Joseph, Judah and the Benjamin Conundrum

Levin, Yigal

doi:10.1515/zatw.2004.011

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Dietrich, 1989: 59-67; Kugel, 2008: 183; Loewenstamm, 1969; Redford, 1970: 178-186); or (c) as typological remnants of Israel’s early tribal history, during which the tribe of Reuben purportedly enjoyed early hegemony before being supplanted by the tribe of Judah (e.g. Brettler, 1995: 48-61; Cross, 1998; Levin, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The literary roles of Reuben and Judah in Genesis narratives: A ‘reflection complex’

Kraut

2018

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

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Scholars have long perceived a relationship among Genesis narratives involving Reuben and Judah. Most treatments, historical in orientation, focus on the authorial and editorial processes that produced two episodes in which 'competing' Reuben and Judah narratives are preserved: the sale of Joseph (Gen. 37) and the guardianship of Benjamin (Gen. 42-3). Even literary studies of the Reuben and Judah characters typically address only some of the relevant narratives and reach limited conclusions about the characters' import. This study, in contrast, contends that all of the Reuben and Judah narrative passages in Genesis-whatever the processes leading to their inclusion-comprise a latent complex with a literary purpose. Reuben and Judah compel Jacob to reconsider behaviors from his own life, reminding their father-respectively-of his failings and his nobler aspects. I dub this dynamic a 'reflection complex', consisting of multifarious intertextual links, including multiple instances of the 'reflection stories' described by Yair Zakovitch.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The literary roles of Reuben and Judah in Genesis narratives: A ‘reflection complex’

Kraut

2018

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

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Genesis 38 in Social and Historical Perspective

Leuchter¹

2013

Journal of Biblical Literature

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"Israel's" Only Son? The complexity of Benjaminite identity between Judah and Joseph

Giffone¹

2019

Old testam. essays

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Several studies in recent years have sought to articulate the significance of the tribe of Benjamin for historical and literary studies of the Hebrew Bible. This paper suggests that the received text of Genesis 35-50 both reflects and illumines the complexities of Israelite identity in the preexilic, Babylonian, and Persian periods. The fact that Benjamin is the only son born to "Israel" (other sons are born to "Jacob") points to Israel's origins in the land that came to be called "Benjaminite." Between Josephites to the north and Judahites to the south, Benjaminites preserved a unique identity within the polities of Israel, Judah, Babylonian Yehud, and Persian Yehud. In Genesis 35 and 42-45 in particular, the silent character Benjamin finds himself in the middle of a tug-of-war between his brothers, particularly his full-brother Joseph and his half-brother Judah. The conciliatory message of the narrative of Genesis 35-50 for later communities comes into sharper focus when we see the compromise between tribal identities embedded in the text. 1

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Joseph, Judah and the Benjamin Conundrum

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

The literary roles of Reuben and Judah in Genesis narratives: A ‘reflection complex’

The literary roles of Reuben and Judah in Genesis narratives: A ‘reflection complex’

Genesis 38 in Social and Historical Perspective

"Israel's" Only Son? The complexity of Benjaminite identity between Judah and Joseph

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