Smoodock's Blog

In our study of the Book of Genesis, we’ve established that it is probably true that Joseph had never seen his brother Benjamin, prior to Joseph’s forcing his ten older brothers into bringing Benjamin down to Egypt. When Moses compiled the Book of Genesis, he did so, using eleven family records, which were handed down from patriarch to patriarch from the time of Adam to Jacob and then to Joseph.[1] We have also concluded with the help of Lucian of Samosata’s The Way to Write History (55), that, when records were combined together, the act was done in a manner that the smooth flow of the story was more important to ancient authors than exact chronology.

Therefore, when Moses combined the record of The Generations of Isaac, which concludes in Genesis 35:29, and contains the birth of Benjamin near its end (Genesis 34:16-18), with the record The Generations of the Jacob (Genesis 37:2), which begins by stating Joseph’s age and then the fact that he was sold into Egypt (Genesis 37:27-28, 36), the sense within the flow of events indicates that not only was Benjamin born after Joseph was sold into Egypt, but also very probable that the defiling of Dinah (Genesis 34) took place afterwards, as well!

We left off our study with the brothers, including Benjamin, being taken to Joseph’s home, where they awaited his arrival, because they were to eat their noon meal with him (Genesis 43:16). When Joseph arrived, the brothers greeted him by bowing to the floor, and it was at this time that they presented him with their present (Genesis 43:26; cp. verses-11, 15, 25), which they had taken with them from the Land of Canaan. Immediately, Joseph asked them of Jacob’s health, was he alive and well? for Joseph knew his father was 130 years old at this time, an age that utter astonished Pharaoh, himself (cp. Genesis 47:8-9). The brothers, again bowed before Joseph and told him their father was alive and well (Genesis 43:27-28).

Then Joseph looked up and saw Benjamin, his mother’s son for the very first time, and Benjamin was 21 years old, which was also the years Joseph had spent in Egypt up to this time. Asking if this was, indeed, their younger brother that they mentioned to him earlier, he addressed Benjamin to say: “God be gracious to you…” (Genesis 43:29). When he did so, Joseph was overcome with emotion, so he turned away, taking the water nearby and washed his face. When he regained his composure, he called for the meal to begin (Genesis 43:30-31).

We discover at this time that there were separate tables, because it was an abomination for Egyptians to eat at the same table with Hebrews (Genesis 43:32). However, the brothers became astonished over the fact that their own seating arrangements were arranged correctly, according to their ages, so that Reuben sat at the head, the place of honor, and to his right and left were Simeon and Levi and so forth, until the youngest, Benjamin, who sat at the far end of a ‘U’ shaped table (Genesis 43:33). However, when the food was brought to them, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of the others. So, they all ate and drank and were merry (Genesis 43:34).

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[1] See my earlier study, The Final Record of the Book of Genesis.