†. Gen 37:29-30 . .When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that
Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes. Returning to his
brothers, he said: The boy is gone! Now, what am I to do?
Precisely where, and why, Reuben wasn't present when his brothers sold
Joseph isn't stated.
Reuben wasn't privy to his brothers' scheme to sell Joseph so he innocently
"informs" them of their kid brother's disappearance. Imagine his dismay to
discover that they, of all people, sold their own blood kin into slavery! How
in blazes is he supposed to explain that to his dad!?!
Reuben is so disturbed that he can't think straight; so his brothers, in their
characteristic cold, calculating way, devise yet another nefarious scheme.
They will stain Joseph's ornamental garment with blood and let their dad
draw his own conclusions about it.
†. Gen 37:31-32 . .Then they took Joseph's tunic, slaughtered a kid,
and dipped the tunic in the blood. They had the ornamented tunic
taken to their father, and they said: We found this. Please examine
it; is it your son's tunic or not?
So without any explanation, nor details of the circumstances leading up to
Joseph's disappearance, they let Jacob jump to his own conclusion. That
is a very, very common, and very, very human way of perpetrating a lie.
I once worked in a boatyard in San Diego, and one day at work I noticed
that a container of various sizes of nuts and bolts was missing off a work
bench. I asked the guys in the shop if anybody knew where the container
went. One of the men (who was never entirely honest) said; "Well . . so-
and-so was in here." So-and-so was in here? What's that supposed to mean?
You see, he was hoping I would jump to a conclusion about so and so; thus
removing suspicion from himself.
Let me tell you an additional detail about that guy. He was a welder, and the
sole support of his family. His welder's paycheck didn't go very far back in
the 1970's what with a mortgage, and three kids and a wife to support. So
his wife used to scrimp and pinch every penny she possibly could in order to
save a few coins in a cookie jar each month to buy her and the kids
something special once in a while. Well . . this guy was an avid
Blacksmithing hobbyist. So one day, when his wife wasn't looking, he raided
her cookie jar for money to buy a Blacksmith trade magazine.
To give you an idea of just how little his poor wife had managed to scrimp
and penny-pinch; there was only just enough money in her jar to pay for
that stupid magazine; and he took it all; every last cent. His wife was
crushed when she found out what her husband had done; and he felt no
remorse about it whatsoever; but thought it was all very humorous.
†. Gen 37:33-34 . . He recognized it, and said: My son's tunic! A
savage beast devoured him! Joseph was torn by a beast! Jacob rent
his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many
days.
This is the very first mention of sackcloth in the Bible. It's a rough, coarse
material like burlap commonly used for packaging grain in bags. Though an
inexpensive fabric, it's prickly and chafes the skin so it's not really suitable
for undergarments. Exactly where Jacob got the idea to abuse himself like
that is unknown; but it's common in the Old Testament: mostly donned as
an outer garment rather than under.
If Joseph was "torn" then why was his tunic still in one piece? It's not
uncommon for carnivorous beasts like grizzly bears to devour a portion of
people's clothing right along with their flesh.
Well . . poor Jacob is so overcome with grief over the loss of his favorite son
that his logic chip just simply overheated and crashed. People who are
gravely upset sometimes have trouble finding their car keys even if they're
right inside their own pants pocket.
†. Gen 37:35a . . All his sons and daughters sought to comfort him
All his "sons and daughters" would include not only Dinah and the eleven
brothers, but also Jacob's daughters-in-law and his grandchildren. Since
there really is no word in ancient Hebrew for grandchildren, the English
words sons, and daughters are ambiguous and can just as easily mean the
very next of kin, and/or grandkids and great grandkids.
†. Gen 37:35b . . but he refused to be comforted, saying: No, I will
go down to the netherworld mourning for my son.
The Hebrew word translated "netherworld" is sheol; and this is its first
appearance in the Bible. Sheol is sometimes translated grave, sometimes
hell, sometimes netherworld, and sometimes not translated at all but left as
is in Hebrew; presumably to avoid controversy.
By comparing Ps 16:10 with Acts 2:27 it's easily determined that the Hebrew
sheol and the koiné Greek haides are one and the same place. Thus it
becomes that sheol is properly understood as the afterlife rather than the
grave. And so it is that Abraham and Lazarus were in sheol right along with
the rich man in Luke 16:19-31, only their part of sheol is a lot more
accommodating than the rich man's. In point of fact, the Lord depicted their
part of sheol as paradise. (Luke 23:43)
Another really good indicator of sheol's situation is located in the little
prophecy of Jonah; which I'll explain in the next posting.
†. Gen 37:35c . .Thus his father bewailed him.
Sometimes it's really best to leave people alone and let them grieve through
their loss. Many a well-meaning "comforter" has only succeeded in making
matters worse by attempting to talk friends out of their grief with good
intentioned, but nevertheless; air-headed philosophical musings. And people
who stifle their grief are only forestalling the inevitable. One day, possibly
when they least expect it, and quite possibly inconveniently, it will catch up
to them.
†. Gen 37:36 . .The Midianites, meanwhile, sold him in Egypt to
Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh, and his chief steward.
Although slavery normally isn't a blessing, in this case Joseph couldn't have
been sold into a better situation. Potiphar was well-connected instead of just
another plantation owner who would work Joseph to the bone;
undernourished, inadequately housed, and poorly clothed.
Courtiers were typically royalty's personal assistants and performed a
variety of duties. Potiphar was "chief steward". The Hebrew words means
boss of the butchers; an ambiguous term which implies not just slaughtering
and/or cooking animals for food, but also supervising capital punishments,
and/or supervising Pharaoh's personal bodyguards along with the oversight
of his own private jails; especially jails for political prisoners.
