JOSEPH & LIBERATION
Joseph seems to me to be both one of the most mature and the most free person in the Hebrew Bible. He is liberated because he lives his unique purpose as embodied in his Egyptian name and his delivery system that saves his people and the Egyptians from famine (yes I know that his activities can be construed as a land grab for the Pharoah). He is the most mature as evidenced by his relationship with his father, his brothers and his life as a whole.
Joseph is given the Egyptian name Zaphenath-paneah. The name means something like “God speaks, he lives” or “Creator of life” or “He who explains what is hidden” (Rashi). (Genesis 41:45) This is a mythopoetic name, following Plotkin, (see Journey to Soul Initiation) like Jacob becoming Israel, Godwrestler; it isn’t an occupational name like Smith, Miller or Schneider (which means tailor). The name describes (or attempts to) who Joseph is at his deepest level; the creator of life who creates life for his people by saving them from famine.
Joseph is able to develop a delivery system that fulfills his mythopoetic identity. It is an arduous task to figure out how to embody that name once you return to your home from your wandering; this is a task at which Jacob apparently fails to even attempt. But Joseph is given the delivery system as part of his interpretation of Pharoah’s dream and lays it out in three short verses (Genesis 41:33-36). This is the system of putting grain by in the years of plenty against the years of famine to follow. Joseph is going to be a creator of life by saving people from dying in a famine by storing grain from the surplus of the seven fat years and thus not having people die from starvation. That’s the delivery system. Amazingly clear. Speaking for my own struggles in developing and implementing a delivery system, the ease with which Joseph does this is mind boggling.
Joseph is one of the most mature figures in the Hebrew Bible as judged by his relationship to his brothers, his father, and his life as a whole.
Joseph has had a long time to think about how he is going to reunite with his family. He finally reveals himself after Judah comes forward and pleads with Joseph not to imprison Benjamin and eloquently offers to take Benjamin’s place as a slave (Genesis 44:18-34). When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, he says “I am your brother Joseph, he whom you sold into slavery into Egypt. Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourself because you sold me hither; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you….God has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival on earth and to save your lives in extraordinary deliverance. So it was not you who sent me here, but God.” (45:5-8).
Joseph has forgiven his brothers for all the evil they have done to him selling him into slavery because he has been able to mature and learn from the experiences. Forgiveness does not mean that what was done to you was acceptable or necessarily well intentioned or all for the best. Joseph’s brothers meant him ill. But forgiveness is about the forgiver, not the forgiven. And the next step after forgiveness is that you are free to mature beyond the pain that others have caused you. And that’s what Joseph does.
If we look at Joseph’s relationship with Jacob, it feels mutual and content. Jacob bows to him (Genesis 47:31) after Joseph swears to him that he will take him up and bury him at Machpelah with his ancestors. And Joseph bows to Jacob when he introduces his children (Genesis 48:12). Joseph is the one who takes over and handles the burial details when Jacob dies, as if he is the eldest, instead of the 11nth son. He arranges for the embalmment and then the internment in Machpelah with Jacob’s parents and grandparents. Joseph seems to feel secure in his role both in an Egyptian context and in a Hebrew one.
Joseph seems content with his life and his death is uneventful, especially compared to Jacob’s death. His brothers are obviously fearful after Jacob’s death, so they make up this terrible story that Jacob said on his deathbed that Joseph should forgive them for all the ways they wronged him back in Canaan. Then they offer to be his slaves! (Genesis 50:15-18) But Joseph simply reiterates that it is all for the good and that he will take care of them. “Have no fear. Am I a substitute for God? Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.” (Genesis 50:19-20). His last wish is that his bones are returned to Canaan when the Hebrews return to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A full life
Joseph and his Brothers