030. XVIII. Joseph’s Loyalty To His Kinsmen
§ XVIII. JOSEPH’S LOYALTY TO HIS KINSMEN
1.Israel’s decision. Now when the sons of Israel told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, Israel said, It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die.
2.Joseph’s reception of his kinsmen. Then Israel set out on his journey with all that he had. And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, that he might show him the way to Goshen. Now when they came into the province of Goshen, Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to Goshen to meet Israel his father. And as he presented himself to him, he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a long time. Then Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are yet alive. And Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, My brothers and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. Now the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle ; and they have brought their flocks and cattle and all that they have. And when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, ‘ What is your occupation?’ then say, ‘ Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the province of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.
3. Pharaoh’s provision for their needs. Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers with their sheep and cattle and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the province of Goshen. And from among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers. They also said to Pharaoh, We have come to sojourn in the land, because there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, since the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore we pray, let your servants dwell in the province of Goshen. And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, In the province of Goshen let them dwell; and if you know any capable men among them, you may put them in charge of my cattle. So Joseph provided food for his father and his brothers and all his father’s household according to the number of the little children. And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt and in the province of Goshen.
4. Israel’s instructions regarding his burial. Now when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh, and show kindness and faithfulness to me; do not bury me, I pray you, in Egypt; but when I lie down to sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And Joseph replied, I will surely do as you have said. Then he said, Give me your oath: so Joseph gave him his oath. And Israel bowed himself toward the head of the bed.
5. His blessing upon Joseph’s sons. Then Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed, and said, Bring, I pray you, your two sons to me, and I will bless them. Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. And Joseph took them both,— Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him. Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands intentionally; for Manasseh was the first-born. And he blessed them, saying, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who hath been my shepherd all my life long unto this day, the Messenger, who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be perpetuated by them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the. midst of the earth. But when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he seized his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said to his father; Not so, my father; this one is the firstborn; put your right hand upon his head. But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know, he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.
6. His death. Then Israel drew his feet up into the bed, and was gathered unto his people. And Joseph fell upon his father’s face and wept upon him and kissed him.
7. The embalming of Israel. Then Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel, and they devoted forty days to it; for thus long the days of embalming last; and the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
8. Pharaoh’s permission to bury him in Canaan. And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your sight, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ‘ My father made me take oath, saying, “ Lo, I am dying; in my grave which I have digged for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” ’ Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father; after that I will return. And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, as he made you take oath.
9. The public burial and mourning. So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones and their sheep and cattle they left in the province of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, so that it was a very great company. And when they came to Goren-ha-Atad [Threshing-floor of the thorn bush] which is beyond Jordan, there they held a very great and solemn lamentation; and Joseph made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in Goren-ha-Atad, they said, This is a solemn mourning which the Egyptians are holding. Therefore its name was called Abel-Mizraim [Mourning of the Egyptians]; it is beyond the Jordan. Then Joseph returned to Egypt after he had buried his father, together with his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
10. Joseph’s assurances to his ’ brothers. Now when Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, What if Joseph should hate us, and should requite us all the evil which we did to him! So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, Your father commanded before he died saying, ‘Thus shall you say to Joseph, “0 forgive, now, the wickedness and sin of your brothers, in that they have treated you basely.” ’ So now, we pray, forgive the wickedness of the servants of your father’s God. And Joseph began to weep, as they were speaking to him. And his brothers also went and fell down before him and said, Here, take us as your slaves. But Joseph said to them, Do not be afraid; for am I in the place of God ? You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to accomplish that which is being done this day,— the saving of the lives of many people. Now therefore do not be afraid; I will provide food for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke reassuringly to them.
11. His long and prosperous life. So Joseph dwelt in Egypt together with his father’s house. And Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s great-grandchildren; the children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were borne upon Joseph’s knees.
12.Instructions regarding his burial. Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die; but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land which he confirmed by an oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Joseph then took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, When God visits you, as he surely will, then you shall carry up my bones from here. So Joseph died being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
I.Joseph’s Provision for His Kinsmen. The opening paragraphs of this section record one of the noblest scenes in the Joseph stories. In the eyes of the Egyptians shepherds were regarded with scorn and hatred. Although, doubtless, well aware of this strong antipathy, Joseph was not content until he had introduced his aged father and shepherd brothers to Pharaoh and his court.
