Thread by @AriLamm

Why Read The Bible In Hebrew?

So, remember how Joseph gets sold into slavery in Egypt and eventually rises to become Pharaoh's second-in-command?

Well...why doesn't Joseph ever write home to his father to tell him that he's alive?

A thread (for non-Hebrew readers too!) 🧵1

Okay, so quick recap:

Jacob has four wives—Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. His favorite (and the only he'd originally intended to marry), was Rachel. He has a bunch of children—the oldest few with Leah—but his favorite son is Rachel's eldest: Joseph.

And Jacob shows it. 2

Jacob gifts Joseph a wondrous coat, stoking his brothers' jealousy. Joseph makes things worse by telling them his dreams of his family members one day bowing to him.

Jealousy turns to hatred until one day the brothers kidnap Joseph and sell him to slavers bound for Egypt. 3

The brothers then dip Joseph's coat in blood, and show it to Jacob. Heartbroken, he assumes his beloved son is dead—eaten by wild animals.

Over the years, Joseph rises from Egyptian slave and prisoner to become the Pharaoh's own viceroy—his second-in-command. 4

Years later, Joseph's brothers happen to find themselves in Egypt. They meet the Egyptian viceroy (whom they don't recognize as their long lost brother). After much suspense, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and reunites with his father.

So...here's the question... 5

Why doesn't Joseph—at some point during all those years in Egypt—simply send word to his father that he's alive? Why wait until after his brothers show up?

I mean, sure, maybe as a slave he couldn't. But once he became viceroy, you're telling me he couldn't write one letter?! 6

Okay, so let's dig in!

First, we need to distinguish two types of information the Bible gives us. There's information THE BIBLICAL FIGURES THEMSELVES know. And then there's information that only WE THE READERS know...but which the Biblical protagonists themselves do not! 7

So...what does the story look like if we use only information Joseph would've known?

Well, he grew up his father’s favorite. His brothers resent this. When he begins to dream of one day ruling over his family—and makes sure his family knows it!—his brothers are even angrier. 8

But it's not only his brothers who are upset. His father, Jacob, actually leads the charge!

"His father rebuked him:...What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?!" (Gen 27:10). 9

Now, WE know that Jacob actually took Joseph's dreams seriously. After all, the very next verse says so!

"His brothers were jealous of him; but his father kept the matter in mind" (27:11)

But JOSEPH does not know this! As far as he knows, his father is similarly outraged! 10

So what happens next?

Well, Joseph is sent away by his father on a solo journey, to an isolated location, ostensibly to check on his brothers. When he arrives, his brothers seize him and, without a word, throw him in a pit, and sell him to a slaving caravan headed for Egypt. 11

Okay, so purely based on info Joseph himself knew, what should he have concluded?

Well, umm, it sure LOOKED like...his father Jacob had planned the whole thing! Remember, Jacob was the one who sent him out that day. And it's not like his brothers explained it was their idea! 12

Or, more precisely, they DO say it's their own idea...just not in front of Joseph! Scripture makes this point deliberately: "They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them they conspired to kill him" (37:18)

So Joseph had no clue they planned this themselves. 13

Instead, he assumes that it was his father who PURPOSELY had him sent him away.

...Okay, okay settle down! I hear the objections already: "Why would Joseph think Jacob would do something like this?! Why would Jacob deliberately expel his own child from his household?!" 14

Well, actually the answer's pretty simple...just think about the entire book of Genesis! The whole thing is structured around chosenness and rejection.

I mean, let's begin with Creation: in that story, humanity is chosen; the animals, like the serpent, are not. 15

When Adam and Eve have children—God chooses Abel's offering; Cain's is rejected.

Then, after the Flood, Noah has children: Shem and Japheth are blessed; Ham is cursed.

As time goes by, Terah has two sons: Abram (later Abraham) and Nahor. God chooses to speak to Abram. 16

...But wait, there's more!

Abraham has Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac is chosen; Ishmael is sent away.

Isaac then has Esau and Jacob. And, yep, you guessed it: Jacob is chosen; Esau is sent away.

