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1.
Why did Joseph's brothers throw him into a pit?
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They were jealous because they thought their father loved Joseph best.
Genesis provides some family background for Jacob’s partiality.
Jacob falls in love with the beautiful Rachel and agrees to work for her
father for seven years to earn her hand in marriage. At the end of the
seven years Rachel’s father tricks Jacob into marrying Rachel’s older ugly
sister Leah and forces Jacob to work seven additional years to marry Rachel.
Joseph faithfully works the extra seven years and finally marries Rachel.
He has two sons with her -- Joseph and Benjamin. His other ten sons
are by Leah and the sisters' respective handmaidens.
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The brothers are also angry at Joseph for reciting a dream which exalted
him above his brothers.
| Koran: dream |
Genesis: dream |
| 12.4: When Yusuf said to his father: O my father!
surely I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon -- I saw them making
obeisance to me.
12.5: He said: O my son! do not relate your vision
to your brothers, lest they devise a plan against you; |
37.5: And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and
they hated him yet the more |
| Koran: envy |
Genesis: envy |
12.8: When they said: Certainly Yusuf and his brother are dearer to
our father than we, though we are a (stronger)
company; most surely our father is in manifest error:
12.9: Slay Yusuf or cast him (forth) into some land, so that your father's
regard may be exclusively for you, and after that you may be a righteous
people.
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Gen 37.4: Now Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than
all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him
a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved
him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably
unto him. |
2. Did
Joseph's brothers want to kill Joseph?
:
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Koran: No, they just wanted to get him out of the way. They leave him where
a passing caravan might find him.
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Genesis: In the Bible all but the eldest brother, Reuben, plan to kill
Joseph but finally decide to sell him instead.
| Koran: conspiracy |
Genesis: conspiracy |
| 12.10: A speaker from among them said: Do not slay Yusuf, and
cast him down into the bottom of the pit if you must do (it), (so that)
some of the travellers may pick him up. |
37.26-27: And Juday said unto his brethren, What profit it if we saly
our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites,
and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh:
and his brethren were content. |
3. Why didn't
Joseph's mother step in to protect him?
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The Koran doesn't tell us, but she may have been dead. Joseph's father
had more than one wife; Joseph and his younger brother (Benjamin) were
full brothers, and those that put him in the pit were only half-brothers
to them.
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In Genesis 35:19 we told that Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin
35:19
4. Geography:
What kind of a pit did Joseph get tossed in to and how did he get out?
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It was a dry well. Travelers who used the well included caravans of merchants
on camels. In the Bible Joseph's brothers sell him to merchants on their
way to Egypt. In the Koran Joseph is rescued from the well by merchants
and later sold in Egypt.
| Koran: the pit |
Genesis: the pit |
| 12.10: A speaker from among them said: Do not slay
Yusuf, and cast him down into the bottom of the pit if you must do (it),
(so that) some of the travellers may pick him up.
12.15: So when they had gone off with him and agreed
that they should put him down at the bottom of the pit,
12.19: And there came travellers and they sent their water-drawer
and he let down his bucket. He said: O good news! this is a youth; and
they concealed him as an article of merchandise, and Allah knew what they
did.
"12.20": And they sold him for a small price, a few pieces of silver,
and they showed no desire for him. |
37:24 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his bretheren,
that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that
was on him; And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was
empty, there was no water in it
37.25: And they (the brothers) sat down to eat bread: and they lifted
up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from
Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to
carry it down to Egypt.
37.28: Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and
lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for
twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. |
5. What are
the accusations and counter-accusations in the story of Joseph and his
master's wife, and how did they figure out who was telling the truth?
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The Koran gives us a mini-detective story: The wife of Joseph's Egyptian
master accuses Joseph of trying to rape her. Joseph says that she
had tried to seduce him and he had fled from her. The case is put
to a test by examinig the torn shirt Joseph left behind in his flight.
if the woman was telling the truth then Joseph's clothes would be torn
in the front (from her resistance), but if the woman was lying and Joseph
was telling the truth, then Joseph's clothes would be torn in the back
(from her trying to pull him back). His clothes were torn in the
back, so he is revealed as innocent. When other women berate the wife for
trying to seduce her slave, she brings Joseph before them while they are
cutting fruit. His beauty is so impressive that they all cut themselves
in astonishment. Later Joseph is imprisoned anyway, in accordance with
the Lord's plan, after he prays to be removed from the woman's household.
