PART 2 – EXPLORE THE CHARACTERS
Chapter 11 - REUBEN: “TURBULENT AS THE RAGING SEA”
(Joseph episode 5)
In Teaching for Moral Growth (Victor Books/SP Publications, Inc. 1993) Bonnidel Clouse states that:
Narrative is the method God chose to reveal Himself to us, to tell the story of creation and redemptive love… And because we see our own lives as narrative, we are able to understand what God has revealed to us through His Word… Without stories we would have no concept of self, no roots to the past, no hope for a glorious future.
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But narrative is not only the way to gain an appreciation of our own self, and our relationship with God. It is also the way we develop our relationship with fellow human beings. Again, according to Clouse:
Stories bind us together in understanding and concern. Whether in a secular or a religious setting, we form a kinship with those persons whose stories we know… once we know the person’s story, we know the person. Stories and people cannot be separated.
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We already noted that one of the characteristics of a good story is the presence of well-developed and rounded characters that enable us to share their joys and heartaches, and empathise with their feelings. While this is very true of the stories of the Bible, there are some aspects of Biblical narrative that can make it quite difficult to get inside the characters and understand their feelings and motives.
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You may notice as you read the Bible for yourself that the narrators of the Biblical stories very rarely makes any editorial comment on the characters. While we see the characters’ behaviour, we are seldom told what their motive was, or even whether their intentions were good or bad. The dialogue between the characters in the story is often the main source for interpreting their feelings and emotions, but in many cases we are left guessing.
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For example, in the story of Jacob’s flight from Laban’s clutches back to Canaan, we learn that Rachel had stolen her father’s household idols – but why? Was she seeking to spite her father?... to remove from Laban the power to cause harm by invoking their spiritual power?... or did she still put her own faith in these graven images and believe that they would bring good luck?
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We may presume that the original audience would be able to deduce a lot of information from the stories that we are unable to, because we don’t have the same store of historical and cultural background. So we may need some extra help to “read between the lines”.
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One very useful and successful technique that we have used when training local storytellers is to have them identify with different characters in the story, and then retell the story from the point of view of their character of choice. The choices can sometimes be quite unexpected, For example, one local worker made quite an impact by retelling the story of the man who was let down on the stretcher through the roof, from the viewpoint of the owner of the house who had had his roof vandalised! But the exercise provides a great way to explore the motives and emotions of the different players in the story, and to investigate the relationships involved, and the way different people would have reacted in different ways to the same events.
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In this episode, I have chosen to explore the events of Joseph’s betrayal from the point of view of one of the “lesser siblings” – one of the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. My assumption is that these siblings would not have been so caught up in the status-driven rivalry and jealousy that affected the sons of Leah (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah) and of Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin) since they were way down in the pecking order anyway. Consequently they would have been less personally involved and able to take a rather more objective viewpoint of what went on.
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I suggest in this case that you first read the passage from your own Bible of choice, and then read/tell the story as retold below. Judge for yourself whether the interpretations are justified, and whether they help you to understand better the role that Reuben played in the events portrayed, and help you to better comprehend his strengths and weaknesses of character.
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Betrayed! (From Genesis 37:12-36)
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Not long after that episode involving Joseph’s crazy dreams, we – that is, Leah’s sons and the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah – set off from our camp in Hebron in order to find pasture for our father's flocks. We ended up travelling about 3 days journey to the north, back towards the region of Shechem. Our search for good pastureland took us beyond Shechem, on to Dothan where we decided to stay for a while.
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While we are away from our father’s oversight, Reuben, technically at least, stands in his father’s place as the firstborn son. Not that he has much authority in practice. Simeon and Levi are a law unto themselves – volatile and unpredictable, with a violent, sadistic streak. The rest of us do our best to stay clear of them and keep out of trouble. And the rest of us don’t really pay much respect for Reuben’s position, especially after that business with Rachel’s maid.
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Anyway, we’d been wandering around there in Dothan for a week or two when we saw him coming – the dreamer. We recognized him in the distance – his coloured robe was a sure give-away! As he was getting nearer, Simeon and Levi started discussing how they could use the opportunity to get rid of him, and soon everyone else was joining in. "Look, here comes the dreamer!" they said. "Come on, let's seize the opportunity and kill him while we can. There are some dried up wells around here where we can hide his body. No-one will ever find him. We can tell our father that he’s been attacked and eaten by a wild animal. Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams!"
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Reuben did try to stick up for Joseph, and rescue him from their clutches. "Hey, let's not kill him! Why should we shed any blood? Let's just throw him into an empty well out here in the wilderness. He'll die without our laying a hand on him."
