Chapter 11 Chapter 10 Joseph Was Framed—The Who Later Framed Him

(Potiphar)'s wife began to wink at Joseph and said to him, "Sleep with me!" But Joseph didn't follow... One day Joseph went into the house to do his work, and there was no one else in the house, so she grabbed his coat and said, "Sleep with me!" Joseph Golden Cicada shed its shell and left the coat in her hand, and fled outside the house... Now she had Joseph's clothes in her hand, and when her husband came home, she said to him, "That Hebrew man you brought back has come to tease me; gone." Joseph's master heard what his wife had said to him, and said, "Your good servant has done this to me." In a moment of anger, he seized Joseph and put him in the cell where the king kept his prisoners.

Genesis 39:7-20 (After Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream, he jumped to the position of being under one man and above ten thousand people. At the same time, Jacob also sent his sons to Egypt to find food. (Joseph) commanded the steward, saying, "Fill these men's sacks with grain, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in each man's sack. And put my silver cup and the young man's silver in his pockets." The steward did as Joseph commanded. As soon as it was daybreak, Joseph sent the people on the road with their donkeys. When they were not far from the city, he said to his steward, "Quickly, bring those men back to me."

The silver cup was found in Benjamin's pocket! They tore their clothes, and each of them put his things back on the donkey's back, and they returned to the city together. When Judah and all his brothers returned to Joseph's house, and Joseph was still there, they all fell to the ground, and Joseph said to them, "Look what good you have done!" Judah replied: "Now please let your servant stay and replace the boy as my lord's servant, and let the boy and his brothers go back. If the boy does not go with me, how can I go back to face my father? I am really worried. What will happen to the old father!"

"Genesis" Chapter 44 Verses 1-34 In front of the people standing left and right, Joseph could no longer restrain his emotions... Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph. Is your father still alive?" None of the brothers could answer, because they were already panic-stricken. Joseph said to his brothers, "Come closer, everyone!" So they went forward. He said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. But don't be afraid to sell me here now. God sent me here first to save everyone's life." .” "Genesis" Chapter 45 Verses 1-5

Joseph is best known for his dream-interpretation skills and economic genius (like Greenspan of that era) which saved Egypt from famine and allowed him to reunite with his family in Egypt.But Joseph also excelled in his ability to turn his victim status into a foundation for success. Most of the victims in Genesis, such as Abel, Sarah, Lot, Isaac, Dinah, and Shechem, either disappeared or were reduced to passive roles in history.But Joseph is different. When he reappeared, he was no longer Wuxia Amon. He not only played tricks on the cunning brothers, but also became the savior of the whole family (Tama can also join the ranks of such victims who turned defeat into victory)

Part of Joseph's story, like that of his father Jacob, conveys the notion of proportionality between good and evil, and unfavorable retribution.Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers - who were a little bit kinder than Cain's brother - while Joseph's father was kept in the dark that his most beloved son was devoured by wild beasts , and the instrument of deception by Joseph's brothers was the colored coat stained with blood.Then, Joseph was framed by the woman who failed to court him—the wife of the master Potiphar, and she also had specific material evidence in hand (the method is similar to that in Shakespeare's "Othello" where Iago framed and framed Dai. Sydmona) accused him of attempted rape.Joseph did not defend himself and went to jail. There is a chapter in Midash that Potiphar knew that Joseph was innocent, but in order to avoid the scandal of his children being a prodigal mother, he had to let Joseph bear the crime, and the punishment Joseph received was imprisonment Not the death penalty, as evidence for this interpretation. Another chapter of "Medash" holds that Potiphar bought Joseph as a slave "in order to fulfill his evil desires, but the angel Gabriel operated on him to prevent him from succeeding"

