-
†. Gen 41:47-49 . . During the seven years of abundance the land
produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those
seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each
city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored
up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much
that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
When there's small amounts to work with, it's easy to use small containers
to tally it. But Egypt's abundance was so great that it was impractical to tally
the grain with standard containers. Instead, I would think Joseph did it
simply by building his silos to a standard size and dimension. So, instead of
tallying "bushels" of grain, Joseph simplified the process by tallying silos.
Although storing the grain near the communities where it was grown was a
practical consideration for later distribution, it was also a wise diplomatic
move. When people see their hard-earned things carted off to the unknown,
it makes them nervous about getting their stuff back. Putting his granaries
nearby, reassured local growers and consumers that Joseph meant well by
them and wasn't just taxing their produce for personal profit.
I would like to think that Joseph employed local labor for the construction of
his granaries rather than contracting it out to a global construction company
that polished the apple with him via his father-in-law's contacts; thus once
again showing good faith by injecting wages into local economies. Little by
little, Joseph was gaining the Egyptians' trust, which must have no doubt
pleased Pharaoh well and made him feel pretty good about his choice of man
for the job.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, Joseph's marriage was holding up okay
and he became the father of two boys.
†. Gen 41:50 . . Before the years of famine came, Joseph became the
father of two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of
On, bore to him.
In the Bible, it's the fathers who determine tribal ancestry; so the two boys
were Hebrews by birth rather than Egyptians. I don't know how Mr. Poti
phera felt about that, but what was he to do? One of the most powerful, if
not the most powerful, monarchs on earth had arranged his daughter's
marriage to Joseph so there really wasn't much he could say about it.
†. Gen 41:51 . . Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said;
God has made me forget all my troubles and the family of my father.
The meaning of Manessah's name in Hebrew is self explanatory. However,
there is just no way that Joseph forgot all about his family. That verse has to
be interpreted according to the progress of the narrative.
I seriously doubt that God deleted Joseph's memory; but rather, helped him
to get over doting about his misfortunes. Doting can lead to serious
psychological damage, dark thoughts, and long term depression, and/or in
the case of anger, it can lead to malice and sleepless nights plotting
revenge, or rehearsing retorts over and over again to counter something
someone said that you didn't like.
Though they weren't ideal, Joseph was at peace with his current
circumstances. Exactly how God brought him to that point isn't stated. But in
chapters ahead, Joseph will inform his brothers that his misfortunes actually
benefited everyone so that Joseph became a savior; not only to Egypt, but
to his own family as well (Gen 45:4-11, Gen 50:20).
So then, in the end, Joseph accepted his plight graciously and held no hard
feelings towards anyone in particular, nor was he blue and sad about being
away from home all those years because he was fully aware it all worked
toward the greater good.
Since Joseph couldn't leave Egypt himself to go home and visit his family,
then one has to wonder why he didn't dispatch a messenger to let his dad
know he was okay. Well; for one thing, to do so would have exposed his
brothers' murderous scheme, and who knows what kind of disharmony that
would have created in Jacob's home. This was one of those cases where it's
better to follow the advice of some Beatles' lyrics; "Words of wisdom: let it
be."
But seriously, I doubt Jacob would have believed it was actually his very own
Joseph in Pharaoh's court but would have automatically assumed it was a
cruel hoax. Later, Joseph is going to be sure that his brothers understand
that they weren't being told second-hand about his prosperity, nor being fed
a rumor; but were hearing about it from their long-lost brother's very own
lips. (Gen 45:12-13)
†. Gen 41:52 . . Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said;
God has made me fruitful in this land of my suffering.
Ephraim's name actually means "doubly fruitful" viz: bumper-crop fruitful;
which is obviously in recognition of God's providence in a place where a man
of God would certainly least expect to find it.
