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Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers
#17
(12-01-2021, 08:40 AM)Blue Bird Wrote:
(11-30-2021, 10:09 PM)searchinmyroots Wrote: That's where the mystery remains!

Here are the verses -

26 - And Judah said to his brothers, "What is the gain if we slay our brother and cover up his blood?

27 - Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh." And his brothers hearkened. 

So yes, Judah made another suggestion, changing again what to do with Joseph and the brothers listened (as you mentioned). They now were contemplating selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites.

Then, all of a sudden out of nowhere, some Midianites popped up and someone took Joseph out of the pit and sold him.

28 - Then Midianite men, merchants, passed by, and they pulled and lifted Joseph from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver [pieces], and they brought Joseph to Egypt.

This seems to be a surprise to Reuben as verse 29 states -

29 - And Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he rent his garments.
 
30 - And he returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone! And I where will I go?"

So why would the brothers "return" to the pit if they were the ones who pulled Joseph from it and sold him? Why would they be surprised he wasn't there?

This story seems pretty complicated with many possible scripts for a documentary film.

The story in my imagination could go like this:


Reuben did not go with his brothers when they were carrying Joseph away to throw him into the pit because he did not agree with their plans. He couldn't see what they were doing because there was a hill between them (no proof of this, but how could it be otherwise that they could see Joseph coming from afar (v. 18) and later Reuben did not notice what was happening at the pit?).

The rest of the brothers took Joseph. He was already 17 years old and I'm sure, he resisted with all his strengh. That fight made the brothers hungry. They left Josef in the hole because they thought he couldn't escape there.

But, really, I can't believe that the caravan stole Joseph from the pit. Think of all the noise the animals, the traders, and the protesting Joseph would have made. And if you see a single boy from a distance, you can see a large caravan from afar, especially when approaching the pit their little brother was in.

I think the Midianites and the Ishmaelites were basically the same people and as honest traders they didn’t steal Joseph, they bought him. Reuben really couln't see or hear what was going on because he was behind that mountain.

Thank you for posting this video and your thoughts, it tells an old story in a refreshing and challenging way.

I found this - it opens up even more options!

https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q...midianites


Thanks for the link Bluebird. Looks like approach C is the one which is in line with Joseph's brothers being innocent of selling him.

So yes, as is true in Judaism, we see there may be many views and angles in the way things can be read and understood. That is the beauty of it, not that any are wrong, just different thoughts to ponder!

Just one more point to add on the "C" approach -

Later on when the brothers meet Joseph in Egypt we see they admit their guilt in Chapter 42 verse 21 -

"And they said to one another, "Indeed, we are guilty for our brother, that we witnessed the distress of his soul when he begged us, and we did not listen. That is why this trouble has come upon us."

But what are they admitting they are guilty of? They don't mention being guilty of selling Joseph, they say they are guilty of not listening to his cries for help, allegedly when he was thrown in the pit.

Rabbi Fohrman concludes with this -

We see the brothers shifted plans

A - Murder him and cast him in the pit
B- Cast him in the pit and leave him there
C - Don't kill him or leave him in the pit, sell him to the Ishmaelites

As time went on the plans kept getting less brutal and there is even some sympathy for him as noted in after plan C in verse 27 -

Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh."

Rabbi Forhman mentions there may be 2 systems of thought, 1 being fast and intuitive, easily swayed by emotions and 2, slow and deliberate, more logical.

The problem is time. We may start with the 1st system of thought and then as time goes on lean more or go 100% towards the 2nd thought process, but there is the scarcity of time.

If we do not act quick enough, we may not have the time to do what may be more logical.
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Messages In This Thread
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by robrecht - 11-29-2021, 09:04 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by Ismq - 11-30-2021, 05:11 AM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by Dana - 11-30-2021, 03:22 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by Dana - 11-30-2021, 06:04 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by robrecht - 11-30-2021, 05:05 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by robrecht - 11-30-2021, 05:13 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by Dana - 11-30-2021, 06:00 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by searchinmyroots - 12-01-2021, 01:31 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by Dana - 12-01-2021, 01:18 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by Dana - 12-01-2021, 02:16 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by Dana - 12-01-2021, 03:25 PM
RE: Mock Trial of Joseph's Brothers - by Dana - 12-02-2021, 04:39 PM

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