PART 2 – EXPLORE THE CHARACTERS
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Chapter 7 - Power Games (Joseph episode 3)
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Brotherly love is hardly high on the agenda in Old Testament stories. From the very first brotherly conflict between Cain and Abel, sibling rivalry is a recurring theme. And the stakes are high, since in Old Testament Hebrew culture the firstborn son inherited both the blessing and the birth-right to pass on to subsequent generations.
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The birth-right refers to the amount of the inheritance passed on to the eldest son. The father would count the number of sons to inherit his property and add 1 to the count, with the eldest son receiving his own share plus the additional portion – that is, double the amount inherited by the younger sons. This explains why, when the children of Israel divided up the Promised Land between the 12 tribes, the portion of Joseph was split between his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, since the fact that Joseph inherited the birth-right meant that his portion (passed on to his offspring) was double that of the other 11 brothers. (This was balanced by the fact that the tribe of Levi received no portion of their own, but were scattered among the other tribes, so the Promised Land was still divided into 12 geographical portions.)
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The blessing generally consisted of two complementary parts:
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The assurance of material prosperity, fertile lands, and abundant harvests.
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The right to rule over his siblings, to take the position of power and honour.
We see these two sides of the blessing summed up in Genesis 27:37. Jacob has just succeeded, spurred on by his mother, in impersonating his elder brother Esau and duping his father into giving him his death-bed blessing instead of Esau. When Esau cries out in despair, “Haven’t you even saved just one little blessing for me?!” Isaac replies:
“I have given Jacob the position of power and honour and decreed that his brothers will serve him. I have guaranteed him abundant harvests of grain and wine – what is there left for me to give you?”
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The default, as would be expected, was for the eldest son to receive the birth-right and the blessing; but this was not set in stone. The story of Jacob and Esau (note the significance of the order here – if the brothers were given their default pecking order we should be talking of Esau and Jacob) is not the only case of sibling rivalry, with the younger brother ending up as top dog. However the result is almost never an arbitrary decision, rather the elder brother is seen to forfeit his privileged position by committing some indiscretion which disqualifies him from the role:
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Cain was given the opportunity to repent and receive his rightful blessing, but instead gave way to envy and hatred, and forfeited the birth-right and blessing by killing Abel.
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Although Jacob used underhand methods to gain the birth-right and blessing from Esau, Esau clearly forfeits his position by “despising his birth-right” (Genesis 25:34).
(One exception to this rule occurs in Genesis 48:8-20 where Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh, placing Ephraim, the younger, ahead of his elder brother. After the kingdom of Israel divided following the reign of Solomon, Ephraim took the most important position in the northern kingdom of Israel. There is no obvious reason for Manasseh to be denied his birth-right as the elder son.)
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​So let’s return to Joseph’s family. We should note that Joseph was very low in the pecking order in his family although as the son of Jacob's wife, Rachel, he would be higher in rank than the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah..
The brothers who had the highest ranking, in order of birth, were Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Yet Reuben, Simeon and Levi were firmly rejected from receiving the birth-right and blessing (we will return to Judah later). Why?
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​There are two “sub-plots” which give us the background that explains why later sibling rivalries focused on Joseph and Judah as the main protagonists, bypassing the top 3 in order of succession. One sub-plot takes up a whole chapter, the other just a single verse, but both stories are essential if we are to understand the future dynamics between Joseph and his brothers.
Power Game 1 – Simeon & Levi
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As before, if you are studying as a group, have someone read the story below. Focus on listening to the words, hearing the patterns and repetitions in the story, and creating in your mind a visual image of the events as they happen. Try to empathise with the characters and feel your way into the story. You may want to check out the story in your own preferred Bible version, but concentrate on absorbing the overall feel and flow of the story first.
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Power Game 1 – Simeon & Levi: Rape, revenge and repercussions (from Genesis 33:18 – 35:5)​
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​While we were travelling from Haran back to the Negev, in the south of Canaan, we stopped for a while near the town of Shechem. There Jacob our father bought a plot of land from the family of Hamor, the tribal chief, for 100 pieces of silver. We pitched our camp there, and built an altar to worship the Lord.​
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​​We older brothers were away looking after the livestock when we got the news that our sister Dinah had been seized and raped by Shechem, the chief’s son. We hurried back, shocked and furious that our sister had been raped and our family shamed and disgraced.​​
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We learned, subsequently, that Dinah had gone to the town to socialise with some of the young women, when Shechem took a fancy to her and assaulted her. ​But afterwards he fell in love with her for real, tried to court her by showering her with love and affection, and begged his father to negotiate her hand in marriage.
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So we were there with father when Hamor came and mediated on Shechem’s behalf. ”My son is truly in love with your daughter,” he pleaded. “Please let him marry her. Tell you what… why don’t we arrange other marriages between our two families to seal our alliance. You can live among us and use as much land as you want for pasturing your livestock. You can trade with us, and buy property in the area.”
