Faith In The Odyssey

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is based on the biblical story of Joseph, who was born in Canaan, or ancient Israel. In the musical version, he is listed as the last of the sons of Jacob. His brothers are jealous of Joseph and when they were in the fields, they beat him up and sold him into slavery to a group of Ishmaelites. The Ishmaelites take Joseph to Egypt, where he first serves the house of Potiphar, one of the richest men in Egypt. He is accused of attacking Potiphar’s Wife and sent to jail. After several years in Jail, Joseph is sent to interpret the dreams of the Pharaoh. Joseph predicted Pharaoh’s dreams were a premonition about seven years of good crops and climate, which were followed by seven years of drought and

In Greek Mythology, women were either very fierce or very weak. Women were usually defined by wits, beauty, or bad deeds. In The Odyssey women were not in the background. On the contrary, women were powerful. They charmed and controlled men, provided wisdom, and took care of them. The Odyssey appears to be strongly female based.

In each of these biblical characters, the change of names gives them a new sense of self. Joseph is also given an Egyptian wife, Potiphera. This intercultural marriage affirms that Joseph’s descendents will now become Egyptian not only by title, but by blood, furthering his identity as an Egyptian. An additional argument that supports his full assimilation is the tremendous authority that is given to him—the whole country of Egypt. Because he becomes the second highest ruler in the land, the remaining pieces of his Jewish identity are swept away. Even the language that he learns becomes so infused in him that he uses a translator, although he does not need one: “They did not know that Joseph understood them, since he spoke with them through an interpreter” (Genesis 42.23). One of the most major traits that show how much Joseph has assimilated to the Egyptian culture is found in the last sentence of Genesis: “And Joseph died… he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt” (Genesis 50.24). Embalmment was not a Jewish custom and Joseph requests that he does not be buried in Egypt. He wants his bones to instead be carried from Egypt back to where his forefathers were buried in, the cave of Machpelah in Canaan, but his wish is not granted.

Joseph learns from his father, Elias’ faults in both his community leadership and personal life. Joseph is a more powerful leader as well as a family member because of this. At the beginning of the novel, Elias is introduced as the former leader of Waknuk the community they live in. He teaches and inspires Joseph to lead the community, but he is also a good example for Joseph to learn how to alter his leadership styles to be more effective. At the beginning of the novel, there is a jump back in time to explain Joseph's childhood:

There are thousands of stories in the Bible, but one stands out in particular; the story of Joseph. The Hebrew meaning of the name Joseph is “may Jehovah add, give increase.”1 Through the life of Joseph we see God add meaning and purpose to his life, just as God adds meaning and purpose to all our lives. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”2 Joseph obediently followed God’s plans through trials and tribulations whereas many other figures in the Old Testament faltered in their faith. Joseph, son of Jacob, is the single most important human being in the Old Testament because of his impeccable faith to the one true God and his story of forgiveness that set the stage for God’s chosen people.

So when Joseph came to them, they took off his beautiful robe and they threw him in an empty well. Then they sold him to people that were going to Egypt. The brothers took the robe and dipped it in animal’s blood and brought it to their father. They told Jacob that an animal killed him. Jacob was really upset. Joseph was now in Egypt working as a slave. He was Potiphar’s helper and made him mandated of everything he owned. Then the Pharaoh sent him to jail. After some time in jail a cupbearer and a baker’s Pharaoh had a dream that he was going to get out of jail soon. Joseph told them to tell the Pharaoh about him but the cupbearer forgot. Two years later the Pharaoh had a dream, but nobody could understand it. Then the cupbearer remembered what Joseph did for him, and Joseph was brought to Pharaoh. Joseph explained him and the Pharaoh believed all that he told him, and put him in charge of all the land of Egypt. People came from all over to buy grain from Joseph, including Joseph's brothers. When his brothers came, Joseph was able to recognize them, but they did not. Joseph told them that he was their brother and even thought they were afraid Joseph was not mad at them because he knew that God had a better plan for him. After it his entire family moved to Egypt

him into Egypt slavery. The reason begin, Joseph father, guided and love him more. This of

Joseph, the son of Jacob, was a man whose life contained little of the miraculous. He was a man who received truth form his father concerning God Almighty. It is also apparent that

In the Hebrew Bible and The Odyssey there are heroic figures that play an important role through out each of the books. These heroic figures from the Bible and The Odyssey have many similarities and differences that reflect the different cultures they are from. These heroes are called upon by greater beings, such as gods, to complete difficult journeys and or tasks that the god has made them destined to complete. Each of these legendary heroes demonstrates a particular culture’s needs. Through these journeys and or tasks they are forced to overcome challenging obstacles and make sacrifices.

The story of Joseph in the Bible begins with explanations of Joseph’s youth and innocence and how his brothers were jealous of him because he was the “blessed son”. It involves a lot of specifics, like it mentions that Joseph was seventeen years

Joseph had the Spirit of God, he was wise and discerning. He knew what needed to be done in any situation and he did it, he was loyal and God blessed him in all he did.

The Joseph narrative can be found in the book of Genesis chapters 37-50. It is slightly interrupted “by the story of Judah and Tamar (Gen. 38) and by the so-called Blessing of Jacob (Gen. 49:1-28)” (Skinner, 438). The story of Joseph is seen as unique because it has different characteristics than its counterparts in Genesis. Other writings in Genesis seem to be short, brief incidents, about family and tribal affairs. The Joseph narrative, on the other hand, is lengthy in nature “comprising some 300 verses” (Barton & Muddiman, 60). In fact, Joseph is “second only to Moses in the attention given to him in the Torah” (Spring & Shapiro, 260). Some scholars consider the Joseph

Joseph was soon accused of a crime that he had not committed and was kept in prison. Later on, while he was in prison with the baker and cupbearer they found out that he could interpret dreams. The Pharaoh wanted him to interpret his own dreams so he told him his dreams and Joseph explain how his dreams were telling him that Egypt was going to have seven years of famine and seven years of starvation. Amazed by how he could interpret dreams, the Pharaoh made Joseph the second most important person in Egypt.

Consulting your Bible and a good Bible commentary or Bible theology, ascertain the main idea of the book of Genesis. Then, spend 2-4 paragraphs explaining the role of the story of Joseph in the overall plot line of the book of Genesis as well as the overall plot line of the Bible as a whole. Genesis is basically a story of Gods fulfillment through Abraham’s genealogy. He wipes out all of mankind with the flood, except Noah. God wanted to restore his relationship with his people.

One of the inherent conflicts in the story of Joseph is the tension between Joseph and his brothers. The tension between them is caused by both Jacob and Joseph. First, Jacob shows favoritism toward Joseph, because he is the son of his favorite wife Rachel. Second, Joseph brings back bad reports when he is out pasturing with his brothers. However, what truly increased the hatred and jealousy was the Joseph’s dreams. The author notes that when Joseph recounts the dreams, “they hated him even more (Gen. 37:8).” Their jealousy for Joseph is strong enough that they are willing to murder him. However, they decide to instead sell him into slavery, and convince Jacob that he was killed.