The story of Joseph starts with jealousy. As Gary Anderson states in ”Joseph and the Passion of our Lord,” Joseph is “clearly favored over [his] blood brothers and the act of favoritism becomes legitimate source of intense anger” (205). Joseph’s dreams only serve to anger his brothers more: to the point that they decide to toss him into a well, but then due to Reuben and Judah, end up selling him to a caravan heading to Egypt. He eventually becomes “the provisioner not only of his family in Cannan but of the entire world” (207). He recognizes his brothers when they come to beg for food yet he pretends he does not. His brothers’ wicked actions earlier in the story give Joseph “good grounds to seek vengeance against those who have treated him so unjustly” (211). By planting the silver cup in Benjamin’s bag, he is setting up a plan that allows him to hold Benjamin captive. Joseph is acting out of vengeance, but his ultimate aim is to almost to see if his brothers will act similarly towards the new beloved son, by getting rid of a “favored sibling, spurning their father and leaving Benjamin behind in Egypt” (208). However, this time Judah pledges his own life in place of Benjamin’s. Joseph finally is able to complete the cycle of death and resurrection that every beloved son in Genesis has gone through by finally revealing himself to his brothers and in a way, becoming alive to the family again. He died when he was thrown into the pit, and symbolically died to his family when he is announced dead and Jacob is shown his bloodied clothes. He is resurrected when he and his father are reunited and he is able to forgive his brothers. Joseph recognizes that his death was part of God’s plan by saying to his brothers that “it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Gen 45:9). His placement of the silver cup was testing whether Benjamin would go through the same cycle of death and resurrection as he became the beloved son. However, Judah’s intervention prevents the death of Benjamin allowing the family to reconcile.
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Emma Danes's Theology Blog 
Emma, I really enjoyed reading your post! You make an interesting point when you say that Joseph completed his “resurrection” when he finally revealed his identity to his brothers. The cycle of “death” and “resurrection” is so prominent in the first few chapters of Genesis. Do you think that Joseph becomes more upset when Judah pledges his life for Benjamin, due to the fact that no brother pledged their life for Joseph? Should this make him even angrier? Great job!
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Emma, I like that you began this post emphasizing that this story of Joseph and his brothers begins with jealousy, which contrasts fully with how the story ends, with selflessness and sacrifice. I also like the connection you make with the theme of Genesis: the “death” and “resurrection” of Israel and its people. Perhaps jealousy, not only in the lives of Joseph and his brothers, is the cause of death in all of us, and selflessness, similarly, is the cause of resurrection?
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Emma,
Great job with this post. I especially liked the part where you highlighted the death and resurrection theme we have been talking about in class, applying it well to the story of Joseph and his brothers. You mention that Joseph was testing his brothers to see how they would react to the silver cup situation, and I agree with your analysis. However, in light of this, I would like to know why you believe it was also done out of vengeance and not just grace.
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Emma, I think you did a great job on this reflection. I appreciate how you incorporated the theme of death and resurrection that we spoke about in class on Monday. Do you think that Jospeh’s actions place him back as the beloved son now that he has revealed himself to his brothers? Do you think it is admirable that he valued the transformation within his brothers, rather than sought vengeance for his own torment as the beloved son?
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Emma,
This was a great reflection! I agree with many of you points. You had a strong use of the quotes from Genesis. You say that Joseph sneaking the cup into Benjamins bag was out of vengeance? Do you think he is still resentful even though Benjamin had nothing to do with him getting sold into slavery in Egypt? Overall, great response!
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