Years of Famine, Years of Gain
Seven good years go by quickly, much more quickly than seven bad years, or so it would seem.
Asenath had borne two sons during this time, Manasseh and Ephraim, and their names were meaningful.
Manasseh’s name means “cause to forget.” The name originated because the birth of this son signaled the beginning of a new life for Joseph, and for Asenath, as well. Indeed, this was the start of a new family apart from the past. Joseph could forget all the toil that had brought him to this point, and both he and Asenath could leave behind the dynamics of family that had been beyond their influence.
Ephraim’s name means “fruitfulness” or, as the second son, “double fruit.” The married couple felt they had received a double portion.
Egypt was fruitful, as well. The floods were good, in the broad range between sufficient and excess. Crops were bountiful, and the king’s storehouses were filled over the course of time. Never did anyone remember so much grain in existence at one time.
That Joseph’s position was challenging in the good years would appear unlikely on the surface, but at the end of the cycle of good followed by bad harvests, Joseph’s answer as to which period was the most difficult might be surprising.
He had three distinct challenges as the king’s vizier, four challenges as you consider Joseph’s roles as husband and father.
Foreign affairs had remained primarily in the king’s hands as far as overall negotiations. The king managed trade at the level of a head of state. The details of trade and other aspects of fulfilling Egypt’s part of foreign agreements fell to Joseph.
Overall relations with the governors had become Joseph’s primary responsibility. This required regular travel throughout all of Egypt.
And the day to day operations of running the bureaucracy, a rather large undertaking, was under Joseph. He did this more in name than in fact, of course, delegating details to men who had risen through the ranks in their respective areas.
The fourth assignment, family, could not always maintain the top priority that Joseph desired that it be. The balance between participating in life with his sons versus allowing them to explore life on their own and with others of their age is not a fixed point, but fluid depending on the individuals and their setting.
Joseph did not see his own purpose as dictated by God’s calling as a force undermining his familial relationships even though his position demanded frequent absences. The absences were the times that allowed growth. When the master shows the apprentice how the task is done, the apprentice learns. When the master leaves the apprentice to accomplish the task alone, the apprentice understands.
The famine came, as foretold in the king’s dreams, and the family of Joseph came down to Egypt and bowed down to him, as foretold in Joseph’s dreams. And is not all of this fully recounted in the books of Moses?
The story of Joseph before the reunion in Egypt was a series of isolated events missing the lines of connection. This book has filled in the missing spaces with possibilities, not realities. Lest fact be misconstrued as fiction, or that the reverse should happen and fiction be taken as reality, the writings of Moses and the family reunion stand as already written.
The presence of Joseph in eastern Egypt so far from the capital and king is best explained by the need for caution in handling the easterners who would flood Egypt in search of grain during the famine.
Joseph must protect the integrity of Egypt in a period of fear and want, and he must ration the limited reserves of food so that no one takes large amounts for resale at a profit, nor does anyone suffer hunger needlessly. His presence at the distribution center for sales to people from the east is necessary.
We also understand that he must have anticipated at least the possibility (if not the certainty) that members of his family would come to Egypt for food.
In preparation, Joseph enlarged Zoan to accommodate an armed presence as well as a home for his family.
The king’s gift of the land of Goshen, a large area south of Zoan (later Avaris and then Tanis) and still within the delta, became a foothold for the people known as the Hyksos, people from Canaan and Syria, in addition to the family of Israel who settled in the eastern delta. Long after Joseph’s death, they became so numerous that, with the help of warriors from their original homeland, they wrested control of much of the delta from the Egyptian king and ruled independently.
So it was that when Egypt regained control of the region after more than a century of Hyksos control, a king who did not know Joseph reigned. Not only did he not know Joseph, a man long dead, he had a hatred of the Semites whom he had conquered as he regained control of Lower Egypt. All easterners were lumped together as undesirables, including the descendants of Israel.
