Despite Jacob’s feelings, the
reality is that there’s no food. The brothers need to return to Egypt, and they
need to take Benjamin. Of course, it can’t be that straightforward as Joseph is
really into manipulating his brothers.
On seeing Benjamin, Joseph states
he believes that the brothers are not spies and relinquishes Simeon, but now
the scheme is directly against Benjamin. Yes, he sells the grain to the
brothers, but also has his silver cup slipped into Benjamin’s bags. Then he
accuses the brothers of stealing, and, look at that! Benjamin stole the cup. So
now Benjamin is being held over as Joseph demands the brothers return home and
bring back Dad to gain Benjamin’s release.
It certainly seems that Joseph is
really getting into revenge on his brothers, making them sweat at every turn.
This is more drawn out than any plan to execute James Bond, even. Surely Joseph
could submit an application to the Evil League of Evil and gain entry just on
his revenge scheme.
Yet, something’s wrong, here. Is
this the same Joseph who turned down Potiphar’s wife? The same one who speaks
blatantly honest, if unpopular, truth no matter what? The revenge doesn’t feel
right, not from what we know of Joseph. This is not in character for him. So
what’s going on?