This text is used for the Lectionary Year A on August 13, 2017.

It can be difficult to read the story of Joseph with the advantage of a contemporary perspective. Tales of his integrity, perseverance, and wisdom are often retold in the church but are typically approached nonlinearly. We already know what happens to Joseph later in his life, and so we read with a certain assurance when he is sold into slavery, or he is wrongly accused and imprisoned, or after the famine he foretold strikes. Joseph, however, did not have the luxury of such a nonlinear survey of his life, and neither did his brothers when they plotted to kill him and eventually sold him into slavery.

The very first impression of Joseph that Genesis 37 offers is that of a tattle-tale, and this trait was due in no small part to the favor Joseph was given by his father, Jacob. He was one of the youngest of his father’s many children, but he is the firstborn of Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel. Jacob—who was not his father’s firstborn, either—was made “first” as the result of the favoritism shown by his mother, Rebekah. Jacob was no stranger to questionable behavior, either. His mother aided in the deception of his brother Esau and his father, Isaac. It makes sense that Joseph—who, like his father, became “first” through favoritism—would also behave questionably and that his father would even encourage it (albeit not with a birthright, but a special robe).

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