This is the third and final entry for the portions which cover the Yoseph Novella. We began with The Godly Shepherd, in which we saw Yoseph's brothers turn on him when he tried to hold his brothers accountable for their abusing and slaughtering of the sheep that had been left in their care. Then in The Lament, we saw the brothers in Egypt, face to face with the viceroy of the Empire, not knowing they were standing yet again in their own brother's presence.
This entry is a retelling of Genesis 44:18-34 which takes the last two entries into account. What remains consistent is that it is still Yehuda's redemption moment, his heartfelt plea in which he offers up himself in place of his brother.
A brief commentary follows, with corresponding numbers of comment in the body.
Then Yoseph said to them, “What have you done! Did you not know that a man such as I has the power of divination?”
Then Yehudah said to him, “What can we say to our Lord? We have no defense! For my Lord has uncovered his servants’ crime. Look! We shall now be slaves to my Lord; Not only the one in whose hand has the chalice been found, but all of us!”
And Yoseph said, “Profanity! Far be it form me to do such a thing! Only the man in whose hand the chalice was found, he shall be my slave for the betrayal after all the kindness I showed; The rest of you, go up in peace to your father.”
But then Yehudah advanced forward in supplication, bowing low to the ground; And therefore, what the guards could not see, beneath his robe, his hand taking ahold of his dagger.(1)
And he said,
“Please, my Lord, may your servant speak something into the ears of my Lord, and may your nostrils not smoke with anger! For you wield the very authority of Pharaoh!
We have told you that our father is very old, with a little boy beloved of his old age, whose brother had died. So this young one was left alone of the sons of his mother, who was the most beloved of all the wives of our father.
My lord, forgive us- for I am compelled to recall our offenses today(2). Should it cost us our life, so be it, we deserve no better. I hope only for the life of your servant, my father.
It has been 13 years since we have seen our younger brother. As far as our father knows, he has been shredded to shreds by a beast(3); And every single day of those years, with tears our father has soaked his bed by night and his beard by day. He rips at his clothes, pulls at his hair, gashes himself while crying out “I am cursed by the gods!”
If only it were so! For the truth is far worse. It is not the gods, but us, his own sons, who have brought this torment and misery upon his head.
For it has been three generations since the god with whom our great-grandfather walked showed him a different way, one unbeknownst to man. For that day upon the mount, our grandfather was moments away from offering up a ram as a gift. And it was on that day when he and his father were truly given a glimpse of the will of our god. For they were shown the Way-of-Life(3); the only path by which our elohim can be approached. And so the ram’s life was spared(4). And henceforth, my great-grandfather never took the life of the innocent again. Nor did my grandfather- for a time. But throughout the years, the power of the memory of that moment faded. And it was our uncle who had a thirst for blood. As my grandfather aged and his mind and his sight dulled, our uncle would feed him of the flesh torn from the innocent, even as our god watched on in frustration and sadness. Our family became abomination.
But our father remembered. He always remembered. And while his brother used the aroma of cooking-flesh to become the beloved of the two, our father dwelled quietly, innocently, and humbly in tents(5). He put forth his hand against no one; He caused no harm, and in following the Way, he walked with El. It was he who helped his father to see again, and to remember that fateful day upon the mount.
And then our father, in accordance with the wishes and demands of his god, raised us, too, in accordance with the Way-of-Life.
But may our god forgive us; For like our uncle, we too veered off of the Way. And our father, full of ill-placed faith and trust, gave his flock into our hands, depending on us for their protection, their well-being, and the guardianship of their lives. While shepherding, far away from our father and our god, we were seduced by the profit we saw of others. And rather than be able to turn to us for sanctuary, we became to the sheep as wolves. And we stained our hands with blood.
But there was one amongst us who never veered. The firstborn of the beloved of all of my fathers’ wives; Our brother who was lost. With his ill-report(6), we would be disgraced. And we would bring the wrath of our father and our god upon ourselves. My Lord, you cannot imagine the shame and the fear. And we lost ourselves. We conspired against our brother. We beat him. We sold him into slavery, and we ourselves brought the ill-report to our father, that "shredded to shreds is Yoseph!"
It was too late when we realized the disgrace of our ways and sought to make amends. Though we did find our way back to the Way-of-Life, and no innocent life has been lost by our hands since that day. We eat lentils(7), as our brother did, and his father before him; And the sheep look to us as their friends and their protectors, just as our father, and our god, intended.
But my lord, our father continues to suffer. He has neither slept nor smiled in 13 years. The sounds of his cries have given our ears no rest; we hear their sorrowful echo ringing in our ears even as we tend the sheep afar. Should we return to him without his youngest, with whom his very life is now bound up, we will send the gray hair of our father in sorrow to the depths of Sheol.
My lord, your servants are before you today, deserving of death. Take us, and do to us as you will. Slavery, death- whatever you come up with will still not be as we truly deserve, for surely we are the most accursed of men.
But my Lord, I implore you release our youngest, that he may return to our father and bring him what little comfort he can while he remains. Do to us as you will, but allow our father to experience this little bit of kindness, amidst a life of loss and sorrow. I would die here and now if I thought that yet more pain would fall upon my father”.
And as Yoseph heard his brother’s final words, with tears coming to his eyes, he was no longer able to hold himself back.
Commentary
(1) Advanced forward... clutching his dagger - In this version, Yehuda is holding onto a dagger as he bows before Yoseph. This is to emphasize one of the possible interpretations of the Hebrew term, ויגש, he approached, a word that can also be used in the context of someone aggressively approaching someone to do violence (Then Yoav and his people advanced forward (ויגש) to wage war against Aram, and they fled before him. 2Sam10:13). Perhaps, if Yoseph would not agree, Yehuda would depend on divine support and try to fight his way out, to get his brother to safety.
(2) Recall my offenses today - A return of the very words uttered by the cup-bearer, when he finally tells Pharaoh about the Hebrew slave who can interpret dreams. In both places, this line is introduced by a character who has something to say about Yoseph that should have been said long ago.
(3) Way-of-Life - This term is taken from a lovely line from Psalm 16.11, "You lead me in the Way-of-Life. I am satiated with joy before your face, pleasantness in your right hand forever!" It is the climax to a prayer in which the poet hopes for divine protection after having been loyal and faithful to Yahweh. Noteworthy is verse 4, where the poet distances himself from the repulsive practices of those worshipping gods of bloodlust. Hundreds of years later, the early followers of Yeshua of Nazareth would refer to themselves as followers of The Way (see Acts 9.2, 19.9 for example), which can be said to be echoed in our designation for the lifestyle of those dedicated to Yahweh; those striving to walk in accordance with The Way, or The Way-of-Life, the only path that leads to El-Hayyim, the El-of-Life.
(4) Shredded to shreds - The very words the brothers heard Yisrael cry out in anguish when he was shown Yoseph's blood-stained garment.
(5) See Returning to Eden for our take on this story.
(6) Innocent... dwelled in tents - This echoes the very description of their father, Yisrael, who was a peaceful man, dwelling in tents (Gen 25.27), in stark contrast to the brother Esau who was always out hunting. Yoseph, more than any of his brothers, is truly the son of his father.
(7) Ill-report - The Hebrew for this would be דבה, or dibah, the same word discussed in the commentary in The Godly Shepherd.
(8) Lentils - echoing Gen. 25:34. Esau hunts animals. Yisrael eats lentils. See our take in A Justified Conspiracy.
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