Joseph as Prototype for his Descendants.
Continued from:
=============
Joseph. Early Life Examples.
Contents:
Are you forgiving in nature?
Are you optimistic?
Do you always think things can change for the better?
Do you believe in a Future Redemption?
Are you humble?
Can you work with others even if it means having to kow-tow to those who are not at the same level?
Do you try to take people as they are?
Are you sometimes too quick to believe false reports? Do you occasionally jump to conclusions that are misplaced?
Scottish Tartan and Joseph.
Descendants of Joseph in History.
The Dreams of Joseph and the Ability to Dream.
Could Lack of Discretion be another attribute of Joseph?
Descent into Egypt.
Can you resist temptation?
Can you remain faithful to others, and to the Almighty?
=============
Are you forgiving in nature?
Are you optimistic?
Do you always think things can change for the better?
Do you believe in a Future Redemption?
When Rachel the mother of Joseph gave birth to him, we are told:
Genesis (NLT) 30:
23 SHE BECAME PREGNANT AND GAVE BIRTH TO A SON. GOD HAS REMOVED MY DISGRACE, SHE SAID. 24 AND SHE NAMED HIM JOSEPH, FOR SHE SAID, MAY THE LORD ADD YET ANOTHER SON TO MY FAMILY.
The word used here for "removed" is "ASAF" literally meaning "gathered up." It is cognate with the expression "Yosef" which implies "increase."
Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson, "Hebrew. Source of Languages. Enlarged Edition," 2006, p. 11 says:
# Yosef is from the root "ASAF" and it alludes to his destiny which is ASIFAH (gathering) and unifying the Tribes of Israel. #
He quotes as a source the Commentary "Shem MeSmuel," (Genesis, VaYigash) of Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain (1855 - 1926), also spelled "Borenstein" or "Bernstein," who was the second Rebbe of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty in Poland.
The name "Joseph" therefore connotes renewal, rectification, begin again, gather together, and to keep on growing and expanding.
These are attributes of Joseph.
Rachel had done anything wrong. On the contrary. Nevertheless her "dosgrace" up until then in the eyes of others was that, unlike the other wives of Jacob she had not conceived. The birth of Joseph removed the disgrace. Joseph is associated with renewal, the ability to make a fresh start, Redemption. Joseph through Britain helped create the State of Israel whose position was stabilised by the USA. This is Joseph. This is what Joseph does. Joseph often identifies with Jews even though Jews do not necessarily identify with him.
==============
Are you humble?
Can you work with others even if it means having to kow-tow to those who are not at the same level?
Do you try to take people as they are?
Are you sometimes too quick to believe false reports? Do you occasionally jump to conclusions that are misplaced?
Genesis 37:
2 THIS IS THE ACCOUNT OF JACOB AND HIS FAMILY. WHEN JOSEPH WAS SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD, HE OFTEN TENDED HIS FATHERS FLOCKS. HE WORKED FOR HIS HALF BROTHERS, THE SONS OF HIS FATHERS WIVES BILHAH AND ZILPAH. BUT JOSEPH REPORTED TO HIS FATHER SOME OF THE BAD THINGS HIS BROTHERS WERE DOING.
Joseph worked with, and for, his half brothers. The word translated as "worked for" in Hebrew is "naar,"
We discussed the significance of this word in our recent article:
The Humility of Joseph.
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/humility.html
The word "naar" translated above as "he worked for" is elsewhere given as "while he was still a youth," and in another version "as an apprentice." In Hebrew the word used is "naar". Literally this means "young man" but it is also used to mean (serve as a) "servant, apprentice, assistant".
Joshua, the servant of Moses, is described as a "naar" (Exodus 33:11) translated as "young man" even though he was close to eighty at the time. Joshua was an apprentice, in training to succeed Moses as he eventually did when Moses died. Joshua was from the Tribe of Ephraim and therefore a descendant of Joseph.
The Hebrew verse more literally says according to traditional understanding:
THESE THE GENERATIONS OF JACOB, JOSEPH AT THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN WOULD SHEPHERD WITH HIS BROTHERS AND HE WAS APPRENTICED ("naar") WITH THE SONS OF BILHAH AND THE SONS OF ZILPAH,THE WIVES OF HIS FATHER. AND JOSEPH BROUGHT THEIR BAD REPORT ("dibatam raah") TO THEIR FATHER.
The bad report was about his elder brothers the sons of Leah.
It was not about the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (see Rashi).
