Joseph and His Bad Brothers :Good Questions from Participants in “The Bible in One Year”

1.       Not a “question” so much as an observation: one person found it easier to understand the dissension among Joseph’s many brothers when she remembered that their father Jacob begat some of them by his wife Leah, some by his wife Rachel, and others of them by their respective maids. Sort of like an episode of “Sister Wives,”right? Jacob’s favoritism toward wife Rachel and her sons (Joseph and Benjamin), combined with Joseph’s spoiled-brat mentality, set the stage for the “Joseph Saga” to unfold. No wonder they couldn’t seem to get along.

2.       Another person pointed out that the attribution of super-long lifetimes to such figures as Abraham (175 years), and Sarah (127 years), makes the Genesis stories seem incredibly far-fetched. I agree, but don’t think such folk-tale elaborations are essential to the basic truths revealed in these ancient stories. These traditions were passed on by word of mouth for many generations before anyone thought to write them down, and they cannot be regarded as “historical” in the same way as we think of history, that is, as an “objective” account of events. My analogy for this comes from my youth, when I went many times to Deer Camp with my grandfather and his old-fashioned brothers and nephews. Every year they told and retold the same hunting stories, and each time there would be variations in detail, but not in terms of what the stories were supposed to mean. The prehistoric stories in Genesis contain many inaccuracies in detail, but the core message is consistent: the God of Abraham and Sarah can be trusted to fulfill the divine promise of blessing.

I know this central Biblical theme to bed true, because we ( who are among their spiritual descendants) are still being reliably blessed after these thousands of years. When in Genesis 12:3, God tells Abraham “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” it was you and I that God had in mind. I trust that promise and that blessing with all my being, and that trust has nothing to do with how old Abraham was when he died.  On the other hand, I can never regard these stories as purely imaginary inventions, like “Paul Bunyon”, or “Lord of the Rings.” How do I know that? Because I have been to Deer Camp, and I know the difference between a tall tale and a hunting story.  How’s that for a scholarly observation?

One last observation:  the “Joseph Saga” is a fairly down-to-earth narrative, with the supernatural element  limited to dream-interpretation and a sense of a divine purpose working itself out through ordinary events. Joseph and his brothers come across as if they could be guests on a “Dr. Phil” episode, or some of my Great-Uncles at a Pennsylvania Deer Camp. What’s more, when Joseph died he was a mere 110 years old! (Genesis 50:26). A spring chicken! As the  narrative moves forward in time, the Biblical authors seem to moderate their estimation of patriarchal lifetimes. For me, that constitutes a welcome development, since the Bible’s authority proceeds as much from its earthy human-ness as it does from its unprecedented surprises.

We will encounter plenty of both as we read on. I look forward to it.