Review 2: Old Testament
04/26/2008
Joseph
The Coat of
Many Colors
(by Ford Madox
Brown 182193)
Joseph the dreamer
1. Hate and envy of siblings:
A. Joseph’s being favoured by their father.
B. Joseph’s dreams (the sheaves; the
bowing of the sun, the moon and the
eleven stars): In the Bible, dreams present
the true being that human beings sense or
the foretelling of the future. So Jacob
considers Joseph’s dream as a symbol that
he was chosen by God.
Joseph the dreamer
B. Comparing Jacob’s and Joseph’s
dreams: God-centred and self-centred.
God never speaks directly to Joseph, so
he has to find out the interpretation of
his dream by himself. Although having
the gift of foretelling the future, he is
not truly enlightened. He proudly
flaunts his dream, revealing his
ignorance of the coming hazard
Joseph the dreamer
C. His brothers’ plot:
C1: Reuben: trying to release Joseph from
the pit. (What’s his motivation?)
C2: Judah:Selling Joseph to Ishmaelites.
(Why?)
C3: Joseph: has to struggle for life. The
biblical characters are never spared of fear
in life because of their belief in God.
Joseph the dreamer
C3: At this moment, the seemingly
bright future (the prophesy) doesn’t
give him any confidence. Like other
heroes in myth, Joseph can get true
enlightenment after going through
difficulties and the shadow of death.
Joseph in Egypt: The Lord was with him
Joseph in Egypt: The Lord was with him
Joseph in Egypt: The Lord was with him
Joseph meeting his brothers
By Peter Von
Cornelius
1789-1867
Joseph in Egypt: The Lord was with him
Jacob gave his blessing to his grandsons
Joseph in Egypt: The Lord was with him
1. The slave in Potiphar’s household:
the Lord was with Joseph for Potiphar
was not only a wealthy man but upright,
a man of honro as well as rank;
favoured by his upright master;
seduced by Potiphar’s wife
2. The prisoner in the jail: The lord was
merciful to him and gave him favor in
the eyes of the keeper of the prison;
Joseph in Egypt: The Lord was with him
2. the chief butler’s and the chief
baker’s dreams: God’s gift to Joseph as
a dream interpreter: But Joseph was an
experienced dreamer himself; and also
he believed in God.
3. The Pharaoh’s dreams: seven fat
cows and seven lean cows; seven rich
ears of corn and seven thin ears of corn.
Joseph in Egypt: The Lord was with him
4. Joseph came into power in Egypt: being
the ruler second to Pharaoh; marrying a
priest’s daughter and having two sons,
Manasseh (to make forget) and Ephraim (to
make prosper). In Genesis, naming the new
born baby has profound meanings. It reflects
one’s mentality. Joseph, when naming his
sons, does’t bear his hate against his
brothers. But he hasn’t transcended totally
from his past suffering yet.
Joseph in Egypt: The Lord was with him
5. Joseph’s reconciliation with his
brothers: Judah’s role; Joseph’s
forgiving: arrogance? (Who is
responsible for Joseph’s suffering? God?
His brothers? Himself?
6. Jacob’s blessings (Genesis 48-49):
compared with Isaac’s blessings
(blindness=dull mentality)
Moses: Exodus
Moses in the bulrushes
Moses: Exodus
1. Exodus: definition
2. The burning bush: definition (In Horeb, the
mountain of God, God revealed himself in a
burning bush and commissioned him to
return to Egypt, and with the help of Aaron,
to lead the Hebrews out of the land of
oppression.
3. Signs and plagues: the blood river, the
frogs, the lice, the flies, the disease on the
Egyptians’ herds, boils, hailstones, locusts,
eclipse, the firstborn
Moses: Exodus
4. The Passover:
A holiday beginning on the 14th of
Nisan and traditionally continuing for eight days,
commemorating the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Also
called Pesach.
5. Into the wilderness:
5A: securing good drinking water, oversaw
the receipt of quails and manna, directed
the war with the Amalekites, and
established judges to hear and adjudicate
the people’s disputes.
Manna: definition
Moses: Exodus
5B. The Ten Commandment:
Moses: Exodus
6. The golden calf: Moses’s efforts on
de-culturating the Hebrews from
Egyptian pantheism (to establish
monotheism).
A process of building
identity (religious, cultural, national)
Moses: Exodus
7. Land of Milk
and Honey:
The location
Moses: Exodus
7. Exodus 3:7-8
The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the
misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard
them crying out because of their slave drivers,
and I am concerned about their suffering. So
I have come down to rescue them from the
hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up
out of that land into a good and spacious
land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the
home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
Moses: Exodus
7. Land of Milk and Honey:
Canaan (low land):locating between the
Dead Sea and Mediterranean, east of Jordan,
one of the areas where agriculture origins.
Milk is the important source of food for the
nomads, and honey is common in Palestine.
Both milk and honey serve as the symbol of a
land of wonder, like the Eden.
Moses: Exodus
Numbers 14:7-9
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of
Jephunneh, who were among those who had
explored the land, tore their clothes and said
to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we
passed through and explored is exceedingly
good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will
lead us into that land, a land flowing with
milk and honey, and will give it to us.
Moses: Exodus
Numbers 14:7-9:
Only do not rebel against the LORD.
And do not be afraid of the people of
the land, because we will swallow them
up. Their protection is gone, but the
LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of
them." (a land bestowed by God = the
excuse of plunder and invasion?)
Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah
1. Samson = Sham-sun (little sun or
sun-like)
2. Samson’s life = the course of the sun
in a day (from sunrise to sunset)
3. The metaphors: 300 fire foxes
symbolizing the energy of the sun;
Samson in the dungeon = sunset;
Samson and Delilah
3. The metaphors: Samson’s hair (like
the beams from the sun) = masculine
power
The Unsandlled
Deuteronomy 25
1. The unsandled = those who would
not marry their widowed sisters-in-law.