Bourgeois Joseph recognized by his brothers

Vayigash or Vaigash (, the first word of the

parashah The term ''parashah'', ''parasha'' or ''parashat'' ( ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian , Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book ...

) is the eleventh

weekly Torah portion The weekly Torah portion refers to a lectionary custom in Judaism in which a portion of the Torah (or Pentateuch) is read during Jewish prayer services on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The full name, ''Parashat HaShavua'' (), is popularly abbre ...

(, ''parashah'') in the annual

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

cycle of

Torah reading Torah reading (; ') is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) from the Torah ark, chanting the ap ...

. It constitutes

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

44:18–47:27. In this parashah, Judah pleads on behalf of his brother

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

reveals himself to his brothers,

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

comes down to

Biblical Egypt Biblical Egypt (; ''Mīṣrāyīm''), or Mizraim, is a Theology, theological term used by historians and scholars to differentiate between Ancient Egypt as it is portrayed in Judeo-Christian texts and what is known about the region based on archae ...

, and Joseph's administration of Egypt saves lives but transforms all the Egyptians into serfs. The parashah is made up of 5680 Hebrew letters, 1480 Hebrew words, 106 verses, and 178 lines in a

sefer Torah file:SeferTorah.jpg, A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema file:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG, An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Inte ...

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

read it the eleventh

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

after

Simchat Torah Simchat Torah (; Ashkenazi: ), also spelled Simhat Torah, is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simchat Torah is a component of the Hebrew Bible ...

, generally in December or early January.

Readings

In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or , '' aliyot''. In the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

of the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' peh'')). Parashah Vayigash has three, lesser, "closed portion" (, ''setumah'') divisions (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (''

samekh Samekh or samech is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician ''sāmek'' 𐤎, Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew ''sāmeḵ'' , Aramaic alphabet, Aramaic ''samek'' 𐡎, and Syriac alphabet, Syr ...

'')). The first closed portion includes the first four readings and part of the fifth reading. The second closed portion includes the rest of the fifth reading. And the third closed portion includes the sixth and seventh readings.

First reading—Genesis 44:18–30

In the first reading, Judah approached Joseph, whom he likened to

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

, and recounted how Joseph had asked the 10 brothers whether they had a father or brother, and they had told him that they had a father who was an old man (Jacob), and a child of his old age who was a little one (Benjamin), whose brother was dead, who alone was left of his mother (

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

), and whose father loved him. Judah recalled how Joseph had told the brothers to bring their younger brother down to Egypt, they had told Joseph that the lad's leaving would kill his father, but Joseph had insisted. Judah recalled how the brothers had told their father Joseph's words, and when their father had told them to go again to buy a little food, they had reminded him that they could not go down without their youngest brother. Judah recounted how their father had told them that his wife had borne him two sons, one had gone out and was torn in pieces, and if they took the youngest and harm befell him, it would bring down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Judah began to explain to Joseph what would happen if Judah were to come to his father without the lad, seeing that his father's soul was bound up with the lad's. The first reading ends here.

Second reading—Genesis 44:31–45:7

In the second reading, Judah told Joseph that if Judah were to come to his father without the lad, then his father would die in sorrow. And Judah told how he had become surety for the lad, and thus asked Joseph to allow him to remain a bondman to Joseph instead of the lad, for how could he go up to his father if the lad was not with him? Joseph could no longer control his emotions and ordered everyone but his brothers to leave the room. He wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. Joseph told his brothers that he was Joseph, and asked them whether his father was still alive, but his brothers were too frightened to answer him. Joseph asked them to come near, told them that he was Joseph their brother whom they had sold into Egypt, but that they should not be grieved, for

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

had sent Joseph before them to preserve life. Joseph recounted how for two years there had been famine in the land, but there would be five more years without harvests. But God had sent him before them to save them alive for a great deliverance. The second reading ends here.

Third reading—Genesis 45:8–18

In the third reading, Joseph told his brothers that it was not they who sent him to Egypt, but God, who had made him ruler over all Egypt. Joseph thus directed them to go quickly to his father and convey that God had made him lord of all Egypt and his father should come down to live in the

land of Goshen The land of Goshen (, ''ʾEreṣ Gōšen'') is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the area in Egypt that was allotted to the Hebrews by the Pharaoh during the time of Joseph (Book of Genesis, ). They dwelt in Goshen up until the time of the Exo ...

and Joseph would sustain him for the five years of famine. And Joseph and his brother Benjamin wept on each other's necks, Joseph kissed all his brothers and wept upon them, and after that, his brothers talked with him. The report went through Pharaoh's house that Joseph's brothers had come, and it pleased Pharaoh. Pharaoh directed Joseph to tell his brothers to go to

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

and bring their father and their households back to Egypt. The third reading ends here.

Fourth reading—Genesis 45:19–27

Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 043

In the fourth reading, Joseph gave his brothers wagons and provisions for the way, and to each man he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave 300

shekel A shekel or sheqel (; , , plural , ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35 ozt)—and became currency in ancient Tyre, Carthage and Hasmonean Judea. Name The wo ...

s of silver and five changes of clothes. And Joseph sent his father ten donkeys laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten donkeys laden with food. So Joseph sent his brothers away, enjoining them not to fall out on the way. The brothers went to their father Jacob in Canaan and told him that Joseph was still alive and ruled over Egypt, but he did not believe them. They told him what Joseph had said, and when Jacob saw the wagons that Joseph had sent, Jacob revived. The fourth reading ends here.

Fifth reading—Genesis 45:28–46:27

In the long fifth reading, Jacob said that he would go to see Joseph before he died. Jacob journeyed to

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

with all that he had and offered

sacrifices Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks ...

to God. God spoke to Jacob in a dream, saying that Jacob should not fear to go to Egypt, for God would go with him, make a great nation of him, and also surely bring him back. Jacob's sons carried him, their little ones, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent. They took their

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

and their goods and came to Egypt, Jacob, and his entire family. The first closed portion ends here. The continuation of the fifth reading lists the names of Jacob's family, 70 men in all, including Joseph and his two children. The long fifth reading and the second closed portion end here.

Sixth reading—Genesis 46:28–47:10

Tissot Joseph and His Brethren Welcomed by Pharaoh

In the sixth reading, Jacob sent Judah before him to show the way to Goshen. Joseph went up to Goshen in his

chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...

to meet Jacob, and fell on his neck and wept. Jacob told Joseph that now he could die, since he had seen Joseph's face. Joseph told his brothers that he would go tell Pharaoh that his brothers had come, that they kept cattle, and that they had brought their flocks, herds, and all their possessions. Joseph instructed them that when Pharaoh asked them their occupation, they should say that they were keepers of cattle, for

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

s were an abomination to the Egyptians. Joseph told Pharaoh that his family had arrived in the land of Goshen, and presented five of his brothers to Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked the brothers what their occupation was, and they told Pharaoh that they were shepherds and asked to live in the land of Goshen. Pharaoh told Joseph that his family could live in the best of the land, in Goshen, and if he knew any able men among them, then he could appoint them to watch over Pharaoh's cattle. Joseph set Jacob before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked Jacob how old he was, and Jacob answered that he was 130 years old and that few and evil had been the years of his life. Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left. The sixth reading ends here.

Seventh reading—Genesis 47:11–27

In the seventh reading, Joseph placed his father and brothers in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded, and sustained them with bread while the famine became sore in the land. Joseph gathered all the money in Egypt and Canaan selling grain and brought the money into Pharaoh's house. When the Egyptians exhausted their money and asked Joseph for bread, Joseph sold them bread in exchange for all their animals. When they had no more animals, they offered to sell their land to Joseph and become bondmen in exchange for bread. So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh—except for that of the priests, who had a portion from Pharaoh—and in exchange for seed, Joseph made all the Egyptians bondmen. At harvest time, Joseph collected for Pharaoh a fifth part of all the people harvested. In the ''maftir'' () reading that concludes the parashah,See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, ''Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Bereishis/Genesis'', page 294. it continued as a statute in Egypt that Pharaoh should have a fifth of all produced outside of the priests' land. And Israel lived in Egypt, in the land of Goshen, accumulated possessions, and was fruitful and multiplied. The seventh reading and the parashah end here.

Readings according to the triennial cycle

Jews who read the Torah according to the

triennial cycle The Triennial cycle of Torah reading may refer to either * The historical practice in ancient Israel by which the entire Torah was read in serial fashion over a three-year period, or * The practice adopted by many Reform, Conservative, Reconstruct ...

of Torah reading read the parashah according to the following schedule:

In ancient parallels

The parashah has parallels in these ancient sources:

Genesis chapter 45

Gerhard von Rad Gerhard von Rad (21 October 1901 – 31 October 1971) was a German academic, Old Testament scholar, Lutheran theologian, exegete, and professor at the University of Heidelberg. Early life, education, career Gerhard von Rad was born in Nu ...

argued that the Joseph narrative is closely related to earlier Egyptian wisdom writings. Von Rad likened the theology of Joseph's statement to his brothers in Genesis 45:5–8, “And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. . . . So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and odmade me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt,” to that of Amenemope, who said, “That which men propose is one thing; what God does is another,” and “God’s life is achievement, but man’s is denial.”Gerhard von Rad, "Joseph Narrative and Ancient Wisdom,” in ''Problem of the Hexateuch'', pages 296–98.

In inner-Biblical interpretation

The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources:

Genesis chapter 44

In Genesis 44:19–23, Judah retells the events first told in Genesis 42:7–20.

Genesis chapter 45

Von Rad likened Joseph's magnanimity in Genesis 45:4–5 to that of

Proverbs A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial ...

24:29, which counsels: "Say not: 'I will do so to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.'" And Von Rad likened the theology of Joseph's statement to his brothers in Genesis 45:5–8, "And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. . . . So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and odmade me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt," to that of Proverbs 16:9, "A man's heart devises his way; but the Lord directs his steps"; Proverbs 19:21, "There are many devices in a man's heart; but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand"; Proverbs 20:24, "A man's goings are of the Lord; how then can man look to his way?"; and Proverbs 21:30–31, "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. The horse is prepared against the day of battle; but victory is of the Lord." Joseph's explanation in Genesis 45:5 that God sent him to Egypt before his brothers to preserve life finds an echo in Genesis 50:20, where Joseph told his brothers that they meant evil against him, but God meant it for good to save the lives of many people. Similarly,

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

105:16–17 reports that God called a famine upon the land and sent Joseph before the children of Israel.

Genesis chapter 47

Jacob's blessing of Pharaoh in Genesis 47:7 echoes the promise of Genesis 12:3, 22:18, 26:4, and 28:14 that through

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

's descendants would other families of the earth be blessed. The report of Genesis 47:27 that the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied finds an echo in Exodus 1:7.

In early nonrabbinic interpretation

The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:

Genesis chapter 44

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...

observed that having attained authority and presented with the opportunity to avenge his brothers' ill-treatment of him, Joseph nonetheless bore what happened with self-restraint and governed himself.