Either way, Joseph ended up in prison, where his ability to interpret dreams (and actually prophecy) caught the attention of the Pharaoh.Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream and predicted that Egypt would have seven years of harvest followed by seven years of famine. He also proposed a solution to the coming disaster and was appointed Prime Minister of Egypt. There is a passage in the Midrash which states that "God will never allow a pious man to suffer for more than three days!" But if only that were true. Years later, Joseph's starving brothers came to him begging for food, but the prime minister treated them the same way his father Jacob treated his starving brother Esau when he asked him for a bowl of soup.Joseph decided to play tricks on his brother as part of a larger plan of revenge.He asked them to bring their younger brother Benjamin to Egypt (Benjamin was still at home with his father) and promised to do no harm to the boy.When Benjamin arrived in Egypt, Joseph plotted against his younger brother for theft.He planted a silver cup in Benjamin's sack, just as Potiphar's wife had evidence of Joseph's molestation. There is a chapter in Midash that links Joseph's hiding of the cup with his mother Rachel hiding the idol of his grandfather Laban and his brother selling him as a slave:

Joseph searched everyone's bags. In order not to let everyone suspect that he already knew where the cup was, he started searching from the bag of the eldest Reuben, and finally found Benjamin's luggage, and the cup was indeed in his in the bag.All the brothers were furious and cursed at Benjamin, "You stinky thief, you are indeed the son of a thief! Your birth mother dishonored my father for stealing something, and you are dishonoring us now." But Benjamin Unwilling to be humiliated, Min replied: "Compared to someone selling his own brother into a slave, I'm afraid this is not a bad thing!"

Joseph's frightful jest had taken effect; all the brethren, including the innocent Benjamin, were terrified, thinking their lives were at stake.Only then did Joseph put down his status and treat each other as their long-lost brother. There is even an exaggerated description in "Methrash" that "Joseph bared his nakedness" to prove that he was circumcised.No matter what method Joseph used to reveal his parentage, the brothers finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that it was just Joseph punishing them as revenge.From there, the story develops toward a happy ending, with Jacob being taken to Egypt to be reunited with his long-lost son.

If Jacob died at this time, although he would not have any regrets, he would have no regrets until he blessed his descendants.Jacob left the richest blessing to Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and commanded the descendants that the Israelites should use the words "May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh" as a blessing.However, why did Jacob give such a special blessing to Joseph's two grandsons who were born to the daughter of an Egyptian priest and were of mixed Israeli-Egyptian blood?Could it be that Jacob was naturally snobbish, favoring the two grandchildren with the richest family and high social status?Did Jacob treat those closest to the Pharaoh favorably so that he could strengthen Pharaoh's protection for their family?Strictly speaking, Joseph’s sons were not Jewish; in fact, they were. According to the oral laws of Judaism at that time, Ephraim and Manasseh were not Jews at all. Their mothers worshiped idols, and they grew up He was educated by the nobles of Egypt.

