Joseph is introduced as a less-than-stellar character, vain, lazy, (sloth) boastful, deceitful and an informer. His fancy outfit, a coat of many colors was made by his father because Joseph, though not the oldest son, was the most favored by his father, Jacob/Israel. This coat and the fact that Joseph refused any agricultural exertion (obviously the long sleeves would get in the way of any labors and ¾ length sleeves had not yet come into fashion) made his brothers furious (anger and envy). And it did not help his lack of popularity that Joseph was a snitch reporting to his father the omissions in the fields of his brothers. Add to that list of personal faults, he shared his dreams of grandiosity with his brothers (pride). As politicians learned last November, you don't win votes by bragging about your visions. The final straw came when Joseph told his father and jealous brothers that the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
The brothers devised a plan to snuff the snitch from the face of their earth. They wanted to kill Joseph and throw him into an earth hole, a Floridian-type sink hole. Judah that it was a better idea to pull Joseph out and use him for chattel. For 20 pieces of silver he was quickly sold as a slave to migrant merchants. The merchants, after arriving in Egypt, sold him to a Pharaoh’s Captain. The price the merchants asked for Joseph is not mentioned but we can easily guess that he became a profitable investment (greed).
The brothers devised a plan to cover their dirty deed by killing a baby goat and soaking Joseph's Technicolor dream coat in the resulting blood. When Reuben came upon the empty hole and the bloody coat's shreds he was told by the other brothers that Joseph had been devoured by an evil beast. The evidence was brought to father Jacob who mourned into the grave despite the efforts of his sons and daughters to comfort him. Finally, daughters were mentioned! 500 years BCE we females were making progress as viable entities!
In Genesis: 38, females were given historical importance as child-bearers (it hadn't yet been discovered that we are good at all sorts of things) in the telling of Judah's propagations. God saw wickedness in Judah's firstborn, Er and the Lord slew him. Judah ordered another of his sons, Onan, to impregnate Er's widow, Tamar. Onan was not willing to do this so each time he spilled his seed”on the floor. These repeated acts angered the Lord so Onan was also sent to the great below. So much for obeying one's earth father.
Now this story becomes a shadier tale because the widow Tamar, unable to be impregnated was sent to live with her father and chose to enact a disastrous deception. Fertility was used to assure family population growth and ladies of the night were held in higher esteem than those of today. Eventually Judah, in a quest (lust), came upon Tamar who was disguised by the clothing of a willing woman. Tamar bartered for sex and Judah ended up giving the woman his signet, his bracelets and staff. A baby goat was also part of the deal but when the goat was ready to be delivered, the ancient day UPS man could not find the willing woman. Even the citizens claimed ignorance about her existence. Three months later Judah found out about Tamar's disguise and her pregnancy and ordered that she be burnt until she exposed his belongings. She was not a willing woman but his devious daughter-in-law. Of this union twins were born, Pharez and Zarah. Zarah attempted to arrive first but Pharez pushed past his brother and delivered first. These two chapters of Genesis set the stage for Joseph's eventual rise in power from slave to the ruler of Egypt. If there had been a decadent feast somewhere within these two chapters, we could claim gluttony and have all seven deadly sins reflected in these accounts.
Submitted by Jill McGrath
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