Genesis chapter 47

Philo read Jacob's words in Genesis 47:9, "The days of the years of my life which I spend here as a sojourner have been few and evil; they have not come up to the days of my fathers which they spent as Sojourners," to support the general proposition that the Torah represents the wise people whom it mentions as sojourners whose souls are sent down from heaven to earth as to a foreign land. Philo taught that wise people see themselves as sojourners in a foreign land—the body perceptible by the senses—and view the virtues appreciable by the intellect as their native land.

In classical rabbinic interpretation

The parashah is discussed in these

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

nic sources from the era of the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

and the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

Genesis chapter 44

In ''

Genesis Rabbah Genesis Rabbah (, also known as Bereshit Rabbah and abbreviated as GenR) is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is an expository midrash comprising a collection of ...

'', the tanna

Judah bar Ilai Judah beRabbi Ilai (Mishnaic Hebrew: יהודה בר' אלעאי), usually known as Rabbi Judah or Judah bar Ilai, was a rabbi of the 2nd century (fourth generation of Tannaim), and a disciple of Rabbi Akiva. Of the many Judahs in the Talmud, he ...

taught that Scripture speaks in praise of Judah, son of Jacob. Bar Ilai noted that on three occasions, scripture records that Judah spoke before his brethren and they made him king over them (bowing to his authority): # in Genesis 37:26, which reports, "Judah said to his brethren: ‘What profit is it if we slay our brother'" # in Genesis 44:14, which reports, "Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house"; and # in Genesis 44:18, which reports, "Then Judah came near" to Joseph to argue for Benjamin. A

midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

taught that, as reported in the words "Judah came near to him" in Genesis 44:18, Judah did not cease from answering Joseph word for word until he penetrated to his very heart. Bar Ilai taught that in the words of Genesis 44:18, "Judah came near" for battle, as in 2 Samuel 10:13, where it says: "So Joab and the people that were with him drew near to battle." Rabbi Neḥemiah said that "Judah came near" for conciliation, as in Joshua 14:6, where it says that "the children of Judah drew near to

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

" to conciliate him. The

Chazal Chazal or Ḥazal () are the Jewish sages of the Mishnaic and Talmudic eras, spanning from the final 300 years of the Second Temple period until the 7th century, or . Their authority was mostly in the field of ''Halakha'' (Jewish law) and les ...

said that coming near implies prayer, as in 1 Kings 18:36, where it says that "

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

the prophet came near" to pray to God. Jeremiah bar Shemaya combined all these views, teaching that "Judah came near to him" ready for battle, conciliation, or prayer. Bar Shemaya taught that Judah exclaimed that he would only need to utter one word (''dabar'') and bring a plague (''deber'') upon the Egyptians. Rabbi Ḥanin taught that Judah became angry, and the hairs of his chest pierced through his clothes and forced their way out, and he put iron bars into his mouth and ground them to powder.

Judah ben Ezekiel Judah bar Ezekiel (220–299 CE) () often known as Rav Yehudah, was a Babylonian amora of the 2nd generation. Biography Judah was the most prominent disciple of Rav, in whose house he often stayed, and whose son Hiyya b. Rav was his pupil. Af ...

taught that three things shorten a person's years: # to be given a sefer Torah from which to read and to refuse # to be given a cup of benediction over which to say grace and to refuse # to assume airs of authority. To support the proposition that assuming airs of authority shortens one's life, the

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...

cited the teaching of Ḥama bar Ḥanina that Joseph died (as Genesis 50:26 reports, aged 110) before his brothers because he assumed airs of authority (when in Genesis 43:28 and 44:24–32 he repeatedly allowed his brothers to describe his father Jacob as "your servant"). Bar Ezekiel asked in the name of

Abba Arikha Rav Abba bar Aybo (; 175–247 CE), commonly known as Abba Arikha () or simply as Rav (), was a Jewish amora of the 3rd century. He was born and lived in Kafri, Asoristan, in the Sasanian Empire. In Sura, Arikha established the systematic st ...

why Joseph referred to himself as "bones" during his lifetime in Genesis 50:25, and explained that it was because he did not protect his father's honor when in Genesis 44:31 his brothers called Jacob "your servant our father" and Joseph failed to protest. And Rav Judah also said in the name of Rav (and others say that it was Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina who said) that Joseph died before his brothers because he put on superior airs. Similarly, a Midrash taught that Joseph was referred to as "bones" during his lifetime (in Genesis 50:25) because when his brothers referred to his father as "your servant our father" in Genesis 44:24, Joseph kept silent. Thus the Midrash taught that the words of Proverbs 29:23, "A man's pride shall bring him low," apply to Joseph, who in this encounter ostentatiously displayed his authority. Similarly, as Exodus 1:6 reports that "Joseph died, and all his brethren," the Chazal concluded that Joseph died before his brothers.

Judah haNasi Judah ha-Nasi (, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ‎''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince or Judah the President) or Judah I, known simply as Rebbi or Rabbi, was a second-century rabbi (a tannaim, tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and e ...

taught that Joseph died before his brothers because Joseph "commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father" (as Genesis 50:2 reports). But the Chazal taught that Jacob had directed his sons to embalm him, as Genesis 50:12 reports that "his sons did to him as he commanded them." According to the Rabbis, Joseph died before his brothers because nearly five times Judah said to Joseph, "Your servant my father, your servant my father" (four times himself in Genesis 44:24, 27, 30, and 31, and once together with his brothers in Genesis 43:48), yet Joseph heard it and kept silent (not correcting Judah to show humility to their father). Dore Bible Joseph Makes Himself Known to His Brethren

Dore Bible Joseph Makes Himself Known to His Brethren

Eliezer ben Matiah, Hananiah ben Kinai, Simeon ben Azzai, and Simeon the Yemenite deduced from Judah's offer to remain instead of Benjamin in Genesis 44:33 that Judah merited the kingship because of his humility. Peter von Cornelius 004

Genesis chapter 45

Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina and Rabbi Samuel ben Naḥmani differed about how prudent it was for Joseph to clear the room in Genesis 45:1. Rabbi Ḥama thought that Joseph acted imprudently, for one of them could have kicked him and killed him on the spot. But Rabbi Samuel said that Joseph acted rightly and prudently, for he knew the righteousness of his brethren and reasoned that it would not be right to suspect that they might commit bloodshed. Rabbi Elazar wept whenever he read Genesis 45:3, for if men became too frightened to answer a wronged brother, how much more frightening will they find God's rebuke. A Midrash taught that "Joseph said to his brethren: ‘Come near to me'" in Genesis 45:4 so that he might show them his circumcision to prove that he was their brother.Genesis Rabbah 93:10. Reading Joseph's reassurance to his brothers in Genesis 45:5, "And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither; for God sent me before you to preserve life," our Sages observed that even the wrongs done by the righteous are of service to the world, and how much more their righteous deeds. Reading Joseph's assertion to his brothers in Genesis 45:5, "God sent me before you to preserve life," the Mishnat Rabbi Eliezer taught that when a person seeks to injure an enemy, the person bars the enemy from getting any cure, but God is not so. God provides the cure before the blow, as it says in

Hosea In the Hebrew Bible, Hosea ( or ; ), also known as Osee (), son of Beeri, was an 8th-century BC prophet in Israel and the nominal primary author of the Book of Hosea. He is the first of the Twelve Minor Prophets, whose collective writing ...

7:1, "I would heal Israel even as the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered." So in the days of Joseph, God did not inflict famine on the Tribal Ancestors until God had sent Joseph before them. The Tosefta deduced from Genesis 45:6 that before Jacob went down to Egypt there was famine there, but after he arrived, as Genesis 47:23 reports, they sowed the land with seed. Rabbi Levi used Genesis 37:2, 41:46, and 45:6 to calculate that Joseph's dreams that his brothers would bow to him took 22 years to come true, and deduced that a person should thus wait for as much as 22 years for a positive dream's fulfillment.

Rav Huna Rav Huna (Hebrew: רב הונא) was a Jewish Talmudist and Exilarch who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the second generation and head of the Academy of Sura; he was born about 216 CE (212 CE according to Gratz) and died in 296–297 ...

in the name of Rabbi Joshua used Genesis 45:6 as a mnemonic for calculating what year it was in the Sabbatical cycle of seven years. The

used Genesis 45:6 to help calculate (among other things) that Jacob should have been 116 years old when he came to Egypt, but since Genesis 47:8–9 indicated that Jacob was then 130 years old, the Gemara deduced that the text did not count 14 years that Jacob spent studying in the Academy of

Eber Eber (; ; ) is an ancestor of the Ishmaelites and the Israelites according to the Generations of Noah in the Book of Genesis () and the Books of Chronicles (). Lineage Eber (Hebrew: Ever) was a great-grandson of Noah's son Shem and the father ...

Rabbi Elazar interpreted Joseph's reference to Benjamin in Genesis 45:12 to mean that just as Joseph bore no malice against his brother Benjamin (who had no part in selling Joseph to Egypt), so Joseph had no malice against his other brothers. And Rabbi Elazar interpreted Joseph's reference to his mouth in Genesis 45:12 to mean that Joseph's words reflected what was in his heart.Babylonian Talmud Megillah 16b
A Midrash interpreted Joseph's reference to his mouth in Genesis 45:12 to mean that Joseph asked them to note that he spoke in Hebrew. Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 042

Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 042

Rabbi Elazar noted that Genesis 45:14 uses the plural form of the word "necks" and asked how many necks Benjamin had. Rabbi Elazar deduced that Joseph wept on Benjamin's neck for the two

Temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

that were destined to be in the territory of the

tribe of Benjamin According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel. In the ...

and be destroyed. And Rabbi Elazar deduced that Benjamin wept on Joseph's neck for the tabernacle of Shiloh that was destined to be in the territory of the

tribe of Joseph The Tribe of Joseph is one of the Tribes of Israel in biblical tradition. Since the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (often called the "two half-tribes of Joseph") together traditionally constituted the "tribe of Joseph", it was often not lis ...

and be destroyed. Examining Genesis 45:22, the Gemara asked whether Joseph repeated his father's mistake of favoring one sibling over the others. Rabbi Benjamin bar Japhet said that Joseph was hinting to Benjamin that one of his descendants,

Mordecai Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is the cousin and guardian of Esther, who became queen of Persia under the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). Mordecai's loyalty and ...

, would appear before a king in five royal garments, as

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

8:15 reports. Rabbi Benjamin bar Japhet in the name of Rabbi Elazar deduced from Genesis 45:23 that Joseph sent Jacob aged wine, which the Rabbi reported pleases the elderly. But a Midrash taught that the words "the good of the land of Egypt" in Genesis 45:18 referred to split beans (which were highly prized). Rabbi Elazar read the words of Genesis 45:24, "See that you not fall out by the way," to mean that Joseph told his brothers not to become occupied in a discussion of legal matters, so that the discussion would not lead to an argument. The Gemara asked: Did not Rabbi Elai bar Berekhya say that if two Torah scholars are walking along the road and do not discuss Torah matters, they are worthy of being burned? The Gemara answered that Rabbi Elai bar Berekhya referred to studying by rote, by reviewing material one has already learned, which is permitted and even appropriate while traveling, while Rabbi Elazar referred to examining a law in depth, which would likely lead to conflict among scholars. Alternatively, a Baraita read the words of Genesis 45:24 to mean that Joseph told his brothers not to take long strides and should enter a city to spend the night before the sun has set. The Gemara taught that taking long strides harms a person’s eyesight, and that loss is not worth the time saved. A Midrash told that when Joseph was young, he used to study Torah with Jacob. When Joseph's brothers told Jacob in Genesis 45:26 that Joseph was still alive, Jacob did not believe them, but he recalled the subject that Jacob and Joseph had been studying when they last studied together: the passage on the beheaded heifer (, ''egla arufa'') in

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

21:1–8. Jacob told the brothers that if Joseph gave them a sign of which subject Joseph and Jacob had last studied together, then Jacob would believe them. Joseph too had remembered what subject they had been studying, so (as Genesis 45:21 reports) he sent Jacob wagons (, ''agalot'') so that Jacob might know that the gift came from him. The Midrash thus concluded that wherever Joseph went he studied the Torah, just as his forebears did, even though the Torah had not yet been given.Genesis Rabbah 95:3.

