So the Holy Spirit figured it out for me and with wisdom here is what I have learned. Now we have to go back to Genesis to find the origin of this murderous spirit. First, we see Cain and Abel sibling rivalry; because Abel's works were righteous and Cain was of the wicked one. The Bible tells us 1 John 4:20 "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brohter, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
Now, let's dive into the scriptures on how this actually went down.
And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
So, we have two sets of sons; Jacob/Israel (fathered 12 nations) from Abraham and Sarah/Sarai. We also have another set from Abraham and his concubine Hagar (an Egyptian; fathered the Arab nations) whose son was Ishmael, who fathered the Arab nations.
Surely, it is one thing to not like someone, but when the first thought is to kill him, it reveals the situation being way out of control. In this usage “hate” is an active word. It isn’t a word just describing an emotion. In Hebrew, that word “hate” is so much bigger than the feeling. The brothers’ statements are perfectly consistent with that feeling. The author is saying that they really don’t like him.
But then there’s Reuben (the firstborn son); he wants to rescue Joseph from their hands. As the eldest brother, if anyone has a right to be really upset about Joseph, it is Reuben. As the eldest brother, he inherits half of everything. The rest have to share what is left over. That coat should have been his; that honor should have been his. Jacob should have been grooming him. If Reuben is 50 years old, Jacob is probably close to a hundred. Perhaps it’s time for him to be thinking about his legacy, about passing on the farm and the animals. Wise people would be in the process of making some of those provisions known. It is also noteworthy that he does not seem to be doing that with Joseph either. He’s simply pampering him. He’s just spoiling him. He’s not grooming him to take over the family business. That involves work. Joseph appears to be exempt from working.
“Let’s not take his life; don’t shed any blood. Throw him into the pit.” Reuben’s plan is to throw him into the cistern alive. Supposedly, it will be a place where he will eventually starve or die of exposure. That’s what Reuben wants his brothers to think. “Let’s just leave him in the cistern, and then we’ll all leave and go about our business.” In point of fact, Reuben does leave. Perhaps the brothers all have their own sheep. Joseph’s brothers strip him of his coat, and Reuben leaves.
Twenty shekels of silver is the typical price for a healthy slave. They do not bargain for a higher price. Scholars argue whether Judah’s plan is better or worse than Reuben’s. Clearly, he does not know that Reuben plans to sneak back and rescue Joseph; Judah’s plan in selling him to the Ishmaelites is meant to be permanent. And if the idea is simply to get rid of him, they could have offered him for free. Later on, laws will be written that will deem this sort of transaction to be a capital offense.
After the dream incidents, Joseph’s brothers go off to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem. Shechem is the place where Dinah was abducted - where they deceived all the men and killed them. Still, that is where they are grazing their sheep. Now Israel (who was also know as Jacob) said to Joseph, “Your brothers are all grazing their flocks and I will send you to them.” Some scholars think he might have been concerned for their safety because they were grazing near Shechem, and he wants Joseph to see if all is well. If they are settled at Hebron, Shechem will be about 50 miles north. So this isn’t just a morning’s walk. It is quite a journey for a young man traveling alone. It will probably take him five full days of walking just to get there.
a. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him: The name Potiphar means devoted to the sun. It was a name connected with the Egyptian religious system.
b. An officer of Pharaoh: The ancient Hebrew word officer could be translated eunuch – one who was castrated, normally for the sake of their service. It was a common practice in ancient times to make those highest in the royal courts eunuchs, to ensure they would be wholly devoted to their king. Because this practice was common, the term came to be used for all who served in important positions in a king’s court, whether they were actually eunuchs or not. Therefore, we really don’t know if Potiphar was a eunuch.
c. Captain of the guard: The idea behind this title means chief of police, or probably more precisely, Potiphar was head of Pharaoh’s personal security force. He was a highly-trusted official in the government of Egypt.
d. Bought him from the Ishmaelites: Joseph was a slave. He seemed to have no control over his destiny, but was bought and sold like a piece of property. He could have ended up with anyone, but Potiphar bought him.
c. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand: Joseph rose to the top, but it took a while to happen.
· Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold into slavery (Genesis 37:2).
· He was 30 when Pharaoh promoted him (Genesis 41:46).
· Joseph was in prison for two years before his promotion (Genesis 41:1).