The report was also "bad" in the sense of not being good in itself. Literally the expression used "dibatam raah" means "evil bad (probably false) report."
This was one of the reasons they hated him because he said bad things about them that were mistaken and not true!
He either heard slanderous libelous reports about them from others and accepted them or he saw things but misunderstood what he was seeing.
This also brings us back to the tendency for some descendants of Joseph to believe in Conspiracy Theories and anti-Jewish fabrications. Keep away from such idiocies. They are pernicious and corrupting.
==============
Scottish Tartan and Joseph.
Genesis 37:
3 NOW ISRAEL LOVED JOSEPH MORE THAN ALL HIS CHILDREN, BECAUSE HE WAS THE SON OF HIS OLD AGE. ALSO HE MADE HIM A TUNIC OF MANY COLORS.
In Hebrew "a tunic of many colors" ("Kotonet Pasim") can connote a coat of tartan design. Such coats were worn by royalty as we find that Tamar the daughter of King David also wore one.
See:
The Scottish Tartan Cloak of Joseph
https://www.britam.org/tartan.html
Descendants of Joseph in History.
In "The Tribes" we showed how descendants of Joseph were to be found throughout the British Isles. Elements from Ephraim were more in the south and east. Contingents of Manasseh were more in the north and west. They were also to be found in Ireland and Scotland though other Tribes were also present in those places. We also showed how the Great Migrations from Germany and Europe in the 17000, 1800s, were of groups who had always remained separate from their neighbors. The Tribe of Manasseh was prominent among them.
The 'tartan" colors and everything associatyedc with them (kilts, bagpgies, etc) connote tradition, respect for the past, probity, duty. Does this resonate with you?
==============
The Dreams of Joseph and the Ability to Dream.
Could Lack of Discretion be another attribute of Joseph?
Do you occasionally overduly publicize whatever acheivements, possessions, etc, you have merited?
It is natural for a person to be proud of himself when warranted and also to seek respect from others. Nevertheless, this needs to be done with sensitivity. Do you always show this?
Joseph had dreams that he would be sovereign over his family and they would bow down to him. This aggravated the tensions between them. There are some who have seen significance in the very existence of the "dreams." We have the expression the "American Dream". This says that in the USA anyone can become great especially through material possessions. It requires a belief in one's self, ambition, determined effort, and a refusal to be disheartened by initial failures
Lack of Discretion? False reports, Gullibility?
The brothers of Joseph apparently feared that Joseph was trying to dispossess them. The bad false reports he said about them, the dreams, the tartan cloak connoting royalty and rank, the favoritism of his father indicating that he might not be letting well enough alone, and his attitude in general set them against him.
===========
Descent into Egypt.
The Brothers of Joseph, meaning mostly the sons of Leah, decided to kill him. He was thrown in a pit for the wild animals in that area to devour. Reuben tried to save him but did not succeed. The Tribe of Reuben is mostly present among part of the French People. At the last minutes Judah suggested that they sell Joseph to a caravan of Midianite-Ishmaelites going down to Egypt. They did so.
Joseph was acquired by Potiphar an official of Pharoah who made him the head of his household.
This is another attribute of Joseph: Doing what you have to do when you have to do it and doing it as well as you can.
===========
Can you resist temptation?
Can you remain faithful to others, and to the Almighty?
The Wife of Potiphar, his Master, set eyes upon him.
Genesis (NKJV) 39:
7 AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THESE THINGS THAT HIS MASTER'S WIFE CAST LONGING EYES ON JOSEPH, AND SHE SAID, 'LIE WITH ME.' 8 BUT HE REFUSED AND SAID TO HIS MASTER'S WIFE, 'LOOK, MY MASTER DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IS WITH ME IN THE HOUSE, AND HE HAS COMMITTED ALL THAT HE HAS TO MY HAND. 9 THERE IS NO ONE GREATER IN THIS HOUSE THAN I, NOR 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 GOD?'10 SO IT WAS, AS SHE SPOKE TO JOSEPH DAY BY DAY, THAT HE DID NOT HEED HER, TO LIE WITH HER OR TO BE WITH HER.
Joseph here reveals several positive attributes:
He was considerate of the honor of his master. He was grateful for the good turn rendered unto him.
He refused to DO THIS GREAT WICKEDNESS, AND SIN AGAINST GOD.
Joseph refused to betray hs master and remained faithful to God.
Do you have the potential to live according to those attributes?
In principle we all have this ability but not all of us necessarily live up to them at the time of temptation.
Continued at: "Are you from Joseph?-3."