Genesis chapter 46

Rav Naḥman taught that when Jacob "took his journey with all that he had, and came to

" in Genesis 46:1, he went to cut down the cedars that Genesis 21:33 reports his grandfather Abraham had planted there. A Midrash asked why, in Genesis 46:1, Jacob "offered sacrifices to the God of his father

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

," and not to the God of Abraham and Isaac. Judah ben Pedayah, the nephew of Ben HaKappar, explained that when one encounters a teacher and the teacher's disciple walking on a road, one first greets the disciple and then the teacher. Rabbi Joḥanan said that the reason was because a person owes more honor to a parent than to a grandparent. Resh Lakish said that Jacob offered sacrifices (in thanksgiving) for the covenant with the ancestors (which Isaac had conveyed to Jacob with his blessing).

Bar Kappara Bar Kappara () was a Jewish scholar of the late second and early third century CE (i.e., during the period between the tannaim and amoraim). He was active in Caesarea Maritima, the capital of the Roman province of Syria Palaestina, from around 18 ...

discussed the question with Rabbi Jose bar Patros. One of them said that Jacob declared that as Isaac had been eager for his food (for, as Genesis 25:28 reports, Isaac loved

Esau Esau is the elder son of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis and by the minor prophet, prophets Obadiah and Malachi. The story of Jacob and Esau reflects the historical relationship between Israel and Edom, aiming ...

because Esau brought Isaac venison), so Jacob was eager for his food (and thus was headed to Egypt to avoid the famine). The other explained that as Isaac had distinguished between his sons (as Genesis 25:28 reports, loving Esau more than Jacob), so Jacob would distinguish among his sons (going to Egypt for Joseph's account alone). But then Jacob noted on reconsideration that Isaac was responsible for only one soul, whereas Jacob was responsible for 70 souls. Rabbi Judan said that Jacob declared that Isaac blessed him with five blessings, and God correspondingly appeared five times to Jacob and blessed him (in Genesis 28:13–15, 31:3, 31:11–13, 35:1, and 35:9–12). Rabbi Judan also said that Jacob wanted to thank God for permitting Jacob to see the fulfillment of those blessings. And the blessing that was fulfilled was that of Genesis 27:29, "Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you," which was fulfilled with regard to Joseph. (And thus, Jacob mentioned Isaac then on going down to witness Joseph's greatness.) Rabbi Berekiah observed that God never unites God's Name with a living person (to say, for example, "I am the God of Jacob," while they are alive) except with those who are experiencing suffering. (And thus Jacob referred to the God of Isaac instead of the God of Jacob.) And Rabbi Berekiah also observed that Isaac did indeed experience suffering. The Rabbis said that we look upon Isaac as if his ashes were heaped in a pile on the altar. (And thus Jacob referred to Isaac to invoke the memory of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 as if it had been carried out). The

Sifra Sifra () is the Midrash halakha to the Book of Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called Torat Kohanim, and in two passages ''Sifr ...

cited Genesis 22:11, Genesis 46:2, Exodus 3:4, and 1 Samuel 3:10 for the proposition that when God called the name of a prophet twice, God expressed affection and sought to provoke a response. The

Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (, 'Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer'; abbreviated , 'PRE') is an aggadic-midrashic work of Torah exegesis and retellings of biblical stories. Traditionally, the work is attributed to the tanna Eliezer ben Hurcanus and his scho ...

told that when Jacob heard that Joseph was alive, Jacob wondered whether he could forsake the land of his fathers, the land of his birth, the land of his fathers' sojournings, the land where the Divine Presence (, ''

Shechinah Shekhinah () is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the presence of God in a place. This concept is found in Judaism from Talmudic literature. The word "Shekhinah" is found in the Bible onl ...

'') was, and go to an unclean land where there was no fear of Heaven. So God told Jacob (as reported in Genesis 46:3–4), "Do not fear . . . I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again." Reading God's promise to Jacob in Genesis 46:2–4 to go down with him to Egypt, a Midrash taught that God's promise was to go with Jacob and with all who are righteous like Jacob. Thus, God promised to accompany all the righteous into exile, just as God accompanied Jacob.Genesis Rabbah 94:6. Similarly, the Sages read God's parallel use of the pronoun "I" (, ''Anochi'', as opposed to , ''Ani'') in Genesis 46:4 and Exodus 3:12 to teach that just as with an "I" (, ''Anochi'') Israel went down to Egypt, as Genesis 46:3 reports, "I (, ''Anochi'') will go down with you into Egypt," also with an "I" (, ''Anochi'') would God take Israel out, as Exodus 3:12 reports, "That I (, ''Anochi'') have sent you." And the Sages said that the use of "I" (, ''Anochi'') was also symbolic of the latter redemption, for with an "I" (, ''Anochi'') will the Jews be healed and redeemed, as

Malachi Malachi or Malachias (; ) is the name used by the author of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh. It is possible that ''Malachi'' is not a proper name, because it means "messenger"; ...

3:23 says, "Behold, "I (, ''Anochi'') will send you Elijah the prophet." Rabbi Haggai said in Rabbi Isaac's name that God's promise to Jacob in Genesis 46:4, "I will surely bring you up again," only applied if "Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes"—that is, take care of Jacob in life and in death. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina cited Genesis 46:4, "I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again (, ''gam aloh'')," for the proposition that if one sees a camel (, ''gamal'') in a dream, Heaven had decreed death for the dreamer, but had delivered the dreamer from that fate. Rav Naḥman bar Isaac, however, derives the proposition from 2 Samuel 12:13: "The Lord also (, ''gam'') has put away your sin, you shall not die." A Midrash explained Judah's sons' death, reported in Genesis 46:12, as the result of Judah's failure to follow through in saving Joseph. Reading Deuteronomy 30:11–14, "For this commandment that I command you this day . . . is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart," a Midrash interpreted "heart" and "mouth" to symbolize the beginning and end of fulfilling a precept and thus read Deuteronomy 30:11–14 as an exhortation to complete a good deed once started. Thus Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba taught that if one begins a precept and does not complete it, the result will be that he will bury his wife and children. The Midrash cited as support for this proposition the experience of Judah, who began a precept and did not complete it. When Joseph came to his brothers and they sought to kill him, as Joseph's brothers said in Genesis 37:20, "Come now therefore, and let us slay him," Judah did not let them, saying in Genesis 37:26, "What profit is it if we slay our brother?" and they listened to him, for he was their leader. And had Judah called for Joseph's brothers to restore Joseph to their father, they would have listened to him then, as well. Thus because Judah began a precept (the good deed toward Joseph) and did not complete it, he buried his wife and two sons, as Genesis 38:12 reports, "Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died," and Genesis 46:12 further reports, " Er and

Onan Story of Onan Onan was a figure detailed in the Book of Genesis chapter 38, as the second son of Judah who married the daughter of Shuah the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother Er and a younger brother, Shelah as well. Onan was commanded ...

died in the land of

Rabbi Zadok noted that Genesis 46:15 attributed sons to Leah but attributed the daughter Dinah to Jacob, and deduced that the verse thus supported the proposition that if the woman emits her egg first she will bear a son and if the man emits his semen first she will bear a girl. A

Baraita ''Baraita'' ( "external" or "outside"; pl. ''bārayāṯā'' or in Hebrew ''baraitot''; also baraitha, beraita; Ashkenazi pronunciation: berayse) designates a tradition in the Oral Torah of Rabbinical Judaism that is not incorporated in the Mi ...

taught that the

Serah Serach bat Asher was, in the Tanakh, a daughter of Asher, the son of Jacob. She is one of the seventy members of the patriarch's family who emigrated from Canaan to Egypt, and her name occurs in connection with the census taken by Moses in the w ...

the daughter of

Asher Asher ( ''’Āšēr''), in the Book of Genesis, was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Zilpah, and Jacob's eighth son overall. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Asher. Name The text of the Torah states that the name אָ� ...

mentioned in Genesis 46:17 and

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

26:46 survived from the time Israel went down to Egypt to the time of the wandering in the Wilderness. The Gemara taught that Moses went to her to ask where the Egyptians had buried Joseph. She told him that the Egyptians had made a metal coffin for Joseph. The Egyptians set the coffin in the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

so that its waters would be blessed. Moses went to the bank of the Nile and called to Joseph that the time had arrived for God to deliver the Israelites, and the oath that Joseph had imposed upon the children of Israel in Genesis 50:25 had reached its time of fulfillment. Moses called on Joseph to show himself, and Joseph's coffin immediately rose to the surface of the water. Similarly, a Midrash taught that Serah (mentioned in Genesis 46:17) conveyed to the Israelites a secret password handed down from Jacob so that they would recognize their deliverer. The Midrash told that when (as Exodus 4:30 reports) "Aaron spoke all the words" to the Israelite people, "And the people believed" (as Exodus 4:31 reports), they did not believe only because they had seen the signs. Rather, (as Exodus 4:31 reports), "They heard that the Lord had visited"—they believed because they heard, not because they saw the signs. What made them believe was the sign of God's visitation that God communicated to them through a tradition from Jacob, which Jacob handed down to Joseph, Joseph to his brothers, and Asher, the son of Jacob, handed down to his daughter Serah, who was still alive at the time of Moses and Aaron. Asher told Serah that any redeemer who would come and say the password to the Israelites would be their true deliverer. So when Moses came and said the password, the people believed him at once. Rabbi Samuel ben Naḥman taught that Benjamin's son's names, as listed in Genesis 46:21, reflected Benjamin's loss of Joseph. The name Bela signified that Benjamin's brother was swallowed up (''nit-bala'') from him; Becher signified that he was a firstborn (''bechor''); Ashbel signified that he was taken away captive (''nishbah''); Gera signified that he became a stranger (''ger'') in a strange country; Naaman signified that his actions were seemly (''na'im'') and pleasant (''ne'im-im''); Ehi signified that he indeed was "my brother" (''ahi''); Rosh signified that he was Benjamin's superior (''rosh''); Muppim signified that he was exceedingly attractive (''yafeh ‘ad me'od'') in all matters; and Huppim signified that Benjamin did not see his marriage-canopy ('' huppah'') and he did not see Benjamin's; and Ard signified that he was like a rose-bloom (''ward''). Foster Bible Pictures 0055-1 Joseph Kisses Jacob

Foster Bible Pictures 0055-1 Joseph Kisses Jacob

Abaye Abaye () was an amora of the fourth generation of the Talmudic academies in Babylonia. He was born about the close of the third century and died in 337. Biography Abaye, according to Talmudic tradition, was the head of the Pumbedita Academy unt ...

cited the listing for Dan in Genesis 46:23 to demonstrate that sometimes texts refer to "sons" in the plural when they mean a single son. But Rava suggested perhaps the word "Hushim" in Genesis 46:23 was not a name but, as taught by the Academy of Hezekiah, the word "clusters" or "leaves," thus signifying that Dan's sons were as numerous as the leaves of a reed. Rava found, however, support in Numbers 26:8 and

1 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tan ...

