Moses' Own People

Exodus 2:11 - One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.

Moses was chiefly raised as the grandson of the Pharaoh. I wonder who told him he was a Hebrew. Was it his mother? Did she keep him long enough for him to understand what that meant? Was it Pharaoh's daughter? Why should she? How long before he murdered the Egyptian had Moses known he was a Hebrew?

Defying Pharaoh

Exodus 1:22-2:2 - Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.

I wonder how many other mothers (and fathers) defied Pharaoh's order and kept their children safe.

How long was Pharaoh's order in effect? It couldn't have gone on for years and years, could it?

Joseph to Canaan

Genesis 50:25 - And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place."

I wonder if the bones of any of the other brothers were taken back to Canaan for burial.

Mourning for Israel

Genesis 49:33-50:3 - When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

I wonder what the Egyptians did for 70 days to show they were mourning for Israel. Was it something similar to flying the flag at half staff? Was it something they wore, like a black armband?

Ephraim and Manasseh and Israel

Genesis 48:8-11 - When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, "Who are these?"

"They are the sons God has given me here," Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."

Now Israel's eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too."

Israel had been in Egypt for about 17 years, yet it sounds like this is the first time he met Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. If so, I wonder why Joseph hadn't introduced them to their grandfather before now. The boys were roughly 20 years old. It's not like they were toddlers who might have been too much for Israel to handle.

Goshen

Genesis 47:5-6 - Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock."

I wonder who had to relocate out of Goshen so that the Israelites could move in. If it was the best place that in the whole land, certainly someone would have been using it.

Egyptians and Shepherds

Genesis 46:31-34 - Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, 'My brothers and my father's household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.' When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, 'What is your occupation?' you should answer, 'Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.' Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians."

Why were shepherds detestable to Egyptians? I bet they didn't mind the animals they tended -- the stuff made from the wool or the mutton they could eat -- or did they?

The Silver Cup

Genesis 44:11-12 - Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

The brothers' payment in silver was supposed to be put into the mouth of each of their sacks per Joseph's instructions. Did the steward just ignore it while looking for the silver cup? Did the brothers see the silver in the mouths of their sacks? Did no one even bother with the money now that the silver cup was involved?

The brothers had noticed that they had been seated at the table in Joseph's house in order of age. Did they notice that this was the search order now too? Did the steward know who was who from memory or did he use crib notes?

Silver in the Sacks - Take Two

Genesis 44:1-9 - Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: "Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's silver in the mouth of his sack. Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the silver for his grain." And he did as Joseph said.

As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, "Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil? Isn't this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.' "

When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. But they said to him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house? If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves."

Considering all the strange things that happened the first time around, wouldn't you have checked your sack to be sure only grain was found in it the second time?

How did the Egyptians manage to get the silver into the sacks -- either the first or the second time -- without the brothers' knowledge? The sacks must have been filled out of their field of vision -- in another room, behind a wall or barrier or something similar. Were all customers' orders processed this way or was it special handling for the brothers? If it was special, did the brothers notice something was different compared to other foreigners (or Egyptians, for that matter) who were buying grain?

Joseph's Steward

Genesis 43:15-23 - So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon."

The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph's house. Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, "We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys."

So they went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. "Please, sir," they said, "we came down here the first time to buy food. But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver—the exact weight—in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks."

"It's all right," he said. "Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver." Then he brought Simeon out to them.

I don't think the brothers knew how to speak Egyptian. Did the steward speak Hebrew or did this conversation employ an interpreter too?

No More Grain

Genesis 43:1-2 - Now the famine was still severe in the land. So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and buy us a little more food."

I wonder how much grain they "bought" the first time they went to Egypt. Was there a limit? It sounds like each of the brothers only had one sack of grain. How big was it? It doesn't sound like anyone else had gone with them, so there would only have been 9 sacks. How long would that last?

And why did they leave their brother in Egypt until all the grain was gone, or nearly gone? Didn't the brothers dare to bring up the topic with Jacob sooner? Didn't Jacob care about the missing son? Did he really care that much more about Benjamin?

And didn't Benjamin have anything to say about all this?

Reuben's Sons

Genesis 42:36-37 - Their father Jacob said to them, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!"

Then Reuben said to his father, "You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back."

You might wonder, "What was Reuben thinking!" Nevermind that. Assuming they heard what Dad said, what were Reuben's sons now thinking? Were they near enough to hear the conversation? Did it ever get back to them? Before you doubt it, notice that it got down to Moses who wrote it down here.

Talk like an Egyptian

Genesis 42:21-23 - They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us."

Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood." They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.

I wonder how long it had taken Joseph to learn the Egyptian language. Had Potiphar provided someone to teach him, or did he just have to pick it up as he went along?

Food for All

Genesis 41:56-57 - When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.

It's easy in retrospect to see God's hand in all of this. I still wonder though how Egypt had enough food to feed everyone. Which countries were included in "all the countries"? Obviously Canaan was (as we're about to see in Genesis 42).