Some apologists believe that the mothers of Ephraim and Manasseh must have converted to the religion of their husband Joseph and raised their sons according to God's covenant with Abraham and Jacob.However, there is no evidence in the scriptures to support this theory or to show that Joseph lived the Israelites' way of life in Egypt.Not to mention that at the end of Genesis, Joseph's death is described not as an Israeli burial (just a shroud, buried in a simple tomb) but as an Egyptian burial (the dead are made of spices). embalmed and placed in a coffin) even his father Jacob was embalmed by witch doctors, but his body was taken back to Canaan, the burial place of his ancestors.Joseph's body remained in Egypt until the Israelites left Egypt, and his "remains" were taken away by Moses so that they could be reburied in the Jewish homeland. Since Joseph's body was embalmed, a question arises here: what happened to the rest of Joseph's body?Why did Moses take only the bones?Perhaps the symbolic meaning is that although Joseph died in the Egyptian way, he was finally buried in the Jewish way (not embalmed, so only the bones remained). There is a passage in Midash that criticizes Joseph Ser went so far as to dispose of his father's body in the Egyptian way: Joseph ordered the witch doctor to embalm Jacob's body.This he should refrain from, for God is not pleased with it, and he said, "Have I no power to preserve the body of the godly? Forget my pledge, fear not the maggots, O Jacob, you This dead Israelite!" Joseph was damned for his unnecessary action: he was the first of Jacob's many sons to die. Perhaps these stories are about Jewish life in Egypt, and they absorbed some of the local customs, but did not accept them all.It is the idea of ​​"choice" that these stories convey.Ephraim and Manasseh, as well as Jacob's other grandsons, could choose to abide by the covenant left by their ancestors, or assimilate to the foreign culture of their birthplace.Jacob's blessing—"May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh"—is the patriarch's way of recognizing similar choices that the Jewish people have faced in all ages.Ephraim and Manasseh, like Abraham and Jacob, chose the covenant with God, even though they had other choices that would bring more substantial benefits.Ephraim and Manasseh were Jews by will rather than by birth, and James felt that this deserved special commendation. There is a chapter in Midash that whimsically ignores the black and white records in the Bible and insists on turning Joseph's wife into a Jew.The text claims that Joseph's wife, the daughter of his sister Dinah and the slain Shechem, had an angel bring the baby to Egypt, and Potiphar adopted her because his wife was barren. "Joseph" married her when he learned of her blood, because she was not an Egyptian and was related to the Jacob family. In order to make the Bible conform to later Jewish customs such as matrilineal families, Midash did not At its extreme, this is one example. Jacob and Joseph "chosen" to move the remains out of Egypt and bring them back to the Jewish homeland, and this choice was also approved by God. A chapter in Midash says that Jacob was unwilling to be buried in Egypt because he knew that Egypt would be plagued by plague, and "the thought of his body being exposed to such filth disgusted him" but And what about Joseph's part?His body was still there when the plague ravaged Egypt. Some creative passages in the Midas provide the answer that Joseph was buried in a "lead coffin".It can be seen from this that the reward of "choice" is higher than the status of the chooser, because the former has carefully weighed various situations and renewed the contract with God.In fact, this is also an arrangement after the choice and consent of both God and man.The blessing of Jacob can thus be seen as a step towards an elevated covenantal level, that is, placing choice above status beyond one's control. Deceit and false accusations, which appear repeatedly in the stories of Jacob and Joseph, contribute to the development of justice and axioms in Genesis.Those who have been falsely accused remain silent in the face of the charges, because no matter how they argue, they cannot clear the charges brought against them by specific physical evidence.When Potiphar's wife accused Joseph, the innocent Jewish youth did not blame her. Later, when Joseph planted the blame on Benjamin, the brothers did not defend themselves.Judah pleads with Joseph, "What can we say? How can we ever get away with it?" Their resignation was evident when the pre-planted silver cups were discovered.If Judah and his party want to defend themselves, they will inevitably accuse the Egyptian prime minister who is also a prosecutor and judge.Finally Judas begged for mercy and offered a plea deal: he would stay as a slave instead of his younger brother. Ironically, it was Judas who came out to fight for justice, and he was also the one who voluntarily stayed as a hostage.After all, it was Judah who almost executed his wife Tamar for his own sins.Tamar kept Judah's evidence and saved her own life.Judah apparently learned a great deal from Tamar about the struggle for justice, both tactfully and morally.The lesson about tactics is not to directly conflict with authority: Tamar only presents physical evidence and does not accuse Judah, so that Judah can understand the injustice caused by her hasty sentence.Now Judas himself was wronged.Although Judah must have also suspected that Joseph had planted the silver cup, he did not raise it to his face, but admitted that Joseph had absolute authority over them, and