2:8 for the proposition that sometimes texts refer to "sons" when they mean a single son. Joseph and Jacob reunited

Abba Ḥalifa of Keruya asked Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba why Genesis 46:27 reported that 70 people from Jacob's household came to Egypt, while Genesis 46:8–27 enumerated only 69 individuals. Rabbi Ḥiyya first argued that the Hebrew word ''et'' preceding Dinah in Genesis 46:15 indicated that Dinah had a twin sister, and the twin brought the total to 70. But Abba Ḥalifa responded that if that were so, then the parallel language of Genesis 43:29 would indicate that Benjamin also had a twin sister. Rabbi Ḥiyya then revealed his real explanation, which he called "a precious pearl": Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina taught that the seventieth person was

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

' mother

Jochebed According to the Bible, Jochebed (; , lit. ' YHWH is glory') was a daughter of Levi and the mother of Miriam, Aaron, and Moses. She was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. No details are given concerning her life. According to Jewish legend ...

, who was conceived on the way from Canaan to Egypt and born as Jacob's family passed between the city walls as they entered Egypt, for Numbers 26:59 reported that Jochebed "was born to

Levi Levi ( ; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelites, Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron ...

in Egypt," implying that her conception was not in Egypt. Rabbi Neḥemiah read the words "to show" in Genesis 46:28 as "to teach," and thus inferred that Jacob sent Judah to prepare an academy for him in Egypt where he would teach Torah and where the brothers would read Torah.

Genesis chapter 47

The Midrash and the Talmud differed over which five brothers Joseph presented to Pharaoh in Genesis 47:2. The Midrash read the word “from among” (, ''mikzeh'') in Genesis 47:2, “And from among (, ''mikzeh'') his brethren he took five men,” to mean “from the end,” implying inferiority. The Midrash thus concluded that they were not the strongest of the brothers, and named them as

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Sy ...

, Levi, Benjamin, and

Issachar Issachar () was, according to the Book of Genesis, the fifth of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's ninth son), and the founder of the Israelites, Israelite Tribe of Issachar. However, some Biblical criticism, Biblical scholars view this as ...

. The Midrash explained that Joseph took these five brothers, because he reasoned that if he presented the strongest to Pharaoh, then Pharaoh would on make them his warriors. Therefore, Joseph presented these five, who were not mighty men. The Midrash taught that we know that they were not strong from the blessing of Moses in Deuteronomy 33:2–29, where every brother whose name Moses repeated in his blessing was mighty, while every brother whose name Moses did not repeat was not mighty. Judah, whose name he repeated, was mighty, for Deuteronomy 33:7 says, "And this for Judah, and he said: 'Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah'"; therefore, Joseph did not present him to Pharaoh. Likewise

Naphtali According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali (; ) was the sixth son of Jacob, the second of his two sons with Bilhah. He was the founder of the Israelite tribe of Naphtali. Some biblical commentators have suggested that the name ''Naphtali'' ma ...

, as Deuteronomy 33:23 says, "And of Naphtali he said: 'O Naphtali, satisfied with favor.'" Likewise, Asher, of whom Deuteronomy 33:24 says, "And of Asher he said: 'Blessed be Asher above sons.'" Likewise, Dan, of whom Deuteronomy 33:22 says, "And of Dan he said: 'Dan is a lion's whelp.'"

Zebulun Zebulun (; also ''Zebulon'', ''Zabulon'', or ''Zaboules'' in ''Antiquities of the Jews'' by Josephus) was, according to the Books of Genesis and Numbers,Genesis 46:14 the last of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's tenth son), and the foun ...

too, of whom Deuteronomy 33:18 says, "And of Zebulun he said: 'Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out.'" Gad too, of whom Deuteronomy 33:20 says, "And of Gad he said: 'Blessed be He that enlarges Gad.'" Therefore, Joseph did not present them to Pharaoh. But the others, whose names were not repeated, were not mighty, therefore he presented them to Pharaoh. In the Babylonian Talmud, however, Rava asked Rabbah bar Mari who the five were. Rabbah bar Mari replied that Rabbi Joḥanan said that they were those whose names were repeated in the Farewell of Moses, Deuteronomy 33:2–29 (and thus the mightier of the brothers). Besides Judah, the five whose names Moses repeated were Dan, Zebulun, Gad, Asher and Naphtali. Explaining why Moses repeated Judah’s name in Deuteronomy 33:7, but Joseph nonetheless excluded him from the five, Rabbah bar Mari explained that Moses repeated Judah’s name for a different purpose, which Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani recounted that Rabbi Joḥanan said. Rabbi Joḥanan interpreted the words of Deuteronomy 33:6–7, "Let Reuben live and not die, in that his men become few, and this is for Judah," to teach that during the 40 years that the Israelites were in the wilderness, the bones of Judah rolled around detached in the coffin that conveyed the bones of the heads of the tribes from Egypt to the Promised Land along with Joseph's remains. But then Moses solicited God for mercy by noting that Judah brought Reuben to confess his own sin in Genesis 35:22 and 49:4 (lying with

Bilhah Bilhah ( "unworried", Standard Hebrew: ''Bilha'', Tiberian Hebrew: ''Bīlhā'') is a woman mentioned in the Book of Genesis. describes her as Laban's handmaiden (), who was given to Rachel to be her handmaid on Rachel's marriage to Jacob. When ...

) by himself making public confession in Genesis 38:26 (when Judah admitted that Tamar was more righteous than he was). Therefore, in Deuteronomy 33:7, Moses exhorted God: "Hear Lord the voice of Judah!" Thereupon God fitted each of Judah's limbs into its original place as one whole skeleton. Judah was, however, not permitted to ascend to the heavenly academy, until Moses said in Deuteronomy 33:7, "And bring him in to his people." As, however, Judah still did not know what the Rabbis were saying in that assembly and was thus unable to argue with the Rabbis on matters of the law, Moses said in Deuteronomy 33:7, "His hands shall contend for him!" As again he was unable to conclude legal discussions in accordance with the Law, Moses said in Deuteronomy 33:7, "You shall be a help against his adversaries!" Rabbi Jose deduced from Genesis 47:6 that the Egyptians befriended the Israelites only for their own benefit. Rabbi Jose noted, however, that the law of Deuteronomy 23:8 nonetheless rewarded the Egyptians for their hospitality. Rabbi Jose concluded that if Providence thus rewarded one with mixed motives, Providence will reward even more one who selflessly shows hospitality to a scholar. Rabbi Ahawa the son of Rabbi Ze'ira taught that just as lettuce is sweet at the beginning (in the leaf) and bitter at the end (in the stalk), so were the Egyptians sweet to the Israelites at the beginning and bitter at the end. The Egyptians were sweet at the beginning, as Genesis 47:6 reports that Pharaoh told Joseph, "The land of Egypt is before you; have your father and brethren dwell in the best of the land." And the Egyptians were bitter at the end, as Exodus 1:14 reports, "And they (the Egyptians) made their (the Israelites') lives bitter." Jacob blesses Pharaoh

A Midrash read the words of Genesis 47:7 and 47:10, "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh," to mean that Jacob blessed Pharaoh that the famine should come to an end. Similarly, Rabbi Berekiah the priest taught that when Jacob came to Pharaoh, he did not leave him before blessing him, as Genesis 47:10 says, "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh." And the blessing that he gave was the wish that the Nile might rise to his feet (to irrigate the land). A Midrash taught that Mordecai had pity on the unbeliever King of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Ahasuerus Ahasuerus ( ; , commonly ''Achashverosh''; , in the Septuagint; in the Vulgate) is a name applied in the Hebrew Bible to three rulers of Ancient Persia and to a Babylonian official (or Median king) first appearing in the Tanakh in the Book of ...

. In explanation, Rabbi Judah quoted Psalm 119:100 to say, "From my elders I receive understanding." Rabbi Judah taught that Mordecai reasoned that Jacob blessed Pharaoh, as Genesis 47:7 says, "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh." And Joseph revealed his dreams to him, and

Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

revealed Nebuchadnezzar's dreams to him. So similarly Mordecai could help Ahasuerus, and hence (as Esther 2:22 reports), "he told it to

the queen." Tissot Joseph Dwells in Egypt

Rav Judah in the name of

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

deduced from Genesis 47:14 that Joseph gathered in and brought to Egypt all the gold and silver in the world. The Gemara noted that Genesis 47:14 says: "And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan," and thus spoke about the wealth of only Egypt and Canaan. The Gemara found support for the proposition that Joseph collected the wealth of other countries from Genesis 41:57, which states: "And all the countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy corn." The Gemara deduced from the words "and they despoiled the Egyptians" in Exodus 12:36 that when the Israelites left Egypt, they carried that wealth away with them. The Gemara then taught that the wealth lay in Israel until the time of King

Rehoboam Rehoboam (; , , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the split of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a grandson of David. In the account of I Ki ...

, when King

Shishak Shishak, also spelled Shishaq or Susac (, Tiberian: , ), was, according to the Hebrew Bible, an Egyptian pharaoh who sacked Jerusalem in the 10th century BC. He is usually identified with the pharaoh Shoshenq I.Troy Leiland Sagrillo. 2015.Shoshe ...

of Egypt seized it from Rehoboam, as 1 Kings 14:25–26 reports: "And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

; and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house." The

Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael ( IPA , "a collection of rules of interpretation") is midrash halakha to the Book of Exodus. The Aramaic title ''Mekhilta'' corresponds to the Mishnaic Hebrew term ' "measure," "rule", and is used to denote a compi ...

