn’t want to see their face unless they bring Benjamin. This time, Judah guarantees Benjamin’s safety and tells Israel that he can hate him forever if anything happens to him. Israel finally gives in and agrees to send Benjamin. In addition, he gives them extra money in addition to the money that was refunded to them, to show that they had no intention of stealing. When they returned to Egypt, they tried to explain to Joseph that they had no intention of stealing, but Joseph said he had already been paid, and God must have blessed them, and they didn’t owe him anything. Joseph invited them to eat lunch with him and brought Simeon out of prison. Joseph met Benjamin, but was triggered because he is his younger brother from the same mother, so Joseph went away to weep. Then he got himself together and came back in time for the food to be served. The brothers sat in order from oldest to youngest, and Benjamin received five times the portion of food that everyone else received. There were Egyptians at the lunch as well, but they refused to sit with the “Hebrews” (foreigners) because they looked down on foreigners. Meanwhile, Joseph ate by himself at his own table in front of everyone.

Comment: The Egyptians’ attitudes towards foreigners seem like they could be directed explicitly at Canaanites because they presume that, since Joseph’s brothers are from Canaan, they are Canaanites. This attitude does not change as later in Exodus chapter 1, the Pharaoh, who doesn’t know Joseph, decides to enslave the Hebrews and mistreat them. Furthermore, out of fear of them joining Egypt’s enemies in a war because of their large numbers, he (or possibly his successor) decides to commit the male infanticide of every baby under two years old around the time Moses is born. The hatred for the Canaanites may stem from the curse on Canaan in Genesis 9:24-27, as pronounced by Noah. Noah said that Canaan’s brothers, which include Mizraim (Egypt and Libya), Cush (Ethiopia and Babylon through Nimrod/Gilgamesh), and Put (West Africa), would rule over him. In addition, Canaan’s cousins from the line of Shem and Japheth will also rule over him. Of course, this is all conjecture; they could have simply been nationalistic and disliked foreigners in Egypt.

In Chapter 44, after the lunch is over, Joseph sends them on their way and gives them the grain they need. However, Joseph has his servant put one of his silver cups into Benjamin’s pack, and then, as they leave, the servant goes out to accuse them of stealing the master’s divining cup. This is all a part of Joseph’s plan. They all swear they haven’t stolen a thing, but the cup is found in Benjamin’s pack. They are brought back to Egypt, and because Benjamin “stole” Joseph’s “divining” cup, he wants to make Benjamin his slave as a repercussion, and he says the other brothers can go home. However, Judah speaks up and says he promised to bring the boy back to their father because the boy is all their father has left of his favorite wife. His older brother is believed to be dead, so his father would be grieved to death if something happened to Benjamin. Judah further explained how difficult it was to get their father to part with Benjamin out of fear of losing him.

In Chapter 45, while Joseph’s brother is trying to convince him to let Benjamin go, Joseph loses control of his emotions and tells all the Egyptians to leave the room. Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers while weeping aloud. He told them that it was God who planned all of this and placed him in this position in Egypt to preserve the house of Israel during this famine. Joseph explains that the 7-year famine was prophesied to the Pharaoh in a dream and that God gave Joseph the interpretation. He said they still had five years left of the famine and that God orchestrated his coming to Egypt to preserve the house of Israel in this famine. Joseph told his brothers to bring their father so they could all live together in Goshen with him. When Pharaoh heard about this, he instructed Joseph to bring the entire family, and they would receive the best land and be favored. The Pharaoh gave them wagons to transport the women and children, as well as gifts such as new clothes and food. Joseph’s brothers returned and told Israel everything, but he didn’t believe it until he saw the wagons and Pharaoh’s gifts, and wanted to go immediately to see Joseph.

In Chapter 46, Israel worships God at Beersheba, and God assures him that He is with Israel and that His descendants will return to Canaan long after he dies. Israel and his entire family came down to Egypt on the wagons that Pharaoh had given them. Then there is a genealogy list. There are 70 people from the House of Israel, 33 descendants from Leah, 16 from Zilpah, 14 from Rachel, and 7 from Bilhah. 66 of them, plus Israel himself, came to Egypt, and the last three are Joseph and his 2 sons. This list does not include Israel’s daughters-in-law since they are not related to him, and the only daughter mentioned by name is Dinah. Israel’s other daughters and granddaughters are unnamed but counted toward the total sum. Of course, it’s also possible that some of Israel’s other daughters were married off. (Dinah’s status as a rape victim could have made her unwanted, so she was possibly unmarried and childless at this time.) Then Judah leads the family on their immigration to Goshen, and Israel reunites with Joseph. Joseph instructs them to inform Pharaoh that they are shepherds, and he will permit them to reside in Goshen, as the Egyptians generally dislike foreigners and shepherds.

