Sam Sacks pens an extended essay on the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers, which he approaches from a literary perspective, claiming the tale “stands out for the perfection of its design, the mastery of its techniques, and the power of its climax.” One point he makes:
Perhaps what most stands out on the first reading of the Joseph story is the restrained use of the fantastical devices that haunt the rest of Genesis. God is here, but only tacitly, and the exact extent of His involvement is unclear to the characters and the audience alike. The story begins with a supernatural occurrence that is handled with such irreverence that it seems almost ironically deployed. Joseph is 17 and the most beloved son of Jacob, who has ostentatiously advertised his favoritism by giving Joseph the iconic coat of many colors. Joseph has become, as a result, a coddled brat—the very first thing we see him do is tattle to Jacob about some talk he overheard while tending to his sheep. The next thing we see him do is announce to his father and his steamingly resentful older brothers the prophecies revealed to him in dreams:
And Joseph dreamed a dream and told it to his brothers and they hated him all the more. And he said to them, “Listen, pray, to this dream that I dreamed. And, look, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, look, my sheaf arose and actually stood up, and, look, your sheaves drew round and bowed to my sheaf.” And his brothers said to him, “Do you mean to reign over us, do you mean to rule us?” And they hated him all the more, for his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream and recounted it to his brothers, and he said, “Look, I dreamed a dream again, and, look, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing to me.”
Here, at the outset, is the first signaling of a narrative complexity that will become more and more enfolding as the story progresses. Joseph is the hero of this tale, his dream is divinely inspired, and in time events will vindicate his visions. But the story is only passingly interested in the predictive accuracy of his dreams—its emphasis is instead on Joseph’s boastfulness, his spoiled naiveté, and the contempt he blithely incites among his brothers. The story is prioritizing the conflict of familial envy over the more grandiose problem of divine revelation.
(Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari’s Joseph’s Coat Brought to Jacob, 1640, via Wikimedia Commons)
The Dish 
