#Genesis 46:28-34
Jacob arrives in Egypt
If you’re not moved by Joseph and Jacob meeting again after all this time, and by them embracing and weeping, well, you’re more hard-hearted than I am.
Jacob arrives in Egypt
If you’re not moved by Joseph and Jacob meeting again after all this time, and by them embracing and weeping, well, you’re more hard-hearted than I am.
The key element of this passage is the arrival of the brothers in Goshen - precisely where Joseph told them in 45:10 they would be living - and the creation of a plan to make sure that Pharaoh would allow them to stay right there.
Does Joseph’s plan involve a ruse? Are his brothers actually shepherds, as he claims and asks them to state? It’s actually not so clear. In E we know they are, from Gen 37. Less so in J, though in 34:5 they’re said to have been in the field with the cattle.
Jacob certainly has flocks and herds when he encounters Esau in Gen 33, so I’m willing to grant Joseph the basic truth of what he’s planning here. Though there’s still an underlying bit of trickery, having them go to Goshen in the first place then ask for it on these grounds.
Were shepherds really abhorrent to Egyptians? Was there some stigma against shepherding in Egypt that the Israelite author may have known about? This is the sort of thing that biblical scholars occasionally make pronouncements about, but I’m not about to. @indyfromspace?
(Just noting here the difficulty of biblical scholars pronouncing on comparative issues in which they are not trained experts, as if it’s just that easy; and similarly non-biblicists simply pronouncing on the Bible, as if it requires no expertise either. I find both equally bad.)
I like that this particular sentiment has been liked mostly by fellow biblicists.
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