...The Life of Joseph Joseph was born to Jacob and Rachel after she had been unable to have children for seven years. Joseph was Jacob’s 11th son, and his favorite, born when he was very old. Jacob made Joseph a beautiful robe that had many colors in it. Jacob would often send Joseph to spy on his brothers and to report back to him any behavior that was considered inappropriate. The brothers knew Joseph was watching them and their hatred for him grew even more for telling Jacob what they were doing. Joseph also had special dreams in which he could predict things that would happen in the future. When Joseph told the brothers of his dreams, they wanted to know what he could see. He told them that in the first dream, sheaves of wheat that belonged to them were going to bow to his sheaf. In the second dream, he told them that the sun, moon and eleven stars were going to bow to him. When Joseph was 17 years old, he worked with his brothers as shepherds. One day Jacob sent Joseph to see what the brothers were doing in Shechem. When Joseph got there, the brothers were nowhere to be found. A man told him where they were, so he went to Dotham to see what they were up to. Though he was trying not to be seen by the brothers, he was spotted anyway. Before he could reach them, they had already come up with a plan between them to kill Joseph. The brothers tore his robe off and threw him in a pit. Reuben had talked the brothers into throwing him in the pit instead of killing him so that he...
Words: 2325 - Pages: 10
...Jacob’s reunion with his brother Esau (Gen ); and Joseph’s act of mercy towards his brothers (Gen 45: 1-28). Apart from these two episodes, in the only other instance of sibling rivalry we find in Genesis ends with Cain’s tragic murder of his brother Abel (Gen). Even within the two reconciliatory narratives represented in Genesis, Joseph’s story is the sole one with a truly respectable outcome (Genesis 45: 1-28). Esau’s and Jacob’s relationship remained strained even after the brothers ended their feud, with each going their own separate way and subsequently establishing independent communities: the Israelites (Jacob); and the Edomites (Esau). It would seem justifiable had Joseph sought to settle scores with his brothers for having beaten him, left him in a pit to die and ultimately sold him to Egyptian slavers. However, notwithstanding the pain inflicted upon him by his brothers, Joseph chose the path of forgiveness and used his influence in Egypt to ensure his family would survive the famine. The reconciliation narrative in Genesis 45 is the first...
Words: 1308 - Pages: 6
...Testament History Joseph Paper The Patriarch Joseph Joseph, man known of the son of Israel, was the eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob. Despite being the eleventh son of Jacob, he was Rachel’s firstborn child. With having twelve children, it is written that Jacob did in fact have a favorite and this favorite was Joseph. He was even given a “long coat of many colors” which has become a very popular story told, even in such plays as “Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat”. While this favoritism was probably something Joseph enjoyed, it was something his brothers envied and because of this favoritism the brothers grew up hating Joseph. This hatred grew to such a boiling point when Joseph was seventeen years of age and decided to reveal two separate dreams he had. One depicted the brothers in the field bundling grain and they all gathered around what Joseph had bundled and bowing down to what he had done. The second depicted Joseph’s family as the solar system, his father being the sun, his mother the moon, and his brothers as eleven stars and they were all bowing to Joseph who was his normal self. His brothers despised what he had told them as well as the fact that his father did not despise the dream as well. The hatred for Joseph by his brothers continued to get so bad that one day it is written they plotted to kill him but the eldest brother Reuben was eventually the voice of reason and persuaded his brothers against this. He instead suggested they throw Joseph into an empty...
Words: 642 - Pages: 3
...The Life of Joseph Joseph was born to Jacob and Rachel after she had been unable to have children for seven years. Joseph was Jacob’s 11th son, and his favorite, born when he was very old. Jacob made Joseph a beautiful robe that had many colors in it. Jacob would often send Joseph to spy on his brothers and to report back to him any behavior that was considered inappropriate. The brothers knew Joseph was watching them and their hatred for him grew even more for telling Jacob what they were doing. Joseph also had special dreams in which he could predict things that would happen in the future. When Joseph told the brothers of his dreams, they wanted to know what he could see. He told them that in the first dream, sheaves of wheat that belonged to them were going to bow to his sheaf. In the second dream, he told them that the sun, moon and eleven stars were going to bow to him. When Joseph was 17 years old, he worked with his brothers as shepherds. One day Jacob sent Joseph to see what the brothers were doing in Shechem. When Joseph got there, the brothers were nowhere to be found. A man told him where they were, so he went to Dotham to see what they were up to. Though he was trying not to be seen by the brothers, he was spotted anyway. Before he could reach them, they had already come up with a plan between them to kill Joseph. The brothers tore his robe off and threw him in a pit. Reuben had talked the brothers into throwing him in the pit instead of killing him so that he...
Words: 374 - Pages: 2
...The Judah and Tamar story in Genesis, situated right after Joseph’s brothers sell him off to slavery, recounts the story of how Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, uses her cunning and her wiles to humiliate Judah after he fails to give her his youngest son, Shechem. Its conclusion is then immediately followed by the narration of Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt. Why is such a story, a story with overtly sexual overtones, situated as is, interrupting a story about the relationship between kin? Upon closer inspection, one will notice the many parallels between the characters of the preceding events and those in the actual narrative – most notably, the link between Joseph and Tamar, and their shared inability to act against the oppression of another party. Establishing such a link, then, the Judah...