this authority was in contrast to the authority he himself imposed on Tamar. Judah also asked Joseph to forgive him.In fact, no matter what his brother’s request was, Joseph would naturally not harm them, but he had to let them experience what it was like to be persecuted by someone more powerful than himself. According to Midash, Benjamin actually saw Joseph's identity, and only the brothers who betrayed Joseph were concealed.This statement, obviously, was intended to emphasize that Joseph would never let the innocent who did not participate in the crime suffer, but only punish those who deserved it: Joseph ordered someone to take out his horoscope, through which he could see the ins and outs of an event, and he said to Benjamin, "I heard that the Hebrews know everything, haven't you seen this? ” Benjamin replied that the servant knew a little bit, which was taught by his father. "So he looked at the horoscope, and suddenly found that the person on the throne was his long-lost brother Joseph. Seeing the expression on his face, Joseph asked him what did you see, and why did you have a look of panic on his face?" Benjamin replied, "Through the horoscope, I can see my brother Joseph sitting in front of you, on your throne." So Joseph said, "I am your brother Joseph! Don't ask others I will let you go back with them, and chase you back halfway, and ask you to be kept. If they will die to save you, I will know that they have regretted what they have done to me, and I will Show your life experience. However, if they abandon you, I will keep you, and you'd better stay by my side, and then let them go, but don't let them know my identity." The guilty elder brother did not give up his innocent siblings. Joseph saw that revenge on his elder brother was enough, so he revealed his identity and solved the mystery.Now the old grudges have been wiped out, and the brothers are finally reunited.Mistakes, however, were forgiven but not forgotten, and their father's dying blessing reminded them of this. In Joseph's story, justice is ultimately done, but not by law.The story of Joseph is the same as that of Tamar, justice and justice depend on the whims of mortals, the unpredictable fate and the miracle of God. The horror of false accusation recurs over and over again throughout Jewish history.For example, false murders (falsely accusing Jews of using the blood of ritually murdered Christian children to bake unleavened bread) punished countless Jews during the Middle Ages.The legal codes of the Bible, especially the legal process presented in Deuteronomy, reflect the frustration felt by Joseph and later his brothers.Perjury, including planting, is clearly listed as a major sin and crime in the Ten Commandments.And the penalty for testimony is commensurate with the crime: you can "treat him as he used to frame his brother." This legal procedure also includes other safeguards against false accusations, such as Potiphar's wife or a successful date. People in power such as Se can easily plant the blame on the disadvantaged groups, and the disadvantaged people are completely unable to argue with the hard evidence. These stories of perjury are the first time that people in the world feel the need to add substantive law and legal provisions related to enforcement procedures, that is, the necessity of judicial procedures. The law "Thou shalt not murder" (one of the Ten Commandments) does not prevent innocent people from being falsely accused of murder. The crimes in the early days of Genesis were all judged by God himself. In the story of Sodom, Abraham worried that the innocent would suffer along with the guilty, not because of false evidence (procedural issues) but because of God Once let the whole world bear the responsibility together, but now the whole city is required to bear the responsibility together (substantial issue). God’s reaction in this way is indirectly affirming that human beings are inherently difficult to distinguish between the innocent and the guilty, so a fair procedure is needed.Later, when God even put such a concept into plain text, we must stay away from false things, and we must not kill innocent or righteous people indiscriminately..." Joseph's story alerts us to the most primitive problems of proof, such as the deliberate misuse of evidence to frame the innocent.There are of course many different forms of this theme, for example, planting is sometimes done to increase the certainty that the guilty person will be brought to justice.There are many such misconducts in today's society, the most well-known is that some New York State Troopers used their fingerprints to fake crimes in order to bring elusive drug lords to justice. found guilty.In addition, misidentification and incomplete memory can inadvertently trap good people in prison.Modern DNA comparisons make this less likely to happen, but they cannot completely prevent it.The judge's bias may also distort the evidence to the detriment of the defendant. In some extreme cases, the judge even turns a blind eye to the obvious evidence. Although there is no legal system that can guarantee that there will be no misjudgment (whether it is ulterior motives or unintentional), the legal system can make it less easy for grievances to happen through the gatekeeping mechanism.These gatekeeping mechanisms have to be paid dearly, not just because they cost real resources, but because they sometimes have to get the guilty out of jail.For those who have faith, God will naturally give justice to the world "I will not spare the guilty." However, for those who are not so confident in God's justice and axioms, they