Just a quick observation…
Posted by: Deanna
I have been reading through the Bible lately and last week I started on my fifth time through.
Today I was reading Genesis 37 and the wording describing Jacob’s favoritism for Joseph caught my eye. It says that “Jacob loved Joseph more because he was the son of his old age.” It had never really occurred to me that Joseph was the spoiled little brother.
I like to sometimes try to imagine how it was to really be in the situations that they were. For example, I try to imagine what it was like for Joseph’s brothers to really know it was true when they said “Awww, Dad just likes him best because he’s youngest.” And I wonder, what would Joseph think if he knew that three thousand years later, people would still think of him as “The baby of the family”?
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Filed under: Bible, thoughtful stuff
That’s interesting. I was reading this morning about how Jacob tricked Isaac into getting the blessing. And how that had ramifications for all of history, and for us 3000 years later. It is easy to think that the church patriarchs were perfect people, but really, Jacob and his mother were very deceitful. God can use any circumstance for his plan!
And ironically, he really wasn’t the “baby”, Benji was.
But did he not have a younger brother? It is early and I am too lazy to look it up.
This makes me think about how I treat my own children…
I just have to say I’m amazed that you’re on your 5th time thru! You go girl! We also talk about the conversations they would have had back then. Do you think they used the word ‘thou’?
Bjk,
Yes, Benjamin was younger than Joseph and was also a son of the favorite wife, Rachel. This led to some theorizing on our part: why did Jacob not favor Benjamin instead? Was it because his beloved Rachel died giving birth to Ben? Was Ben just not as cute and lovable? Was Joseph too firmly established as the favorite to be ousted by a newcomer?