THE END
Genealogy of Jacob
The Genealogy of Jacob, later named Israel, who came to Egypt (from Genesis 46:8-27 NKJV):
From Leah came six sons. First came Reuben, and his sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
Second came Simeon, and his sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, ]Zohar, and Shaul, all from his Canaanite wife.
Third came Levi, and his sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Fourth came Judah, and his sons were, Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
Fifth came Issachar, whose sons were were Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron.
Leah’s last son was Zebulun, whose sons were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
Leah also had a daughter, Dinah.
Leah and those of her descent were 33 who came to Egypt.
Zilpah, who Laban gave to Leah for a servant, had two sons. The first was Gad, whose sons were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
Her second son was Asher, whose sons were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, and Beriah, and their sister, Serah. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.
From Zilpah there were 16 who came to Egypt.
Rachel, Jacob’s first love, had two sons. The first was Joseph, whose sons born to Asenath in Egypt were Manasseh and Ephraim.
Her second son was Benjamin, whose sons were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
Rachel and those of her descent were 14 who came to Egypt.
Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel for a servant, bore two sons. The first was Dan, whose son was Hushim.
Her second son was Naphtali, whose sons were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
From Bilhah there were 8 who came to Egypt.
And thus the total who came to Egypt from Jacob, now known as Israel, were 70 people (71 if Asenath included), including Joseph and Asenath and their two sons who were born in Egypt. The total from Canaan was 72, but the two handmaidens were neither descendants nor literal wives of Jacob or his descendants, and were not included in the biblical count. Simeon’s son Ohad is omitted in some of the lists, e.g. Numbers 26:12, in which case Asenath is one of the 70.
Asenath is the only one of the son’s wives listed by name, implying she also is a descendant of Jacob.
Further evidence of her being a member of Jacob’s family is Joseph’s request to be buried in Shechem (Joshua 24:32), the place where she was conceived and where her family was killed and buried. This is his atonement for the wrong of his brothers that Joseph would ask to be buried with his fathers, the fathers of the father of his niece and wife.
Seven good years go by quickly, much more quickly than seven bad years, or so it would seem.
Asenath had borne two sons during this time, Manasseh and Ephraim, and their names were meaningful.
Manasseh’s name means “cause to forget.” The name originated because the birth of this son signaled the beginning of a new life for Joseph, and for Asenath, as well. Indeed, this was the start of a new family apart from the past. Joseph could forget all the toil that had brought him to this point, and both he and Asenath could leave behind the dynamics of family that had been beyond their influence.
Ephraim’s name means “fruitfulness” or, as the second son, “double fruit.” The married couple felt they had received a double portion.
Egypt was fruitful, as well. The floods were good, in the broad range between sufficient and excess. Crops were bountiful, and the king’s storehouses were filled over the course of time. Never did anyone remember so much grain in existence at one time.
That Joseph’s position was challenging in the good years would appear unlikely on the surface, but at the end of the cycle of good followed by bad harvests, Joseph’s answer as to which period was the most difficult might be surprising.
He had three distinct challenges as the king’s vizier, four challenges as you consider Joseph’s roles as husband and father.
Foreign affairs had remained primarily in the king’s hands as far as overall negotiations. The king managed trade at the level of a head of state. The details of trade and other aspects of fulfilling Egypt’s part of foreign agreements fell to Joseph.
Overall relations with the governors had become Joseph’s primary responsibility. This required regular travel throughout all of Egypt.
And the day to day operations of running the bureaucracy, a rather large undertaking, was under Joseph. He did this more in name than in fact, of course, delegating details to men who had risen through the ranks in their respective areas.
The fourth assignment, family, could not always maintain the top priority that Joseph desired that it be. The balance between participating in life with his sons versus allowing them to explore life on their own and with others of their age is not a fixed point, but fluid depending on the individuals and their setting.