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​After this Shechem himself came and pleaded with us; “Please look on me with favour and let me marry your daughter… I’ll give you whatever you ask and pay whatever you want as a dowry. Please – I’ll do anything to have her as my wife!”
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​But while these negotiations were going on, Simeon and Levi hatched up a plot of their own, in order to get their revenge. And they made sure that father didn’t know what they were doing.
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​They said to Hamor and Shechem, “We couldn’t possibly agree to your request, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for our sister to marry someone uncircumcised. But there’s a way around the problem… if you will agree for all your menfolk to be circumcised, then you can take our daughters as wives, and we will marry yours. Fair’s fair. Then we can live together and become one people. But if you don’t agree, OK, we’ll take our sister Dinah back and be on our way.”
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Of course, Shechem was so keen to marry Dinah that he wasted no time, but he went with his father, Hamor, to present this proposal to the leaders at the town gate.
"These men are our friends," they said. "Let's invite them to live here among us and trade freely. The land is plenty large enough for them as well as us. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours.
In the end this will all work out to our advantage, as all their livestock and possessions will eventually become ours. But they will only consider staying here and living together with us if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are. Listen, let's agree to their terms and conditions and let them settle here among us."
So all the men who were gathered at the town gate agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male in the town was circumcised.
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​Simeon and Levi waited for 3 days, when they were sure all the men had been circumcised, but knowing they would still be pretty sore. Then they carried out their plan, gathered together their servants and armed them to the hilt, and entered the town without any opposition. They went from house to house slaughtering every adult male they found, including Hamor and his son Shechem. They rescued Dinah and took her back to their camp.
​The rest of us got wind of what was happening, but we arrived after Simeon and Levi had left. When we found all the men had been killed, we looted the town in revenge for our sister’s rape and seized all the livestock – in fact everything we could lay our hands on – and we took the women and children captive.
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​When father found out what Simeon and Levi had done he was furious. “You’ve dragged my name through the mud! How do you think we’ll live this down? The other tribes around us will be so mad with rage they’ll rise up against us and wipe us off the map!”​
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​But Simeon and Levi reacted angrily to the criticism: “Why should we let him treat our sister as a prostitute!” they answered back..
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​After this, God told our father Jacob to leave Shechem and travel on to Bethel.​
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​Father ordered us to bring all the pagan idols and charms in our possession, and we buried them under the great tree at Shechem. We purified ourselves and put on clean clothes as a sign that we were leaving the defilement of Shechem behind us, and as we set off on our journey, God sent a spirit of fear and terror on the surrounding tribes, so that no-one attacked us. So we continued journeying south towards Bethel.
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Share your initial thoughts and responses to the story. .. then let’s dig into the story and examine the characters involved.
​Hamor and Shechem
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Of course Shechem’s initial action in forcing himself on Dinah was a serious offense, but it seems that Hamor and Shechem subsequently did their best to rectify the state of affairs. Note that, even though we might condemn the practice from a western cultural perspective, in many societies the appropriate response to a case of rape such as this would be for the two families concerned to agree to an arranged marriage in order to restore the honour of both families.
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​How do Hamor and Shechem seek to resolve the situation?
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Do you think their offer to arrange other marriages, form an alliance, share their pasture, and provide opportunities for trade and property is a fair recompense for Shechem’s crime?
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​Do you think that Hamor and Shechem are truly repentant? Are they being open and honest in their negotiation and offer of an alliance between their people and Jacob’s people?
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​What would have been an appropriate response from Jacob and his sons?
​Simeon and Levi
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​All of Jacob’s sons – especially those who were Dinah’s full brothers – were shocked and angry about what had happened. But it seems that Simeon and Levi acted independently of the rest of the family (though the other brothers certainly knew what Simeon and Levi were planning).
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What is there to support that conclusion?
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​What aspects of Simeon and Levi’s plot seem particularly repulsive to you?
​It may be distasteful to explore the depths of what might be termed “The Rape of Shechem”, but remember our previous observation that the Biblical stories are similar to soap opera in that they contain a valid but condensed view of real life. If we look around at conflicts and civil unrest in the world today, we can see many typical features reflected in the rape of Shechem. For example:
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Conflicts between single individuals frequently escalate and exacerbate existing tribal/ethnic/religious boundaries.
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Innocent individuals often suffer unnecessarily, as the whole community gets caught up in other people’s power games.
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Religion is frequently used as a weapon (or at least an excuse) for violent confrontation.
Simeon and Levi’s use of the religious institution of circumcision as a trap may seem particularly despicable, but if we look forward to the New Testament Gospel story, we find that Jesus accuses the Scribes and Pharisees of his day of using the rules and regulations of institutional religion to enslave the common people and prevent them from entering the Kingdom of God.
