Double portrait: Joseph and Judah

Introduction

The way Joseph's story is presented in Genesis is remarkable. Right in the middle is the story of Judah and Tamar. This story seems completely out of place in the middle of the text block about Joseph. Nothing could be further from the truth. In this article, I want to explain this.

Construction of the story of Joseph

Joseph is the eleventh descendant of Jacob. After Joseph's birth, Jacob wants to return to his own country. Next, we read about the encounter with Esau. Jacob settles near the city of Shechem, where he buys a piece of land from Shechem and his brothers. A remarkable story then follows. Dinah, Leah's daughter, is raped by Shechem. Simeon and Levi then kill all the men of the city of Shechem, including Shechem and his father, Hamor. Attention is then drawn to Esau's descendants, the inhabitants of the region where Esau will live, and the kings of that region. We thus see a section that begins and ends with Esau, focusing on Dinah's story.
Then the thread of Joseph's story picks up again. Jacob loves Joseph more than his other sons and gives him a robe of many colors. In two dreams, Joseph sees his parents and brothers bowing down to him. Ultimately, Joseph is sold by his brothers to Ishmaelites who are on their way to Egypt with spices, balm, and myrrh. They sell him for 20 pieces of silver.
Then follows the story of Judah and Tamar. A seemingly pointless interruption of Joseph's story.
It is striking that the remainder of the story parallels the first part. The second part, following the story of Judah and Tamar, runs parallel to the first part, preceding the story of Judah and Tamar.
Joseph approaches Potiphar, and Potiphar's wife attempts to seduce him. Joseph flees, leaving his garment with the woman. Joseph manages to interpret the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker, and later the dreams of the Pharaoh. This leads to his becoming viceroy of Egypt, and Joseph's brothers bow down to him when they travel to Egypt for food during a famine. The brothers travel to Egypt twice. Because Joseph had the money for the food returned to the food bags the first time, the brothers bring balm, honey, spices, pistachios, and almonds the second time. And double the amount of money. Finally, Jacob and his family travel to Egypt.
The story ends with the death of Jacob and the death of Joseph.

Schematic structure

Below we see the parallel structure:

Birth of Joseph

a. Shechem rapes Dinah

b. Joseph is given a robe of many colors

c. Dreaming of Joseph

d. Explanation: Brothers and parents will bow

e. Joseph goes to Egypt with a caravan of spices

f. Brothers get money for this

Judah and Tamar

a. Potiphar's wife tries to seduce Joseph

b. Joseph leaves a garment behind

c. Joseph interprets dreams

d. Joseph's brothers bow before him

e. Jacob gives spices to the brothers on the second journey to Egypt

f. And double the amount of money

Joseph dies

This structure suggests that the history of Judah and Tamar is placed in the middle of the history of Joseph for good reason.

Other connections between the two histories

There are also other indications that the two histories are connected for a reason:

1. The story of Judah and Tamar begins with the note, “It happened at that time…”

2. Judah promises Tamar a young goat. Joseph's brothers slaughtered a young goat to stain Joseph's garment.

3. The brothers say to Jacob, "See if this is your son's robe or not." Tamar uses the exact same expression when she tells Judah, "See who these signet ring, these cords, and this staff belong to." The same expression twice to identify a person.

When we compare Judah and Joseph in more detail, the similarities are striking:

1. Judah has an unhappy relationship with Shua's daughter. Joseph has an unhappy relationship with Potiphar's wife.

2. Judah has a relationship with Tamar, Joseph with Osnath.

3. Judah has two sons, Perez and Zerah. Joseph has two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

4. Judah's youngest son, Perez, receives the birthright. And when Jacob blesses Joseph's sons, he places Ephraim before Manasseh.

Joseph and Judah

There's good reason to compare Judah and Joseph. Jacob's two most important wives were Rachel and Leah. And Rachel's most important son was Joseph, while Leah's most important son was Judah. This last point requires some explanation. Shortly after Rachel dies, a list of Leah's sons is given: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. We also read that Reuben slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine. This meant he lost his birthright. Simeon and Levi lost that right because they massacred the inhabitants of Shechem after the rape of Dinah. Therefore, Judah receives the birthright.
It's striking that in the entire history of Joseph, only two expressions appear to refer to Jacob's sons as brothers: "Joseph's brothers" and "Judah and his brothers." For example, nowhere is "Reuben and his brothers" mentioned. When Jacob blesses his sons, the blessings for Joseph and Judah are considerably more extensive than those for his other sons.
The fact that the tribes of Joseph and Judah play a more important role than the other tribes is also seen in the subsequent history of Israel. The only two spies who trust in God are Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim and Caleb of the tribe of Judah.
And in later history, the prominent role of Joseph and Judah becomes even clearer. David and his descendants from the tribe of Judah ruled from Jerusalem. Most of the kings of the 10-tribe kingdom were descendants of Joseph, and the northern kingdom is often referred to as "Ephraim."

Finally

Compared to Joseph, Judah doesn't fare well. Joseph behaves very conscientiously toward Potiphar's wife. Judah has a child with his own daughter-in-law. Joseph eventually becomes viceroy. And one of his descendants, Joshua, will lead the people into the promised land. But the remarkable thing is that one of Judah's children, Perez, is the ancestor of the promised Messiah. And that is precisely why this story of Judah is placed in the middle of the story of Joseph. Joseph will save the people from famine, but from Judah will be born the Messiah for the salvation of all who believe in Him.

Bas Krins