, the Mekhilta of Rabbi Simeon, and the Tanna Devei Eliyahu praised Joseph, as Genesis 47:14 reports that he "brought the money into Pharaoh's house" and did not steal any of it. Joseph is governor

Resh Lakish deduced from the words "and as for the

gyptian Windel Beneto Edwards (born 25 October 1983), better known by his stage name Gyptian (), is a Jamaican reggae singer. He often appears with roots reggae songs within the reggae subgenre dancehall. Early life Born to a Seventh-day Adventist mo ...

people, he osephremoved them city by city" in Genesis 47:21 that Joseph exiled the Egyptians from their home cities so that they could not later berate the Hebrews for being exiles. Reading the words of Genesis 47:21, "He osephremoved them city by city," a Midrash taught that similarly, the Israelites were not forced into exile from the Land of Israel until the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n king

Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...

had mixed up the whole world, as

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

10:13 quotes Sennacherib saying, "I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and have brought down as one mighty the inhabitants." Rabbi Abba ben Kahana taught that Joseph inspired the Egyptians with a longing to be circumcised and convert to

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. Rabbi Samuel read the words "You have saved our lives" in Genesis 47:26 to mean that Joseph had given them life both in this world and in the World to Come, through acceptance of Judaism. A Midrash noted the difference in wording between Genesis 47:27, which says of the Israelites in Goshen that "they got possessions therein," and Leviticus 14:34, which says of the Israelites in Canaan, "When you come into the land of Canaan, which I gave you for a possession." The Midrash read Genesis 47:27 to read, "and they were taken in possession by it." The Midrash thus taught that in the case of Goshen, the land seized the Israelites, so that their bond might be exacted and so as to bring about God's declaration to Abraham in Genesis 15:13 that the Egyptians would afflict the Israelites for 400 years. But the Midrash read Leviticus 14:34 to teach the Israelites that if they were worthy, the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

would be an eternal possession, but if not, they would be banished from it. Rabbi Joḥanan taught that wherever Scripture uses the term "And he abode" (, ''vayeshev''), as it does in Genesis 47:27, it presages trouble. Thus, in Numbers 25:1, "And Israel abode in Shittim" is followed by "and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab." In Genesis 37:1, "And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan," is followed by Genesis 37:3, "and Joseph brought to his father their evil report." In Genesis 47:27, "And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen," is followed by Genesis 47:29, "And the time drew near that Israel must die." In 1 Kings 5:5, "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree," is followed by 1 Kings 11:14, "And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was the king's seed in Edom."

In medieval Jewish interpretation

The parashah is discussed in these

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Jewish sources: Nahmanides painting

Genesis chapter 47

Nachmanides Moses ben Nachman ( ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ramban (; ) and by the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta (; l ...

taught that Joseph did not show favoritism to his own family in distributing food during the famine. Naḥmanides read Genesis 47:12, “And Joseph sustained his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, ''according to the want of their little ones'',” to mean that Joseph gave his own family what they needed and no more. Reading Genesis 47:21, " osephremoved the population to cities,"

Rashbam Samuel ben Meir (Troyes, c. 1085 – c. 1158), after his death known as the "Rashbam", a Hebrew acronym for RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, was a leading French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi". Biography He was born in the vicinity of ...

commented, "Just as

did," citing 2 Kings 18:32, likening Joseph to a hated Assyrian king who besieged Jerusalem.

In modern interpretation

The parashah is discussed in these modern sources:

Genesis chapters 37–50

Donald A. Seybold of

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

schematized the Joseph narrative in the chart below, finding analogous relationships in each of Joseph's households. Ephraim Speiser argued that in spite of its surface unity, the Joseph story, on closer scrutiny, yields two parallel strands similar in general outline, yet markedly different in detail. The

Jahwist The Jahwist, or Yahwist, often abbreviated J, is one of the most widely recognized sources of the Pentateuch (Torah), together with the Deuteronomist, the Priestly source and the Elohist. The existence of the Jahwist text is somewhat controver ...

’s version employed the

Tetragrammaton The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...

and the name “Israel.” In that version, ''Judah'' persuaded his brothers not to kill Joseph but sell him instead to ''Ishmaelites'', who disposed of him in Egypt to an ''unnamed'' official. Joseph's new master ''promoted'' him to the position of chief retainer. When the brothers were ''on their way'' home from their first mission to Egypt with grain, they opened their ''bags'' at a night stop and were shocked to find the payment for their purchases. ''Judah'' prevailed on his father to let Benjamin accompany them on a second journey to Egypt. Judah finally convinced Joseph that the brothers had really reformed. ''Joseph'' invited Israel to settle with his family in ''Goshen''. The

Elohist According to the documentary hypothesis, the Elohist (or simply E) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah, together with the Jahwist (or Yahwist), the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. The Elohist is so named because of its ...

’s parallel account, in contrast, consistently used the names “Elohim” and “Jacob.” Reuben—not Judah—saved Joseph from his brothers; Joseph was left in an empty cistern, where he was picked up, unbeknown to the brothers, by Midianites; they—not the Ishmaelites—sold Joseph as a slave to an Egyptian named Potiphar. In that lowly position, Joseph served—not supervised—the other prisoners. The brothers opened their sacks—not bags—at home in Canaan—not at an encampment along the way. Reuben—not Judah—gave Jacob—not Israel—his personal guarantee of Benjamin's safe return. Pharaoh—not Joseph—invited Jacob and his family to settle in Egypt—not just Goshen. Speiser concluded that the Joseph story can thus be traced back to two once separate, though now intertwined, accounts. John Kselman noted that as in the Jacob cycle that precedes it, the Joseph narrative begins with the deception of a father by his offspring through an article of clothing; the deception leads to the separation of brothers for 20 years; and the climax of the story comes with the reconciliation of estranged brothers and the abatement of family strife. Kselman reported that recent scholarship points to authorship of the Joseph narrative in the Solomonic era, citing Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter (reported in 1 Kings 9:16) as indicative of that era as one of amicable political and commercial relations between Egypt and Israel, thus explaining the positive attitude of the Joseph narrative to Egypt, Pharaoh, and Egyptians. Kselman argued that the Joseph narrative was thus not part of the Jahwist's work, but an independent literary work. Gary Rendsburg noted that Genesis often repeats the motif of the younger son. God favored

Abel Abel ( ''Hébel'', in pausa ''Hā́ḇel''; ''Hábel''; , ''Hābēl'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within the Abrahamic religions. Born as the second son of Adam and Eve, the first two humans created by God in Judaism, God, he ...

over Cain in Genesis 4; Isaac superseded Ishmael in Genesis 16–21; Jacob superseded Esau in Genesis 25–27; Judah (fourth among Jacob's sons, last of the original set born to Leah) and Joseph (eleventh in line) superseded their older brothers in Genesis 37–50; Perez superseded Zerah in Genesis 38 and Ruth 4; and

Ephraim Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...

superseded

Manasseh Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier * Jacob Manasseh ( ...

in Genesis 48. Rendsburg explained Genesis's interest with this motif by recalling that David was the youngest of

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible * Jesse (given name), including a list of people * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' (album), a 2003 album by Jesse Powell * "Jesse" (s ...

's seven sons (see 1 Samuel 16), and Solomon was among the youngest, if not the youngest, of David's sons (see 2 Samuel 5:13–16). The issue of who among David's many sons would succeed him dominates the Succession Narrative in 2 Samuel 13 through 1 Kings 2.

Amnon Amnon ( ''’Amnōn'', "faithful") was, in the Hebrew Bible, the oldest son of King David and his second wife, Ahinoam of Jezreel. He was born in Hebron during his father's reign in Judah. He was the heir apparent to the throne of Israel until ...

was the firstborn, but was killed by his brother

Absalom Absalom ( , ), according to the Hebrew Bible, was an Israelite prince. Born to David and Maacah, who was from Geshur, he was the only full sibling of Tamar. He is described in the Hebrew Bible as being exceptionally beautiful, as is his siste ...

(David’s third son) in 2 Samuel 13:29. After Absalom rebelled, David's general

Joab Joab (; ), the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army according to the Hebrew Bible. Name The name Joab is, like many other Hebrew names, theophoric—derived from Yahweh (), the name of the God of Israel, ...

killed him in 2 Samuel 18:14–15. The two remaining candidates were

Adonijah According to 2 Samuel, Adonijah (, ''’Ǎḏōnīyyā''; "my lord is Yah") was the fourth son of King David. His mother was Haggith as recorded in the book of . Adonijah was born at Hebron during the long conflict between David and the House o ...

(David's fourth son) and Solomon, and although Adonijah was older (and once claimed the throne when David was old and feeble in 1 Kings 1), Solomon won out. Rendsburg argued that even though firstborn royal succession was the norm in the ancient Near East, the authors of Genesis justified Solomonic rule by imbedding the notion of ultimogeniture into Genesis’s national epic. An Israelite could thus not criticize David’s selection of Solomon to succeed him as king over Israel, because Genesis reported that God had favored younger sons since Abel and blessed younger sons of Israel—Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Joseph, Perez, and Ephraim—since the inception of the covenant. More generally, Rendsburg concluded that royal scribes living in Jerusalem during the reigns of David and Solomon in the tenth century BCE were responsible for Genesis; their ultimate goal was to justify the monarchy in general, and the kingship of David and Solomon in particular; and Genesis thus appears as a piece of political propaganda. James Kugel cropped

Calling it “too good a story,”

James Kugel James L. Kugel (Hebrew: Yaakov Kaduri, יעקב כדורי; born August 22, 1945) is professor emeritus in the Bible department at Bar Ilan University in Israel and the Harry M. Starr Professor Emeritus of Classical and Modern Hebrew Literature at ...

reported that modern interpreters contrast the full-fledged tale of the Joseph story with the schematic narratives of other Genesis figures and conclude that the Joseph story reads more like a work of fiction than history.

Donald Redford Donald Bruce Redford (2 September 1934 – 18 October 2024) was a Canadian Egyptologist, archaeologist, and Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Pennsylvania State University; he retired in 2024. Redford directed a number of ...

and other scholars following him suspected that behind the Joseph story stood an altogether invented Egyptian or Canaanite tale that was popular on its own before an editor changed the main characters to Jacob and his sons. These scholars argue that the original story told of a family of brothers in which the father spoiled the youngest, and the oldest brother, who had his own privileged status, intervened to try to save the youngest when his other brothers threatened him. In support of this theory, scholars have pointed to the description of Joseph (rather than Benjamin) in Genesis 37:3 as if he were Jacob's youngest son, Joseph's and Jacob's references to Joseph's mother (as if Rachel were still alive) in Joseph's prophetic dream in Genesis 37:9–10, and the role of the oldest brother Reuben intervening for Joseph in Genesis 37:21–22, 42:22, and 42:37. Scholars theorize that when the editor first mechanically put Reuben in the role of the oldest, but as the tribe of Reuben had virtually disappeared and the audience for the story were principally descendants of Judah, Judah was given the role of spokesman and hero in the end. Von Rad and scholars following him noted that the Joseph story bears the particular signatures of ancient Near Eastern

wisdom literature Wisdom literature is a genre of literature common in the ancient Near East. It consists of statements by sages and the wise that offer teachings about divinity and virtue. Although this genre uses techniques of traditional oral storytelling, i ...

. The wisdom ideology maintained that a Divine plan underlay all of reality, so that everything unfolds in accordance with a preestablished pattern—precisely what Joseph says to his brothers in Genesis 44:5 and 50:20. Joseph is the only one of Israel's ancestors whom the Torah (in Genesis 41:39) calls "wise" (, ''chacham'')—the same word as "sage" in Hebrew. Specialties of ancient Near Eastern sages included advising the king and interpreting dreams and other signs—just as Joseph did. Joseph displayed the cardinal sagely virtue of patience, which sages had because they believed that everything happens according to the Divine plan and would turn out for the best. Joseph thus looks like the model of an ancient Near Eastern sage, and the Joseph story looks like a didactic tale designed to teach the basic ideology of wisdom. George Coats argued that the Joseph narrative is a literary device constructed to carry the children of Israel from Canaan to Egypt, to link preexisting stories of ancestral promises in Canaan to an Exodus narrative of oppression in and liberation from Egypt. Coats described the two principal goals of the Joseph story as (1) to describe reconciliation in a broken family despite the lack of merit of any of its members, and (2) to describe the characteristics of an ideal administrator.