I still think that Joseph had given up all hope of prosperity, and of having a
family of his own; but as it turns out, he got both anyway in spite of his
unfortunate circumstances. Maybe he'd rather have married a girl back
home, but you know what they say: Beggars can't be choosers. At least
Joseph was no longer a jailed slave locked up as an accused rapist with no
future at all. Asenath and Poti-phera may not have been Joseph's ideal in
laws, but things could have turned out a lot worse.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 41:47-49 . . During the seven years of abundance the land
produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those
seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each
city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored
up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much
that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
When there's small amounts to work with, it's easy to use small containers
to tally it. But Egypt's abundance was so great that it was impractical to tally
the grain with standard containers. Instead, I would think Joseph did it
simply by building his silos to a standard size and dimension. So, instead of
tallying "bushels" of grain, Joseph simplified the process by tallying silos.
Although storing the grain near the communities where it was grown was a
practical consideration for later distribution, it was also a wise diplomatic
move. When people see their hard-earned things carted off to the unknown,
it makes them nervous about getting their stuff back. Putting his granaries
nearby, reassured local growers and consumers that Joseph meant well by
them and wasn't just taxing their produce for personal profit.
I would like to think that Joseph employed local labor for the construction of
his granaries rather than contracting it out to a global construction company
that polished the apple with him via his father-in-law's contacts; thus once
again showing good faith by injecting wages into local economies. Little by
little, Joseph was gaining the Egyptians' trust, which must have no doubt
pleased Pharaoh well and made him feel pretty good about his choice of man
for the job.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, Joseph's marriage was holding up okay
and he became the father of two boys.
†. Gen 41:50 . . Before the years of famine came, Joseph became the
father of two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of
On, bore to him.
In the Bible, it's the fathers who determine tribal ancestry; so the two boys
were Hebrews by birth rather than Egyptians. I don't know how Mr. Poti
phera felt about that, but what was he to do? One of the most powerful, if
not the most powerful, monarchs on earth had arranged his daughter's
marriage to Joseph so there really wasn't much he could say about it.
†. Gen 41:51 . . Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said;
God has made me forget all my troubles and the family of my father.
The meaning of Manessah's name in Hebrew is self explanatory. However,
there is just no way that Joseph forgot all about his family. That verse has to
be interpreted according to the progress of the narrative.
I seriously doubt that God deleted Joseph's memory; but rather, helped him
to get over doting about his misfortunes. Doting can lead to serious
psychological damage, dark thoughts, and long term depression, and/or in
the case of anger, it can lead to malice and sleepless nights plotting
revenge, or rehearsing retorts over and over again to counter something
someone said that you didn't like.
Though they weren't ideal, Joseph was at peace with his current
circumstances. Exactly how God brought him to that point isn't stated. But in
chapters ahead, Joseph will inform his brothers that his misfortunes actually
benefited everyone so that Joseph became a savior; not only to Egypt, but
to his own family as well (Gen 45:4-11, Gen 50:20).
So then, in the end, Joseph accepted his plight graciously and held no hard
feelings towards anyone in particular, nor was he blue and sad about being
away from home all those years because he was fully aware it all worked
toward the greater good.
Since Joseph couldn't leave Egypt himself to go home and visit his family,
then one has to wonder why he didn't dispatch a messenger to let his dad
know he was okay. Well; for one thing, to do so would have exposed his
brothers' murderous scheme, and who knows what kind of disharmony that
would have created in Jacob's home. This was one of those cases where it's
better to follow the advice of some Beatles' lyrics; "Words of wisdom: let it
be."
But seriously, I doubt Jacob would have believed it was actually his very own
Joseph in Pharaoh's court but would have automatically assumed it was a
cruel hoax. Later, Joseph is going to be sure that his brothers understand
that they weren't being told second-hand about his prosperity, nor being fed
a rumor; but were hearing about it from their long-lost brother's very own
lips. (Gen 45:12-13)
†. Gen 41:52 . . Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said;
God has made me fruitful in this land of my suffering.
Ephraim's name actually means "doubly fruitful" viz: bumper-crop fruitful;
which is obviously in recognition of God's providence in a place where a man
of God would certainly least expect to find it.
I still think that Joseph had given up all hope of prosperity, and of having a
family of his own; but as it turns out, he got both anyway in spite of his
unfortunate circumstances. Maybe he'd rather have married a girl back
home, but you know what they say: Beggars can't be choosers. At least
Joseph was no longer a jailed slave locked up as an accused rapist with no
future at all. Asenath and Poti-phera may not have been Joseph's ideal in
laws, but things could have turned out a lot worse.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=