CHAPTER 47
Remember that weird note that ends the previous chapter –
where Joseph says doesn’t tell the Egyptians who are shepherds, because
Egyptians really don’t like that? Well
they see the Pharaoh and tell him they are shepherds. No problem, apparently.
Looks like we have dueling traditions smushed right together and not
making much sense. Seems like a strange
detail to disagree on, though.
At any rate, the rest of Genesis is basically the ebb
tide. We’ve gone through the purely
mythic history, gone over the patriarchs, put everyone in Egypt and had the
reunions. The last few chapters is
basically tying up loose ends and doing some housekeeping.
We learn that Jacob is 130 years old when he comes to
Egypt. Fun fact: based on what the
Bible has informed us earlier, Jacob was when Isaac, that Zeppo of the
patriarchs, died. So though Isaac’s
death was reported long ago in the Bible, he was alive when Joseph was sold
into slavery. He died around the time
Joseph interpreted the pharaoh’s dream.
Maybe a year before, but that would be about it.
Jacob lives in Egypt for 17 years and dies at age 147.
Before Jacob dies, we get some questionable statesmanship
for Joseph, as he enslaves the Egyptians.
Really. The famine keeps going
on and people can’t buy grain anymore.
OK, give the Pharaoh your cattle.
So they do. And the famine goes
on and they have no money or livestock to buy grain with. OK – give the Pharaoh your land. So they do.
The Bible flatly states “Thus the land passed over to Pharaoh and the
people were reduced to slavery, from one end of Egypt’s territory to the
other.” And the Pharaoh will make the
people give him one-fifth of their crops from here on out. They are actually happy, “You have saved our
lives!” they exclaim, but this is ugly.
What – you couldn’t give any poor relief away, Joseph? None at all?
CHAPTER 48
Jacob died at the very end of Chapter 47, and it looks like
a questionable chapter break, because Chapter 48 is all about his impending
death.
This is a short chapter where Jacob blesses Joseph’s
sons. There’s a nice circular sense to
Jacob. He began taking a blessing meant
for the oldest from a dad going blind.
Now he’s the blinding old man giving blessings to the two sons of his
next-to-youngest son. Going by the
footnotes and what Jacob says, these two kids, Ephraim and Manasseh, take the
place of the kids that Rachel could’ve born him had she not died. They are given full share of inheritance,
equal to Jacob’s own sons.
Jacob has 12 sons and there will be 12 tribes of Israel, but
they won’t quite be the same. Levi will
be a priestly group, not actually a tribe.
Instead, Ephraim and Manasseh will become tribes of Israel instead of
Joseph himself.
So what’s going on with that? Based on what I know/have read, one theory is that the Hebrew
began as two groups – a main one that traced their lineage back to some
herdsmen patriarchs, and another smaller group that left Egypt. They needed a conduit to connect the two
groups, and Joseph became that story that explains how the Hebrew both have
Canaan as their promised land and went to Egypt (later to escape from there).
If so, they might’ve come up with the story of Joseph only after the tribes had
formed, so there wouldn’t be a tribe of Joseph. He’d be a narrative fiction invented.
If so – wow, that’s a really nice job inventing a story
everyone! Seriously, the story of
Joseph is one of the highlights of Genesis and the entire Bible. Maybe I’m wrong about how come there is no
tribe of Joseph, but it works for me.
CHAPTER 49
More concluding remarks.
This time Jacob says his final words to his sons. This clearly and can only come from the
Kingdom of Judea, as the three sons older than Judah all gets smack down, and
there is a long, sustained part of the blessing that just sings the praises of
Judah to the heavens.
Reuben? “Turbulent
as water, you shall no longer excel, for you climbed into your father’s bed and
defiled my couch to my sorrow.” Guess
he shouldn’t have slept with Jacob’s concubine after al.
Levi and Simeon get smacked down, apparently for their
massacre back in Chapter 34. The oddity
is hat they here Levi is a warrior, when his nominal descendents will become
the priestly class. Jacob tells these
two “I will scatter them in Jacob, and disperse them throughout Israel.” Ouch.
Now the Judah love, most notably: “The sons of your father
shall bow down to you.” Really – even
Joseph? “The scepter shall never depart
from Judah, or the mace from between his feet, until tribute comes to him and
he receives the people’s obedience.”
Yeah, this must come from the Judah-dominated Kingdom of Judea. Nothing else makes sense.
The next several go quick.
Apparently Zebuluan’s kids live by the seashore. Issachar is “a rawboned donkey” who “saw how
good a settled life was and how pleasant the land” so he became “a toiling
serf.” Yeah, that’s the good life!
Dan shall achieve justice – apparently a play on words
because the ancient Hebrew word for justice is similar to Dan. “Let Dan be a serpent by the roadside, a
horned viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heel so that the rider tumbles
backwards.” Huh? I guess he’s some kind
of protector. Or horse hater.
Gad shall be raided by raiders. Bummer for him. Asher
will have rich farm land. Naphtali will
have lovely fawns.
Joseph is next and he gets a nice sustained bit, as long as
that for Judah. Short version: Jacob
really likes Joseph. Lastly is
Benjamin, who is a ravenous wolf who devours the prey and distributes the
spoils.
Only the three eldest get smackdowns, because those are the
only three the Kingdom of Judea needed to smackdown to justify their
prominence.
Then Jacob dies, but first asking to be buried in the same
spot as Abraham and Isaac. By my
reckoning, it’s now been 232 years since Abram got the call.
CHAPTER 50
OK, last one. Here’s
the funeral and the boys go bury Jacob.
Once that’s done, they fret that Joseph will now have his revenge. Maybe he was just biding his time until now,
because he didn’t want to punish them while their dad lived. So they make up a story about Jacob wanting
Joseph to forgive his brothers. Boy,
those acorns didn’t fall from the old tree – of course they’ll con their
brother to save their necks!
Joseph believes them.
Maybe he wants to believe them.
We’ve already seen him absolve them and repeatedly break down in tears
over emotion. Now he breaks down a
final time. That’s six, if I’m counting
right.
Joseph dies at age 110.
Before going, he tells his brothers that he wants to be buried in the
cave with the patriarchs. OK – but
Joseph is the 11th oldest out of 12. The others are really older than 110 years old? Dang.
Concluding Reactions
With the death of Joseph, Genesis comes to and end. It’s an amazing chapter, with plenty of
memorable myths, powerful stories, and memorable characters. My favorites were probably Abraham, Jacob,
and Joseph. Abraham for his willingness
to haggle with God. He isn’t just going
to passively accept God’s will but turns the covenant into a two-way street –
Abraham must be moral and uphold his end, but God must be moral, too.
Jacob – why, he’s the magnificent bastard. He’s a tricky, cunning, conning son of a
gun. But he’s damn good at it. And he’s got to pay his dues as well, with
his extended duel with veteran con man Laban.
Joseph starts off a spoiled brat, but learns and ends up
damn competent. Torn between his desire
for revenge and forgiveness, he opts to show mercy on his brothers and give
everyone a happy ending. All those times
of him crying show a soul rather tender hearted.
Genesis is great.
The rest of the Bible will try to measure up, but rarely be this
memorable.
Click here to start Exodus.
Click here to start Exodus.
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