Interpretation. In the narratives dealing with the history of the patriarchs, we have constantly emphasized that the point of view of the Biblical author regarded their lives as significant not so much as personal history, but rather as a preparation for Israel's national existence. In the story of Joseph this point of view is still discernible, though the chief interest has been transferred to the personal history of Joseph. It is discernible in that Joseph's being sold into Egypt and the settling of his father and brothers in Goshen are conceived not as fortuitous circumstances but as part of a divine plan which had already been revealed to Abraham. (Genesis 15. 13.) Still the main interest is, as we have said, in the personal career of Joseph. This narrative is preeminently a story. It is not a story with a moral, but a story abounding in morals. Perhaps the most important from the point of view of the child is that which might be summed up in the words of the psalmist, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalms 133. 1.) This is taught negatively in the first part of the story and affirmatively in the last. But such ideas as the danger of unjust discrimination on the part of parents, the evil of tale-bearing and boastfulness, the value of honest, faithful service, the nobility of resistance to temptation under the most trying circumstances, and the beauty of forgiveness and reconciliation are only a few of the many other morals taught by this story. The portion of Joseph's life that is covered by this chapter shows how Jacob's partiality to Joseph created hostility between him and his brothers by arousing in them envy and in him a certain vanity and sense of superiority. These characteristics of Joseph at this period of his life are not given any attention by most Jewish school teachers because of the tendency to idealize all Biblical heroes, thus overlooking the obvious significance of Genesis 37. 2, but the story only gains in meaning when we see at the end how completely Joseph had outlived all such pettiness as is here ascribed to him.
There is some ambiguity in the Hebrew text as to one essential point of the story, namely as to who sold Joseph. The verses in question read:
25. And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead....
26. And Judah said unto his brethren: What profit is it if we slay our brother....
27. Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites.... And his brethren hearkened unto him.
28. And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt....
36. And the Midianites[6] sold him to Egypt.
From verse 28, taken by itself, it would seem that not Joseph's brothers but the Midianites drew Joseph from the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites, and this theory is actually maintained by some, who point out that not only would the traditional interpretation require a change of subject in the middle of the verse, which is not otherwise indicated, but it would imply the identification of Ishmaelites and Midianites, which is untenable inasmuch as Midian was a son of Abraham and Keturah and Ishmael the son of Abraham and Hagar. (Genesis 25. 1 and 2.)
But this view is also not without its difficulties, and, in my opinion, the traditional interpretation of the verses is to be preferred. For verses 26 to 27 indicate clearly that Judah's plan to sell Joseph met with the approval of his brothers and we should surely expect some expression of disappointment on their part if in the end their plan had miscarried. The change of subject in verse 28 which the traditional interpretation would require need not trouble us as such change of subject is not very unusual in the Bible. (See for instance Genesis 14. 19 to 20, 15. 13, 22. 7.) As for the identification of Midianites with Ishmaelites the fact is that racial names sometimes are extended to include other related races whom history has brought into close contact. The descendants of Hagar and Keturah are thus classed together in Genesis 25.6. Ibn Ezra, in his commentary to our passage, calls attention furthermore to the fact that this same identification of Midianites and Ishmaelites is made in Judges 8.24 where Gideon, after a victory over the Midianites, says, "'I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil.' For they had had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites." The reading Medanites in verse 36 may be a scribal error for Midianites or vice versa, as the only difference is in the omission or insertion of a ÿod.
Aim. The aim in teaching this lesson should be to create in the child, through his sympathetic understanding of the motives that underly the action of the story, an appreciation of those moral ideals which we have shown to be contained in it.