So, after Benjamin is held in
Egypt, the brothers go home and return with the rest of the family, including
dear old father Jacob. Yes, there’s the typical tearful reunion, but it’s
interesting we don’t have much in the way of recriminations for what happened
to Joseph.
Joseph, for his part, is to
invested in returning to his family instead of demanding vengeance. Jacob,
likewise, is more interested in having his son returned to him, and the other
brothers would just rather not bring it to anyone’s attention about what they
did throughout all of this.
So everyone is happy, the family is
doing well in Egypt, and we come to a crucial problem. Joseph married an
Egyptian. Asenath is an Egyptian princess, but she’s not part of the covenant.
There’s a story been left out of the Bible called Joseph and Asenath, which
gives her a conversion to the covenant (It’s pretty weird involving bees making
a hive on her lips and making honey) but Genesis really leaves her outside the
covenant, which means Joseph’s kids Ephraim and Manasseh are not part of the
covenant.
So the family is not completely
reunited with the knowledge that Joseph’s sons will not receive the same
benefits as that of his brothers’ sons. However, there is a way to resolve this
via adoption.
Jacob actually adopts Joseph’s sons
as his own. This is a way to circumvent the restrictions of Asenath as a wife
not in the covenant. This is an interesting take on the whole covenant, thing.