Day 15. Genesis 43-46

Genesis 43-46

Genesis 43

¹And the famine was sore in the land.

²And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

They had used up all the provisions and had to go back and get more. In the meantime, according to Gen. 42:24, Simeon was locked up in Egypt's prison system.

Judah tells Jacob (Israel) that they aren't supposed to go back down there unless they take Benjamin with them.

⁶And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

Jacob is wondering, why did you tell this man you had another brother?

⁷And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

It's as though he knew...

Judah tells Jacob to send Benjamin with him.

⁸And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

Benjamin here, is referred to as "the lad". Why? During this time, Benjamin is always drawn as a child.

The picture to the right is from 1789, by Charles Thevenin, Joseph und seine Brüder. You see Benjamin as just a youth, probably not even a teenager. The rest of the brothers seem to vary in age.

Artists seem to take some freedoms when dealing with the family. Seemingly forgetting that the first son was born AFTER Jacob married Rachel (after the 14 years) and that Joseph was the last son born before Jacob asked to leave Laban. The first 11 boys (and Dinah) were born in only a 6 year period. The boys are all relatively close in age, on average separated by only 6 months. Leah managed to have 7 children in that six year period. There are 72 months in 6 years, Leah was pregnant for 63 of them.

Back to today...

¹¹And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

¹²And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:

Well, there was still some food in the land, but you aren't going to make a staple diet out of those things.

¹³Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:

¹⁴And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

Your other brother... what's his name... Simeon.

¹⁶And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.

¹⁷And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.

Joseph just had to assume the person that went with his brothers was Benjamin. If Ben was just a child, then it's at least 9 years later, his brothers didn't recognize him, why would he recognize a younger brother?

The brothers are surprised about being taken into "the man's" house. They tell his servant they don't know why their money was returned.

²³And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

Simeon was given back to the other 10 brothers.

²⁷And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?

²⁸And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.

Joseph was glad to hear his dad was still alive. He sees his brother, and he gets all weepy, just like his dad when Jacob saw Rachel.

³⁰And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

He didn't want to cry in front of his brothers.

³²And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

So, the Egyptians never ate bread with Hebrews? Joseph was married to an Egyptian, did she ever eat with him? Joseph was the #2 guy in Egypt, but to eat with him was an abomination? I don't think this part of the story makes any sense.

³⁴And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of their's. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Joseph, like his father before him, played favorites.

Genesis 44

¹And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.

²And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

Joseph's going to Punk his brothers again.

⁴And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?

⁵Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

He's having his steward ask why they stole his things. The brothers said, they didn't take anything, then they say something really stupid.

⁹With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

So the steward starts going through the sacks.

¹²And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

Ohhhhh, fuuuuuddddddgggggeeeee. Only I didn't say "Fudge." I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!

¹³Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

¹⁴And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

¹⁵And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?

Joseph is like, I knew it was you guys who did it, I'm the all powerful Zaphnathpaaneah, I know when people steal from me...

Judah apologized.

¹⁷And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.

Judah then says, please, don't take the boy. They retell the whole story of how Jacob didn't want to send Benjamin, but they promise they'll take care of him. Also, if Benjamin is taken, their father will die.

³³Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.

³⁴For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

Judah says, you might as well take me, because if you keep Benjamin, not only will dad die, but he's going to take me out first.

Genesis 45

¹Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

Joseph says "YOU JUST GOT PUNK'D". Actually, he was relieved, because he didn't know how much longer he could keep up the charade.

³And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

The brothers are slightly more scared of Zaphnathpaaneah, now than they were a second ago. They realize that he (Joseph) is happy to see Benjamin; however, they are really really scared that he's going to hold a grudge for that whole "put him in a pit, then sell him into slavery" thing.

⁵Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Joseph says that God put him there, so he could take care of his family.

⁶For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

This is two years into the 7 years of famine. Now we can figure out some more dates, and clear up the timeline a bit (maybe). We are still going to need a couple more dates to get the whole thing correct-ish.

⁸So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁹Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

Joseph says for them to move down, go get dad, and move down here.

¹³And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.

Hurry, go get dad.

¹⁶And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

¹⁷And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;

¹⁸And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.

