(Genesis 44:01 - 45:15)
Joseph ordered the steward of his household, "Fill their sacks to the brim and put the purchase money inside each of the sacks. In the sack of the youngest one I want you to slip in my silver drinking cup, as well as the money paid for the grain." And it was done.
When morning came, the sons of Israel mounted their donkeys and were sent on their way. After they had departed the city and had traveled some distance, Joseph told his steward, "Pursue the men and overtake them and when you do, say this to them, 'Why do you return evil for good? Why have you stolen my master's chalice that he uses for drinking and for divination. That was a wicked thing to do." The steward did overtake them and spoke the words to them he was commanded to say.
They answered him, "Why does your master say these things? Your servants would never commit such a vile deed. Look, the money we found inside our sacks we brought back -- all the way from the land of Canaan. Why on earth would we then steal your master's gold or silver? With whomever of us you find anything, let him be put to death, while the rest of us will consent to be your master's slaves."
"Let it be as you say," said the steward. "Whoever is found with the cup will become my master's slave. But the others will not be punished."
Quickly they all took down their sacks and each man opened his for inspection. The steward searched in all of them, the eldest first. In the last sack, that of the youngest, Benjamin, he discovered the silver chalice.
Tearing their clothes in despair, the brothers repacked their donkeys and traveled back to the city. Joseph was still at home when Judah and his brothers returned. They bowed and made obeisance before him.
“How did you think you could get away with this?” Joseph asked of them. "Didn't you know that I am a skilled diviner and clairvoyant?"
Judah said to him, "What can we say to you? How can we answer the charge? How can we clear ourselves? You have proved the guilt of your servant. We are your slaves, all of us, as well as the one with whom the cup was found."
"God forbid that I should do so," replied Joseph. "Only the one who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you are free to return to your father."
Judah drew near and boldly addressed the governor, "Pardon, sir, but may I have a private word with you. Please don't take offense against your servant, for you are as the Pharaoh. Master, the first time we were here, you asked us if we had a father or brother. We told you, 'Master, we have a father who's an old man and a young brother who was born when he was old. His full brother is dead so he is the only child of his mother; he is dearly loved by his father.' And you told your servants, 'Bring him here so I can take a look at him.' We suggested to my master, 'It would kill his father if his son left him.' And you told us, 'Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you will be allowed to see me no more.' When we returned to our father, we told him all that my master had said. Our father told us, 'Go back and buy us a little more grain.' And we told him, 'We can't go, unless our youngest brother accompanies us and we go together. Without him we dare not face the governor.' He replied to us, 'You know that my wife bore my only two children. One left me. You told me he was killed by a wild animal, and he was never seen again.' If you take away his brother and something happens to him, you will break his heart and drive the old man to his grave. You see, I can't return to your servant, my father, without the boy, for his life is so caught up with that of the boy, that when he sees he's not with us, we, your servants, will be responsible for breaking the old man's heart and driving him to his grave. I, your servant, gave my word to my father that I would bring him back and if I do not I will be forever shamed in the eyes of my father. Therefore, please, let me serve you instead, and let the boy go back home with his brothers. For how can I face my father without the boy with me? How can I see calamity overtake my father?"
Joseph could no longer control his emotions in the presence of those before him. He ordered, "Clear the room!" and when he was alone with his brothers, he revealed himself to them, weeping so loudly that his Egyptian servants and all in the Pharaoh's household could hear him.
"I am Joseph!" he announced to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?"
Thunderstruck at the revelation, the brothers could barely speak.
"Please, come near me," he told them. They did so and he spoke kindly to them, "I am indeed your brother Joseph whom you sold as a slave into Egypt. Don't be afraid or reproach yourself that you sold me here, for it is according to God's plan that I came here ahead you and am in a position to save your lives. Famine has been upon the land for two years and there are five more years remaining when there will be no ploughing and no harvesting. God sent me that I might preserve your lives and give you food to eat. So it was not by your doing that I came here, but by that of God, and it was He who made me like a father to the Pharaoh, the overseer of his household and the governor of Egypt."
"Now don't delay. Go back to my father and tell him that his son Joseph says, 'God has made me the master of all Egypt. Come down at once to see me. You may settle in the land of Goshen so that you can be near me. Bring your children, your grandchildren, all your flocks and herds, all that you possess. I will see to it that you are taken care of, for there are still five more years of want. Otherwise you, your household, and your livestock will perish in the famine.'"
"You have seen with your own eyes and so has your brother Benjamin that it is I who tells you this in our own native tongue. Tell my father of my success and good fortune and of all that you have witnessed in Egypt. And waste no time in bringing my father here!"
Joseph and Benjamin embraced each other and they both wept. He embraced and kissed his other brothers as well, after which they felt enough at ease to converse with him.
Notes
1. Instead of being honest and above board, Joseph resorts to trickery to bring his brother Benjamin back to Egypt. Apparently, he initially intended to be rid of other, half brothers, who, after all, had treated him ill. As long as he has the company of Benjamin, Joseph is happy to send them back to Canaan in ignorance. His ruse frames Benjamin and makes him seem a thief and an ingrate. It makes his concern for the young brother seem very selfish -- make Benjamin a slave and destroy his reputation as an honest man, just so he can be with him? In the end, Joseph reveals himself and there is a happy family reunion with everything forgiven, a classic happy ending. Joseph is exalted above the brothers who despised him and sold him into slavery, although the brothers are hardly punished for their act, which, in fact, makes it possible for them to survive the famine.
2. At this point Jehovah no longer seems an active presence and there no account of his personally communicating with or appearing before any of Abraham's tribe. He is remembered and worshiped as the manifest God, no longer a personal patron. Of course, in the account, all that happens, happens according to his will, as is expected of a legendary history interpreted in a religious context. The books of Homer, though hardly religious in nature, attribute much of what transpires to the machinations of the gods.
3. The silver chalice that is planted in Benjamin's pack was used by Joseph not only as a drinking vessel, but as a tool for divination. (Perhaps he used it for scrying, that is, staring into the water and while in a trance-like state, seeing visions upon the surface of the water.) Joseph has already shown his ability as a psychic and interpreter of dreams. He is a seer as well. He brags about this to his brothers, as if to threaten them with his powers as a wizard.
4. After Joseph reveals himself, it is odd that he asks his brothers whether his father is still alive. He had just been informed by them a short time before (hours?) that Jacob was alive and in good health.
5. Joseph seems to forgive his brothers, but this arguably not too difficult because it was their ill will that was responsible for his grand success. They sold him into slavery, but it turned out they had done him a great favor. Why shouldn’t he be magnanimous at this point?
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