From: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28
Joseph and His Brothers
Joseph is Sold to Egyptians as a Slave
[17b] So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. [18] They
saw him afar off, and before he came near to them they conspired against him
to kill him. [19] They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. [20] Come
now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a
wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.”
[21] But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let
us not take his life.” [22] And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; cast him in-
to this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him” — that he might res-
cue him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. [23] So when Joseph came
to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he
wore; [24] and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty, there
was no water in it.
[25] Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites
coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their
way to carry it down to Egypt. [26] Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit
is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? [27] Come, let us sell him to
the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own
flesh.” And his brothers heeded him. [28] Then Midianite traders passed by; and
they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites
for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.
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Commentary:
37:2-50:26. From here to the end of the book of Genesis, with the exception of
chapters 38 and 49, we have the story of Joseph. This concludes the “history of
the patriarchs”, leaving them not exactly in the promised land, Canaan, but in
Egypt. This sets the scene for the narrative of the great Exodus. The story of Jo-
seph is, thus, the link between patriarchal history and the departure from Egypt,
and it therefore constitutes an important stage in the development of salvation
history as recorded in the Old Testament.
In the story of Joseph we can see, on the one hand, the testimony borne by
ancient accounts about the Israelites going down into Egypt and, on the other,
the skill of the narrator who describes the acts of a drama full of emotion, which
comes to a happy ending and from which the reader can draw one fundamental
lesson: God is guiding everything that happens (even events which seem nega-
tive) towards good, towards salvation. “Omnia in bonum” might well be the title
of the story of Joseph (cf. 50:20).
The original source of this section may have been quite different from the patriar-
chal traditions we have seen so far: there is no reference to places of worship, no
explanations as to the meaning of names of places and people, no direct divine
interventions (except in the case of Jacob in 46:2-4); it assumes that Joseph’s
mother is still living (cf. 37:10) and shows Jacob to have a number of daughters
(cf. 37:35).
From the information provided in the story of Joseph and from other biblical tra-
ditions (cf. for example, Gen 15:16; Ex 12:40-41), it is not possible to say ex-
actly when the Israelites went down into Egypt. The most likely period is when
Egypt was under the control of the Hyksos (1720-1580 BC), invaders who were
partly Semitic. The Hyksos had their capital in Avaris, in the Nile delta, and this
is where the capital is in the biblical account. The account reminds us of past
events and their significance. The whole story of Joseph, as told in the Bible, is
very instructive about how God guided the steps of Israel’s ancestors, to work
wonders among them, redeeming them from slavery and making them into a
people, the chosen people of God. The literary skill with which this last part of
the story is told, not only does not take from the historical value of the account:
it helps us to grasp the true meaning of all that happened to the “fathers” of Is-
rael, and shows us how the Word of God is able to express itself in language
which it knows will hold the reader’s attention.
37:3-4. The tunic with long sleeves made Joseph look like a prince, in some way
foretelling his glorious future. Although Jacob’s preferential love for Joseph is due
to human causes, behind it we can see something which occurs throughout the
Bible — how some people, gratuitously, enjoy special favor, including special di-
vine favor and love, without this meaning that the love shown to others is dimi-
nished. Joseph, the object of Jacob’s special love, thereby becomes a figure of
Jesus Christ, the Beloved of the Father (cf. Mt 1:11). The sin of Jacob’s sons,
like Cain’s in some way (cf. Gen 4:5), begins with their reacting against God’s
preferential love; it then turns into hatred and envy (cf. vv. 8-11) and ends up with
their getting rid of their brother (cf. v. 20).
37:12-36. This episode deals with the horrible crime of disposing of their brother
and the providential events which take Joseph to Egypt. We can see that the
narrative is drawing on two sources: one emphasizes the intervention of Judah (v.
26), the other that of Reuben. The true key to what is happening will emerge at
the end of the story: “You meant evil against me,” Joseph tells his brothers, “but
God meant it for good” (50:20). In the light of the whole narrative we can see the
way God’s plan is being put into operation: “Joseph,” comments St Gregory the
Great, “was sold by his brothers because they did not want to do him honor; but
that is exactly what they do, by the very fact of selling him. [...] So too, when
one wants to avoid the divine will, that is when it is fulfilled” (”Moralia”, 6, 18,20).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 21:33-43; 45-46
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
[42] Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone
which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s
doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’! [43] Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of
God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”
[45] When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived
that He was speaking about them. [46] But when they tried to arrest Him, they
feared the multitudes, because they held Him to be a prophet.
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Commentary:
33-46. This very important parable completes the previous one. The parable of
the two sons simply identifies the indocility of Israel; that of the wicked tenants
focuses on the punishment to come.
Our Lord compares Israel to a choice vineyard, specially fenced, with a watch-
tower, where a keeper is on the look-out to protect it from thieves and foxes.
God has spared no effort to cultivate and embellish His vineyard. The vineyard is
in the charge of tenant farmers; the householder is God, and the vineyard, Israel
(Isaiah 5:3-5: Jeremiah 2:21; Joel 1:7).
The tenants to whom God has given the care of His people are the priests,
scribes and elders. The owner’s absence makes it clear that God really did en-
trust Israel to its leaders; hence their responsibility and the account He demands
of them.
The owner used to send his servants from time to time to collect the fruit; this
was the mission of the prophets. The second dispatch of servants to claim what
is owing to the owner — who meet the same fate as the first — refers to the way
God’s prophets were ill-treated by the kings and priests of Israel (Matthew 23:37;
Acts 7:42; Hebrews 11:36-38). Finally he sent his son to them, thinking that they
would have more respect for him; here we can see the difference between Jesus
and the prophets, who were servants, not “the Son”: the parable indicates singu-
lar, transcendental sonship, expressing the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The malicious purpose of the tenants in murdering the son and heir to keep the
inheritance for themselves is the madness of the leaders in expecting to become
undisputed masters of Israel by putting Christ to death (Matthew 12:14; 26:4).
Their ambition blinds them to the punishment that awaits them. Then “they cast
him out of the vineyard, and killed him”: a reference to Christ’s crucifixion, which
took place outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Jesus prophesies the punishment God will inflict on the evildoers: He will put
them to death and rent the vineyard to others. This is a very significant prophecy.
St. Peter later repeats to the Sanhedrin: “This is the stone which was rejected
by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner” (Acts 4:11; 1
Peter 2:4). The stone is Jesus of Nazareth, but the architects of Israel, who build
up and rule the people, have chosen not to use it in the building. Because of their
unfaithfulness the Kingdom of God will be turned over to another people, the Gen-
tiles, who WILL give God the fruit He expects His vineyard to yield (cf. Matthew
3:8-10; Galatians 6:16).
For the building to be well-built, it needs to rest on this stone. Woe to him who
trips over it! (cf. Matthew 12:30; Luke 2:34), as first Jews and later the enemies
of Christ and His Church will discover through bitter experience (cf. Isaiah 8:14-
15).
Christians in all ages should see this parable as exhorting them to build faithfully
upon Christ and make sure they do not fall into the sin of this Jewish generation.
We should also be filled with hope and a sense of security; for, although the buil-
ding — the Church — at some times seem to be breaking up, its sound construc-
tion, with Christ as its cornerstone, is assured.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.