Introduction
The Old Testament is cluttered with stories of revenge personifying the Latin concept of Lex Talonis, which can be loosely translated to an “eye for an eye”. It is not surprising then that throughout the book of Genesis there are only two instances of reconciliation between siblings, the stories of Jacob’s reconciliation with his estranged brother Esau (Gen ) and Joseph forgiveness of his brothers (Gen 45: 1-28). Prior to these isolated incidents the previous mention of siblings rivalry was the story of Cain and Abel (Gen), which ultimately ends with fratricide. Even within the reconciliation narratives found in Genesis, the only positive one discovered is in Genesis 45: 1-28, the other Esau’s forgiveness of Jacob ends on a bittersweet note. Despite having forgiven Jacob’s deception, Esau and Jacob’s brotherly relationship is never fully repaired. Both subsequently establish their own civilizations, the Israelites (Jacob) and the Edomites (Esau). Whereas, in the account of Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers, the audience sees that all of the parties involved genuinely forgive one another. Within the whole narrative of Joseph’s tale, it can be argued that he has cause to hate …show more content…
Reading the events leading up to Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers could give the reader the impression that Joseph is a vengeful character, choosing to humiliate his brothers out of revenge for the way they treated him. However when an individual looks at the entirety of the Joseph narrative they will see that this humiliation was necessary to see whether Joseph’s brothers had learned anything from their previous behaviour. Genesis 46 contributes little to the Jacob-Joseph narrative, after the events of the previous chapters leading up to Jacob’s migration into Egypt acts as a buffer, where the author is preparing the reader for the remainder of
The Old Testament is cluttered with stories of revenge personifying the Latin concept of Lex Talonis, which can be loosely translated to an “eye for an eye”. It is not surprising then that throughout the book of Genesis there are only two instances of reconciliation between siblings, the stories of Jacob’s reconciliation with his estranged brother Esau (Gen ) and Joseph forgiveness of his brothers (Gen 45: 1-28). Prior to these isolated incidents the previous mention of siblings rivalry was the story of Cain and Abel (Gen), which ultimately ends with fratricide. Even within the reconciliation narratives found in Genesis, the only positive one discovered is in Genesis 45: 1-28, the other Esau’s forgiveness of Jacob ends on a bittersweet note. Despite having forgiven Jacob’s deception, Esau and Jacob’s brotherly relationship is never fully repaired. Both subsequently establish their own civilizations, the Israelites (Jacob) and the Edomites (Esau). Whereas, in the account of Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers, the audience sees that all of the parties involved genuinely forgive one another. Within the whole narrative of Joseph’s tale, it can be argued that he has cause to hate …show more content…
Reading the events leading up to Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers could give the reader the impression that Joseph is a vengeful character, choosing to humiliate his brothers out of revenge for the way they treated him. However when an individual looks at the entirety of the Joseph narrative they will see that this humiliation was necessary to see whether Joseph’s brothers had learned anything from their previous behaviour. Genesis 46 contributes little to the Jacob-Joseph narrative, after the events of the previous chapters leading up to Jacob’s migration into Egypt acts as a buffer, where the author is preparing the reader for the remainder of