Josephs-Story
-hebraicstudies.net-
Please do NOT visit this
site on שַׁבָּת - Shabbat or on
the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts!
Tanakh versions:
Throughout this
site I may use any of the following three versions of the TaNaKh: 1. “Jewish
Publication Society” (JPS-1917), 2. Mechon-Mamre.org” (MEC), and 3. “Sefaria.org” (SEF).
Colour coded
details of the - TaNaKh:
1. Torah =
History & Law, 2. Nevi’im =
The Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim = all other Writings.
*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical
books - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot,
or Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of
Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and
history of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I & II.
Please Note: Some alterations or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ having been corrected like it once was, pre the “Masoretic Text”.
YYYYYYY
Remember the following two truth’s from our
beloved Scriptures!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (the
LORD your Eloleichem) which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2.
YYYYYYY
Parashat Vayeishev.
With
Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
“Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey the entire Torah My servant Moshe has given you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
YYYYYYY
A brief introduction:
In this Parashah it is all about Joseph and the sad situation that saw him thrown down a pit and the being sold off as a slave.
Let us now delve into this tragic account:
Bereshit - Genesis 37:1 to 40:23. (JPS-1917 version).
Parshah of Vayeishev, commences with “Jacob settled,” and “in the land of his father’s dwelling, in the Land of Canaan.”
Of course, his ‘Charan’ years are now behind him, with ‘Laban’’ is countless miles away on the other side of a pile of stones attesting to a nonaggression pact between them. A truce of sorts had been made with ‘Esau’. ‘Dinah’ had been rescued and avenged, and his beloved Rachel had been sadly buried and was being mourned.
The now 100 year old patriarch now hoped that he had experienced enough hardship and heartbreak for a lifetime, and he looked forward for some tranquil years in “the land of his father’s dwelling” (Hebron) as for his sons, they shepherded his flocks in the hills and valleys of Canaan.
However, that this was not to be:
Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a many-colored coat.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of them, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him at all.
The situation was not helped by the fact that Joseph preferred the company of the children of ‘Bilhah’ and ‘Zilpah’ whom Leah’s sons regarded as their inferiors because they were the “sons of the handmaids” and that he was constantly bringing his father critical reports of his brothers’ behaviour.
It was that Joseph had dreams:
Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers,
“Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and bowed down to my sheaf”. Bereshit - Genesis 37:7. (JPS-1917).
His brothers said to him: “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” And they hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
Then he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers:
“Behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” Bereshit - Genesis 37:9b.
His father rebuked him:
“What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow down ourselves to you to the earth?” Bereshit - Genesis 37:10.
But Jacob said this only to defuse the jealousy between the brothers, while “keeping the matter in mind.”
The Sale of Joseph:
Jacob sends Joseph to check up on his brothers, who have gone north with the flocks. Joseph finally locates them in Dothan, near Shehem.
When they saw him from afar, even before he came near to them, they plotted against him to kill him.
They said,
one man to his brother:
“Behold, here comes the dreamer” ... “Let us kill him, and throw him into some pit, and we will say, ‘A wild animal has devoured him’; then we shall see what will become of his dreams.” Bereshit - Genesis 37:19-20.
But Reuben, the eldest of the brothers,
says to them:
“Let us not kill him. ... Do not shed blood, but throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand upon him.” Reuben said this, attests the Torah, “so as to save him from their hands, to bring him back to his father.” Bereshit - Genesis 37:21-22.
It came to pass, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the many-coloured coat that was on him. They took him and threw him into a pit; the pit was empty there was no water in it.
They sat down to eat bread. Then they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balsam and laudanum, going to carry it down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers:
“What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be against him; for he is our brother and our flesh.” Bereshit - Genesis 37:26.
Reuben was not there when Judah proposed that Joseph be sold; when he comes back, intending to rescue Joseph, he finds the pit empty. He berates his brothers, but the deed has already been done; now they must find a way to explain Joseph’s disappearance to their father.
They dip Joseph’s coat in the blood of a goat, and bring it to their father. “This we have found,” they say.
He recognized it and said:
“It is my son’s coat; a wild animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son for many days. Bereshit - Genesis 37:33.
All his sons and all his daughters stood up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted; and he said,
“And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.” Bereshit - Genesis 37:34.
Joseph, However, in the meantime, Joseph had been taken to Egypt, where he was sold to Potiphar, who was a minister in Pharaoh’s court.
Judah and Tamar:
The saga of Joseph is interrupted to relate an incident in the life of Judah. Judah separates from his brothers, marries and has three children: Er, Onan and Shelah. When Er comes of age, Judah marries him to a woman by the name of Tamar.
Er “was wicked in the sight of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim” and dies young. Judah tells Onan to perform “the duty of a brother-in-law” to marry the widow of a childless brother and “raise up progeny for your brother” (a practice called yibbum. Deuteronomy 25:5-6). Onan, who does not desire to father children that will be regarded as his brother’s, “spilled his seed to the ground.” He, too, dies an early death being a punishment for his sin.
Since Onan, too, had died childless, Shelah was now supposed to marry Tamar. But time passes, and Tamar realizes that Judah has no intention of marrying her to his third son. She resolves to find a way to have a child from Judah’s family, if not from Shelah, then from Judah himself.
It was told to Tamar, saying, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” She took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself, and sat by the crossroads which is by the way to Timnah.
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, because she had covered her face. He turned to her by the way, and said: “Come now, please, let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.
Judah promises her “a kid goat from the flock” in payment, but she insists that he leave “your signet, your cord, and your staff that is in your hand” with her as a pledge until the payment is sent. Tamar becomes pregnant from him.