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Genesis has a shorter version of the story where Joseph is thrown in prison
as soon as Potiphar’s wife accuses him of rape.
| Koran: |
Genesis: Potiphar's wife |
| 12.25: And they both hastened to the door, and she
rent his shirt from behind and they met her husband at the door. She said:
What is the punishment of him who intends evil to your wife except imprisonment
or a painful chastisement?
12.26: He said: She sought to make me yield (to her); and a witness
of her own family bore witness: If his shirt is rent from front, she speaks
the truth and he is one of the liars:
12.27: And if his shirt is rent from behind, she tells a lie and he
is one of the truthful.
12.30: And women in the city said: The chiefs wife seeks her slave to
yield himself (to her), surely he has affected her deeply with (his) love;
most surely we see her in manifest error.
12.31: So when she heard of their sly talk she sent for them and prepared
for them a repast, and gave each of them a
knife, and said (to Yusuf): Come forth to them. So when they saw him,
they deemed him great, and cut their hands (in amazement), and said: Remote
is Allah (from imperfection); this is not a mortal; this is but a noble
angel.
12.32: She said: This is he with respect to whom you
blamed me, and certainly I sought his yielding himself (to me), but he
abstained, and if he does not do what I bid him, he shall certainly be
imprisoned, and he shall certainly be of those who are in a state of ignominy.
12.33: He said: My Lord! the prison house is dearer to me than that
to which they invite me; and if Thou turn not away their device from me,
I will yearn towards them and become (one) of the ignorant.
12.34: Thereupon his Lord accepted his prayer and turned away their
guile from him; surely He is the Hearing, the
Knowing.
12.35: Then it occurred to them after they had seen the signs that they
should imprison him till a time. |
39.16-18: And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
And she spake unto him according to htese words, saying, The Hebrew servant,
which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: And it came
to opass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with
me, and fled out.
39.19-20 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his
wife, which seh spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant
to me; that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph's master took him, and put
him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and
he was there in the prison. |
6. What do we
learn from this text about slavery in the time of Joseph?
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We learn that slaves were not always badly treated. Sometimes they
were treated like family members or even adopted. Slavery is bad,
but it has been practiced in different ways at different times and in different
places. It has been worse in some places (eg, the plantation system in
the American South) than in others (eg, in Egypt at the time of Joseph).
| Koran: slavery |
Genesis: slavery |
| 12.21: And the Egyptian who bought him said to his wife: Give him an
honorable abode, maybe he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as
a son. And thus did We establish Yusuf in the land and that We might teach
him the interpretation of sayings; and Allah is the master of His affair,
but most people do not know. |
Gen 39.3-6: And his master (the Egyptian) saw that the Lord was with
him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And
Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer
over his house, and all that he had he put inot his hand. And he left all
that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not aught he had, save the bread
which he did eat. |
7. What kind
of a person was Joseph?
In both the Koran and Genesis Joseph is very handsome and overcomes
great adversity. He was also patient in adversity (to spend time
in prison and not get discouraged), wise and inspired (to interpret dreams),
and forgiving (he forgave his brothers).
Islamic commentator Syed Maududi says of Yusuf:
"But the greatest lesson this story teaches is that if the
Believer possesses true Islamic character and is endowed with wisdom, he
can conquer a whole country with the strength of his character alone. The
marvelous example of Prophet Joseph teaches us that a man of high and pure
character comes out successful even under the most adverse circumstances.
When Prophet Joseph went to Egypt, he was only a lad of seventeen years,
a foreigner, all alone and without any provisions; nay, he had been sold
there as a slave. And the horrible condition of the slaves during that
period is known to every student of history. Then he was charged with a
heinous moral Crime and sent to prison for an indefinite term. But throughout
this period of affliction, he evinced the highest moral qualities which
raised him to the highest rank in the country." (Syed
Abu-Ala' Maududi's Chapter Introductions to the Qur'an)
8. What
is the moral or morals of the story?
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On one level the story is addressed to the Prophet Muhammad by God, to
encourage him to persevere in the face of adversity and to have faith that
God will take care of him in the end. On another level the morals of the
story--faith and perseverance in the face of great adversity--are intended
for all Muslims.
For a detailed commentary by Syed Maududi on the story’s relevance to
the Prophet’s life, other lessons taught by the story, and an historical
background see http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/maududi/mau12.html
(For a biography of Syed Maududi see http://members.muslimsites.com/r.tufail/maududi.html)
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In both the Koran and Genesis the story illustrates
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how God works in mysterious ways to elevate his chosen people
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how the Israelites came to be in Egypt around 1600 BC
the values of faith, patience, wisdom and forgiveness.
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