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It turned out later that Reuben had his own plans. It seems he was hoping to rescue Joseph and take him back to his father safe and sound, but that was never going to happen!
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Anyway, when Joseph – the dreamer – caught up with us, Simeon and his brothers (myself included, I’m ashamed to say) grabbed him and tore off the offending robe. We dragged him kicking and screaming to the nearest well and threw him in. Then, with Joseph crying out and begging for help from the nearby well, we sat down to eat. How could we have been so callous?!
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Anyway, it was while we were sitting there eating that we first saw the camel train in the distance, coming down from the hill country of Gilead. Turned out it was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a cargo of gums and spices down to Egypt. We hadn’t realized we were sitting right on the trade route from Gilead down to the main coastal highway.
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The idea just burst into my head, "What good would it do us if we killed Joseph? His blood would be on our conscience. After all, he is our brother-- our own flesh and blood! Instead of harming him, let's sell him to these Ishmaelite traders instead.”
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Everyone else agreed with the plan. So when the traders came by, we pulled him out of the well and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. The traders continued on with their camels, taking Joseph with them as they journeyed towards Egypt.
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Reuben wasn’t with us while all this was going on. Some time later, he came back to check up on Joseph, and was distraught when he found that Joseph was missing. He assumed that the worst had happened and tore his clothes in grief. "Joseph is gone! What have you done with him? What am I going to do now? How can I go back and face my father when I’ve lost his favourite son!"
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Reuben was gutted to find out what had happened – without his authority – without his brothers even waiting to involve him in the decision!. But there was no point suggesting we tried to get Joseph back. The only thing we could do was to hatch a plot to cover up our awful deed.
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So we killed a young goat and smeared the blood all over Joseph's robe. We all made our way back to Hebron, and when we arrived, we went in to our father and showed him the blood-stained clothing.
"Look what we found,” we said. ” Do you recognize this robe? Do you think this is Joseph’s?"
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Of course father recognized it immediately. "Yes," he said, "Yes, it is… it’s Joseph’s! A wild animal must have killed him and torn his body to pieces!"
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Father was out of his mind with grief. He tore his clothes and dressed himself in mourning garments. He grieved deeply for Joseph for a long time. We all did our best to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "I will go to my grave mourning for my son," he would say, and then he would carry on weeping.
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We all watched, racked by conflicting feelings and emotions - on the one hand relieved to be rid of this upstart half-brother with his superior airs and his infuriating dreams – on the other hand, racked with guilt to see our father suffering such despair, and knowing the lie could never be untold.
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Some questions for consideration and discussion
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What was Reuben’s responsibility towards Joseph as the eldest brother?
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How did Reuben seek to fulfil his responsibility?
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To what degree was he successful?
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What do you think were the reasons for the failure to carry out his plan?
What was Reuben’s responsibility toward his father?
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In what respect did Reuben fail in his obligation to his father?
What were the results of Reuben’s actions/decisions?
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For Joseph
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For Jacob
What were the long term consequences of these events for Reuben’s family?
Summarise what you have learned about Reuben’s character, his strengths and weaknesses.
Significance for the development of the story as a whole
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We will return, of course, to the story of Joseph in Egypt, but if we let ourselves be absorbed by Joseph’s situation, we can easily overlook the dramatic effect these events would have had on Jacob, and on the rest of the family.
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There have been many stories in the media recently which show how difficult it is for families who have lost a loved one, but with no certain proof of what has happened to them. Families of those who were lost on flight Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that is presumed to have crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean… families whose husband or sons are missing in action… parents whose children have gone missing, presumably abducted, but may or may not still be alive. Jacob is in that invidious position of losing a favourite son, but without the proof that would give him closure, and allow him to work through the grief and move on.
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Imagine, too, the effect on Joseph’s brothers of living with a lie which they can never take back. From this point on their lives are based on a falsehood which they all share, but which they always have to keep hidden from their father. This must have tormented them in their dreams and blighted their relationships for many, many years – as we will find in future episodes of the story.
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So this episode has very important repercussions on the subsequent development of the plot. Understanding Reuben’s part in Joseph’s betrayal, and how it demonstrates his character weaknesses, helps us to see why Jacob refuses to trust him with Benjamin on their journey to Egypt, and why Judah takes over Reuben’s position as the decision-maker and voice of authority…
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But Judah also played a significant role in Joseph’s betrayal. So why should Judah be the one to take the position of honour? Why should Judah be the one chosen to continue the line of succession to the promised Messiah?... We move on to examine Judah’s story in the next chapter.
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