Why does joseph deceive his brothers

It was these particular dreams that moved his brothers to hatred of him and caused them to sell him into slavery Genesis — Then, keeping his identity hidden, Joseph even went so far as to accuse his brothers of being potential spies , 14 , jailed them all for 3 days , then allowed nine of the brothers to go back if they promised to bring their youngest brother Benjamin back with them, keeping only Simeon in jail Genesis — The charge has been labeled against Joseph by some who say that Joseph was spiteful if not actually vengeful here, and at the very least, he was cruel to them by hiding his true identity.

There are also some Christians who believe that omitting detail is the same as lying. There are those who therefore claim that Joseph was actually lying to them about his identity, while there are others who do not view this as lying, nor being maliciously deceptive. So there are going to be differences of opinion on this subject, even from people who stand firmly on Scripture as the ultimate authority. There are instances of concealment in Scripture that were done out of good motives and for noble purposes.

Jehosheba, the sister of Ahaziah, hid crown prince Joash for several years from the evil queen Athaliah in 2 Kings —3. Exodus and Hebrews mentions the faith of Jochabed who hid Moses for 3 months. Proverbs NAS tells us that a trustworthy man conceals secrets. But there are also cases where deception and omission of detail is severely condemned and punished Acts — In the case of Ananias and Sapphira, their deception was done with the motive of envy and pride and they were guilty of lying to the Holy Spirit.

Instead, he used knowledge to save them. Second, his actions were necessary if he was to be able to offer the blessings. If he had dealt with his brothers more openly, he could not have tested their trustworthiness in the matter. Every resource on our site was made possible through the financial support of people like you. Based on a work at www. You are free to share to copy, distribute and transmit the work , and remix to adapt the work for non-commercial use only, under the condition that you must attribute the work to the Theology of Work Project, Inc.

All rights reserved. Bruce K. But, before that, he blessed his sons with the 12 tribes of Israel. He also requested a burial outside of Egypt. Jacob was mummified like an Egyptian, one of the only two people in the Bible who were mummified. The other was going to be Joseph.

A large retinue took the body of Jacob, called Israel, out of Egypt for burial. Then Joseph died, and he had wished that his bones be taken out from Egypt. He did not want to be buried in Egypt either, so they embalmed Joseph and laid him in his coffin.

Learn more about the modern Egyptology which began with Napoleon. Now, is there any way to know the authenticity of these stories? A way to verify a story can be looking at external evidence. There were a lot of numbers like eleven, seven, and three which featured a lot everywhere but with no archaeological evidence for them. There was also no archaeological evidence for if there ever was a large number of Israelites in Egypt. Looking at the story from an Egyptological view makes sense.

External evidence suggests there was no statue of Joseph or Jacob or the name of anybody named Joseph in Egypt. There was no record talking about someone called Joseph in Egypt. But the other was internal evidence. The good brother worked in the fields and the wife of the other brother made advances toward him, which he refused.

Shabbat Shabbat. Yom Yerushalayim Yom Yerushalayim. Biblical Criticism. Modern Faith. Morality and Ethics. Medieval Interpretation. Series and Symposia. TABS Blog. Torah in the News. Stay updated with the latest scholarship I would like to receive new essays When published Before Shabbat. David R. Blumenthal Edit article. Blumenthal ,. Categories: Vayigash. An indulgence, my lord. His brother, whom his father loved, died and he alone remains from his mother. If our younger brother is with us, we will go down, for we cannot ever see the man again if our younger brother is not with us.