Joseph's Repentance
All of Jacob's sons had to experience true repentance. The first to repent was Reuben, who attempted to prevent Joseph's
sale, thereby repairing his sin in the episode of Bilha. Reuben was followed by Judah, who progressed from his behavior in
the episode of Tamar to his readiness to remain in Egypt as a slave in place of Benjamin. Similarly, the brothers as a group
repented, admitting their sin in selling Joseph: "But we are guilty."
Did Joseph undergo a similar process?
Joseph's sins can be divided into three categories:
1. Speaking evil of his brothers: "And Joseph spoke badly of them to their father." Gen 37:2
2. Telling his dreams to his brothers and father without mentioning their author, Yahveh.
3. Joseph's conceit in his recounting of the dreams, which only aggravated the already difficult relationship between himself
and his brothers. "They hated him even more for his dreams and for his words." Gen 37:8 They hated him for his dreams but also for the way he told them.
Did Joseph acknowledge his
sins and repair his relationship with his brothers? If so - how?
How did Joseph acknowledge his sins and repair his relationship with his brothers?
The first repair concerned the
second sin. While Joseph made no mention of Yahveh when he first recounted his dreams to his brothers, his attitude changed
when he told the royal butler and baker, "Please, tell me, do solutions not belong to Yahveh?"
Gen 40:8
More specifically, he declared to Pharaoh: "It is not me; Yahveh will restore Pharaoh's
peace of mind. What Yahveh is going to do He has shown to Pharaoh. For the thing has been determined by Yahveh, and He will
hasten to perform it." Gen 41:16,25-32
Joseph came to understand the hard way that everything concerning
him was in Yahveh's Hands. From the pit - to Potifar's house - back to prison, including two additional years of prison
after asking the butler to remember him and help him - all that was part of a great and wonderful Divine Plan.
Only later did Joseph understand the significance of this Divine Plan: "It is not you
who sent me here but rather Yahveh, and He made me a father to Pharaoh and master of all his household, and ruler of all of
the land of Egypt." Gen 45:8
"Yahveh worked it out for the good, in order to arrange things as at this time, that many people
should be saved." Gen 50:20
After Joseph settled his father and his brothers in the land of Goshen, he turned his attention to the needs of the people
of Egypt. First he gathered all the money of the land, and then all the cattle.
"And
Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan... and Joseph brought the money to
Pharaoh's house. And the money ran out in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, and all of Egypt came to Joseph saying,
Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence - for the money is gone. Joseph said, bring your cattle, and I shall
give you in exchange for your cattle... They brought their cattle to Joseph, and he gave them bread in exchange for their
horses and their flocks and their herds and their donkeys, and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock
for that year." Gen 47:14-17 These verses create the impression of a cold and uncaring attitude on Joseph's
part towards the Egyptians, who were on the verge of starvation.
Was Joseph exploiting his control of the grain in order to separate the Egyptians from the last of their possessions?
Did he use his power to take advantage of the Egyptians?
After Joseph took everything that the Egyptians had, they begged: "We cannot hide
from my lord that the money is gone and the livestock has been given to my lord. We remain before my lord with nothing but
our bodies and our land. Why shall we die before you, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our
land will be slaves to Pharaoh, and give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land will not be desolate." Gen 47:18-19
The Egyptians offered themselves to Joseph as slaves to Pharaoh. With no land and their rights
as free people gone, they were only able to obtain the bare minimum that any slave required - food. Joseph accepted their
proposal willingly. "Joseph said to the people: Behold, I have bought you this day, and
your land, for Pharaoh; here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land." Gen 47:23
"Joseph purchased all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold each his field, for the famine prevailed over
them. And so, the land became Pharaoh's. As for the people, he moved them to the cities, from one end of the border of Egypt
to the other." Gen 47:20-21
But the resettlement of the people in cities left the land empty and
desolate, and Joseph had second thought...
"Joseph said to the people: Behold, I have bought you this day, and your land, for Pharaoh;
here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. At the harvest times you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall
be your own for seed of the field, and for your food, and for the needs of your households, and to feed your children." Gen 47:23-24
Why did Joseph first accept the people's proposal to move them from their land and make them slaves
to Pharaoh, then suddenly returned them to their land and required them to pay a 20% tax? Why did he decide to change his
plan?
Upon reflection, Joseph understood that the seven years of famine will come to an end while
the years of servitude and humiliation may later result in rebellion. Hence, he changed his plan to something the Egyptians
could be happy with.
"They said, You have saved us; let us find favor in my lord's eyes, and we shall be servants to Pharaoh."
Gen 47:25
Again the Egyptians offer themselves as slaves to Pharaoh, but what a great difference in their attitude. When
they first approached Joseph, their declaration was rooted in desperation, while now they were filled with gratitude.
This
is to teach us of Joseph's great wisdom, understanding and knowledge. He
was a man of integrity. He brought all the money to Pharaoh, who trusted him, thus finding favor with Pharaoh and with the
people.
After Jacob's death, the fearful brothers came before Joseph:
"Joseph's brothers
feared, for their father had died, and they said: What if Joseph will hate us and repay us for all the evil that we did to
him? They sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father commanded before his death, saying: So shall you say to Joseph: Please,
now, forgive the iniquity of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you, and now please forgive the iniquity of
thy servants. And Joseph wept when they thus spoke to him. His brothers, too, went and fell before him, and they said, Behold,
we are your servants." Gen 50:15-18
Why did Joseph weep here?
The Rabbis explain: From a literal reading of the text, it seems that Jacob was never told that the brothers sold Joseph.
Rather, he thought that Joseph became lost in the fields, and someone found him and sold him to Egypt. Joseph's brothers did
not wish to tell Jacob of their sin because they feared for their lives, lest he become angry and curse them, as he did with
Reuben, Simeon and Levi. (Gen 49:3-7) Joseph also never told Jacob what really happened to him. Here Joseph wept out of sorrow,
because his brothers did not trust him, and believed that his good treatment of them was merely a result of his respect and
love for Jacob.
At this point Joseph found true repentance. If at first he brought his father evil reports about his brothers,
now he refrained from doing so, and kept the awful secret to himself ~ and the Torah makes no mention of what Joseph told
Jacob concerning the circumstances of his disappearance and long absence.
Indeed, Yahveh worked it out for the good!