· Therefore, Joseph was in Potiphar’s house for 11 years.
i. It took 11 years for the full measure of God’s blessing to be accomplished in Joseph’s life. 11 years seems like a long time. Many think if advancement is from God, it must come quickly. Sometimes this is the case, but not normally. Normally, God allows good things to develop slowly. Human children have the longest development time both in the womb and in childhood compared to animals. In the world of plants, it takes many years for an acorn to become an oak; a squash might grow almost overnight.
d. He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand: This means that Joseph was a hard worker. When he came to Egypt, he was at a great disadvantage. He knew nothing of the language, culture, customs, or ways of doing business. He had to get up early and stay up late to both do his job and to learn Egyptian ways.
i. It seems that Joseph grew up watching others work. Something happened to him in his crisis; he accepted God’s transforming work. God gave Joseph great administrative skill, and now the heart of a hard-working servant was added to that.
ii. Luther said, “Accordingly, Joseph was not only good and chaste, and not only diligently poured out prayers to God for his master, for the king, and for the whole land of Egypt, but he was also a most vigilant overseer and manager of the domestic tasks.” (Cited in Boice)
iii. When we leave all thatwe have in Jesus’ hand, our home and life will be blessed – and for Jesus’ sake.
e. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance: Joseph’s appearance was of special note. The Bible only calls two other men beautiful: David (1 Samuel 16:12) and Absalom (2 Samuel 14:25). Moses was said to be a beautiful child (Exodus 2:2).
25) Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 26) Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27) "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him. 28) Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.
1. The traders, Ishmaelites and Midianites, are not two distinctly different types of people. In Judges 8:22-28, Midianites were used interchangeably with Ishmaelites.
2. This repetition is consistent with Ancient Near Eastern literary style.
22) Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son's son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian." 23) But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you." 24) Yet Gideon said to them, "I would request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his spoil." (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25) They said, "We will surely give them." So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil. 26) The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels' necks. 27) Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. 28) So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon.
Ishmael and Midian, the patriarchs of the Ismaelites and Midianites, were stepbrothers and sons of Abraham.
Ishmael was the first born of Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian servant (Gen 16:1-16). Because of God's covenant with Abraham, Ishmael was blessed with many descendants even though he was not the heir. Ishmael had 12 sons and was the father of nomadic tribes who resided in the desert of northern Arabia (Gen 25:12-18). The Bible does not mention any Ishmael king, only princes, and it seems that there wasn't any national boundary to their area. Any from the Arabian desert could claim to be a descendant of Ishmael.
Midian was the son of Keturah, a concubine who married Abraham (became his wife) after Sarah's death (Gen 25:2-4). Midian's descendants did have kings (Num 31:8) and resided near Moab. Ishmaelites who settled among the Midianites were considered Midianites.
The Bible directly refers to Egypt as the Land of Ham. The word Ham is believed to come from the word Khawm which means “black, hot, and burnt” in Hebrew and chamam, also a Hebrew word for “to be hot”.
Ham is the youngest of Noah’s three sons along with Japheth and Shem. Ham himself has four sons, namely: Cush (Ethiopia), Mizraim (Egypt), Put (Libya), and lastly, Canaan (Canaanites are believed to be the first people in Israel). The Bible stated that Ham and his sons, and their soon-to-be descendants lived and became the forefathers of the African continent and the Middle East.
- Genesis 5:32. The name Ham was first mentioned in the Bible as one of Noah’s three sons.
- Genesis 9:18. Ham as the father of Canaan.
- Psalms 105:23, 78:51, 1Ch 4:40. Egypt referred to as the land of Ham.
- Genesis 10:6. The four sons of Ham.
- Genesis 9:20-27. The curse of Noah on Ham’s youngest son, Canaan after Ham “saw the nakedness of his father” and told his two brothers about it.
The Curse of Ham in Present Times
The Curse of Ham was used by some sectors to rationalize racism and slavery of Black African, who are believed to have descended from Ham. They were branded as Hamites whose forefathers are believed to be Canaan or his older brothers. This has changed in the 21st century.
The genealogy of Noah's son, Ham, follows. He had four sons whose names comprise a geographic area running south to north. Three of his sons, Cush, Mizraim, and Phut describe areas in Africa. Cush probably refers to northeast Africa; some think it refers to Ethiopia, though many of his grandsons lived in Arabia. Mizraim is the traditional word translated as "Egypt," whose relation to the Israelites is legendary. Phut is sometimes thought to include parts of Egypt, but scholars are more likely to think it includes Libya and other areas lying northwest of Egypt, possibly even Somalia. Canaan, the fourth son, encompasses modern Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. Together they cover much of Africa, Arabia, and Mesopotamia. These would become, for better or worse, Israel's neighbors.