must realize that sometimes the sinful Freeing people is the price that any fair system must pay.If the legal system exhibits the nature of the lesser of two evils, that is, allowing some guilty people to be released sometimes, so as to ensure that miscarriage of justice does not happen as much as possible, this is the beginning of a mature judicial process. The story of Joseph constituted the rudiment of the judicial guarantee system before the law was formed, and it was not until later scriptures in the Bible that a complex and innovative judicial guarantee system gradually developed. For example, two witnesses are required to accuse a crime, Innocent people confess their guilt, prohibit double punishment, increase the difficulty of the death penalty, and strongly condemn the imposition of punishment on innocent people, etc.Joseph's story, like most of the previous episodes of Genesis, shows us what it is like to live in a world without a legal system: high-status people can falsely accuse low-status people with impunity.This story makes us understand that the legal system is necessary and that all people are equal before the law. In addition, those who are prosecuted and accused of crimes have a fair opportunity to examine the evidence against them to test whether they have been framed and whether the evidence is true or not. False or wrong.Such ideas developed inexorably into Late Biblical statutes, which treat rich and poor without favoritism. Anyone who has ever been falsely accused will readily agree that any legal system must give the defendant the right to plead on an equal footing with the plaintiff.The story of Joseph brings us to Chapter 10. Joseph was framed—the brother who framed him later saw what suffering the framed person had to go through, and established the factual and even counter-intuitive test system in the later code the basis for development.As we apply these tests, it seems that Judas' desperate question can be heard ringing in his ears: "How can we ever get acquitted?" The answer to this question lies in a fair system that imposes an appropriate burden of proof on the plaintiff, And provide defendants with sufficient gatekeeping mechanisms that they can use to counter the false accusation evidence used in Joseph's story. The epilogue of Genesis leads to the great law code in the Bible. Genesis begins with a man and a woman in a state of nature without rules or laws, living in a world ruled by emotional impulses.Many of the stories that follow describe the struggles and struggles of men and women in the world, relying on their instincts, for good or evil purposes.And at the end of "Genesis" there is a morality play, in which someone is falsely accused, unable to justify the wrong, and finally cleared the wrong, but not by the way of the law, but by the judgment of human beings and God. kindness. In it, Moses the lawgiver brought back from Mount Sinai not only the Ten Commandments, but also a detailed legal code and judicial procedure system, and the purpose of this set of laws was to regulate the behavior of all people.To fully appreciate why we need a complete legal system, both substantive and procedural, we must first understand how human beings behave in a world without laws.This is the world shown in Genesis. There is a passage in the Midas that supports this interpretation.A rabbi who delivered the Talmud asked this question: "Why did the Torah go to the Israelites?" The answer is that the Israelites needed the Torah because they were "barbarians" before accepting the Torah. nation.A story told by a rabbi develops this theme.The angels demanded that the Ten Commandments should be given to the angels and not the Jews.God allowed Moses to fight for the Jews.Moses asked the angels if they had the urge to kill, rob, or commit adultery.The angels replied that we are angels, of course not. "So Moses turned to God. That's right. Angels don't need laws. Only humans do, because human beings are tempted to do bad things." "Genesis" also talks about the results of human impulses and temptations in the absence of laws. There is clearly enough out-of-control, impulsiveness, and lawlessness in Genesis to justify the need for a formal legal system.We saw that Cain was not severely punished for killing people, and later he was rewarded by God with the status of city builder; we saw Lot was raped by his daughter; Dinah fell in love with her after being humiliated; Shechem and his entire clan They were all murdered by design, but the murdering brothers later became the leaders of the Israeli people. Indeed, there is a passage in Midrash that says, "Jacob's sons were like a herd of wild beasts." We see Jacob cheat and be deceived; Brothers sold into slavery, so that they too may experience the pain of injustice.There are no express laws to regulate these behaviors, only a few general rules, and those who make the rules are allowed to change them according to their whims.There is hardly any positive legal action in sight. Finally, we can look at the Genesis story from another level.Although the book of Genesis presents a world without legal institutions, it is also a world that is groping for such laws and is evolving toward having a formal judicial system.Under the formal judicial system, complex judicial procedures will first make the law known to the world, and then operate fairly.We not only see a world pursuing justice and axioms in "Genesis" (as required in "Deuteronomy"), but also in the many grievances in "Genesis", we see that justice and axioms are gradually The sprouts are strong.Then, we will talk about this subject in a broad way.