Note: The following essay is made up of some thoughts I had while preparing for my sermon yesterday. I did not include them in the sermon because these thoughts are unrelated to the point of the sermon/text. However, I think they are important and am including them now, while Genesis 42 is still fresh in our minds.
Years ago, I was reading through my Bible and came across a part that seems a little unrealistic.
In Genesis 42:7-22, Joseph has a conversation with his brothers after having been apart from them for a couple of decades. The story specifies that “Joseph recognized his brothers” but that his brothers “did not recognize him.” That, by itself isn’t too hard to imagine. People change a lot between the age of 17 and 38. Joseph also had been living in a different culture, was dressed and shaved differently, and was going by the name Zaphenath-Paneah. So, I get that they didn’t visually recognize their brother at first.
However, it still seems unlikely that they wouldn’t recognize his voice or wonder how the prime minister of Egypt knew perfect Hebrew with no Egyptian accent. And yet that is how the story reads - at first.
For most of the chapter, the story reads as if Joseph is talking to them directly. If you are like me, and you imagine Bible stories in your head as you read them, the natural thing to do while reading Genesis 42:7-22 is to picture Joseph in the same room with his brothers looking at them in the eyes and shouting accusations directly at them from inches away.
However, there is a detail in verse 23 that changes the whole picture. Verse 23 reads:
Years ago, I was reading through my Bible and came across a part that seems a little unrealistic.
In Genesis 42:7-22, Joseph has a conversation with his brothers after having been apart from them for a couple of decades. The story specifies that “Joseph recognized his brothers” but that his brothers “did not recognize him.” That, by itself isn’t too hard to imagine. People change a lot between the age of 17 and 38. Joseph also had been living in a different culture, was dressed and shaved differently, and was going by the name Zaphenath-Paneah. So, I get that they didn’t visually recognize their brother at first.
However, it still seems unlikely that they wouldn’t recognize his voice or wonder how the prime minister of Egypt knew perfect Hebrew with no Egyptian accent. And yet that is how the story reads - at first.
For most of the chapter, the story reads as if Joseph is talking to them directly. If you are like me, and you imagine Bible stories in your head as you read them, the natural thing to do while reading Genesis 42:7-22 is to picture Joseph in the same room with his brothers looking at them in the eyes and shouting accusations directly at them from inches away.
However, there is a detail in verse 23 that changes the whole picture. Verse 23 reads:
“They [Joseph’s brothers] did not realize Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.”
Fascinating. There was a character in this story (the interpreter) who was there the whole time but simply wasn’t mentioned. The narrator didn’t feel the need to specify that the whole preceding conversation took place through an intermediary (until it was relevant to the plot.)
However, if you are the reader, you have to change what you’d been imagining up until verse 23. Perhaps Joseph wasn’t inches away from his brothers looking right at their faces. And he certainly wasn’t speaking Hebrew. Joseph may have been at the other end of a large room, five or ten yards away, sending an interpreter back and forth to talk with them in order to conceal his identity.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Well, maybe some background would be helpful here.
There were a couple periods of time in my life where I struggled with “doubt attacks” and many of those attacks showed up while I was reading my Bible. When I came across stories that seems to contradict other Bible stories, or seemed to have incorrect details in them, it bothered me. How could I trust God’s word when there are times when it doesn’t seem accurate?
So, this was a significant moment for me. In this story, all it took was one little detail to be added and suddenly the whole story seems much easier to believe. But here’s the thing I realized: the story was just as true before verse 23. In fact, if the narrator had left verse 23 out, that wouldn’t change the fact that this story actually happened. The story is true both before and after I find it to be believable.
DOES THIS PRINCIPLE APPLY TO OTHER PARTS OF THE BIBLE?
I believe it does. And that’s why this was an important realization for me. I have come to figure out that not every story in the Bible has a verse 23. Sometimes, there are things in the Bible that are difficult to imagine or hard to believe because they are missing a small detail that would make them easier to picture. But, just because some Bible stories are missing explanatory comments (like Genesis 42:23) doesn’t mean they aren’t true.