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​"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” (Mat 23:13 NIV)
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​So what’s changed?! Human nature is still human nature, and those in authority still use their position to “Lord it” over the common people and treat them as pawns in their quest for personal power. Jesus condemned the authorities of his day and ended up paying the price.
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But maybe the most surprising aspect of this story is that God provides a way to redeem the situation that results from Simeon and Levi’s reckless and unjustified violence. The story of the Bible is above all a story of God’s amazing and surprising redemption.
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​Jacob’s response, and God’s amazing grace
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​Was Jacob aware of what his sons were planning?
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​What was his reaction when he found out what had happened?
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​What outcome did he expect from the events at Shechem?
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​How did Jacob set about putting these events behind?
Note there are three aspects to Jacob’s response:
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Burying all the pagan idols and charms (where did these come from?).
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Purifying the whole family/clan and putting on clean clothes.
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Leaving the place behind them.
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What do these actions represent in terms of inward emotions/intentions?
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​How did God respond to Jacob’s actions? What does this teach us about God’s character?
Power Game 2 – Rueben
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The second story – Reuben’s rape of Bilhah – is short and sweet (though maybe ‘sweet’ is not the appropriate description!):
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Reuben and Bilhah (from Genesis 35:19-22)​
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​We journeyed from Shechem to Bethel, then continued south. Our father Jacob’s goal was to travel as far as the Negev, in the south of Canaan, where his father and grandfather had lived. As we were approaching the town of Bethlehem, Rachel went into labour, and gave birth to our youngest brother, Benjamin. But tragically she died in childbirth, and father buried her where she died. We helped father gather stones to pile up as a memorial over Rachel’s grave. Then we travelled on and camped near the Tower of Eder, close to Bethlehem.
While we were camped there, Reuben went and slept with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid and his father’s concubine, and of course father heard about it.
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What on earth was Reuben’s motive here? Clearly this was not done for pleasure but with more sinister motives.
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​Bilhah was Rachel’s maid, and now that Rachel was dead, Rachel’s proxy as head of her side of the family. Reuben was clearly using the act of rape as a weapon (as it is sadly still used in many circumstances today) to establish the superior power/authority of his (i.e. Leah’s) side of the family/clan and humiliate, demoralize Rachel’s side of the family. Power games again… and made even more despicable as Rachel was only just buried.
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​What effect do you think this would have had on Jacob? Note that the Hebrew text reminds us that Bilhah was not just Rachel’s handmaid, but also specifically “Jacob’s concubine”.
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​How would it have affected relationships between Leah and Rachel’s respective offspring?
​Self-destruct mode
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In the final analysis, power games such as these rarely, if ever, pay off in the long term.
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Simeon, Levi and Reuben’s power games may have succeeded in antagonizing relationships between their side and Rachel’s side of the family, but they destroyed their credibility with their father, and were no longer respected or trusted by their younger siblings, as will become readily apparent as the Joseph story develops.
​Their reputation is irrevocably damaged by these events, as we see summed up in Jacob’s blessings (Genesis 49:3-7):
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​"Reuben, you are my firstborn, first in succession and rightly first in power. But you proved yourself as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer, for you defiled my marriage bed.​
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Simeon and Levi, you are two of a kind; your weapons are instruments of violence. I will never attend your meetings or be party to your plans, for you committed murder in reckless anger and slaughtered animals just for your own sadistic pleasure. A curse on your anger and cruelty. I will scatter you among the people of Israel and you will forfeit your inheritance.”
​We started by saying that Joseph grew up in a dysfunctional family – now we see just how dysfunctional. You might ask yourself what affect this would have on Joseph, growing up with two elder brothers who committed violent genocide, and a third who commits rape against his own step-mother.
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​That ought to make a big difference on how we interpret the next part of the story!
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The studies so far have been pretty dark, but as we said before, the beauty of a rainbow is best appreciated against the dark background of glowering storm clouds.
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​We haven’t quite finished with the dark background yet, but as we move forward, we will begin to appreciate the wonder and greatness of God amazing plan of redemption and restoration. Like all good stories, the story of Joseph starts with a crisis, and ends with a resolution. The deeper the crisis, the higher we have to climb to find the resolution, and the more surprising and astonishing is the extent of God’s amazing grace.
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Some questions for thought or discussion
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It might seem that Reuben, Simeon and Levi got off practically scot free. Do you think it was fair for God not to punish them severely for their acts? Or did he in fact?
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How would you think these events affected the relationship dynamics between different members of the family?
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How in particular would it affect Jacob’s relationship with Reuben, Simeon and Levi, and what would be the collateral effect on Jacob’s relationship with Joseph?
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