Cont.
/
Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes. Returning to his
brothers, he said: The boy is gone! Now, what am I to do?
Precisely where, and why, Reuben wasn't present when his brothers sold
Joseph isn't stated.
Reuben wasn't privy to his brothers' scheme to sell Joseph so he innocently
"informs" them of their kid brother's disappearance. Imagine his dismay to
discover that they, of all people, sold their own blood kin into slavery! How
in blazes is he supposed to explain that to his dad!?!
Reuben is so disturbed that he can't think straight; so his brothers, in their
characteristic cold, calculating way, devise yet another nefarious scheme.
They will stain Joseph's ornamental garment with blood and let their dad
draw his own conclusions about it.
†. Gen 37:31-32 . .Then they took Joseph's tunic, slaughtered a kid,
and dipped the tunic in the blood. They had the ornamented tunic
taken to their father, and they said: We found this. Please examine
it; is it your son's tunic or not?
So without any explanation, nor details of the circumstances leading up to
Joseph's disappearance, they let Jacob jump to his own conclusion. That
is a very, very common, and very, very human way of perpetrating a lie.
I once worked in a boatyard in San Diego, and one day at work I noticed
that a container of various sizes of nuts and bolts was missing off a work
bench. I asked the guys in the shop if anybody knew where the container
went. One of the men (who was never entirely honest) said; "Well . . so-
and-so was in here." So-and-so was in here? What's that supposed to mean?
You see, he was hoping I would jump to a conclusion about so and so; thus
removing suspicion from himself.
Let me tell you an additional detail about that guy. He was a welder, and the
sole support of his family. His welder's paycheck didn't go very far back in
the 1970's what with a mortgage, and three kids and a wife to support. So
his wife used to scrimp and pinch every penny she possibly could in order to
save a few coins in a cookie jar each month to buy her and the kids
something special once in a while. Well . . this guy was an avid
Blacksmithing hobbyist. So one day, when his wife wasn't looking, he raided
her cookie jar for money to buy a Blacksmith trade magazine.
To give you an idea of just how little his poor wife had managed to scrimp
and penny-pinch; there was only just enough money in her jar to pay for
that stupid magazine; and he took it all; every last cent. His wife was
crushed when she found out what her husband had done; and he felt no
remorse about it whatsoever; but thought it was all very humorous.
†. Gen 37:33-34 . . He recognized it, and said: My son's tunic! A
savage beast devoured him! Joseph was torn by a beast! Jacob rent
his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many
days.
This is the very first mention of sackcloth in the Bible. It's a rough, coarse
material like burlap commonly used for packaging grain in bags. Though an
inexpensive fabric, it's prickly and chafes the skin so it's not really suitable
for undergarments. Exactly where Jacob got the idea to abuse himself like
that is unknown; but it's common in the Old Testament: mostly donned as
an outer garment rather than under.
If Joseph was "torn" then why was his tunic still in one piece? It's not
uncommon for carnivorous beasts like grizzly bears to devour a portion of
people's clothing right along with their flesh.
Well . . poor Jacob is so overcome with grief over the loss of his favorite son
that his logic chip just simply overheated and crashed. People who are
gravely upset sometimes have trouble finding their car keys even if they're
right inside their own pants pocket.
†. Gen 37:35a . . All his sons and daughters sought to comfort him
All his "sons and daughters" would include not only Dinah and the eleven
brothers, but also Jacob's daughters-in-law and his grandchildren. Since
there really is no word in ancient Hebrew for grandchildren, the English
words sons, and daughters are ambiguous and can just as easily mean the
very next of kin, and/or grandkids and great grandkids.
†. Gen 37:35b . . but he refused to be comforted, saying: No, I will
go down to the netherworld mourning for my son.
The Hebrew word translated "netherworld" is sheol; and this is its first
appearance in the Bible. Sheol is sometimes translated grave, sometimes
hell, sometimes netherworld, and sometimes not translated at all but left as
is in Hebrew; presumably to avoid controversy.
By comparing Ps 16:10 with Acts 2:27 it's easily determined that the Hebrew
sheol and the koiné Greek haides are one and the same place. Thus it
becomes that sheol is properly understood as the afterlife rather than the
grave. And so it is that Abraham and Lazarus were in sheol right along with
the rich man in Luke 16:19-31, only their part of sheol is a lot more
accommodating than the rich man's. In point of fact, the Lord depicted their
part of sheol as paradise. (Luke 23:43)
Another really good indicator of sheol's situation is located in the little
prophecy of Jonah; which I'll explain in the next posting.
†. Gen 37:35c . .Thus his father bewailed him.
Sometimes it's really best to leave people alone and let them grieve through
their loss. Many a well-meaning "comforter" has only succeeded in making
matters worse by attempting to talk friends out of their grief with good
intentioned, but nevertheless; air-headed philosophical musings. And people
who stifle their grief are only forestalling the inevitable. One day, possibly
when they least expect it, and quite possibly inconveniently, it will catch up
to them.
†. Gen 37:36 . .The Midianites, meanwhile, sold him in Egypt to
Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh, and his chief steward.
Although slavery normally isn't a blessing, in this case Joseph couldn't have
been sold into a better situation. Potiphar was well-connected instead of just
another plantation owner who would work Joseph to the bone;
undernourished, inadequately housed, and poorly clothed.
Courtiers were typically royalty's personal assistants and performed a
variety of duties. Potiphar was "chief steward". The Hebrew words means
boss of the butchers; an ambiguous term which implies not just slaughtering
and/or cooking animals for food, but also supervising capital punishments,
and/or supervising Pharaoh's personal bodyguards along with the oversight
of his own private jails; especially jails for political prisoners.
Cont.
/