Whereas Japheth's heirs were few in number, Ham's descendants are greater with more details given. Altogether, Cush had six sons, though only one is elaborately described. The first five, Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka are simply listed. From what scholars have determined, all these are Arabian-sounding names. Raamah also had two sons, Sheba and Dedan, whose names are listed without further comment. Yet, Sheba was a major trading port in southwestern Arabia. The Sabeans hailed from Sheba. There is another Sheba in the lineage of Shem. Scholars think this might suggest the conflation of the two lines in southern Arabia. Sheba, of course, has been immortalized by the queen who visited Solomon. Dedan was located in Northwest Arabia, near Edom.
And that brings us to Canaan, the fourth son, the one cursed by Noah. His sons' names are well known to the Israelites. Sidon was a major Phoenician port city and probably refers to that whole area. The Hittites had settled in the hill country of Canaan long before Abraham would come to the area. They spread over much of Asia Minor. Thousands of clay tablets have been found near their capital in the center of Asia Minor. The tablets have provided a treasure trove of information about this period.
This section would not be complete without further mention of "Canaan's curse." Genesis 9:25 states, "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." Though abhorred by modern scholars, historically, people believed this curse justified the subjection of the Canaanites. Without being clear on the actual offense, historians have assumed that this was the first example of their corruption and reason enough for them to lose their land to the Israelites. Several Old Testament passages (Gen. 15, Lev.18, and Deut. 12) suggest they were morally impure. It set the scene for the conquest of Canaan by Joshua. God was on the side of the Israelites and against the Canaanites.
The Table of Nations tells us how the human race grew and spread across the earth after Noah and the flood. After telling about Noah’s son Japheth, the Bible teaches about Ham’s sons. Remember, Ham was a man who rejected the ways of his godly father. His heart was bent towards rebellion and sin. The ways he chose were the ways of Satan. Because of his wicked behavior, Ham and his descendants were under Noah’s curse. The curse of their sin would show its spreading poison over time. From Ham’s descendants the Bible lists thirty nations or language groups.
Ham’s sons were named Cush, Mizraim, and Canaan. Cush was the father of a man named Nimrod. He was brilliantly famous as a great and mighty warrior. He was the founder of the great cities of the ancient world. Together they made up Nimrod’s mighty empire. Yet Nimrod was cut from the same sinful cloth as Cain and Lamech and Ham. His name means, “we shall rebel.” He built his empire on force and violence and his own will to power. It spread across whole regions, eating up the land and everyone in it.
It was Nimrod who first built the cities of Babylon and Nineveh. They would one day become the empires of Babylon and Assyria, and they would follow in Nimrod’s footsteps. One of the reasons Nimrod’s story is told in the Bible is because both of these nations would become great oppressors of God’s holy people,the nation of Israel. Assyria would one day destroy a whole section of God’s holy nation, the Northern Kingdom, forcing the people into captivity and slavery. Babylon would do the same to the Southern Kingdom. It would only be after Babylon was conquered by another nation that the Israelite people would be allowed to return to their land. The Bible taught that these cruel nations came from the line of Ham, a people whose father chose wickedness over the ways of God.
The word “Hebrew” in the Hebrew language is עברי (Ivrie). The root letters are used to mean cross over, or pass through. Today in Israel, we can use the word to talk about moving houses, transgressing laws, going through some difficulties, crossing the road, crossing over a river, and so on. Traversing, passing, or crossing over, essentially. In the Bible, it seems to have primarily referred to those who traversed rivers. The symbolic meaning of this should not be lost on us who love the Word of God!
Joshua gives us this account of events and a clue to how the descendants of Jacob/Israel became known as Hebrews – Ivrim – those who had traversed:
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many… “‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea… Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand… “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (verses from Joshua 24:3-15)
As you can see, there are several mentions of watery crossings: Abraham coming from beyond the River Euphrates, the dramatic Red Sea crossing of the Exodus, and then the entry into the Promised Land as they crossed over the River Jordan. These Hebrews, these Ivrim, have sure done a fair amount of traversing! You can see why the Egyptians might have called them Hebrews – ones who came from beyond the river – and why Abraham was the ultimate Hebrew. As if to emphasise the point, the Hebrews went through not one but two rather miraculous water crossings; the first and most famous one being the parting of the Red Sea, but also when they finally reached their destination, the Jordan River piled up on either side as the priests set foot on the river bed, and the Hebrews crossed over on dry ground into their inheritance in the Promised Land.
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