This week, even though we have 13 chapters to go in the book
of Genesis, we start to see the end of the book coming into view. Joseph takes
center stage, in his multi-colored coat, and as he stands there, we can already
imagine our people in Egypt. The descent has begun.
Themes from the previous generations repeat themselves, but
in a more symbolic and dramatic way. The older sons will serve the younger, as
in the previous generation. But instead of a mother learning this from a
consultation with God, as Rivka did regarding her sons, Joseph himself learns
this prophecy through a series of dreams which he describes to his brothers. And
his brothers know the meaning of the dreams immediately.
The younger child is favored again here, and it is
symbolized outwardly by the multi-colored coat Jacob gives to Joseph. While Jacob’s
aggrieved brother unsuccessfully ran after him to kill him, here the brothers
seem much more bloodthirsty. In the end, they sell their brother into slavery
and dramatize their brother’s death, showing their father a bloody tunic.
The theme of deception continues here – remember Jacob
wearing animal skins to deceive his father Isaac? Now Tamar changes her clothes
and poses as a prostitute to seduce her father-in-law Judah and bear a son to
carry on the family line.
And speaking of clothes, this is a huge theme too –
disguise, special clothes, and the stripping of those clothes. We already
mentioned Joseph’s coat, and Tamar’s costume change. Joseph is stripped of his
coat and thrown in a pit. Then, when Potiphar’s wife seduces Joseph, she strips him, and then he
runs away, leaving his garment in her hand.
This cycle of Joseph seems to be distinguished from what
came before by this emphasis on the meaning of external things– clothes and
symbols. Dreams happen inside characters’ heads, but they are interpreted as predicting
concrete, external events. Previously, God brought messages to people in their
dreams or spoke to them when they were awake. In these chapters, we know that “God
is with Joseph” because of his outward success, first in Potiphar’s house and
then in prison.
What do we make of this shift to a story related through
symbols? Are we reading something more allegorical? Something more shallow? Less
nuanced? Where is the depth in this story?
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