000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

72 Proper 14 [19]/Year A
turn the pit, which was made to sustain life, into an instrument of death.
In this, they would bring a double dishonor upon themselves by first murdering
and then by not giving Joseph an honorable burial (a very important
practice in the ancient Near East). Their plan was to lie to Jacob,
saying that a wild animal had devoured Joseph (Gen. 37:18–20).
While the siblings follow Reuben’s voice of moderation by taking the
robe and throwing Joseph into the pit without killing him, they still violate
prescripts of family loyalty, and this violation intensifies when they eat
near Jacob in the pit (Gen. 37:21–23). Given the pattern established in
Genesis that sin begets consequences consistent with the sin, the reader
is not surprised when the survival of the family is soon threatened. Where
do congregations today encounter similar violations of community?
When a caravan of Ishmaelites came with gum, balm, and resins—
materials used in Egypt for perfume, religious rites, and the care of the
body—Judah negotiated with the siblings to sell Joseph instead of killing
him. Ishmaelite and Midianite traders are mentioned, a fact that may
reveal simply an awkward intermingling of two traditions, but that might
indicate two groups of traders so that the siblings bargained to get the better
price. 19 As God provided for the outcast Ishmael when Ishmael and
Hagar were sent to the wilderness, God used Ishmael’s descendants to
provide for outcast Joseph. 20 A preacher might explore how, in our context,
communities that are analogous to Ishmael can provide saving guidance
for those entrenched in social power.
Twenty pieces of silver was the price of a slave. In another ironic twist, the
slavery of Joseph later became a means of provision for the desperate family.
Returning to Jacob, the siblings dipped the robe in goat’s blood and
took it to Jacob who cried out that a wild animal had devoured Joseph who
was “without doubt torn to pieces.” Jacob tore his garments and mourned
Joseph according to the expressive customs of the times and with heightened
grief (Gen. 37:29–36).
The New Testament brings up Genesis 37 only once. Luke recalls this
story (and other incidents from the narrative of Joseph) in Stephen’s
recitation of themes in the history of Israel that demonstrate both God’s
providence and the stiff-necked character of Jewish people (e.g., the jealousy
of the brothers). Luke uses this reading both to justify tension
between the Jewish community of Luke’s day and to assert continuity
between Jewish tradition and Luke’s community. As God was present
through Joseph, so the writer of the Third Gospel believes, God is present
in Luke’s community (Acts 7:9–16). According to Matthew, Joseph the
husband of Mary descended from Joseph (Matt. 1:2).