The Joseph Story

Within the context of the Torah, the Joseph story can be read as a transition that explains why Jacob and his family came to Egypt. However, if one looks at other texts of the Hebrew Bible, there is no mention of the Joseph story; instead, the arrival of the Israelites is said to be the result of the decision of a "father" or of "fathers" to go down do Egypt. Indeed, there are very few references to Joseph at all in the whole Hebrew Bible. Apparently, the Joseph story is not necessary for explaining why the Israelites found themselves in Egypt. The question therefore arises: Why was this story written, when, and for what audience? This volume offers an overview of the current discussion on the origins, composition, and historical contexts behind the Joseph narrative. There is a tendency to date the story (or its original version) to the Persian period, but this volume includes divergent voices about this issue. The volume also shows that scholarly discussion about the historical location of the Joseph story requires to bring together Egyptologists and biblical scholars.

Preliminary material /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter One: The Present Context of the Joseph Story /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter Two: The Syntax of the Joseph Story /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter Three: Lexicographical Notes /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter Four: The Joseph Story as Literature /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter Five: Source Analysis: Onomasticon /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter Six: Source Analysis: Plot and Style /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter Seven: Source Analysis: Conclusions /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter Eight: The Egyptian Background of the Joseph Story /Donald B. Redford -- Chapter Nine: The Date of Composition /Donald B. Redford -- Bibliography of Works Consulted /Donald B. Redford -- Indexes /Donald B. Redford.

This book offers a new assessment of the Joseph story from the perspective of the biblical laws in Leviticus 1-10. Of interest to professors and students of humanities, religion, law; also religious professionals and laypersons interested in biblical studies.

The present study investigates the function of the verbal forms in biblical Hebrew narrative, using the Joseph story (Gen. 37-50) as a corpus. It demonstrates how the 'tense', 'aspect' and 'sequentiality' function as factors in the choice of the verbal forms in both main clauses and subordinate clauses. The tense distinction past vs. non-past basically works as a factor in the choice of the freestanding conjugations, except for the stative verb, the verb with a stative sense, the passive construction, or the performative utterance. Moreover, the traditional aspectual opposition complete vs. incomplete also corresponds to QATAL (*qátal) vs. YIQTOL (*yaqtúlu). There appears to be not much difference between these oppositions in describing the function of the above verbal forms (esp. ch.2). Furthermore, the opposition non-sequential vs. sequential discriminates functionally between YIQTOL and (w,) QATAL (*qatál) in the non-past context, between QATAL and (waY)YIQTOL (*yáqtul) in the past context, and between the IMPV (coh., impv. and juss.) forms and (w,) QATAL (*qatál) in the hortatory context. In each context the former functions as a non-sequential form and the latter as a sequential form. The phenomenon of sequentiality is purely syntactical. It controls the flow of the story as a discourse function; the non-sequential form stops the flow (i.e. stand still), while the sequential form lets the story flow on. A thread of discourse is usually traced by sequential forms, but it may include non-sequential forms to signal the difference of discourse level or a discourse boundary. Or each form could play an opposite role to produce special literary effects (chs. 3-7). Finally, a verbal form in the subordinate clause is chosen not from the viewpoint of the deictic centre of the narrator, but from that of the immediate participant in the main clause (ch. 8).

Joseph learned the hard way as a brand-new coat sent his life careening wildly off course, his life twisted by his brothers' hatred. Once a prince in Canaan, now he was a slave in Egypt. But Joseph would have the last word. Because God can turn tragedy into triumph. The amazing story of Joseph has everything: intrigue, suspense, violence, forgiveness, glamour, seduction, strange dreams, and a dramatic twist at the end. It tells us that injustice cannot keep good people down. No matter how dark the past, the future can be brighter than our fondest dreams. Based on careful research, this book offers something for the whole family. Even seasoned Bible scholars will learn intriguing new facts about Joseph's world. Names, places, and customs are carefully explained in depth in supplementary material. But most of all it's loads of fun for boys and girls. Kids of all ages will thrive on these tantalizing vitamins for the soul: well-crafted stories that settle gently into their tender hearts and mold their destiny. Book jacket.

In this fully revised, second edition of Joseph, A Story of Divine Providence, Robert Longacre approaches the Joseph story as a paradigm for an approach incorporating the interests of the Old Testament scholar and critic with the interests of the contemporary textlinguist. His study seeks to explore several questions: How does one approach an ancient text? What does one hope to gain from its study? How do we orient ourselves in regard to this story? Does our orientation provide a key to our understanding of the story or does it simply hinder our approaching the story in an unbiased and objective matter? The book is comprised of four parts, the first three exploring the connection Longacre seeks to establish between textlinguistics and biblical studies. The fourth part is a constituent display of the entire Joseph pericope. This new edition of Longacre's landmark work incorporates a more user-friendly format, particularly noticeable in "Part 4: Constituent Display of Joseph." The book also includes new textlinguistic insights and updated references.

Joseph lived a life of high drama. In his youth, he had peculiar dreams. When he told his brothers that he dreamed they would all bow down to him, they took offense. In their anger they captured him and sold him as a slave. He served in the house of Potiphar in Egypt. Under Joseph's management, Potiphar grew prosperous. Potiphar's wife found Joseph handsome and desirable. She befriended him, but he kept his distance. She accused him of raping her, and he was sent to prison where for years he maintained his good character. He interpreted dreams for Pharaoh's baker and his wine taster, both who were in prison. When Pharaoh sought someone to interpret his own dream, Joseph was sent for. His interpretation of Pharaoh's dream resulted in Joseph being appointed second in power in Egypt. Joseph's brothers eventually were brought before him. He dealt shrewdly with them, withholding his true identity and forcing them to bring their entire family to Egypt from the land of Canaan. Joseph's wisdom, courage, compassion, and goodness are truly inspiring. He kept his integrity through all his trials. The story of Joseph provides encouragement to all who learn it.