According to the earliest narrative, his kinsmen were assigned to the territory of Goshen. This evidently included the fertile, low-lying lands extending eastward from the Delta of the Nile to the Isthmus of Suez and the desert. The agricultural resources of this region were not developed until the reign of Ramses II. In the days of Joseph these level plains were evidently still given up to flocks and herds. The land of Goshen, therefore, furnished an ideal home for these men from the wilderness. There they could still retain their tribal organization, their nomadic habits and, to a great extent, their independence. Through this territory ran the great caravan route from Egypt, back through the wilderness to Palestine, so that the Hebrews were able to keep in close touch with their kinsmen in Canaan and the South Country. An interesting parallel to the biblical story is found in an inscription of Merneptah, which comes from the latter part of the thirteenth century B.C. It tells of certain Shasu or Bedouin tribes coming from Aduma or Edom, which were allowed to pass “ the fortress of king Merneptah in Thuku (Succoth) to the pools of King Merneptah, which are in Thuku, that they might obtain food for themselves and for their cattle in the field of the Pharaoh, who is the gracious sun in every land.”
II.Israel’s Dying Blessing, The intense interest which the Hebrews always felt in a father’s dying blessing again finds expression in the patriarchal stories. A later editor has introduced in connection with the story of the death of Israel, a group of tribal songs cast in the form of oracles. As will be seen later (§ XXXV), in their final form they probably come from the days of the united kingdom under David. In the original Judean narrative, Israel’s blessing is bestowed primarily upon the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. These represent the two great tribes of central Israel. Of these two, Ephraim was the more important, although the tribe of Manasseh was apparently the first to secure a permanent home (east of the Jordan), and was, therefore, regarded as the older. The later superiority of the tribe of Ephraim is recognized in the account of the patriarch’s blessing. Not upon the head of the older, Manasseh, but upon the head of Ephraim the younger, rested the right hand of Israel. In the writings of the northern prophet Hosea, Ephraim also represents Northern Israel as a whole, even as Judah stands for Southern Israel. The blessing itself is similar to that found on the lips of the earlier patriarchs: it promises political power and great increase in numbers.
Thus, in a ripe old age, refined and softened by the struggles of his earlier years, the aged patriarch died surrounded by his sorrowing sons. Tradition adds that, followed by his children and the mourning Egyptians, his body was borne back in solemn procession and buried in the land of Canaan.
Joseph continued, after the death of his father, to treat his conscience- stricken brothers with the same noble generosity, assuring them by word and deed of his complete forgiveness. To Joseph were granted the three superlative beatitudes: honor and respect, long life and loyal offspring. After his death, his body was embalmed and, according to the Northern Israelite narrative and in keeping with the solemn oath of his brothers, was later borne back by the returning Israelites, when they left Egypt and set their faces toward Canaan.
III.The Various Elements in the Joseph Stories. No careful reader can fail to recognize the presence of a large ideal element in the Joseph stories. The aim of the prophetic story-tellers was evidently to portray a perfect type of the successful man of affairs. No history or literature contains a more vivid illustration of the qualities essential to success. Honesty, perseverance, cheerfulness in adversity, fidelity and eagerness to improve every opportunity are invincible in any age. According to the standards of Joseph’s day, these qualities were crowned by the highest conceivable rewards. Nothing that oriental imagination could suggest was wanting to fill the cup of Joseph to overflowing. Yet throughout, the portrait is true to life and especially to the life of the ancient East. As has already been indicated, the origin of certain Egyptian institutions, as for example, the agrarian laws, are also attributed to Joseph. The story of his temptation is strikingly similar to the Egyptian “Tale of the Two Brothers,” current probably long before the days of Joseph. The tendency to combine traditions, originally distinct, was perhaps at work here as elsewhere in the patriarchal stories; but back of the narratives as a whole, there is clearly a substantial basis of historic fact.
IV.Archaeological Exactness of the Joseph Stories. The historical character of the Joseph stories- is strongly attested by their remarkable archaeological exactness. Where there was every opportunity for error, they are almost without exception faithful to their peculiar setting. No ancient civilization was more distinct and unique than that of Egypt. Highly developed, self-satisfied, and shut in by natural barriers, Egypt lived apart almost as a hermit nation. Her customs, her language and her system of writing were shared by no other peoples of antiquity, and yet at every point the narrator reveals a thorough familiarity with Egyptian life. Not only was he acquainted with Egypt’s peculiar system of taxation and with its current literature, but he also introduces several Egyptian names and words. Peculiar Egyptian customs are also reflected in the stories, as for example, the giving of the much-prized golden collar, which was bestowed upon a public servant for distinguished achievement. Thus, according to a well-known inscription, Aahmes, a famous admiral, received it for his prowess and courage in an important battle. Even the references to the famine may be paralleled by passages from contemporary Egyptian inscriptions. The number of years which Joseph lived—one hundred and ten —was in itself a realization of a characteristic Egyptian ideal. In this way, for example, the virtue of the ancient Egyptian sage, Ptah- hotep, was rewarded.
