brothers. Joseph’s brothers “hated him yet more for his dreams and for his words” (Gn
37:8). And “his brothers
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were jealous of him” (Gn 37:11). Soon, their jealousy turns
to envy—an envy that resembles Cain’s envy of the election and favor shown to his
brother Abel. As in Cain’s case, such envy can be deadly.
Jacob, seemingly oblivious to this growing tension between Joseph and his brothers,
exacerbates the problem by one day sending Joseph out to spy on his brothers. “Go now,
see if it is well [
shalom] with your brothers, and with the flock; and bring me word again”
(Gn 37:14). Of course, we know that there is not shalom
with Joseph and his brothers,
as was already noted in Genesis 37:4. Joseph had already brought one bad report of his
brothers to Jacob (Gn 37:2), and now it appears that Jacob is sending Joseph out again,
indicating that perhaps Jacob’s real interest may not be so much the welfare (
shalom) of
the brothers as it is the welfare of the flock. Jacob’s greed has blinded him to the growing
conflict between his sons.
When Joseph
finds his brothers, they throw him in a pit and plan to kill him (Gn
37:20). One brother, Judah, intervenes. “Why kill him? Let’s sell him and get some
money for him, and not have his blood on our hands.” In the end, Joseph is taken by
traders to Egypt, where he is sold as a slave. To cover up their sin, Joseph’s brothers dip
Joseph’s coat in goat’s blood, telling Jacob that Joseph has been slain by a wild beast. Once
again, Jacob reaps what he has sown. Just as Jacob had deceived his father, Isaac, to steal
the
blessing from a favored son, so now Jacob experiences the grief and betrayal of having
his own sons lie and deceive him about his favored son.
Things do not look good for Joseph; he is a slave in a foreign land, purchased by
Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard. However, despite his servitude, the “L
ORD
was with
[Joseph]” (Gn 39:2–3), and the Lord blesses Potiphar’s house for Joseph’s sake. In
a small
way, this is an initial fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless the families of the
world through his seed, for now one of Abraham’s seed, Joseph, is a channel of blessing
to a Gentile family. Potiphar, recognizing Joseph as blessed by God, elevates him over his
household. Unfortunately, Potiphar’s wife also takes an interest in Joseph and tries daily
to seduce him. Joseph responds: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against
God?” (Gn 39:9). One day, finding Joseph alone
in the house, Potiphar’s wife grabs
Joseph’s cloak and
p 54
makes a final effort at seduction. Joseph, with wisdom and
courage immediately runs away. Left with Joseph’s abandoned cloak, Potiphar’s wife,
angry that Joseph did not respond to her advances, accuses him of rape. In reward for his
chastity and faithfulness, Joseph is thrown into prison. Once again, Joseph’s cloak is
employed in false testimony as Potiphar’s wife uses it as (false) evidence of betrayal and
rape.
One of the important themes of the Joseph narrative is that “the L
ORD
was with
Joseph.” The narrative repeats this truth twice as Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt (Gn
39:2, 39:3) and twice again as Joseph is falsely thrown into prison (Gn 39:21, 39:23).
Even in the midst of Joseph’s
trials and sufferings, God is with Joseph, directing Joseph’s
path for good. Joseph himself seems fully aware of this. Despite all the hardships that have
fallen upon him, Joseph remains loyal to God and just to men. Even after more than two
years in prison, Joseph’s faith allows him to humbly proclaim God, not himself, as the one
who can reveal the meaning of Pharaoh’s dream (Gn 41:16, 41:25). As St. Paul does much
later, Joseph learns how to be content in whatever state he finds himself, in abundance
and in want, because he is able to do “all things in him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
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