Who was Joseph?/ Some important stories about him in the Bible
Joseph was the 11th son of Jacob. He was born to Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, after she had been barren for 7 years. Genesis chapters 37-50.
when Joseph was 17, he was a shepherd alongside his brothers. Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved his other sons. Joseph would report his brothers’ misbehaviour to his father and Jacob gave Joseph a "coat of many colors." Joseph's brothers were jealous of Joseph and hated him. But this hatred became worse when he told his brothers about two of his dreams. In the first, his brothers sheaves of wheat bowed to his own sheaf. In the second dream, the sun, the moon, and 11 stars bowed to him from the sky.
One day, Jacob sent Joseph to Shechem to check on his brothers. Joseph went to Shechem and, when his brothers weren't there, he followed them to Dothan. When his brothers saw him, they planned to kill him and throw him into a pit. The oldest brother, Reuben, suggested that they just throw Joseph into the pit, so Reuben could secretly save him later. When Joseph approached, the brothers took his coat, taunted him and cornered him into the pit. The brothers sat down to eat and saw a caravan of Ishmaelite traders in the distance. Judah, the fourth-oldest son, came up with the idea to sell Joseph as a slave. Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver. The brothers then dipped his coat into the blood of a slaughtered goat and brought it back to Jacob. Jacob recognized the coat and wept in horror, as he thought that a beast had killed his son. He mourned for many days and could not be comforted.
Meanwhile, the traders took Joseph down to Egypt where Potiphar, an officer and head of the kitchen of Pharaoh, bought him. Joseph was successful there and Potiphar made Joseph his personal servant, putting him in charge of the entire household.
Joseph was a handsome man now and after some time, Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. She approached Joseph day after day but he refused her each time, trying to remain loyal to Potiphar and to God. One day, Joseph came into the house to work. Potiphar’s wife grabbed his coat and he ran away. She then pretended that Joseph had tried to seduce her and told her servants and then her husband. Potiphar was furious and threw Joseph in prison. In prison, Joseph met two prisoners, Pharaoh’s butler and baker. One night both the butler and the baker had weird dreams. Joseph interpreted the dreams, saying that in three days time, the butler would return to work in Pharaoh's palace, but the backer would be hanged. Sure enough, three days later, Pharaoh called the butler back, but Pharaoh had the baker hung. Joseph asked the butler to mention his talent to Pharaoh in the hope that he would be freed, but the butler forgot about Joseph.
Two years later, Pharaoh himself had two dreams that his wise men could not interpret. The butler then immediately remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him. Pharaoh sent for Joseph, he appeared before Pharaoh and told him in the name of God that the dreams meant that there would be seven years of plentiful crops followed by seven years of famine. He advised Pharaoh to make his people to go over the land to gather and store food from the seven years of famine to save for the years of scarcity. Joseph’s prediction and advice pleased Pharaoh and he made Joseph his second-in-command. He gave Joseph his ring and dressed him in robes of linen with a gold chain around his neck. Pharaoh gave him the Egyptian name Zaphenath-paneah and found him a wife named Asenath.
Joseph traveled throughout Egypt, gathering and storing enormous amounts of grain from each city. During these years, Asenath and Joseph had two sons. The first Joseph named Manasseh, meaning, "God has made me forget (nashani) completely my hardship and my parental home" (Genesis 41:51). He named the second son Ephraim, meaning, "God has made me fertile (hiprani) in the land of my affliction" (Genesis 41:52). After 7 years, a famine spread throughout the world, and Egypt was the only country that had food. Joseph was in charge of rationing grain to the Egyptians and to all who visited Egypt.
The famine affected Canaan and Jacob sent his 10 oldest sons to Egypt to collect food, keeping only Benjamin, Rachel’s second son and Jacob’s youngest child, at home so he would be safe. Joseph’s brothers came and bowed to Joseph, who recognized them immediately but pretended they were strangers. He asked them where they were from and accused them of being spies. They denied his claim but he continued to speak harshly to them and interrogate them. They told him they had a younger brother at home. Joseph then locked them in the guardhouse for three days before commanding the brothers to go home and bring their youngest brother back with them to prove that they were telling the truth. The brothers spoke among themselves that they were being punished for what they had done to Joseph, who overheard them, turned away and wept, but then continued his act. He gave them grain for the journey, secretly returned their money and held Simeon prisoner until they returned.
The brothers returned to Canaan and told Jacob what happened in Egypt. They asked Jacob to send Benjamin down with them but he refused, "Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you would take away Benjamin" (Genesis 42:36). Eventually, they finished the rations from Egypt and the famine became so bad that Jacob no longer had a choice. Judah told Jacob to send Benjamin in his care and if Benjamin did not return, "I shall stand guilty before you forever" (Genesis 43:9) So Jacob sent the brothers back to Egypt with Benjamin, along with a gift for Joseph and double the necessary money to repay the money that was returned to them.
When the brothers arrived, Joseph brought them to the entrance of his house and told his servant to prepare a meal for them. The brothers were scared and told Joseph they did not know how the money got back in their bags. Joseph replied that their God must have put it there because he received their payment. The brothers then went inside and waited for Joseph to come eat with them. When he returned, they gave him the gifts and bowed to him. He asked about their father, and they responded that he was well, and bowed a second time. He asked if Benjamin was their brother, and left the room, overcome with emotion after seeing his brother again. He then returned and ate and drank with his brothers, giving Benjamin more food than the others. He then told his servant to fill the brothers’ bags with food, return each one’s money a second time, and put his own silver goblet in Benjamin’s bag.
As soon as the brothers left the city, Joseph’s servant overtook them and accused them of stealing Joseph’s goblet. He said that whoever had the goblet in his bag would be kept as a slave, while the others would go free. He searched their possessions and found the goblet in Benjamin’s bag. All the brothers returned to the city and threw themselves on the ground before Joseph. Judah pleaded to be slave instead of Benjamin, but Joseph answered that only the one in whose possession the goblet was found would become a slave. Judah then pleaded with Joseph, telling him of Jacob’s reluctance to send Benjamin and of his own responsibility for Benjamin. He told Joseph that his dad would be in so much sorrow if Benjamin didn't return. At this point, Joseph could not longer control himself. He sent away all of his servants, began to cry out looud and revealed his true identity to his brothers.
Joseph’s first query was about his father, but the brothers were too shocked to answer. He reassured them that it was God’s providence that sent him to Egypt to ensure their survival during the famine, and he was not angry with them. He sent them back with instructions to tell Jacob what had become of him and to bring Jacob and his household to the nearby town of Goshen where Joseph could care for them during the next five years of famine. He then embraced Benjamin, kissed all of his brothers and wept.
Pharaoh heard that Joseph’s brothers had come and told them to bring their households to Egypt where he would give them the best of the land. Joseph gave each of them a wagon, rations for the trip and a change of clothing. He gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and several clothes. He also sent a large present back for his father.
At first Jacob did not believe that Joseph was alive. After he saw the wagons that Joseph sent, however, he realized it was true. Then Jacob, at age 130, set out for Goshen with the 70 members of his household. He sent Judah ahead of him so Joseph knew that his father was coming. Joseph went to meet him and they embraced and cried. Joseph told Pharaoh that his brothers and father had arrived. The brothers informed Pharaoh that they were shepherds and Pharaoh put them in charge of his livestock. They lived in the best part of Egypt, in Rameses, and Joseph provided them with bread.