Comment: How many children did Jacob have? The numbers do not add up. How did Leah have 33 children, but only 23 descendants are listed by name? We learn later that Jacob has more than one daughter, as he was comforted by them and the rest of his family in Genesis 37:35 after Joseph was sold into slavery. Daughters in the Bible typically aren’t mentioned in patriarchal lineages, Dinah was only mentioned because of her rape in Genesis 34. In addition, in Genesis 46, there are 67 people of the House of Israel (including Israel/Jacob) who go to Egypt; however, the number of grandsons that Jacob has does not add up to the total number of descendants he has from each of his wives. For example, Jacob has 33 descendants from Leah (Gen 46:15), but only six sons, one daughter, 23 grandsons, and two great-grandsons (32 people) are named. This implies that one of them is an unnamed daughter, granddaughter, or great-granddaughter. For Rachel, there is Benjamin and his 10 sons, but the total is 14 (Gen 46:22), so there are three unnamed daughters, granddaughters, or great-granddaughters. Rachel’s descendants do not include Joseph and his two sons because they are already in Egypt; moreover, the three of them add to the 67 total of the house of Israel in migration, making a final total of 70 descendants of Israel/Jacob (Gen 46:26-27). Zilpah has two sons, 11 grandsons, two great-grandsons, and one granddaughter named Serah. Since the total of 16 (Gen 46:18) is equal to all the names mentioned, the granddaughter is likely named because there was only one of them. Lastly, Bilha has exactly two sons and five grandsons, making a total of seven (Gen 46:25), so there are no daughters or granddaughters. Sixty-six descendants migrated with Israel, including his great-grandsons, great-granddaughters, sons, and daughters. This doesn’t include his wives who are still alive or his son’s wives, however, according to Gen 46:26.

In Chapter 47, Joseph’s brothers tell the Pharaoh that they are shepherds, and Pharaoh permits them to live there. He also asks Joseph to let them work on the Pharaoh’s livestock if they possess the necessary skills. Israel meets and blesses Pharaoh, and Pharaoh tells Joseph that his family can have any part of Egypt they want. So Joseph assigns his family the best land in Goshen and provides for all of their needs. Joseph makes Pharaoh very rich over the next five years of the famine. He collected all the money in Egypt, so the people had to pay for grain with livestock. Then, when they ran out of livestock, they gave up their land to Pharaoh. At this point, the people of Egypt were all slaves to the Pharaoh. Then Joseph provided them with seeds to plant, and they now owed Pharaoh 20% of all their yield; only the priests were exempt. The house of Israel was wealthy through Joseph and grew in number in Goshen. Israel lived another 17 years and died at 147. Israel made Joseph promise to bury them in the cave of the patriarchs (his father and grandfather) in Hebron before dying.

In Chapter 48, Israel first blessed Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh. He blessed them as if they were his sons, so that they would receive their allotments in Canaan. Israel was half-blind, so Joseph had to position his sons near Israel’s hands. Israel crosses his hands to bless Ephraim the younger with a greater blessing (right hand), and Manasseh the firstborn with the lesser blessing (left hand). Joseph was upset, but Israel did it on purpose. Israel also promised to give Joseph’s descendants an additional portion of the land he had taken from the Amorites in Shechem.

In Chapter 49, Israel gives a final speech to all of his sons. Reuben loses his status as firstborn because he slept with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid (one of Israel’s concubines), after Rachel died. He scolded Simeon and Levi for their violent tendencies (like their revenge on Shechem for Dinah’s rape in Gen ch. 34). He exalts Judah as a “young lion” and says “his brothers will praise him, and that his descendants will be rulers until the coming of the Shiloh, the one who will unite the people” (possible messianic prophecy about Jesus?). Zebulun will “settle by the shore in Sidon and will have territory for shipping.” Issachar is “like a stubborn donkey, and when he sees how good the land is, he will be broken and submit to hard labor.” Dan will be “a harsh judge like a viper that bites the heels of a horse to attack its rider.” Gad will be “attacked by troops but will return the attack and send them fleeing.” Asher will be “rich with food and provide for kings.” Naphtali is like a “doe set free who bears beautiful fawns.” Joseph is given the greatest blessing, to “prosper against all enemies and be greater than his brothers.” He is “like a fruitful tree, when attacked, he will stand his ground with the help of God.” Benjamin is “like a wolf, devouring the prey and dividing the spoils from morning to evening.” Israel reminds them to bury him with Abraham, then he dies at 147 when Joseph is 56.

In Chapter 50, Israel is embalmed by the Egyptians, and Joseph asks permission from Pharaoh to keep his promise to Israel and bury him in Hebron, and Pharaoh approves. Israel’s body was taken to Hebron to be buried with his wife (Leah), father, and grandfather. Joseph’s brothers feared him; since his father’s death, they thought he would seek revenge. He reassured them that all is forgiven, and they lived in peace together in Goshen. 54 years later, Joseph dies at the age of 110. Joseph asked his brothers before he died to ensure that his descendants would take him out of Egypt when they left, and they promised to uphold that oath. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Comment: Jacob died at 147(Gen 47:28), 17 years after the family reunion. Joseph would have been 56, Benjamin would have been 39 at the most, and the other brothers would have been between 57 and 62. Then Joseph dies at 110 (Gen 50:26). Benjamin would have been no older than 93 when Joseph died, and the other brothers would have ranged from 111 to 116. Joseph asks his brothers, before he dies, to make sure their descendants will take him out of Egypt when they leave (Gen 50:24-26). This indicates that some, if not all, of his brothers outlived Joseph. The only other brother for whom we have a death date is Levi, who died at 137 (Ex 6:16). Levi would have been around 114 years old when Joseph died, so he outlived Joseph by 23 years. 

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