V.The Josephs of Egyptian History. The court of Egypt, especially under the rulers of the eighteenth dynasty, offered, even to those of humble origin, rare opportunities of attaining prominence and authority. Relations with Asia were very close, and the later rulers of this dynasty not only made treaties with Asiatic kings but also entered into marriage with their daughters. A large number of Semitic words, as well as ideas and customs, gained admission at this time into the land of the Nile. During the reign of Amenhotep III, and especially that of his son, the great reforming king, Amenhotep IV, several Semites, whose names are recorded, rose to positions of great authority. Thus, for example, according to the contemporary el-Amarna tablets, a certain Dudu was one of the trusted officials of Amenhotep IV. He is addressed by one of the governors of Egypt as, “my lord, my father.” Even more interesting and significant are the references to another Semite, Yanhamu, who had control of the magazines of corn in the land of Jarmutu, which probably included the east Delta. He also directed the Egyptian rule in Palestine. The Egyptian governors of Palestine frequently refer to him in terms which suggest that his authority was second only to that of the Pharaoh himself. Rib-addi of Gebal, to secure a favorable settlement of certain of his grievances, asks the king of Egypt to say to Yanhamu, “Behold, Rib-addi is in thy power and anything which happens to him touches thee.” In another letter he asks the king to command Yanhamu to take the field at once with troops. The governor of Gaza and Joppa also speaks of having been brought, while still young, to the Egyptian court by the same Yanhamu.
While Yanhamu may not be identical with the original Joseph of the Hebrew tradition, the analogy is exceedingly suggestive. In the light of all these facts the most satisfactory explanation of the Joseph stories is that they record, doubtless in a somewhat idealized form, the experiences of a young Semite, who by his personal ability attained to a position of great authority and honor in the land of Egypt.
VI.The Age at WhichJosephLived. The older Egyptologists were inclined to find the background of the Joseph story in the days of the Hyksos conquest. Then Semitic rulers controlled the land of the Nile. To maintain their precarious position in the presence of a large and hostile population they would naturally encourage Asiatic immigration, and would show especial favors to men of Semitic origin. The Joseph stories, however, imply that not a foreign, but a native Egyptian king then ruled on the throne. The favors which came to Joseph were also won not by the sword, but by the ability and services of the hero. Furthermore, the evidence of the ancient inscriptions suggests that the ancestors of the Hebrews were not found in the land of Palestine in the days of the Hyksos conquest, but that they first began to appear as nomadic immigrants in the later days of the eighteenth dynasty, and at a date not earlier than 1500 B.C. In view of these facts and of the policy and characteristics of the later kings of the eighteenth dynasty it seems far more probable that Amenhotep III or IV was the Pharaoh at whose court the young Hebrew won signal distinction. The same period furnishes a most satisfactory background for the migration of certain Hebrew tribes toward eastern Egypt. This conclusion is also substantiated by the chronology of the oldest Hebrew narratives, which assign only about one hundred and fifty years to the sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt (cf. § XIX, vi). Thus, if the exodus be dated about 1200, Joseph’s date would be near the middle of the fourteenth century B.C., when the rule of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty was drawing to a close.
VII.The Primary Value of the Patriarchal Stories. The literary, historical and archaeological value of the Joseph stories, and of the patriarchal narratives which precede, is obvious; but that which gives these ancient tribal stories their abiding interest and authority is the work of the later prophetic historians. These interpreters of the divine presence in human life emphasize in this concrete way the great truth that, before the dawn of Hebrew history, Jehovah was guiding the destinies of his chosen people. The individual men and races are but the actors in the great drama which illustrates the eternal laws of life and reveals God’s active participation in the affairs of men. If it should be proved that the patriarchs were but the creations of the prophetic story-teller’s art, Abraham, Jacob and Joseph would still live to inspire and guide men in resisting that which is evil and in choosing that which is good.