Even Pharaoh wants the family to move down.

The brothers leave, with moving vans; even though they were told to just go down, Egypt will provide. They make it home, and tell Jacob that Joseph was alive.

²⁸And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Jacob says he'll make the journey.

Genesis 46

Jacob goes to Beersheba and offers some sacrifices to god, and asks if he should go to Egypt.

³And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

⁴I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

God says it's ok to go.

⁶And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

⁷His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

Now we get a list of everyone who went. It's not a very interesting list, mostly. There are some highlights.

¹²And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.

Er and Onan are listed. It doesn't say what they did with Tamar. If they took her to Egypt, they probably would have told the "she's my sister story".

²¹And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

Wait... what? Benjamin had sons? Benjamin had 10 sons that went down into Egypt. Look at that picture up there of Joseph and Benjamin. That picture is a representation of an even that took place a couple of weeks (months at the most) before everyone moved down into Egypt. That person had 10 sons. You have been deceived.

²⁶All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

66 people, besides wives, went to Egypt.

²⁹And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

³⁰And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

Move over Benjamin, daddy's favorite is back.

Joseph then tells his father that when Pharaoh asks what he does, say that you were a cattle guy.

³⁴That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

So, it's sheep that Egyptians had a problem with.

Points to ponder:

1. Is it alright to play tricks on your brothers? Tricks that wind up getting one of them thrown in jail.

2. When you think of Benjamin, do you think of him as old enough to have fathered children? Do you fall into the normal thinking that he was just a child. Remember, Joseph was 17 when he started dreaming (there were 11 sheafs, so Benjamin was alive), then he was 30 when he stood in front of Pharaoh the first time (add 13). Then there were the 7 years of plenty, (37) then we are now at 2 years of famine (minimum of 39). If Benjamin was only a newborn when Joseph was 17, he's still at least 22 now. Yet he's depicted as a child.

Day 14. Genesis 40-42

Genesis 40-42

Genesis 40

¹And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.

The butler and the baker. We aren't told what the offense is, we just know that they were sent to prison. Joseph was put in charge of the two prisoners.

⁵And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

Both had a dream. Neither could figure out what it meant.

⁹And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;

¹⁰And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:

¹¹And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.

The chief butler was actually the cup bearer. He dreamed he would be giving Pharaoh a cup again. He couldn't figure out what his dream meant.

Joseph interpreted the dream.

¹²And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:

¹³Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

It took a professional dream interpreter to tell him that.

¹⁴But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

¹⁵For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.

Joseph says he doesn't want to be in prison for ever. Maybe you could tell the pharaoh, and I can get out of prison.

The chief baker tells Joseph his dream.

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:

¹⁷And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.

Joseph interprets the dream.

¹⁹Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

The cup bearer will be restored, the baker will die.

²⁰And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

²¹And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand:

²²But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Pharaoh had a birthday party. In celebration, he restored one of the guys; he killed the other one.

²³Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

Of course he forgot him.

Genesis 41

¹And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

Pharaoh now has a dream.

²And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.

³And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

⁴And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.

Kine are cattle. Seven fat cows came out of the river, then seven skinny cows came out and ate the fat cows.

He had another dream.

⁵And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

⁶And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.

⁷And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.

Seven ears of good corn, were eaten by seven ears of skinny corn.

It's no wonder pharaoh needed his dream interpreted. According to Easton's Bible Dictionary defines corn as "a general term representing all the commodities we usually describe by the words corn, grain, seeds, peas, beans." The word used here is dagan. I can understand several of the items, grain, seeds, peas, beans, but the word corn in the definition means maize. In the verses it says "ears of corn". Grain doesn't have ears. Seeds don't have ears. Peas and beans don't have ears. Maize has ears.

Why would pharaoh need this dream interpreted? No one back then in the middle east ever had maize. Maize was a new world plant. Columbus was the first European to see corn (if you believe Columbus was the person who discovered the Americas). 3000 years before Columbus brought maize back to Europe, nobody in Egypt would know what it was.

Of course, it was probably wheat, or barley, but wheat and barley aren't called "ears".

⁸And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

Of course they couldn't, they were probably trying to figure out what "corn" was.

