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Welcome to my blog: I intend to share heartfelt writing about anything that comes to mind. |
| Week 3 Joseph Bible Study Summary Benjamin was born approximately when Joseph was around 7. He was born in Ephrath in which later became Bethlehem where Jesus was born (v.19). Ephrath means fruitful. Bethlehem means house of bread. This is also where Rachel was buried. Benoni - son of my sorrow/affliction Rachael named her son this as she was drawing her last breath Benjamin- son of my right hand Jacob changed his name to this. I wonder what affect Rueben, son of Leah, going into lay with Bilhah, Rachel's maid and Jacob's concubine, had on the entire family. (especially when Jacob found out about it) How would it affect young Joseph? What is done in secret often has a way of becoming publicly known. In yet, another family crisis, Isaac died. Jacob and Esau both buried him as they had reconciled. Rebekkah had already died at this point. According to the book of Jubilees, not part of the biblical cannon, Rebekkah had died after Jacob had returned home. I am not sure if Joseph had been able to meet his paternal grandmother or experienced her death or not after his birth. Hebron can be traced back to Abraham and in ancient Hebrew it translates to Friend. Abraham was known as the friend of God. Hebron is where Isaac lived at the time of his death. Jacob dwelt in the land of Canaan with his family, where his father was a stranger. Canaan in its sematic root means to be low, humble, subjugated. Canaan basically means "land of the captured people". Since Abraham was called out of Canaan, I find this ironic. "Abraham was called out of captivity." Let that sink in for a moment. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan) Subjugated means to bring under control and governance as a subject: conquer: to make submissive: subdue. Joseph was a bit of a tattle tale. Joseph had brought an evil report of his brothers to his father after he had been with them in a field feeding the sheep. Jacob very obviously had his favorites and didn't try to hide it. He favored Joseph far above his other sons and as a result, the other sons hated Joseph. They hated Joseph so much that they couldn't bear to even speak peacefully to him. Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors because he loved him so much. It isn't wise to show favoritism. It only breeds resentment. On the other hand, was Joseph the kind of kid that rubbed their father's favoritism in his brother's faces as kids often do? Did he manipulate his family because of this? I would imagine that Joseph's brothers thought Joseph thought of himself better than them because he was favored. They may have thought him dreaming a dream that they would bow down to him confirmed he thought he was better than them. It made them hate him even more. https://whatbiblesaying.com/what-is-a-sheaf-in-the-bible/ This is an interesting article about the significance of sheeves in the Bible. Joseph dreamed another dream about his family bowing down to him. When he told this 2nd dream to his family, his father rebuked him but observed what he said. His brothers envied him. Apparently, his mother was still alive when he dreamed this dream because Jacob mentioned her when he rebuked him. But there were 11 stars, was one of the stars representing Benjamin who hadn't been born yet? I wonder if they chalked it up to a young boys imagination. He may have liked to flaunt the fact that he was favored with his brothers especially when he was young to get his way maybe as children often do. He was spoiled and he knew it. This also may be why this family didn't receive the dreams very well. We all know that Joseph had the gift of interpreting dreams. However, did he tell his dreams and what he perceived they meant to his family? Or was there a common understanding in the society at the time of certain meanings of dream elements? It is almost like the meaning is assumed in this story the way it is presented. |
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