Genesis chapter 45

Commenting on Genesis 45:5–8 and 50:19–20,

Walter Brueggemann Walter Albert Brueggemann (March 11, 1933 – June 5, 2025) was an American Christian scholar and theologian who is widely considered an influential Old Testament scholar. His work often focused on the Hebrew prophetic tradition and the sociop ...

wrote that the Joseph story's theme concerns God's hidden and decisive power, which works in, through, and sometimes against human power. Calling this either providence or predestination, Brueggemann argued that God thus worked out God's purpose through and in spite of Egypt, and through and in spite of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph Siffrein Duplessis - Benjamin Franklin - Google Art Project

Joseph Siffrein Duplessis - Benjamin Franklin - Google Art Project

Genesis chapter 47

Alluding to the policies implemented by Joseph in Genesis 47:14–19, on June 2, 1787,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

told the Constitutional Convention: “There is scarce a king in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of pharaoh, get first all the peoples money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servants for ever.” Samuel Driver wrote that Joseph's famine relief measures in Genesis 47:13–27 reflected poorly on Joseph's character, as to seize the surplus produce and then compel the Egyptians to impoverish themselves to buy it back was not consistent with justice and equity. Von Rad and

Gunther Plaut Wolf Gunther Plaut, (November 1, 1912 – February 8, 2012) was an American Reform rabbi and writer who was based in Canada. Plaut was the rabbi of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto for several decades and since 1978 was its senior scholar. ...

argued that readers should not judge Joseph by modern opinion, but should place his actions in context. Von Rad and Nahum Sarna cited higher Babylonian charges for comparable loans. Hillel Millgram, however, citing an ancient Egyptian tomb declaration, argued that Joseph comes off poorly even by ancient Egyptian ethical standards. Shlomo Ganzfried

Commandments

According to

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

and

Sefer ha-Chinuch ''Sefer ha-Chinuch'' (, "Book of Education") is a rabbinic text which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was written in 13th-century Spain by an anonymous "Levite of Barcelona". Content The work's enumeration of th ...

, there are no

commandments Commandment may refer to: * The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, ...

in the parashah. Reading Genesis 46:4, "and Joseph shall pass his hand over your eyes," the '' Kitzur Shulchan Aruch'' taught that one should close the eyes of a dead person at death. Following the example of Joseph, if a child of the deceased is present, the deceased's child should do it, giving preference to the firstborn son.

In the liturgy

The

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

, in the ''magid'' section of the

Seder The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew day begins at su ...

, reports that Israel "went down to Egypt—forced to do so by the word

f God F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

" and some commentators explain that this statement refers to God's reassurance to Jacob in Genesis 46:3–4 to "fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt." Shortly thereafter, the Haggadah quotes Genesis 47:4 for the proposition that Israel did not go down to Egypt to settle, but only to stay temporarily.

Haftarah

haftarah The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Pr ...

is a text selected from the books of

Nevi'im The (; ) is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the () and (). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets ( ) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings ...

("The Prophets") that is read publicly in the synagogue after the reading of the Torah on Sabbath and holiday mornings. The haftarah usually has a thematic link to the Torah reading that precedes it. The specific text read following Parashah Vayigash varies according to different traditions within Judaism. In general, the haftarah for the parashah is

Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...

37:15–28.

Summary

God's word came to

, telling him to write on one stick "For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions," to write on a second stick "For Joseph, the stick of

, and of all the house of Israel his companions," and to join the two sticks together into one stick to hold in his hand. When people would ask him what he meant by these sticks, he was to tell them that God said that God would take the stick of Joseph, which was in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and put them together with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick in God's hand. Ezekiel was to hold the sticks in his hand for people to see, telling them that God said that God would gather the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they had gone, bring them into their own land, and make them one nation with one king, no longer two nations with two kings. No longer would they defile themselves with idols or transgressions, but God would save them and cleanse them, so that they would be God's people, and God would be their God.

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

would be king over them, and they would have one shepherd and observe God's statutes. They and their children, and their children's children forever, would dwell in the land that God had given Jacob, where their fathers had dwelt, and David would be their prince forever. God would make an everlasting covenant of peace with them, multiply them, and set God's sanctuary in the midst of them forever. God's dwelling-place would be over them, God would be their God, and they would be God's people. And the nations would know that God sanctified Israel, when God's sanctuary would be in their midst forever..

Connection to the Parashah

The parashah and the haftarah both tell stories of the reconciliation of Jacob's progeny. The parashah and the haftarah both tell of the relationship of Judah and Joseph, in the parashah as individuals, and in the haftarah as representatives for the

Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...

and the Kingdom of Israel.

Notes

, Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. In, e.g., ''Talmud Yerushalmi''. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, volumes 16, 26, 30, 33, 35–36. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2012–2017. And in, e.g., ''The Jerusalem Talmud: A Translation and Commentary''. Edited by Jacob Neusner and translated by Jacob Neusner, Tzvee Zahavy, B. Barry Levy, and Edward Goldman. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009. * Mekhilta of Rabbi Simeon Beshallah 20:3, 21:1. Land of Israel, 5th century. In, e.g., ''Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai''. Translated by W. David Nelson, pages 83, 87. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2006. *

br>25:330:839:1240:3655:8
63:3; 79:1; 80:11; 82:4; 84:20; 89:9; 90:1, 6; 93:1–96. Land of Israel, 5th century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Genesis''. Translated by Harry Freedman and Maurice Simon, volume 1, pages 207, 237, 323, 327, 330, 489; volume 2, pages 543, 557, 573, 668, 737, 743, 754, 783, 800–01, 826–27, 831, 857–59, 861–62, 864, 866–71, 873–76, 880, 882–83, 916–21, 923–24, 928, 990. London: Soncino Press, 1939. *

Leviticus Rabbah Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus (''Vayikrah'' in Hebrew). It is referred to by Nathan ben Jehiel (c. 1035–1106) in his ''Arukh'' as well as by Rashi (1040–110 ...

32:5. Land of Israel, 5th century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Genesis''. Translated by Harry Freedman and Maurice Simon, page 187, 414, 452. London: Soncino Press, 1939. *Babylonian

Berakhot 55a–b56b63bPesachim 119aBeitzah 16aMegillah 16a–bChagigah 4b13a–bBaba Kama 92aBava Batra 119b–120a123a–24a143bAvodah Zarah 9bChullin 60bNidah 31a

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

, 6th century. In, e.g., ''Talmud Bavli''. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 volumes. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006. * Esther Rabbah 7:20. 5th–11th centuries. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Esther''. Translated by Maurice Simon, volume 9, page 103. London: Soncino Press, 1939. *

Song of Songs Rabbah Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah (Hebrew: שיר השירים רבה) is an aggadic midrash on Song of Songs, quoted by Rashi under the title "Midrash Shir ha-Shirim". It is also called Aggadat Hazita, from its initial word "Hazita", or Midrash Hazita. Simon ...

1:56; 4:25; 6:20. 6th–7th centuries. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Song of Songs''. Translated by Maurice Simon, volume 9, pages 55, 78, 219, 265. London: Soncino Press, 1939. * Ruth Rabbah 4:1. 6th–7th centuries. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Ruth''. Translated by L. Rabinowitz, volume 8, pages 19, 49. London: Soncino Press, 1939. *

Ecclesiastes Rabbah Ecclesiastes Rabbah or Kohelet Rabbah (Hebrew: קהלת רבה) is an aggadic commentary on Ecclesiastes, included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot. It follows the biblical book verse by verse, only a few verses remaining without commentary ...

7:6, 33; 9:12. 6th–8th centuries. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Esther''. Translated by Maurice Simon, volume 8, pages 175, 205, 243–44, 251, 256. London: Soncino Press, 1939.

Medieval

Avot of Rabbi Natan Avot of Rabbi Natan, also known as Avot de-Rabbi Nathan (ARN) (), the first and longest of the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era (c.700–900 CE). It is a commentary on an early form of the ...

, 41. Circa 700–900 CE. In, e.g., ''The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan.'' Translated by Judah Goldin, page 172. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955. ''The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan: An Analytical Translation and Explanation.'' Translated by Jacob Neusner, page 256. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986. * Deuteronomy Rabbah 1:13; 8:4. Land of Israel, 9th century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Deuteronomy''. Translated by Harry Freedman and Maurice Simon, pages 14, 27, 150–52. London: Soncino Press, 1939. *

Exodus Rabbah Exodus Rabbah () is the midrash to Exodus. Contents Exodus Rabbah is almost purely aggadic in character. It contains 52 sections. It consists of two sections with different styles, dubbed "Exodus Rabbah I" (sections 1–14, covering Exodus cha ...

3:3, 4, 8; 15:16; 18:8; 40:4. 10th century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Deuteronomy''. Translated by Harry Freedman and Maurice Simon, pages 5, 9, 56, 61, 63, 68, 177, 180, 225, 454, 464–65. London: Soncino Press, 1939. Rashi woodcut cropped

* Tanna Devei Eliyahu. Seder Eliyyahu Rabbah 24. 10th century. In, e.g., ''Tanna Debe Eliyyahu: The Lore of the School of Elijah''. Translated by William G. Braude and Israel J. Kapstein, page 285. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1981. *

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

. ''Commentary''
Genesis 44–47

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

, France, late 11th century. In, e.g., Rashi. ''The Torah: With Rashi's Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated''. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, volume 1, pages 493–520. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1995. *

. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Troyes, early 12th century. In, e.g., ''Rabbi Samuel Ben Meir's Commentary on Genesis: An Annotated Translation''. Translated by Martin I. Lockshin, pages 310–30.

Lewiston, New York Lewiston is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Niagara County, New York, Niagara County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 15,944 at the 2020 census. The town and its contained village are named aft ...

Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press, sometimes stylised as Mellen Press, is an academic publisher. It was founded in 1972 by theology professor Herbert Richardson (publisher), Herbert W. Richardson. It has been involved in a number of notable legal and acad ...

, 1989. *

Numbers Rabbah Numbers Rabbah (or Bamidbar Rabbah in Hebrew) is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the Book of Numbers (''Bamidbar'' in Hebrew). In the first pri ...

3:8; 8:4; 12:2; 13:3, 20; 14:7, 8, 12; 19:3; 22:8. 12th century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Numbers''. Translated by Judah J. Slotki, volume 5, pages 40, 49, 83, 213, 217, 450; volume 6, pages 506–08, 551, 599, 602–03, 623, 750, 834. London: Soncino Press, 1939. *

Abraham ibn Ezra Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (, often abbreviated as ; ''Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra''; also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167)''Jewish Encyclopedia''online; '' Chambers Biographical Dictionar ...

. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Mid-12th century. In, e.g., ''Ibn Ezra's Commentary on the Pentateuch: Genesis (Bereshit)''. Translated and annotated by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver, pages 396–410. New York: Menorah Publishing Company, 1988. *

. ''

The Guide for the Perplexed ''The Guide for the Perplexed'' (; ; ) is a work of Jewish theology by Maimonides. It seeks to reconcile Aristotelianism with Rabbinical Jewish theology by finding rational explanations for many events in the text. It was written in Judeo-Arabic ...