Food in Egypt

Genesis 41:53-54 - The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food.

Perhaps the reason the Egyptians didn't tell anyone else during the 7 years of plenty why they were storing up so much food was because they wanted to be in a position of power for the following 7 years and even beyond. I wonder though that no one from the other lands noticed what Egypt was doing or was curious as to why they were doing it.

Word must have passed along the grapevine at some point during the 7 years. You can't keep that kind of thing secret forever. Even if Pharaoh and Joseph never really made a public announcement as to why they were making a sudden change in economic policy, someone surely would have leaked the information to "the press" or would simply have correctly guessed what was going on. Joseph's rags to riches story in itself certainly would have made some people wonder what was coming next.

So why didn't anyone else outside of Egypt store up food for the coming years of famine?

Asenath

Genesis 41:45 + 50-52 - Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.

Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."

I wonder if Joseph had any misgivings about marrying the daughter of a priest of a pagan god. He may not have had much choice. If he had misgivings, we aren't told about them. And he did have two children, Manasseh and Ephraim, with her within the first 7 years of their marriage.

Joseph in Charge

Genesis 41:15-40 - Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."

"I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.

"In my dreams I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none could explain it to me."

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.

"It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

"And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine."

The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?"

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."

I wonder if Joseph paused for effect after saying, "I cannot do it." Would have been a nice (but dangerous) touch.

I wonder if Joseph had himself in mind when he suggested that Pharaoh look for a helper. Or was he totally chocked when Pharaoh named him on the spot?

Dreaming

Genesis 40:4-5 - The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.

After they had been in custody for some time, each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.

Some (most? all?) who study sleeping and dreams will tell you that you dream every night, even if you don't remember the dream(s) upon waking. Even if they're only half right and we dream half of the times we sleep, that's still a lot of dreaming.

So it doesn't seem likely that the cupbearer and the baker each only had one dream while in prison. Maybe this is the first one they could remember.

Did those men seek out an interpreter every time they woke and remembered a dream? Seems unlikely. If not, when did they seek an interpreter? What made a dream significant enough to warrant interpretation?

What made them so sad about not having an interpreter available? And apparently interpreters were available elsewhere. Hm, maybe they really did go to one after every remembered dream. Did interpreters charge a fee? Did some make a living from dream interpretation? Probably.

Did the two men attach any significance to the fact that they each remembered a dream the same day?

Offending the Pharaoh

Genesis 40:1-3 - Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.

Maybe you didn't have to try hard to offend a Pharaoh who had absolute power. But what can a cupbearer and a baker do to get themselves thrown into prison? Unless they were part of a plot to overthrow the Pharaoh, they'd have to screw up pretty badly to warrant such a punishment, wouldn't they?

If I remember correctly, the cupbearer was to taste drinks before the Pharaoh in case they had been poisoned -- a dangerous job, if your boss had crafty enemies. Did this cupbearer refuse to take a sip? Did he spill some on the Pharaoh's best robes? Or on the table? Or anywhere in Pharaoh's presence? Did he make some snide remark in earshot of the Pharaoh? Or in earshot of one of his enemies? Did he do something unseemly elsewhere that got back to the Pharaoh and upset and offended him? With such a prominent job, wouldn't you normally play it safe, especially considering the built-in hazards?

Many of the same things could be asked about the baker. However, he may have had the added hazard of trying to create new taste treats for the Pharaoh. I suppose if one of them flopped or displeased the Pharaoh or one of his mealtime guests, the Pharaoh may have been offended enough to want to try someone new in that position. (Pity the poor replacement.)

The Wise Warden

Genesis 39:20-23 - Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

I wonder if it was unusual for a prisoner to be given responsibilities such as Joseph had. Did any of the other prisoners get jealous of him? What did Joseph do, if anything, to make the warden look favorably on him?

Potiphar the Wise

Genesis 39:2-4 - The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

I wonder how Potiphar could tell that the LORD was with Joseph. What was it in the way Joseph did his duties and conducted himself that made it evident? Were other servants given similar tasks but didn't produce the same good results? What kinds of tasks did Joseph have to perform?

I wonder if Joseph openly spoke about God to his co-workers or to Potiphar. It says that Potiphar saw that the LORD was with Joseph. Unless that only means he could observe the results of Joseph's work, how else could he have known it was the LORD working through Joseph unless Joseph had told him so?

Tamar in Disguise

Genesis 38:13-18 - When Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep," she took off her widow's clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, "Come now, let me sleep with you."

"And what will you give me to sleep with you?" she asked.

"I'll send you a young goat from my flock," he said.

"Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?" she asked.

He said, "What pledge should I give you?"

"Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand," she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

I wonder how Tamar disguised her voice. Surely she must have or Judah would have recognized her even though he couldn't see (most of) her face and had no reason to expect her to be in Enaim.