CHAPTER XIII
THE DEATH OF JACOB AND OF JOSEPH
Genesis 46.1 to 50.26
Interpretation. In these chapters the center of interest once more shifts from personal biography to the destiny of Israel as a people. One is conscious throughout that his attention is being called to the close of one period and the beginning of another. The patriarchal period now draws to an end and the period of national existence commences. God's purpose is no more to be shown in the choice of individuals, but in his dealings with the people as a whole. It is not accident that Israel's national life is to begin in Egypt rather than in its own land; for just as Abraham, the father of the race, was tested by his willingness to leave his home in obedience to God, so the nation as a whole was to have a similar experience. It had to be made to realize its election by being taken as "a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and by wonders and by war and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors". (Deuteronomy 4. 34.) In these chapters we see the beginning of the fulfillment of Abraham's prophetic vision recorded in Genesis 15. 12-16.
Let us see how the ideas stated in the above paragraph are conveyed in the chapters under our consideration. Observe first Jacob's apprehensive reluctance about going to Egypt, which needs the assurance from God, "Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again." (Genesis 46.3, 4.) Jacob before he dies reminds Joseph of God's promise given to him at Beth El in anticipation of the exodus from Egypt, "God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me: Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession." (Genesis 48.3,4.) We may regard Jacob's insistence on being buried in Canaan as implying the same idea. His blessing to his children and grandchildren further bears out this thought and Joseph's instructions with regard to the disposal of his own body show most clearly that the sojourn in Egypt was not intended to be permanent, though, as is seen from Joseph's words to his brothers (Genesis 50.19, 20), it was divinely appointed.
But though, as we have just shown, the main interest of these chapters is from the point of view of Israel's destiny, they are not lacking in the personal interest as well. There is a sublime pathos in Jacob's humble acceptance of the divine decree which makes him, after life long struggle, end his days in a strange land, with those ambitions that he had cherished throughout life still depending on a remote future after his death for their realization. In his meeting with Pharaoh, he maintains well his patriarchal dignity. But he shows no sense of triumph in the honors accorded him and his retrospective glance over his life reveals to him little that is not disappointing; "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings." (Genesis 47.9.) Pathetic also is the reference of Jacob, when about to bless the sons of Joseph, to the death of Rachel, which had taken place so many years ago, as if the thought of Joseph's prosperity awakened anew his grief that Rachel had not lived to see it: "And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died unto me in the land of Canaan in the way when there was still some way to come unto Ephrath; and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath—the same is Beth-lehem." (Genesis 48.7.) Yet he preserves his patriarchal authority over his children and grandchildren to the last, blessing Ephraim above Menassah, and not failing in his blessings to his children to recall their past sins as warnings for the future. The devotion of his children to him and the renewed relations of affection between Joseph and his brothers complete the picture of the ideal patriarchal family where love and reverence and a common faith are the ties that bind the units together.
Genesis 47.13 to 26 is interesting in the light of what we know of Egyptian history from other sources than the Bible. The Pharaoh at the time of Joseph was, it is generally agreed, one of the Hyksos dynasty, which belonged to a Semitic tribe that had conquered Egypt. The land before that time had been held in a sort of feudal tenure by some of the old nobility. These gave constant trouble, particularly in the south, to the Hyksos rulers. Joseph's policy therefore was aimed at securing a centralization of power in the hands of Pharaoh through his obtaining all the land and reducing all others except the priests to the status of tenants. This concentration of power in the hands of a single monarch, intolerable as it would be in a modern state, was often in ancient times the very best means of securing that measure of peace from constant strife between petty principalities which was an absolute prerequisite of progress and civilization. Of course the child is not interested in such problems and this whole incident should be omitted, but it is well for the teacher to bear these truths in mind lest his modern political and economic theories prejudice him against the character of Joseph.
Aim. There are two aims which the teacher should bear in mind in this lesson, one relating to the historic interest we have shown it to contain and the other to the personal interest. In accord with the former the teacher must give to the child those historical and religious ideas contained in this chapter which summarize the significance of the patriarchal period and prepare the way for their next year's work, namely the idea of how God was making a great nation of Jews in accordance with his promise to the patriarchs by permitting them to multiply in Egypt, at the same time reminding them that they were not to become Egyptians but would one day be brought back to their land. But the aspect of the lesson that can impress itself most readily on the children is the more personal one with its picture of the ideal family life as a sort of final tableau to the drama of Joseph that they have been learning. Of particular value is the example of reverence for parents which it holds before them.
Suggestions to the teacher. The most valuable help that the teacher can get in teaching this lesson also comes from the study of the Biblical story itself. Note that in the Bible although it is made clear that the settlement in Egypt was brought about in accordance with a divine plan for the development of the chosen people, this is nowhere stated in abstract terms but we are allowed to infer it from the words and acts of the characters and the events as they shape themselves. In teaching children, who have no power of forming abstract notions, no other method is possible. It is necessary, however, for this very reason to take more pains to make the meaning of the words and acts of the characters clear to the child. Thus in speaking of God's appearing to Jacob at Beer-sheba with his reassuring message, one must first state what the Bible leaves to our own power of inference, Jacob's reluctance to go to Egypt and the reason for his reluctance. One might say for example:
"So Jacob made ready to leave Canaan and go to meet his son Joseph, whom he so longed to see once more. And yet, in spite of his anxiety to meet Joseph, he felt sorry to leave this land of Canaan where he was born, where his father and mother and his dear wife Rachel were buried, and where God had promised him that his children would become a great nation. Perhaps he also felt sorry because he remembered hearing of a prophecy that God had told to Abraham, saying that his descendants would become slaves to a strange people in a strange land, and he thought "Maybe now my children will be made slaves in Egypt." But that night as he slept God sent a dream to cheer him. He dreamt he heard God speak to him and say "—etc.
Again, when telling of Joseph's going to meet his father, emphasize the love that made him hasten to welcome the patriarch and the pride with which he introduced his aged father to King Pharaoh, as well as the solicitude for his father's and brothers' comfort implied in the preparations for their reception in Goshen, the most fertile part of Egypt, in the delta of the Nile.
In speaking of the desire of Jacob and Joseph to be buried in Canaan, explain the reason to be their wanting to remind their descendants of God's promise to bring them out of Egypt to their own land, Canaan. In telling of Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and Menassah, it is not necessary to touch upon the preference given to Ephraim as this is only significant in the light of the subsequent history of the tribes and, by the time the child gets to that part of the history, he will have forgotten this incident since there is nothing in it intrinsically interesting to children, but do not ignore Genesis 48.20, "And he blessed them that day saying: 'By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as Menassah.'" In this way it is possible to establish a point of contact between the child's home life and the lesson by pointing out to him that these very words are part of the blessing with which his parents bless him on the Sabbath. This will serve to make him realize that he is one of the people whose history he is learning. It would also be well to ask how many children say Ha-mal'ak ha-go'el in their night prayers and to explain that this is part of Jacob's blessing to Ephraim and Menassah. (Genesis 48.16.)
Help the children visualize the imposing funeral rights in connection with the burial of Jacob as showing the honor paid to him by the Egyptians as well as by his own children. They should be given some idea from the map of the length of the journey and the route taken. Do not take for granted the children's comprehension of the renewal of the fear of Joseph's brothers after their father's death, but explain that they thought perhaps Joseph had failed to punish them until then merely in order to spare his father, but that after his father's burial he would have no more scruples, just as Esau refrained from killing Jacob while his father lived but threatened to do so after his death.