Genesis Collection • Exhibit 8 of 8
Joseph was the son of Jacob and Rachel whose life occupies much of the closing portion of Genesis. Favored by his father, hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, Joseph eventually stood before Pharaoh and was raised to authority over Egypt. Through famine and family reconciliation, the young man once thrown into a pit became the means by which God preserved many lives.
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Joseph's story begins with family tension but develops into one of Genesis's clearest accounts of divine providence working through betrayal, injustice, waiting, wisdom and forgiveness.
Joseph was seventeen years old when Genesis 37 introduces him tending the flock with his brothers. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other children because he was the son of his old age. See Genesis 37:2–3.
Jacob made Joseph a special tunic. When his brothers saw their father's special love for Joseph, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. See Genesis 37:3–4.
Joseph dreamed that his brothers' sheaves bowed to his sheaf. In another dream the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. His brothers envied him, while his father kept the matter in mind. See Genesis 37:5–11.
When Joseph came to his brothers near Dothan, they plotted against him. Reuben sought to rescue him, and Joseph was stripped of his tunic and placed in an empty pit. See Genesis 37:12–24.
Joseph's brothers sold him for twenty shekels of silver to traders traveling toward Egypt. They then deceived Jacob into believing Joseph had been killed. See Genesis 37:25–35.
Joseph was sold in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Genesis repeatedly emphasizes that the LORD was with Joseph, and Potiphar placed him over his household. See Genesis 39:1–6.
When Potiphar's wife repeatedly tried to entice Joseph, he refused. After he fled, leaving his garment behind, she falsely accused him and Joseph was imprisoned. See Genesis 39:7–20.
Even in prison, Genesis says the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy. Joseph was given responsibility over the other prisoners. See Genesis 39:21–23.
In prison Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker. Two years later Pharaoh himself had troubling dreams that none of Egypt's wise men could interpret. The butler remembered Joseph. Brought quickly from prison, Joseph made clear that the interpretation did not originate with him: God would give Pharaoh an answer. Joseph explained that seven years of great abundance would be followed by seven years of severe famine and advised Pharaoh to prepare during the years of plenty.
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered Pharaoh's service. In only thirteen years, the seventeen-year-old sold by his brothers had passed through slavery and prison to stand before the ruler of Egypt. See Genesis 41:46.
Pharaoh placed Joseph over his house and over the land of Egypt, gave him his signet ring and clothed him in fine linen. Pharaoh declared that without Joseph's consent no one would lift hand or foot in Egypt. See Genesis 41:39–44.
During the seven years of abundance Joseph gathered and stored enormous quantities of grain in preparation for the famine God had revealed through Pharaoh's dreams. See Genesis 41:47–49.
Before the famine, Joseph and Asenath had two sons. Joseph named the first Manasseh and the second Ephraim. They later received a special place within Jacob's family. See Genesis 41:50–52; 48.
When famine reached Canaan, Jacob sent Joseph's brothers to Egypt to buy grain. They bowed before Joseph without recognizing him, bringing Joseph's earlier dreams into the narrative again. See Genesis 42.
Through a series of encounters Joseph tested his brothers, especially regarding Benjamin. Judah's willingness to remain as a servant in Benjamin's place revealed a striking change from the brothers who had once sold Joseph. See Genesis 43–44.
Joseph could no longer restrain himself. He sent the Egyptians from the room and revealed his identity to his brothers. Rather than presenting his survival merely as human fortune, Joseph interpreted the events through God's providence: God had sent him ahead to preserve life. Joseph instructed his brothers to bring Jacob and the entire household to Egypt, where they settled in the land of Goshen.
Joseph's story closes the patriarchal movement of Genesis and explains how Jacob's family came to live in Egypt. His life demonstrates that circumstances which appear disastrous in one moment may later become part of a much larger purpose. Joseph experienced betrayal, slavery, temptation, false accusation, imprisonment and long waiting, yet Genesis repeatedly says that the LORD was with him. When Joseph finally possessed power over those who had harmed him, the story moves toward reconciliation and preservation rather than revenge.
Genesis and the Patriarchs
From Creation and Eden through Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, the Genesis collection has carried the visitor from the beginning of the biblical story to the family of Israel living in Egypt. The closing words of Genesis leave Joseph's descendants in Egypt and prepare the biblical story for what comes next — Exodus and Moses.