It came to pass, about three months after, that it was told to Judah, saying: “Tamar your daughter-in-law has committed harlotry, and also, behold, she is pregnant by harlotry.”
Judah said: “Bring her out and let her be burnt.”
When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant”; and she said: “Acknowledge, please, whose are these-the signet, the cord and the staff.”
Judah acknowledged them, and said: “She has been more righteous than I”
Tamar gives birth to twins: Peretz (“bursting forth,” because he pushed his way first out of the womb despite the fact that his brother’s hand emerged first) and Zerach (“shining,” because the midwife had tied a crimson thread on his hand to mark him as the firstborn).
The Libel:
Back to Joseph, who is rising in the ranks of the servants of Potiphar, his Egyptian master. “His master saw that אֱלֹהִים - Elohim was with him, and that אֱלֹהִים made successful everything that he did. Joseph found favour in his sight ... and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had, he put into his hand.”
Potiphar’s wife was attracted to the handsome, fortuitous youth.
It came to pass, after these things, that his master’s wife laid eyes upon Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”
He refused, and said to his master’s wife: “Behold, my master, has committed all that he has to my hand. There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against אֱלֹהִים - Elohim?”
Potiphar’s wife persisted, and on one occasion, when no one else was home, she grabbed hold of his clothes. To get away from her, Joseph “left his garment in her hand, and fled, and went outside.” She decides to avenge herself on him, and tells her husband that Joseph tried to force himself on her. “When I lifted up my voice and cried,” she claimed, “he left his garment with me, and fled.”
Joseph is thrown into the royal dungeon.
More Dreams ...
Joseph’s charisma, enterprising spirit and divine blessing follow him to prison. Before long,
the officer of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatever they did there, he was the doer of it ... because אֱלֹהִים - Elohim was with him, and whatever he did, אֱלֹהִים made it successful.
Time passes:
Then Pharaoh’s chief butler and his chief baker, each of whom had committed some offence against their king, are thrown into the prison where Joseph was, and are entrusted to his care.
One morning, Joseph finds them in a troubled mood. They’ve both had dreams whose meaning they cannot fathom. “Do not interpretations belong to אֱלֹהִים - Elohim?” says Joseph. “Tell me them.”
The chief butler relates his dream:
Behold, a vine was before me. And on the vine were three branches; and it was as though it budded, and its blossoms sprang forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.
Joseph offers the following interpretation:
The three branches are three days. In another three days Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your place; you shall place Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, as was the case when you were his butler.
The chief baker, liking Joseph’s interpretation of his colleague’s dream, tells his own story:
I also in my dream, behold, I had three baskets of white bread on my head. And in the uppermost basket there all types of baked foods for Pharaoh; and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head.
Which Joseph interprets:
The three baskets are three days. In another three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and hang you on a tree; and the birds shall eat your flesh from off you.
Joseph has a favour to ask from the soon-to-be-freed butler:
But think of me when it shall be well with you, and show kindness, please, to me; mention me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.
For I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
Three days later, Pharaoh celebrates his birthday, and remembers the two ministers he had ordered thrown in jail; he reinstates the chief butler and hangs the chief baker, “as Joseph had interpreted to them.”
Of course we should all know well what occurs in the next Parashat Miketz! Joseph’s life
completly changes!
YYYYYYY
Please
Note: “hebraicstudies” links are located down
the page!
PLEASE NOTE: This site was originally created, for those who desired to return to our blessed and wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least two or three times a day (if possible) and always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance, for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him, blessed be He! However this site has become very much a teaching site with hundreds of studies!
Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be
He, said the following, via several of our prophets...
“Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה- the LORD of hosts”. Mal’a’chi - Malachi 3:7. MEC).
And Remember ...
Enjoy your Sabbath Rest, Shabbat Shalom!
אֲנִי
יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, בְּחֻקּוֹתַי
לֵכוּ; וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי
שִׁמְרוּ, וַעֲשׂוּ
אוֹתָם
וְאֶת-שַׁבְּתוֹתַי, קַדֵּשׁוּ; וְהָיוּ
לְאוֹת, בֵּינִי
וּבֵינֵיכֶם-לָדַעַת, כִּי
אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
“I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloheichem; walk in My statutes,
and keep Mine ordinances, and do them; and hallow My Sabbaths, and they shall
be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה -
the LORD your Eloheichem”. Yechezkel - Ezekiel
20:19-20. (JPS).
YYYYYYY
“Hebraic Studies” motto is as
follows;
“The More Torah, the
More Life”
For אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה - the LORD Elohim, Blessed be His Sanctified Name,
He
is the one who gave us our Life!”
May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom = Peace of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה= the LORD of hosts. be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat, as well as the ‘מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and continue saying your daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s (Prayers) and regular בְּרָכָה - Be’ra’chah’s (blessings) before food and drinks, etc!
שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!
Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
Enter ...
http://www.hebraicstudies.net/Site-Index.htm
Enter ...
https://www.hebraicstudies.net
-hebraicstudies.net-
Email the Rabbi
If the email link does not open - You can also
copy the link and use it.
Although the author does not believe in having
to copyright “Hebraic Studies” commenced in the mid 1980’,
but there have been occasions where there parts of his
studies have been taken and quoted out of context
under my name, and thus he has been misquoted by those who have
their own reasons for doing so.
Thus, it is only for this reason these
works are fully covered under strict ...
Copyright © 2025 - “Hebraic Studies” - All rights reserved.