The Life of Joseph

Chapters thirty seven through fifty of Genesis provide an appropriate ending to the story of Israel’s earliest ancestors but also provide the setting for what we see at the beginning of the next book, the story of Moses. They give an account of how the Hebrew people came to be in Egypt where they are found in slavery at the beginning of Exodus.

The central character in these final chapters is Joseph—one of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel—and the narrative about him is more polished than the earlier ancestor stories. The theme of promise moves into the background, and God no longer speaks directly to the main character. Still, the narrative presupposes that God’s intention lies behind the chain of events that it relates.