GenesisLesson #19

“Family Reunion”

(46: 1 – 47: 31)

Review

After weaving a brilliant and disconcerting “dreamscape”; plunging his brothers into a dreadful, illogical nightmare; uncovering their motives; and testing their loyalty to Benjamin, Lesson #18 saw Joseph reunite with his brothers, understanding at last why his life had taken the course it had.

In the narrative arc of our story Joseph has grown from a spoiled, self-centered adolescent into a confident, immensely skilled administrator at the peak of his powers, one who saves not only his own family, but the entire nation of Egypt.

PreviewAs we enter Lesson #19, Jacob has not seen his son Joseph in twenty-two years. At seventeen Joseph went missing, and all the evidence suggested that he had been killed; his brothers inferred as much when they presented Jacob with Joseph’s bloody “coat of many colors.” Jacob mourned the loss of his son deeply; he never truly recovered from the loss. And now, as an old man, Jacob learns that Joseph is alive; and not just alive, but “Prime Minister” of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh! The family reunion that follows in Egypt is poignant, tear-stained . . . and very funny.

There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called : “Jacob! Jacob!” He answered, “Here I am” (46: 2).

This is an exact verbal parallel to Genesis 22: 1 where God calls to Abraham, telling him to sacrifice his son, his only son, Isaac, creating a verbal “frame” between Abraham and “the sacrifice of Isaac” and Jacob and his family about to “go down” to Egypt.

1. As Abraham went down to Egypt at the beginning of our story, so shall Jacob “go down” to Egypt at the end of our story.

2. As Abraham went down to Egypt empty with no children, Jacob goes down with 12 sons and their families, illustrating how God has fulfilled his promise of progeny.

3. And as “the sacrifice of Isaac” story began in tension and resolved in fulfillment, so does Jacob and family going down to Egypt begin in tension and end in fulfillment.

Jacob & Family “Go Down” to Egypt

“. . . all the people comprising the household of Jacob who had come to Egypt amounted to seventy persons in all” (46: 27).If we add up the people enumerated in 46: 8-27, it’s difficult to the square with the number 70; they don’t add up.As our Catholic Study Bible notes: “The best solution is to take the number as expressing totality.” Indeed, the structural architecture of the Bible is built on the numbers 3, 7, 12, 40 and 70, both at the marco-level and the micro-level. They are numbers of completion.

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Royal Chariot of Tutankhamun (King “Tut”)(Tutankhamun’s intact tomb—KV62— was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt.)

The History of Joseph and His Brethern, Owen and Henry Warren Jones, Illus. London: Day & Son, 1865.

Jacob Blesses Pharaoh (47: 10)

“As soon as Israel made his appearance, Joseph threw his arms around him and wept a long time on his [neck]” (46: 29).

This 5th weeping episode parallels Joseph’s weeping when he meets his brother, Benjamin in 45: 14. Oddly, Jacob doesn’t weep as well (Benjamin does in 45: 14, although our NAB translation oddly omits it).We noted previously how Jacob’s “heart stopped” when he heard Joseph was still alive in 45: 26. Perhaps, as Robert Altar suggests, “We are invited to imagine . . . a sobbing Joseph who embraces his father while the old man stands dry-eyed, perhaps even rigid, too overcome with feeling to know how to respond, or be able to respond . . ..”

. . . all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians (and we know why!)

The History of Joseph and His Brethern, Owen and Henry Warren Jones, Illus. London: Day & Son, 1865.

Jacob Blesses Pharaoh (47: 10)

Joseph’s Land Policy1. “Joseph gathered in as payment for the grain that they

were buying all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan, and he put it in Pharaoh’s house” (47: 14).

2. “Give me your livestock if your money is gone” (47: 16).3. “Take us and our land in exchange for food, and we will

become Pharaoh’s slaves and our land his property . . .. So Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh” (47: 19-20).

4. “But when the harvest is in, you must give a fifth of it to Pharaoh” (47: 24).

Joseph’s land policy does not suggest ruthlessness,

but administrative brilliance in the face of economic catastrophe.

1. By placing all land under Pharaoh’s ownership and control, Joseph maximizes economies of scale and administrative efficiency.

2. A monarch/serf structure ensures equitable treatment of all in a time of immense crisis.

3. Each family farms the land, keeping 80% of the profit and paying 20% to the government.

4. Priests are exempt from the system, living on a fixed allowance from the government.

Questions for discussion and thought1. God tells Jacob: “I will go down to Egypt with you and I will

also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes” (46: 4). What might we infer about God from this statement?

2. When Joseph meets his father he weeps, but Jacob does not. Why?

3. When Joseph tells Pharaoh that his family has arrived in Egypt, Pharaoh is extraordinarily magnanimous. What might we infer about Joseph and Pharaoh’s relationship?

4. The scene of Jacob blessing Pharaoh can be read with great seriousness or great humor. What do you think?

5. Although Joseph’s land policy demonstrates his administrative brilliance and indeed saves Egypt, what negative consequences might occur as a result?

Copyright © 2013 by William C. Creasy All rights reserved. No part of this course—audio, video, photography, maps, timelines or other media—may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval devices without permission in writing or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.