Suddenly, the butler (cup bearer) remembers Joseph, and tells the story of his dream and the baker's dream. Pharaoh calls for Joseph.

Pharaoh then retells the story, practically word for word in verses 18-24.

²⁵And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Joseph says, he doesn't interpret dreams, god does. He says both dreams are actually about the same event.

The seven good cattle and corn are seven years of plenty, followed by seven bad cattle and corn are seven years of famine.

³³Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

Joseph has pharaoh set up storage facilities for the seven years of plenty. Large enough that it will hold 20% of the harvest.

³⁵And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

³⁶And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.

It's odd that the famine will affect the entirety of known civilization, and only one person had a dream that it was coming.

³⁸And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

³⁹And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:

⁴⁰Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

Pharaoh decides that Joseph will be the guy in charge. Joseph will be the second most powerful man in Egypt. Except that Joseph is in charge of the food, so he's actually the most powerful man.

⁴²And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

⁴³And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph now carried the seal of the king. He was basically the vice president, except he had actual power.

⁴⁵And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph was renamed Zaphnathpaaneah. Zaphnath-Paaneah may mean many things. Some take it to mean "revealer of secrets"; or "finder of mysteries". People have tried to get it to mean many things, but apparently in Egyptian, the name makes no sense. As though it got disfigured when it was being copied. That can't be true, as god has guaranteed his word to be true.

⁴⁶And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

Joseph was 30. That would put this in 1806 BC, If Joseph was born in 1836, if Jacob left Isaac when he was 40.

⁴⁷And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.

⁴⁸And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.

They gathered a lot of corn.

⁵⁰And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

Joseph's two boys were Manasseh, and Ephriam. Manasseh means "to forget". Ephriam means "double fruitfulness".

⁵⁴And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

Corn bread.

⁵⁶And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

Egypt was the only place with grain. In all the world.

So, Joseph was in Egypt, at the Pharaoh's for 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine, that's 14 years. I've calculated the date to be from 1806 to 1792. Which Pharaoh was it?

Amenemhet IV (Maakherure) c. 1808-1799
Sobeknofru (Sobekkare) c. 1799-1795

Sobeknofru was a woman. Surely Joseph would have mentioned that Pharaoh was a woman.

Interestingly, from this point on the 13th Dynasty of the Pharaoh's doesn't have very good dates.

Genesis 42

¹Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

²And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

Jacob sends his remaining boys down to Egypt to buy corn. He didn't send Benjamin, he didn't want anything bad to happen to Benjamin.

⁶And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

Just like the dream.

⁷And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

He wouldn't really have to make himself strange, this was several years after he was taken away. He was 17 when he started to dream, it's now at least 20 years later.

⁸And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

His older brothers would have been in their 20's when he was put in the pit, now they are in their low 40's.

⁹And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

Joseph messes with his brothers a bit.

¹⁰And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

¹¹We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

The brothers are big and tough around Canaanites, but they humble themselves in front of Egyptians.

¹³And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

Joseph again accuses them of being spies.

¹⁵Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

¹⁶Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

He was initially going to lock up all the brothers except one, instead he only locks up Simeon.

²⁵Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

Joseph returns their money. This is the first incidence of Punk'd.

The brothers make it back to Jacob. Why is he still called Jacob? Isn't he Israel now?He's been renamed twice.

³³And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:

³⁴And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.

Simeon was still in jail. The brothers made it home with food. This trip from Egypt back to Canaan didn't seem to take very long. It seems to be a relatively routine trip.

³⁶And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

Jacob has a tendency to play favorites with his boys. First it was Joseph, now it's Benjamin. He didn't seem to express too much despair about losing Simeon.

³⁷And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

Reuben ultimately had four sons, at this point he must only have 2.

Points to ponder:

1. Who was the Pharaoh? Who were the Pharaohs? Again, if the authors can't get the history correct, why should they get the theology correct?

2. How hard is it to figure out the dreams? Really, no one could figure them out?

3. I find it odd that the older brothers would be so protective of Benjamin. Apparently Benjamin wasn't as much of an ass as Joseph was. We see Reuben cares more about his youngest brother, than he does for his own two sons.