The Books of the Bible

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Genesis 41:15 We … Read more

“Could we find another like him,” Pharaoh asked his servants, “a man so endowed with the spirit of God?” So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. You shall be in charge of my household, and all my … Read more

… but the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.  Genesis 40:22 This episode in Joseph’s life is structured by the storyteller in an interesting way. There are three segments leading up to the central issue of this episode and three segments leading back down to the result of the story, forming what … Read more

For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.  I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, like one forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for … Read more

After a time, his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said “… how can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”  Genesis 39:7, 9b We know, of course, that Joseph was not sent to the mines or the chain gangs but to Potiphar’s … Read more

Then Judah acknowledged them and said, “She is more righteous than I …” Genesis 38:26 Judah had three sons by this Canaanite woman: Er, Onan, and Shelah. As we saw in the last post, Judah provided a wife for Er, his firstborn, named Tamar, another Canaanite. Er is described as “being wicked in the sight … Read more

It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers … [He] saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite … [he] took here and went into her … Genesis 38:1f The drama of Joseph’s ordeal, his descent into Egypt, sets the stage for the rest of the Patriarchal Narrative.  The reader is thirsting … Read more

​​[The brothers] said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. Genesis 37:19f We do not know how long Joseph was … Read more

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long robe with sleeves.  Genesis 37:3 With chapter 37 the narrative shifts to what is called the “Joseph Cycle” of stories, the longest sustained narrative in Genesis.  Its literary genius … Read more