So now we get to Jacob's kids. What do you think they expected to happen? 17

Well, they probably figured that history would play out as it always had: chosenness and rejection.

So when Joseph is sold, he naturally assumes that he's the Esau of his generation! And just like Esau before him, he's been rejected. Just like Esau, he's out of the story. 18

And here's where it's important to read the Bible in Hebrew! Because, in fact, Scripture actually makes this point quite clear.

Consider, after all, how the story of Joseph being sold into slavery begins: Jacob summons Joseph so he can send him out to find his brothers. 19

"And Israel [i.e. Jacob] said to Joseph: Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them" (37:13).

How does Joseph respond (in that very same verse)?

"He answered: Here I am".

Now, the Hebrew word for "here I am" is "hineni"... 20

The Hebrew word "hineni" is justly famous. It's the response the greatest prophets offer when they first hear the divine call—think Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:4).

But that word is also quite rare. It only appears 15 times in the entire Bible.

So here's a question... 21

Can you think of another case in Genesis where a son responds to his father with the word "hineni" (here I am)?

It only happens one other time...

"When Isaac was old...he called his elder son Esau and said to him, 'My son.' And he answered, 'Here I am' (hineni)” (27:1). 22

As Isaac approached the end of his life, he prepared to bestow a blessing upon his son Esau. So he called Esau before him and sent him to hunt and prepare a meal. While Esau was away, Jacob—at his mother Rebecca's urging—tricks his father into giving him the blessing instead. 23

So think about it:

Much like Joseph, Esau was his father’s favorite (Gen 25:28). Much like Joseph, his father sends him out of the house. Much like Joseph, Esau responds to his father summons with "Hineni!"

Now, in the Esau story, what happens next?... 24

Well, by the time he gets back from his hunt, his blessing has been given to Jacob.

Jacob has been chosen. Esau has been rejected.

So now let's get back to Joseph. He reasoned: I must be the Esau of my generation! I've been sent away. My brothers have been chosen instead. 25

That's why Joseph never writes home. What would have been the point? As far as Joseph believed, Egypt wasn't some temporary exile from which he might one day return. There was no going back. Egypt was now, for better or worse, his home!

Joseph even tells us this. How?... 26

Remember what Joseph names his children? Manasseh and Ephraim. Why?

When Manasseh is born, Joseph proclaims: "God has made me forget (nashani) all my hardship and all my father’s house" (41:51)

The name Manasseh comes from "nashani", meaning "made me forget". 27

Manasseh's name acknowledges that God has severed Joseph from his father's house.

Meanwhile, what about Ephraim? Joseph explains: “For God has made me fruitful (hifrani) in the land of my misfortunes" (41:52).

Ephraim's name comes from "hifrani", meaning "made me fruitful". 28

So Ephraim's name, in turn, thanks God for protecting Joseph in his new home—Egypt.

Joseph believed he was no longer part of the covenantal story. This was clearly deeply painful to him. But he bore his fate with stoic faith—he embraced what he thought was God's choice. 29

...Until suddenly, years later, he encounters his brothers. Faces he never thought he’d see again. He doesn't reveal himself, however, because, again, what would be the point? All it would do was tear open old wounds that had emotionally scabbed over.

So what was his goal? 30

Helpfully, Scripture tells us straight out: "Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them" (42:9).

Joseph's entire rags to riches story—his meteoric rise to power in Pharaoh's court—rested wholly on the accuracy of his dream interpreting abilities. 31

The only dreams he had ever misinterpreted—so he thought—were his own, all those years ago back home.

He had long since accepted his expulsion from Jacob's family. But dreams? They were the one thing God had left him! He needed these original dreams to come true as well. 32

So he sets about trying to engineer their fulfillment.

First things first: all the brothers needed to be in one place so they could bow to him. And who was the only brother missing?

Benjamin!

Hence Joseph's instructions: "bring your youngest brother to me" (42:20). 33

Now here's where the Bible unveils a crucial plot point: the brothers don't realize Joseph can understand them when they speak to each other in their native tongue!