Words: 1868 - Pages: 8
...Joseph was the second youngest of twelve brothers born to Jacob and Rachael. Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, not only because he had been born to Jacob at an old age, but also because Jacob recognized Joseph’s birth to Rachael as a special gift from God, being she was not able to bear a child for many years. Jacob also believed it to be true that God’s plan was to make Joseph a great leader in later years. One day, Jacob, wanting to show his son the love and appreciation he had for him, gave Joseph a beautiful coat made of many colors. When his brothers saw the gift, they realized it was true that their father loved and adorned their brother Joseph more than any of them. The brothers’ overwhelming feeling of jealousy drove...
Words: 320 - Pages: 2
...of Joseph, Jacob’s Favored Son History God made a covenant with Abraham that his descendants would be a great nation and blessed him with Isaac. Isaac had two sons named Esau, the eldest and Jacob. Jacob has to leave home to hide from his brother Esau because Jacob tricked their father into giving him the blessing that was intended for the eldest. Jacob ran to Haran to stay with relative, Laban, to avoid the anger of Esau. While there he falls in love with Rachel, Laban’s youngest daughter and asks for her hand in marriage. Laban agrees that if Jacob will agree to stay and work for seven years he may have Rachel’s hand. Laban does not keep his promise he replaces Rachel with Leah, the eldest daughter, and tricks Jacob into sleeping with her instead. When Jacob discovers what has happened he demands to be given Rachel as promised and so ends up with Rachel as a second wife. Jacob never really shows affection for Leah and makes it known that Rachel is the favored wife. Leah provides Jacob with a firstborn and numerous other sons, but it is late in life when Rachel conceives Joseph, who is the eleventh born son, and then Benjamin. Benjamin’s birth takes Rachel’s life and therefore is the last of her children. Joseph Jacob makes it clear to everyone that Joseph is the favored son (Blank, 1998). Jacob may consider Joseph to be his real firstborn son since Rachel was the chosen wife. Jealousy builds over the years at the obvious favoritism bestowed on Joseph by Jacob...
Words: 1228 - Pages: 5
...Some of the major people in Genesis are of course Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Isaac and Rebekah, and of course Jacob’s wives and his twelve sons. Genesis reminds us that, “In the beginning God created the heaven and earth.” (Gen. 1:1) Also, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him, male and female created he them” Joseph (son of Jacob) Joseph was the son of Jacob and Genesis 37-50 focuses on his story and how God used him to move his family to Egypt. He was first son of Rachel and the eleventh son of Jacob. Jospeh was Jacon’s favorite son was given a “long coat of many colors”, because of this coat and the fact that Joseph was the favorite son his brothers hated him. At age 17 Joseph dreamed that his family would bow down to him, that caused his brothers to hate him even more and begin to plot on how to get rid of him. His brothers came up with a few ways to kill him but his oldest brother Reuben did not want him to die. They ended up selling him into slavery for twenty piece of slavery. The brothers then placed males goat’s blood on Joseph’s coat to convince their father that he was really dead. In prison Joseph was put in charge of the other prisoners. He came into contact with the Pharaoh’s chief cup bearer and chief baker, he interpreted dreams for them both. After being released the cup-bearer forgot about Joseph until two years later when the Pharaoh had a dream that disturbed him and he was unable to interpret it. The cup-bearer told the...
Words: 752 - Pages: 4
...Hebrew Poetry Instead of a written assignment this week, as originally planned, this discussion question will be considered as your "written assignment." Choose an example of a poetic passage in the Bible that demonstrates: (1) synonomous parallelism and an example of (2) antithetical parallelism. - Write out the passage here (Also give book, chapter, verse/s) for each passage - Evaluate the parallelism in each example (what is parallel?) and then state how you think the parallelism deepens the meaning. In Psalms 8:7 we see an example of synonymous parallelism. Here the second line repeats the idea or content of the first line, but in different terms. By doing this the second line fortifies the first enhancing significance and meaning. Psalms 8:7 7 You have given them rule over the works of your hands, put all things at their feet: In Psalms 20:9 we see an example of antithetical parallelism. Here the meaning of two or more passages of text are in opposition, although obviously related and having the same significance from differing perspectives. Here again the second line fortifies the first enhancing significance and meaning. Psalms 20:9 9 They collapse and fall, but we stand strong and firm. The use of both synonymous and antithetical parallelism attaches evenness, value and a sense of balance to the written piece. Both forms of parallelism provide for a greater appreciation through frame of reference and point of view. Hey Richard, Nice post. You have...
