Wednesday 2 April 2008

Genesis 39


Genesis 39

1And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
2And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
4And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
We have no direct evidence either from the bible or from current knowledge of ancient egypt on how slaves were treated at this time. Mostly because we dont know when this time was. Adherents to the young earth bollocks will have you think it was around 2,000 -1,800 bce. However if this is proven to be correct it pushes sodom and gommorah back by 5-800 years and Joseph back by as much.

Ignoring the date however I think it is safe to assume given his "family" background of deception, double dealing and the urge to say "Theydidit" whenever the situation arises prepared him well for a life of slavery.

5And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

Some say the cream rises to the top others are more realistic and say shit floats.

6And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
7And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
8But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

Not a very good slave, or a very good slave depends on your point of view personally I think either she was a minger and that made his decision for him, or she was fit as fuck and he tried to slip her one, perhaps assuming because she was dressed in a way he was not familiar with she was easy.

9There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

Have I missed something up till now I thought it was Ok for this family's men to shag almost any female or is "his god" in this circumstance his master Potiphar.

10And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
11And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
12And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

Brian Rix and Hattie Jaques nowhere to be seen.

13And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
14That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
15And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.
16And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
17And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
18And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
19And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

What bothers me about this is we have a meeting of two very different cultures. Hebrew - Women treated as possessions, heavily clothed.
Egyptian- Women almost if not equal to men, for the most part as he would perceive almost naked.
Question.- Would not an innocent young man brought into this culture be able to see Mrs Potiphar in any other light if she was just a little bit friendly.

20And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
21But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Again his flair for verbal backstabbing puts him in good stead.

22And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

Let's face it he is a slimy little weasel who can and does manipulate all around him.

23The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

1 comment:

Poodles said...

That post needed a few more swears. :)

 
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