"They did not know that Joseph understood them, since he spoke with them through an interpreter" (42:23). 34

So what does Joseph learn from his covert reconnaissance? Well, at first...nothing really. At least nothing substantive.

But eventually, he learns something new. And this changes everything.

When?

Well, think about the very last thing Joseph hears before his revelation! 35

Joseph had sent the brothers home from Egypt with strict instructions not to return without Benjamin. This is a red line for Jacob, who doesn't want to lose Rachel's only remaining child. But eventually, Judah is able to convince his father to entrust Benjamin to his care. 36

So when Joseph has Benjamin arrested (on charges he had, of course, engineered), Judah begs Joseph to take him captive instead.

It's a moment of incredible heroism...especially for Judah! After all, it was Judah who had masterminded Joseph's sale in the first place (37:26). 37

And now here he is bravely defending Joseph's younger brother.

...But what really matters for our story is what Judah inadvertently reveals during his plea. He tries to pull at Joseph's heartstrings by telling him how painful it was for Jacob to separate from Benjamin. 38

"Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces, and I have never seen him since"...and now you want to take my other son?! (44:27-28). This is how Judah quotes his father to Joseph. 39

What does Joseph learn in this moment? For the first time?

That Jacob—his father—never knew! His father had no idea he'd been sold into slavery! He thought Joseph had been killed!

And he'd mourned him every single day since.

Joseph's entire world transformed in an instant. 40

Everything he thought he knew about his life—his journey—was wrong!

His father HADN’T banished him. His father loved him dearly—had always loved him. In fact, Jacob's life had been ruined by Joseph's apparent death.

And so Joseph could no longer hold back. 41

He let out a cry from the depths of his soul. "He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it..." (45:2).

And in that moment he had only one question: "I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?" (45:3).

In some sense, this is an absurd question. Of course his father was alive! 42

Like, hadn't Judah just told him this?

But of course, this wasn't a rational question, prompted by cool logic.

It was the desperate, yet hopeful cry of a scared, battered child who thought his father had abandoned him...only to suddenly learn his father loved him all along. 43

In that moment, Joseph realized he wasn't Esau after all.

Or more precisely, he realized that sometimes, just maybe...Esau can come home again.

How do I know? Consider Jacob's final talk with Joseph. In Gen 47, Jacob asks to be buried in the Promised Land, instead of Egypt. 44

Joseph agrees. That should've been the end of it. But instead we read: "And [Jacob] said [to Joseph]: 'Swear to me' (hishava li) and he swore to him (va'yishava lo)" (47:31).

Why does Jacob make Joseph swear?

Well, notice the verse repeats the Hebrew for "swear to..." twice 45

Specifically, it uses the phrase "hishava li" (swear to me) followed by "va'yishava lo" (he swore to him).

Where else in the Bible do we encounter this combination?

Yep. There's literally only one other place...

The story of Esau selling Jacob his birthright. 46

"Esau said, 'I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?' Jacob said, Swear to me (hishava li) first. So he swore to him (va'yishava lo)" (25:32-33).

These were the fateful words that ultimately tore Jacob and Esau apart, and resulted in Esau's rejection. 47

So here is Jacob, at the end of his life. Before him sits Joseph—his beloved son, who spent most of his life thinking he was another Esau. And once again, Jacob asks Esau for an oath.

But this time...it's an oath that binds this Esau—Joseph—to Jacob's own covenantal destiny. 48

Joseph's story is the perfect end to Genesis. Figures throughout the book are tormented by feelings of rejection—this even leads to murder.

But Joseph? As hard as it is, he simply trusts God.

And in the end, he learns that he's been loved—by his father and by God—all along! 49

P.S. Thanks so much as always to @zenahitz for first enabling me to do these threads!

And if you like them, totally check out my podcast Good Faith Effort!!! I'm relaunching with new guests next month (after a hiatus). Here's the most recent episode! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nic…

P.P.S. I was trying to track down this amazing piece by @IlanBlock for the thread. I couldn’t in time and ended up using a different work of his (which is also incredible). But now that I got it I wanted you all to see it!