Words: 1755 - Pages: 8
...Zebulan Dula First Year Book Report 2 11/07/12 Reflections On The Bait of Satan In Luke 17:1, Jesus says, “It is impossible that no offenses should come.” The bait of Satan is basically offense. 2 Timothy 2:24-26 says, “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” This scripture makes it clear that when we bit the bait, there is only one outcome, and that is that we are doing the will of Satan. Offense takes many different forms, so here are some common offense causing situations: Someone says or does something against our sense of justice, then We feel we are owed something as a result. Something good happens to someone else, and we feel the need to justify ourselves, perhaps finding something good that we’ve done or experienced as well, completely missing the opportunity to rejoice with our friend. Someone overlooks something you did, and you feel you deserve recognition. It is important to recognize that offense can be either real or perceived, but either way it is just as powerful in its hold upon our hearts. In The Bait Of Satan John Bevere makes its clear that we must recognize is that offense is always a choice. In the same way that two people can be in the same situation...
Words: 2181 - Pages: 9
...learned all I needed to know about Joseph from the book of Genesis. Reading about his life and leadership with adult eyes, and with the framework of “The Accidental Executive” by Dr. Al Erisman, a much more complex and exemplary man was discovered this quarter. The same man who wore ‘a coat of many colors’ and who was betrayed by his brothers, was the same who was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, and the leader who saw Egypt through seven years of famine. No longer simply known for cloaks and familial betrayal, I respect his testimony and leadership. I admire the man he was and hope to lead those around me the way he did. Erisman’s book is a thorough but accessible writing that uses the life of Joseph as a map of lessons we can learn in business, faith, and calling. He explains how the biblical lessons of history are still relevant in our high-tech world today and provides examples of successful people who have implemented these principles and flourished. The conclusion we can derive from his book is not merely the principles themselves that, when put into practice, will prevent obstacles from getting in our way. But rather, a foundation of ethical behavior that produces long term results. In the first chapter, Erisman describes the duality of Jacob’s nature (father of Joseph) and how it affects his entire life. He highlights Jacob as a shrewd businessman and deal-maker who remembers God in his personal life but manages to leave God out of his work life. This ultimately plays...
Words: 1804 - Pages: 8
...Paul takes time in the book of 1Corinthians to teach on Spiritual Gifts to the church of Corinth. One of his teaches read in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 as, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of services, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” Paul makes it clear the problem or question isn’t if spiritual gifts are real. Instead he focuses his teachings to explain that there are different kinds of spiritual gifts. There are more spiritual gifts than just the hot few the church focuses on. Spiritual gifts can range from teaching, giving, hospitality, wisdom, discernment, and many more. Some spiritual...
Words: 897 - Pages: 4
...jealousy can affect a relationship. Jealousy never builds up or adds any positives, it only tears things down and destroys anything good in its path. The only thing that can heal what jealousy wreaks is God’s love and forgiveness. Jacob was jealous of Esau’s birthright and blessing, so he stole both. Rachel was jealous of Leah’s ability to bear children, so she became bitter and resentful to her own sister. Joseph’s brothers were jealous that he was their father’s favorite, so they plotted to kill him. Jealousy can tear families apart as early as relationships. Jacob was his mother’s favorite and the second born. While Esau was his father’s favorite and the firstborn. In Biblical time the firstborn received the birthright and blessing from the father, Jacob would have received less than his brother. Jacob was jealous of what Esau would receive, so he decided to trick him into giving up his birthright. But jealousy is not that easy to get rid of, Jacob was not satisfied with just his brother’s birthright he wanted more. This caused him to deceive his father and steal his brother’s blessing. After stealing both Esau’s birthright and blessing, he ran away. Even after all that was done to him, Esau displayed forgiveness and love that only comes from God. He...
Words: 599 - Pages: 3
...the Fox served soup. But it was set out in a very shallow dish, and all the Stork could do was to wet the very tip of his bill. Not a drop of soup could he get. But the Fox lapped it up easily, and, to increase the disappointment of the Stork, made a great show of enjoyment. The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but he was a calm, even-tempered fellow and saw no good in...
Words: 724 - Pages: 3
...bestselling memoir, Brother, I’m Dying, Edwidge Danticat recounts the true story of her family’s personal struggles both within the “promised land” of the United States and the politically corrupt and poverty ridden context of Haiti. This memoir is a story of oppression, life, death, family, and ultimately, hope. Primarily, it deals heavily with the topic of immigration, allowing the reader to view the hot topic through a different perspective. Throughout the story, Danticat uses a number of rhetorical devices to persuade her audience that the U.S. Immigration Services are extremely corrupt and unfair at times. Specifically, she does this through telling stories that build up Uncle Joseph’s good character, establishing a Christian theme that runs throughout the memoir, and by using restraint when explaining Uncle Joseph’s experiences with the U.S. Immigration Services. Specifically in Part I of the memoir, Danticat paints a picture of Uncle Joseph that leads to the inescapable conclusion that any reasonable reader would reach: Uncle Joseph is undoubtedly an admirable, brave, and honest man. She tells various stories about him throughout that repeatedly prove how commendable he was. For instance, Danticat recounts Uncle Joseph’s experience of getting his tumor removed. She begins by remembering his voice as a child, stating, “As a child living in his house from the time I was four until I was twelve years old, I remember my uncle’s voice...
Words: 1477 - Pages: 6
