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“Dothan Beginnings: Biblical-Theological Reflections on the Functions of the

Joseph Story”
Thomas D. Petter,
Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

The Joseph story (Gen 37, 39-50) recounts how God

providentially averted the extinction of Abraham’s
descendants and secured the salvation of Egypt through the
life and work of Joseph; in the Egyptians’ own words: “You
have saved our lives” (Gen 47:25; cf. Gen 42:3; 45:5-8; all
Biblical quotes are from the English Standard Version). What
makes the narrative so compelling is that this outcome of
salvation is actually contingent upon a succession of
devastating episodes: he is conspired against; betrayed;
thrown into a pit; sold into slavery; falsely accused by
Potiphar’s wife and imprisoned; forsaken by Pharaoh’s
cupbearer (cf. Gen 37; 39-40). As the story unfolds, the
reader realizes that these adverse circumstances, begun on a
major trade route at Dothan,1 become indispensable
components for the salvation that ensued. These events are in
fact integral to God’s plan. Joseph himself certainly grasped
the concept: “As for you [Joseph’s brothers], you meant evil
against me, but God meant Tell Dothan is an impressive archaeological mound in the northern Samaria hills,
it for good, to bring it some 22 km north of Shechem. The site was excavated by Dr. Joseph Free in nine
seasons between 1953 and 1964. The Dothan Publication Project is currently
about that many people underway under the direction of Dr. Robert Cooley, President Emeritus of Gordon-
should be kept alive, as Conwell Theological Seminary, bringing the results of these excavations to final,
full publication. For more information on the tell and its finds, visit:
they are today” (Gen http://www.gcts.edu/dothan/
50:20; cf. 45:7-8).
The significance of the divinely ordained suffering savior motif in biblical theology
hardly needs commenting. It becomes essential in Isaiah’s program of salvation (cf. Is 52:14-15;
53:1-12): “It was the will of Yahweh to crush him” (53:10). Peter casts the death and
resurrection of Christ in identical ways: “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan
and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men…” (Acts 2:23-
24; cf. Acts 3:13-18). Paul generalizes the principle and penned a cherished text for believers
through the ages: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,
for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). Thus, sufferings in the Christian
life are not incidental and/or random occurrences but become integrated into God’s plan for our
lives (cf. 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Pet 4:19).
Another function of the Joseph narrative is to provide a covenantal bridge between the
period of “exile” in Egypt until the “return” to Canaan under Moses’ leadership in Exodus. In
Genesis 15, Yahweh makes the promise to Abram that his “offspring will be sojourners in a land
that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years”
(Gen 15:13). Thus, as Jacob’s family relocates to Egypt as a result of the famine, both Jacob
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J. M. Monson, “Regional settlement: Dothan in the Northern Arena,” in Dothan I. Remains from the Tell (1953-
1964). Eds. D.M. Master, J.M. Monson, E.H.E. Lass, G.A. Pierce (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2005): 7-14.
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and Joseph perceive this migration under the light of the Abrahamic promise (Gen 46:3-4; 50:24-
25).
Embedded in the Abrahamic covenant is the promise of
Dothan is mentioned in two blessing to those who would bless Abraham and his
verses in the Old Testament: descendants (Gen. 12:3). The sojourn in Egypt,
Genesis 37:17 And the man said, "They
have gone away, for I heard them say,
triggered by the selling of Joseph at Dothan to nomadic
'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went traders (Gen 37:28), precisely illustrates this Abrahamic
after his brothers and found them at
Dothan.
dynamic. On the basis of divine favor, Joseph not only
2 Kings 6:13 And he [the King of Syria] saves Egypt, but also considerably enriches the royal
said, "Go and see where he [Elisha] is,
that I may send and seize him." It was
treasury and makes Pharaoh Egypt’s virtual sole
told him, "Behold, he is in Dothan." landowner (Gen 47:14, 20). Joseph (Abraham’s
descendant) is a blessing to the nation of Egypt (see
especially Gen 39:5). Likewise, Egypt is blessed as Pharaoh treats Joseph and his family with
great favor. In perhaps one of the most telling examples in the narrative, even though Pharaoh
knows that Joseph’s family are shepherds and therefore pariah in Egyptian culture (Gen 46:34),
he still wants to give the best land to both the hapless brothers and their livestock (47:6, 10; cf.
45:16-20), and so he gives them Goshen.

This time of divine blessing for Egypt is of course rudely interrupted when a new
Pharaoh comes to the throne after the death of Joseph. As the new regime seeks to curse and
destroy Abraham’s seed, Yahweh protects and blesses his people and, true to the Abrahamic
dynamic, curses Egypt with a series of devastating plagues (Ex 1:8; Ex 5-15; see Gen 12:17 for
an anticipation of the principle). Yet this transformation into Israel’s historic enemy (“the house
of bondage,” Ex 20:2) sets the foundation for another, now eschatological, blessing. Isaiah
envisions a day when Egypt will become Yahweh’s covenantal people, a “blessing in the midst
of the earth” (Isa 19: 24-25). Thus the Joseph story, in its depiction of Egypt as a blessing to the
nations (as the literal bread basket to neighboring nations, Gen 41:53-57), both confirms and
foreshadows the Abrahamic promise of blessing to the nations (Gen 17:4; Rom 4:17).
While the theme of strife between brothers is firmly established in previous chapters in
Genesis, the narrative about Joseph and his family (the longest narrative in Genesis) sets a
crucial background to understand subsequent intra-tribal warfare in Israel and neighboring tribal
states. The origins of the motif harks back to Abel and Cain, which itself is a direct consequence
of the sin that entered the world through Adam and Eve. Whereas the first couple needed a
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deceiver to entice them to rebel against God and his law (Gen 2:17; 3:6), Cain got into trouble all
on his own (the serpent is notably absent from the account of the “Fall” in Genesis 4). The
family feud motif provides a foundation for Yahweh’s future contention against the Canaanites
(Gen 9:24; Gen 15:16). The interaction between Abraham and Lot (Gen 12-19) sets the
backdrop to subsequent tribal conflicts involving Ammon, Moab and the Israelites (cf. Gen 19:
37-38; Num 22-24; Judg 11). The theme reaches boiling points between Isaac and Ishmael (Gen
21:10) and between Jacob and Esau (Gen 27:41). Thus, when we come to the Joseph story, the
expected does happen in that more strife, with the resulting threat upon the Abrahamic promise,
continues in earnest (Gen 37:18). The patriarchal narratives remind us that enmity was, quite
literally, in the nation’s DNA (cf. Rom 5:12ff.). Any notion of tribal unity will remain more an
ideal than a reality throughout Israelite history: internecine wars and shifting loyalties during the
time of the Judges (Judg 12:4; Judg 20:20), dynastic-tribal conflicts between Saul and David (2
Sam 3:1), and most significantly in Israelite history, the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel (1
Kgs 12). Yet Joseph also offers a glimmer of hope: when his brothers asked for forgiveness for
their “transgressions and sins,” Joseph responded with great kindness and “comforted them”
(Gen 50:21), bringing reconciliation as a result of his forgiving heart. Here also, Joseph
anticipates the ministry of the Savior to come who will reconcile all things unto himself and
bring everlasting peace between brothers, tribes and nations (Isa 2:4; Lk 23:34; Eph 2:14).