'', part 1, chapters 18, 27– 28, 45, 70; part 2, chapters 45, 48; part 3, chapters 38, 46.

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, Egypt, 1190. In, e.g., Moses Maimonides. ''The Guide for the Perplexed''. Translated by

Michael Friedländer Michael Friedländer (29 April 1833 – 10 December 1910) was an Orientalist and principal of Jews' College, London. He is best known for his English translation of Maimonides' '' Guide to the Perplexed'', which was the most popular such trans ...

, pages 27, 36, 38, 58, 107, 235–36, 243, 250, 340, 359. New York: Dover Publications, 1956. *

Hezekiah ben Manoah Hezekiah ben Manoah, or Hezekiah bar Manoah, was a French rabbi and Bible commentator of the 13th century. He is generally known by the title of his commentary, Chizkuni (). In memory of his father, who lost his right hand through his steadfastness ...

. ''Hizkuni''. France, circa 1240. In, e.g., Chizkiyahu ben Manoach. ''Chizkuni: Torah Commentary''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 2, pages 310–23. Jerusalem: Ktav Publishers, 2013. Zohar

Naḥmanides Moses ben Nachman ( ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ramban (; ) and by the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta (; l ...

. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Jerusalem, circa 1270. In, e.g., ''Ramban (Nachmanides): Commentary on the Torah: Genesis.'' Translated by Charles B. Chavel, volume 1, pages 529–67. New York: Shilo Publishing House, 1971. *

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

1:93b, 119a, 149b, 153b, 180b, 197a, 205a–211b, 216b, 222a, 226a; 2:4b, 16b, 53a, 85a; 3:206a. Spain, late 13th century. In, e.g., ''The Zohar''. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 volumes. London: Soncino Press, 1934. * Isaac ben Moses Arama. ''Akedat Yizhak (The Binding of Isaac)''. Late 15th century. In, e.g., Yitzchak Arama. ''Akeydat Yitzchak: Commentary of Rabbi Yitzchak Arama on the Torah''. Translated and condensed by Eliyahu Munk, volume 1, pages 270–76. New York, Lambda Publishers, 2001.

Modern

* Isaac Abravanel. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Italy, between 1492–1509. In, e.g., ''Abarbanel: Selected Commentaries on the Torah: Volume 1: Bereishis/Genesis''. Translated and annotated by Israel Lazar, pages 353–96. Brooklyn: CreateSpace, 2015. *

Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno (Obadja Sforno, Hebrew: עובדיה ספורנו) was an Italian rabbi, Biblical commentator, philosopher and physician. A member of the Sforno family, he was born in Cesena about 1475 and died in Bologna in 1549. Bi ...

. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Venice, 1567. In, e.g., ''Sforno: Commentary on the Torah''. Translation and explanatory notes by Raphael Pelcovitz, pages 240–55. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. * Moshe Alshich. ''Commentary on the Torah''.

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

, circa 1593. In, e.g., Moshe Alshich. ''Midrash of Rabbi Moshe Alshich on the Torah''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 1, pages 294–312. New York, Lambda Publishers, 2000. *Avraham Yehoshua Heschel. ''Commentaries on the Torah''. Cracow, Poland, mid 17th century. Compiled as ''Chanukat HaTorah''. Edited by Chanoch Henoch Erzohn. Piotrkow, Poland, 1900. In Avraham Yehoshua Heschel. ''Chanukas HaTorah: Mystical Insights of Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel on Chumash''. Translated by Avraham Peretz Friedman, pages 99–105.

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Southfield borders Detroit to the north, roughly northwest of downtown Downtown Detroit, Detroit. As of the 2020 Uni ...

: Targum Press/

Feldheim Publishers Feldheim Publishers (or Feldheim) is an American Orthodox Jewish publisher of Torah books and literature. Its extensive catalog of titles includes books on Jewish law, Torah, Talmud, Jewish lifestyle, Shabbat and Jewish holidays, Jewish history, ...

, 2004. *

Chaim ibn Attar Chaim ibn Attar or Ḥayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar (, ; – 7 July 1743) also known as the Or ha-Ḥayyim after his popular commentary on the Torah, was a Talmudist and Kabbalist. He is arguably considered to be one of the most prominent Rabbis o ...

. ''Ohr ha-Chaim''. Venice, 1742. In Chayim ben Attar. ''Or Hachayim: Commentary on the Torah''. Translated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 1, pages 354–82. Brooklyn: Lambda Publishers, 1999. Shadal

Samuel David Luzzatto Samuel David Luzzatto (, ; 22 August 1800 – 30 September 1865), also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal (), was an Italian-Austrian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. Early life Luzzatto was born ...

(Shadal). ''Commentary on the Torah.''

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, 1871. In, e.g., Samuel David Luzzatto. ''Torah Commentary''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 2, pages 432–50. New York: Lambda Publishers, 2012. * Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter. ''Sefat Emet''.

Góra Kalwaria Góra Kalwaria (; "Calvary Mountain", , ''Ger'') is a town on the Vistula River in the Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is situated approximately southeast of Warsaw and has a population of around 12,109 (as of 2019). The town has ...

(Ger),

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, before 1906. Excerpted in ''The Language of Truth: The Torah Commentary of Sefat Emet''. Translated and interpreted by

Arthur Green Arthur Green (, born March 21, 1941) is an American scholar of Jewish mysticism and Neo-Hasidic theologian. He was a founding dean of the non-denominational rabbinical program at Hebrew College in Boston. He describes himself as an American Jew ...

, pages 67–72. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1998. Reprinted 2012. *Alexander Alan Steinbach. ''Sabbath Queen: Fifty-four Bible Talks to the Young Based on Each Portion of the Pentateuch'', pages 33–35. New York: Behrman's Jewish Book House, 1936. Thomas Mann 1937

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

. ''

Joseph and His Brothers ''Joseph and His Brothers'' (, ) is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph (chapters 27–50), setting it in the historical context of the ...

''. Translated by John E. Woods, pages 257, 274–75, 464, 541–42, 547, 568–69, 663, 668, 672, 717–18, 722, 758, 788, 792–94, 796–97, 803–04, 852–53, 859, 878, 881, 886, 923, 1373–447. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Originally published as ''Joseph und seine Brüder''. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943. *Walter Orenstein and Hertz Frankel. ''Torah and Tradition: A Bible Textbook for Jewish Youth: Volume I: Bereishis'', pages 122–33. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company, 1964. *

. “The Joseph Narrative and Ancient Wisdom.” In ''The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays'', pages 292–300. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966. LCCN 66-11432. *

Donald B. Redford Donald Bruce Redford (2 September 1934 – 18 October 2024) was a Canadian Egyptologist, archaeologist, and Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Pennsylvania State University; he retired in 2024. Redford directed a number of ...

. ''A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (Genesis 37–50)''. Boston:

Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and Bibliographic database, databases founded in 1683, making it one of the oldest publishing houses in the Netherlands. Founded in the South ...

, 1970. *George W. Coats. "The Joseph Story and Wisdom: a Reappraisal." ''

Catholic Biblical Quarterly The ''Catholic Biblical Quarterly'' is a refereed peer-reviewed theology journal published by the Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) (CBA) in January, April, July, and October. It was established in 1939 and its circulation in 2010 w ...

'', volume 35 (1973): pages 285–97. *Eric I. Lowenthal. ''The Joseph Narrative in Genesis'', pages 96–131. Ktav, 1973. *George W. Coats. "Redactional Unity in Genesis 37–50." ''

Journal of Biblical Literature The ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' (''JBL'') is one of three academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academ ...

'', volume 93 (1974): pages 15–21. *Donald A. Seybold. "Paradox and Symmetry in the Joseph Narrative." In ''Literary Interpretations of Biblical Narratives''. Edited by Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis, with James S. Ackerman & Thayer S. Warshaw, pages 59–73. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1974. *George W. Coats. ''From Canaan to Egypt: Structural and Theological Context for the Joseph Story''.

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Catholic Biblical Association The Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) is an American learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible. The suggestion to form a permanent association of biblical scholars was made at the beginning of 1936 at a meeting in ...

, 1976. *Seän M. Warner
“The Patriarchs and Extra-Biblical Sources.”
''

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament The ''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'' (JSOT) is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of Biblical studies. The editors-in-chief are David Shepherd (Trinity College Dublin) and Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer ( Örebro School of Theol ...

'', volume 1, number 2 (June 1976): pages 50–61. * J. Maxwell Miller
“The Patriarchs and Extra-Biblical Sources: A Response.”
''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', volume 1, number 2 (June 1976): pages 62–66. *Peter D. Miscall
“The Jacob and Joseph Stories as Analogies.”
''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', volume 3, number 6 (April 1978): pages 28–40. *Ivan Caine. “Numbers in the Joseph Narrative.” In ''Jewish Civilization: Essays and Studies: Volume 1''. Edited by Ronald A. Brauner, pages 3–17.

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Assoc ...

, 1979. *

Robert Alter Robert Bernard Alter (born 1935) is an American professor emeritus of Hebrew language, Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has published two dozen books, including an aw ...

“Joseph and his Brothers.”
''

Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

'' (November 1980). * Neḥama Leibowitz. ''Studies in Bereshit (Genesis)'', pages 483–529. Jerusalem: The

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization (; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization (ZO; 1897–1960) at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the F ...

, 1981. Reprinted as ''New Studies in the Weekly Parasha''. Lambda Publishers, 2010. *

. ''Genesis: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching'', pages 335–58. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982. *Robert Sacks
"The Lion and the Ass: A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Chapters 44–50)."
''Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy'', volume 12, numbers 2 and 3 (May and September 1984): pages 141–92. * Pinchas H. Peli. ''Torah Today: A Renewed Encounter with Scripture'', pages 45–48. Washington, D.C.: B'nai B'rith Books, 1987. *

Nahum M. Sarna Nahum Mattathias Sarna (Hebrew: נחום סרנא; March 27, 1923 – June 23, 2005) was a modern biblical scholar who is best known for the study of Genesis and Exodus represented in his ''Understanding Genesis'' (1966) and in his contribution ...

. ''The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation'', pages 306–23, 411. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989. *Lawrence M. Wills. ''Jew in the Court of the Foreign King: Ancient Jewish Court Legends''. Fortress Press, 1990. *

Frederick Buechner Carl Frederick Buechner ( ; July 11, 1926 – August 15, 2022) was an American author, Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies ...

. ''The Son of Laughter'', pages 220, 260–74. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. KassPCOB

* Leon R. Kass
“Assimilation versus Separation, by Aaron Wildavsky: To assimilate or to stay apart?”
''Commentary''. (September 1, 1993). *

Aaron Wildavsky Aaron Wildavsky (May 31, 1930 – September 4, 1993) was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management. Early years A native of Brooklyn in New York, Wildavsky was the ...

. ''Assimilation versus Separation: Joseph the Administrator and the Politics of Religion in Biblical Israel''. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1993. *Judith S. Antonelli. "Serach: Daughter of Asher." In ''In the Image of God: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah'', pages 123–26.

Northvale, New Jersey Northvale is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,761, an increase of 121 (+2.6%) from the 2010 United S ...

