Jacob was living in the city of Haran in the area of Padanaram in the kingdom of Mesopotamia. He had two wives, Leah and Rachel (Polygamy was legal at the time.) Rachel was the preferred wife, but she couldn't seem to bear children. Leah bore Jacob four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Then she stopped bearing children. (chapter 29)
Rachel was hurt that she couldn't have children. According to custom, if a wife couldn't have children, she could allow her husband to have children by her slave girl. So Rachel told Jacob "Here is my slave, Bilhah. Lie with her, so that through her, I can build up a family." Bilhah bore Jacob two sons: Dan and Naphtali. (30:1-8)
Leah discovered that she wasn't bearing any more children. So she gave her own slave, Zilpah, to Jacob to bear children. Zilpah bore Jacob two sons: Gad and Asher. (30:9-13) Then Leah managed to be able to produce more children. She bore Jacob three more children: two sons (Issachar and Zebulun) and a daughter (Dinah). (30:17-21)
Finally, Rachel managed to bear Jacob a son of her own. She named him Joseph. And she knew that she would someday have another son. (30:22-24)
Jacob took his family and returned home to the land of Canaan.
Joseph grew up, and reached age 17. He was Jacob's favorite son. His brothers knew that he was the favorite, and they were jealous. (37:2-4) Then Joseph had dreams that he would one day rule over his brothers. (37:5-11)
Then one day, Joseph searched for his brothers. He was told that they had gone to feed Jacob's flock in Shechem. Then he was told that they had left Shechem, and had gone to Dothan. So Joseph went to Dothan and found his brothers there. (37:12-17) When Joseph's brothers saw him coming, they decided to get rid of him. They tied up Joseph and sold him to some travelers who were going to Egypt. Then they told Jacob "Joseph was killed by a wild animal." (37:18-35)
Joseph was brought to Egypt and sold as a slave to
Potiphar, the captain of the guard for the Egyptian pharaoh. (37:36; 39:1) Joseph served
Potiphar, and did a good job. Potiphar soon made Joseph the overseer of the
house. Potiphar's wife seduced Joseph, but Joseph declined her (right). Then the wife
falsely accused Joseph of rape. Potiphar believed his wife, and Joseph was put in prison.
(chapter 39)The pharaoh's butler and baker were put in prison, along with Joseph. While in prison, they had dreams at night that they couldn't understand. They asked Joseph to interpret them. Joseph said "The dreams predict your future. The baker will be executed. The butler will be released. Butler, when you are released, ask the pharaoh to get me out of here." Soon the butler was released. But he forgot about Joseph. (chapter 40)
The pharaoh had a dream, and he needed someone to interpret it. The butler remembered Joseph. Joseph was brought to see the pharaoh. He interpreted the dream: "There will be seven years of plentiful food, followed by seven years of famine. Gather up the food of these good years, and save it. Then Egypt will be able to survive the seven years of famine." The pharaoh could see that God was with Joseph. So he appointed Joseph to gather the food. Joseph was given the rank and authority of viceroy, a position of power. The pharaoh also gave Joseph a new name, Zaphnath-Paaneah. Finally, he gave Joseph a wife, a woman named Asenath (the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On). Asenath bore Joseph two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. (chapter 41:1-52)
During the seven good years, Joseph gathered food. Then during the seven bad years, there was famine everywhere. But Egypt had plenty of food, and Joseph was in charge of it. People came from other lands to buy food. (41:53-57)
When the famine came, it also affected the land of Canaan. So Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy food. They left the youngest brother, Benjamin, at home. (42:1-5)
In Egypt, they went to Zaphnath-Paaneah (Joseph) for food. They didn't recognize Zaphnath-Paaneah as their brother Joseph. But Joseph recognized them. He knew that they are his brothers. (42:6-8)
Joseph told the brothers "I think you are spies." The brothers said "We are not spies. We are honest brothers, although our youngest brother Benjamin is back home." Joseph said "If you are not spies, then you will bring your youngest brother Benjamin with you the next time you come here." He put brother Simeon in jail as a hostage to make sure that they come back with Benjamin. Then he sold them grain. The brothers returned home, and told Jacob what happened. (42:9-38)
Jacob was reluctant to let Benjamin join the brothers on the next trip to Egypt to buy food. He was afraid Benjamin will be hurt. But Judah took responsibility for Benjamin, and the brothers left. (43:1-15)
They arrived in Egypt with Benjamin. Joseph acted "now convinced" that the brothers were not spies. He brought out Simeon. Joseph invited the brothers to his house for the evening. That evening, the brothers ate, drank, and partied. (43:16-34)
During the party, Joseph told his steward "Fill up their packs with as much food as they can carry. But put my silver goblet at the top of Benjamin's pack." The steward did so. (44:1-2)
The next morning, the brothers left for home. They didn't get very far before Joseph told the steward to chase them. The steward caught up to the brothers, and said "Why have you stolen Zaphnath-Paaneah's silver goblet?" The brothers said "We have not stolen his silver goblet. Search our packs. If the goblet is found in one of our brothers' packs, then that brother shall die, and we shall all become your slaves." The steward searched the packs, and found the goblet in Benjamin's pack. (44:3-12)
The brothers were taken back to Joseph. They said "We shall be your slaves." Joseph says "You don't have to do that. The brother who was found with the goblet shall be my slave, but the rest of you can go home." Judah said "No! We can't go home with out Benjamin. That would kill our father Israel (Jacob). Make me your slave instead, but let Benjamin go home." (44:13-34)
Joseph then revealed his true identity to his brothers (right).
"I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Don't be distressed.
It wasn't you, but God who sent me here. He sent me here ahead of you to save
your lives. There have been two years of famine, and there are five more to go.
God sent me ahead of you to ensure that you will have descendants. Now I am a
prominent man in Egypt. Go back home to Canaan, and bring the whole family here
to Egypt to live. You shall live in the region of Goshen, nearby here. I will
take care of you, and see that you are not reduced to poverty. There are still
five years of famine to come." (45:1-24)The brothers returned home and told Jacob what happened. Jacob was surprised to hear that Joseph was still alive, and was a prominent man in Egypt. He agreed to move the family to Egypt. (45:25-28)
Jacob's entire family moved to the region of Goshen in Egypt. Jacob and Joseph were reunited. (chapter 46)
Joseph introduced his family to the pharaoh. The family settled in the area of Raamses (also called Rameses). (47:1-12)
The famine in Egypt continued. People ran out of money. They had to trade cattle, land, and finally slave services for food. But they survived the famine. (47:13-27)
Jacob realized that he was dying. Joseph promised that he will bury Jacob in Canaan. (47:28-31)
Joseph introduced his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to Jacob. Jacob blessed them. But when Jacob blessed them, he deliberately gave preference to the younger son, Ephraim. Joseph didn't like this. He asked Jacob to give preference to Manasseh because Manasseh was the older son. Jacob refused. He said "Manasseh will become great, but Ephraim will become greater than he." (chapter 48)
After Jacob's death, the brothers went to Canaan, and buried him in the cave of Machpelah. Then they returned to Egypt. (50:1-14) Joseph forgave his brothers for selling him into slavery, and they were sorry. (50:15-21)
Years later, Joseph died at age 110. (50:22,26) On his deathbed, he told his family "Someday God will bring you out of this land and back to the land of Canaan, which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." (50:24)