Joseph did not see his own purpose as dictated by God’s calling as a force undermining his familial relationships even though his position demanded frequent absences. The absences were the times that allowed growth. When the master shows the apprentice how the task is done, the apprentice learns. When the master leaves the apprentice to accomplish the task alone, the apprentice understands.
The famine came, as foretold in the king’s dreams, and the family of Joseph came down to Egypt and bowed down to him, as foretold in Joseph’s dreams. And is not all of this fully recounted in the books of Moses?
The story of Joseph before the reunion in Egypt was a series of isolated events missing the lines of connection. This book has filled in the missing spaces with possibilities, not realities. Lest fact be misconstrued as fiction, or that the reverse should happen and fiction be taken as reality, the writings of Moses and the family reunion stand as already written.
The presence of Joseph in eastern Egypt so far from the capital and king is best explained by the need for caution in handling the easterners who would flood Egypt in search of grain during the famine.
Joseph must protect the integrity of Egypt in a period of fear and want, and he must ration the limited reserves of food so that no one takes large amounts for resale at a profit, nor does anyone suffer hunger needlessly. His presence at the distribution center for sales to people from the east is necessary.
We also understand that he must have anticipated at least the possibility (if not the certainty) that members of his family would come to Egypt for food.
In preparation, Joseph enlarged Zoan to accommodate an armed presence as well as a home for his family.
The king’s gift of the land of Goshen, a large area south of Zoan (later Avaris and then Tanis) and still within the delta, became a foothold for the people known as the Hyksos, people from Canaan and Syria, in addition to the family of Israel who settled in the eastern delta. Long after Joseph’s death, they became so numerous that, with the help of warriors from their original homeland, they wrested control of much of the delta from the Egyptian king and ruled independently.
So it was that when Egypt regained control of the region after more than a century of Hyksos control, a king who did not know Joseph reigned. Not only did he not know Joseph, a man long dead, he had a hatred of the Semites whom he had conquered as he regained control of Lower Egypt. All easterners were lumped together as undesirables, including the descendants of Israel.
THE END
Genealogy of Jacob
The Genealogy of Jacob, later named Israel, who came to Egypt (from Genesis 46:8-27 NKJV):
From Leah came six sons. First came Reuben, and his sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
Second came Simeon, and his sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, ]Zohar, and Shaul, all from his Canaanite wife.
Third came Levi, and his sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Fourth came Judah, and his sons were, Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
Fifth came Issachar, whose sons were were Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron.
Leah’s last son was Zebulun, whose sons were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
Leah also had a daughter, Dinah.
Leah and those of her descent were 33 who came to Egypt.
Zilpah, who Laban gave to Leah for a servant, had two sons. The first was Gad, whose sons were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
Her second son was Asher, whose sons were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, and Beriah, and their sister, Serah. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.
From Zilpah there were 16 who came to Egypt.
Rachel, Jacob’s first love, had two sons. The first was Joseph, whose sons born to Asenath in Egypt were Manasseh and Ephraim.
Her second son was Benjamin, whose sons were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
Rachel and those of her descent were 14 who came to Egypt.
Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel for a servant, bore two sons. The first was Dan, whose son was Hushim.
Her second son was Naphtali, whose sons were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
From Bilhah there were 8 who came to Egypt.
And thus the total who came to Egypt from Jacob, now known as Israel, were 70 people (71 if Asenath included), including Joseph and Asenath and their two sons who were born in Egypt. The total from Canaan was 72, but the two handmaidens were neither descendants nor literal wives of Jacob or his descendants, and were not included in the biblical count. Simeon’s son Ohad is omitted in some of the lists, e.g. Numbers 26:12, in which case Asenath is one of the 70.
Asenath is the only one of the son’s wives listed by name, implying she also is a descendant of Jacob.
Further evidence of her being a member of Jacob’s family is Joseph’s request to be buried in Shechem (Joshua 24:32), the place where she was conceived and where her family was killed and buried. This is his atonement for the wrong of his brothers that Joseph would ask to be buried with his fathers, the fathers of the father of his niece and wife.