Jason Aronson Jason Aronson was an American publisher of books in the field of psychotherapy. Topics dealt with in these books include child therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, object relations therapy, play therapy, depression, eating disorders, per ...

, 1995. *Naomi H. Rosenblatt and Joshua Horwitz. ''Wrestling With Angels: What Genesis Teaches Us About Our Spiritual Identity, Sexuality, and Personal Relationships'', pages 363–75. Delacorte Press, 1995. Gunther Plaut cropped

Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg (; born March 1944) is a Scottish contemporary Torah scholar and author. Biography She was born in London, England, grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to Israel in 1969, where she currently resides in Jerusalem. Z ...

. ''The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis'', pages 314–51. New York: Image Books/Doubelday, 1995. *

Ellen Frankel Ellen Frankel (born 1951) was the editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) from 1991 until 2009, and its CEO for ten years. She retired in 2009 to pursue her own writing and scholarly projects, as JPS's first editor emerita. Biogra ...

. ''The Five Books of Miriam: A Woman’s Commentary on the Torah'', pages 84–86. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996. * W. Gunther Plaut. ''The Haftarah Commentary'', pages 108–14. New York: UAHC Press, 1996. *Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden. ''Teaching Torah: A Treasury of Insights and Activities'', pages 71–76.

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

: A.R.E. Publishing, 1997. *Susan Freeman. ''Teaching Jewish Virtues: Sacred Sources and Arts Activities'', pages 26–38, 165–78, 241–54. Springfield, New Jersey: A.R.E. Publishing, 1999. (Genesis 45:1–7, 21–23). * Erica Brown. “Strange Words Between Strangers: Jacob’s Encounter with Pharaoh.” In ''Torah of the Mothers: Contemporary Jewish Women Read Classical Jewish Texts''. Edited by Ora Wiskind Elper and Susan Handelman, pages 244–61. New York and Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2000. (Genesis 47:7–10). *

Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein (; born March 29, 1949) is an Israelis, Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Finkelstein is active in the a ...

and

Neil Asher Silberman Neil Asher Silberman (born June 19, 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American archaeologist and historian with a special interest in biblical archaeology. He is the author of several books, including ''The Hidden Scrolls'', ''The Message and ...

. “Searching for the Patriarchs.” In ''The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts'', pages 27–47. New York: The Free Press, 2001. *Lainie Blum Cogan and Judy Weiss. ''Teaching Haftarah: Background, Insights, and Strategies'', pages 470–77. Denver: A.R.E. Publishing, 2002. * Michael Fishbane. ''The JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot'', pages 71–75. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002. * Leon R. Kass. ''The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis'', pages 593–615. New York: Free Press, 2003. *

. ''The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary'', pages 256–76. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2004. * Jon D. Levenson. "Genesis." In ''The Jewish Study Bible''. Edited by

Adele Berlin Adele Berlin (born May 23, 1943 in Philadelphia) is an American biblical scholar and Hebraist. Before her retirement, she was Robert H. Smith Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Maryland. Berlin is best known for 1994 work ''Poet ...

and Marc Zvi Brettler, pages 88–94. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. *

John Van Seters John Van Seters (May 2, 1935 – April 9, 2025) was a Canadian scholar of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the Ancient Near East. He was a University Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina, and James A. Gray Professor of Bi ...

. “The Joseph Story: Some Basic Observations.” In ''Egypt, Israel, and the Ancient Mediterranean World: Studies in Honor of Donald B. Redford''. Edited by Gary N. Knoppers and Antoine Hirsch. Boston: Brill Publishers, 2004. *''Professors on the Parashah: Studies on the Weekly Torah Reading'' Edited by Leib Moscovitz, pages 77–83. Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2005. * W. Gunther Plaut. ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary: Revised Edition''. Revised edition edited by David E.S. Stern, pages 286–303. New York:

Union for Reform Judaism The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms establ ...

, 2006. *Suzanne A. Brody. "Intense spotlight." In ''Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems'', page 73. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007. *Shmuel Goldin. ''Unlocking the Torah Text: Bereishit'', pages 241–61. Jerusalem:

Gefen Publishing House Gefen Publishing House () is an English language publishing firm located in Jerusalem, which also has a department in New York City. History Gefen was founded in 1981 by Murray and Hana Greenfield. Its CEO is Ilan Greenfield, son of the founder ...

, 2007. * James L. Kugel. ''How To Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now'', pages 171, 176–97, 440. New York: Free Press, 2007. *''The Torah: A Women's Commentary''. Edited by

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi Tamara Cohn Eskenazi is The Effie Wise Ochs Professor of Biblical Literature and History at the Reform Jewish seminary Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. She was the first woman hired by the Hebrew Union College-Jew ...

and Andrea L. Weiss, pages 259–80. New York: URJ Press, 2008. * Denise L. Eger. “Forgiveness as a Queer Response: Parashat Vayigash (Genesis 44:18–47:27).” In ''Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible''. Edited by Gregg Drinkwater, Joshua Lesser, and David Shneer; foreword by Judith Plaskow, pages 64–67. New York:

New York University Press New York University Press (or NYU Press) is a university press that is part of New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 ...

, 2009. *Naomi Graetz. "From Joseph to Joseph." ''

The Jerusalem Report ''The Jerusalem Report'' is a fortnightly print and online news magazine that covers political, military, economic, religious and cultural issues in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world. Founded as an independent weekly publication in 1 ...

'', volume 20 (number 19) (January 4, 2009): page 45. * Reuven Hammer. ''Entering Torah: Prefaces to the Weekly Torah Portion'', pages 63–67. New York: Gefen Publishing House, 2009. Sirjonathansacks

Jonathan Sacks Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks (8 March 19487 November 2020) was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As ...

. ''Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible: Genesis: The Book of Beginnings'', pages 301–27.

New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town, part of Greater Danbury, as well as the New York Metropolitan Area, has a population of 28,115 as of the 2020 census. New Milford lies north of Danbury on the ...

: Maggid Books, 2009. *Carolyn J. Sharp. “‘Am I in the Place of God?’: Joseph the Pretender.” In ''Irony and Meaning in the Hebrew Bible'', pages 54–61.

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

, 2009. * John H. Walton. "Genesis." In ''Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary''. Edited by John H. Walton, volume 1, pages 133–35.

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

Zondervan Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). It is a part of HarperCollins, Ha ...

, 2009. *Bradford A. Anderson
“The Inversion of the Birth Order and the Title of the Firstborn.”
''

Vetus Testamentum ''Vetus Testamentum'' is a quarterly academic journal covering various aspects of the Old Testament. It is published by Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and ...

'', volume 60 (number 4) (2010): pages 655–58. *Isaac Kalimi
“Human and Musical Sounds and Their Hearing Elsewhere as a Literary Device in the Biblical Narratives.”
''Vetus Testamentum'', volume 60 (number 4) (2010): pages 565–70. Shmuel Herzfeld at House of Representatives cropped

Shmuel Herzfeld at House of Representatives cropped

*Calum Carmichael. ''The Book of Numbers: A Critique of Genesis'', pages 16–17, 21–23, 49, 54–56, 63, 74, 80, 95, 97, 117, 126, 139, 141, 193. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. * Shmuel Herzfeld. "A Shepherded Community." In ''Fifty-Four Pick Up: Fifteen-Minute Inspirational Torah Lessons'', pages 59–64. Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2012. Darahorn

*Hillel I. Millgram. ''The Joseph Paradox: A Radical Reading of Genesis 37–50''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2012. *Eve Woogen
“The Best of Stories: Yusuf as Joseph in Hebrew Translations of the Qur'an.”
''Classics Honors Projects''. (2012). *Walter Brueggemann. “Truth Speaks to Power: Moses.” In ''Truth Speaks to Power: The Countercultural Nature of Scripture,'' pages 11–42. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013. (Pharaoh through Joseph used food as a weapon to transfer power to the central monopoly). *

Dara Horn Dara Horn (born 1977) is an American novelist, essayist, and professor of literature. She has written five novels and in 2021, released a nonfiction essay collection titled '' People Love Dead Jews'', which was a finalist for the 2021 Kirkus Priz ...

. ''A Guide for the Perplexed''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. (novel retelling the Joseph story). *Jonathan Sacks. ''Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible'', pages 51–54. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2015. *Katie M. Heffelfinger
“From Bane to Blessing: The Food Leitmotif in Genesis 37–50.”
''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', volume 40 (number 3) (March 2016): pages 297–320. * Jean-Pierre Isbouts. ''Archaeology of the Bible: The Greatest Discoveries From Genesis to the Roman Era'', pages 80–87.

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

, 2016. * Jan Joosten
“Biblical Rhetoric as Illustrated by Judah's Speech in Genesis 44.18–34.”
''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', volume 41, number 1 (September 2016): pages 15–30. *Jonathan Sacks. ''Essays on Ethics: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible'', pages 65–70. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2016. * Shai Held. ''The Heart of Torah, Volume 1: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Genesis and Exodus'', pages 99–108. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017. *James L. Kugel. ''The Great Shift: Encountering God in Biblical Times'', pages 25 34. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. *Steven Levy and Sarah Levy. ''The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary'', pages 33–35. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017. *Andrew Tobolowsky
"The Problem of Reubenite Primacy: New Paradigms, New Answers."
''Journal of Biblical Literature'', volume 139, number 1 (2020): pages 27–45. * Liana Finck. ''Let There Be Light: The Real Story of Her Creation'', pages 313–19. New York: Random House, 2022.

External links

Texts

Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translationHear the parashah chanted

Commentaries

Academy for Jewish Religion, CaliforniaAcademy for Jewish Religion, New YorkAmerican Jewish University—Ziegler School of Rabbinic StudiesBar-Ilan UniversityChabad.orgJewish Theological SeminaryMechon HadarMyJewishLearning.comPardes from JerusalemReconstructing Judaism

Sephardic InstituteTheTorah.comTorah.orgUnion for Reform JudaismUnited Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Yeshivat Chovevei TorahYeshiva University
{{Book of Genesis Weekly Torah readings in Tevet Weekly Torah readings from Genesis

Readings

First reading—Genesis 44:18–30

Second reading—Genesis 44:31–45:7

Third reading—Genesis 45:8–18

Fourth reading—Genesis 45:19–27

Fifth reading—Genesis 45:28–46:27

Sixth reading—Genesis 46:28–47:10

Seventh reading—Genesis 47:11–27

Readings according to the triennial cycle

In ancient parallels

Genesis chapter 45

In inner-Biblical interpretation

Genesis chapter 44

Genesis chapter 45

Genesis chapter 47

In early nonrabbinic interpretation

Genesis chapter 44

Genesis chapter 47

In classical rabbinic interpretation

Genesis chapter 44

Genesis chapter 45

Genesis chapter 46

Genesis chapter 47

In medieval Jewish interpretation

Genesis chapter 47

In modern interpretation

Genesis chapters 37–50

Genesis chapter 45

Genesis chapter 47

Commandments

In the liturgy

Haftarah

Summary

Connection to the Parashah

Notes

Further reading

Ancient

Early nonrabbinic

Classical rabbinic

Medieval

Modern

External links

Texts

Commentaries