AN EXAMPLE
It probably bothers some people that Mark 14:3 says that a woman in Bethany poured expensive perfume onto Jesus’ head and that John 12:3 says the woman in Bethany poured expensive perfume onto Jesus’ feet. Both accounts are obviously retelling the same story. But they say two different things.
Many people point out things like this and say, “The Bible contradicts itself. We don’t know if this woman anointed Jesus’ head or his feet because the stories say two different things. In fact, maybe this woman and her story are completely made up. And that is why you can’t take the Bible too literally or seriously. There are mistakes within it, and therefore it can’t be fully trusted.” Maybe you’ve heard people say stuff like that; I certainly have.
Well, at some point I realized that if either Mark or John had mentioned that the woman had anointed Jesus’ head and feet, no one would call it a contradiction. However, as I said earlier, not all Bible stories have a Genesis 42:23. And the lack of explanatory details don’t make a story any less true.
CONCLUSION
One conclusion I have come to in all of this is that I need to be careful with skepticism toward Bible accounts. While it’s fine to think through things logically, it’s also important to notice that the people who were chronicling the stories God wanted us to have… well, they didn’t always believe they needed to include every detail that would make the story feel more realistic to us. They believed these accounts were true, and so they passed them on, but they often didn’t try to prove their stories were true by giving modern-day readers everything they’d want to know. Sometimes, we have to use our imaginations to fill in some gaps when we are reading a story that is missing a Genesis 42:23.
I hope realizing this is as helpful to you as it was to me.
However, if you are the reader, you have to change what you’d been imagining up until verse 23. Perhaps Joseph wasn’t inches away from his brothers looking right at their faces. And he certainly wasn’t speaking Hebrew. Joseph may have been at the other end of a large room, five or ten yards away, sending an interpreter back and forth to talk with them in order to conceal his identity.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Well, maybe some background would be helpful here.
There were a couple periods of time in my life where I struggled with “doubt attacks” and many of those attacks showed up while I was reading my Bible. When I came across stories that seems to contradict other Bible stories, or seemed to have incorrect details in them, it bothered me. How could I trust God’s word when there are times when it doesn’t seem accurate?
So, this was a significant moment for me. In this story, all it took was one little detail to be added and suddenly the whole story seems much easier to believe. But here’s the thing I realized: the story was just as true before verse 23. In fact, if the narrator had left verse 23 out, that wouldn’t change the fact that this story actually happened. The story is true both before and after I find it to be believable.
DOES THIS PRINCIPLE APPLY TO OTHER PARTS OF THE BIBLE?
I believe it does. And that’s why this was an important realization for me. I have come to figure out that not every story in the Bible has a verse 23. Sometimes, there are things in the Bible that are difficult to imagine or hard to believe because they are missing a small detail that would make them easier to picture. But, just because some Bible stories are missing explanatory comments (like Genesis 42:23) doesn’t mean they aren’t true.
AN EXAMPLE
It probably bothers some people that Mark 14:3 says that a woman in Bethany poured expensive perfume onto Jesus’ head and that John 12:3 says the woman in Bethany poured expensive perfume onto Jesus’ feet. Both accounts are obviously retelling the same story. But they say two different things.
Many people point out things like this and say, “The Bible contradicts itself. We don’t know if this woman anointed Jesus’ head or his feet because the stories say two different things. In fact, maybe this woman and her story are completely made up. And that is why you can’t take the Bible too literally or seriously. There are mistakes within it, and therefore it can’t be fully trusted.” Maybe you’ve heard people say stuff like that; I certainly have.
Well, at some point I realized that if either Mark or John had mentioned that the woman had anointed Jesus’ head and feet, no one would call it a contradiction. However, as I said earlier, not all Bible stories have a Genesis 42:23. And the lack of explanatory details don’t make a story any less true.
CONCLUSION
One conclusion I have come to in all of this is that I need to be careful with skepticism toward Bible accounts. While it’s fine to think through things logically, it’s also important to notice that the people who were chronicling the stories God wanted us to have… well, they didn’t always believe they needed to include every detail that would make the story feel more realistic to us. They believed these accounts were true, and so they passed them on, but they often didn’t try to prove their stories were true by giving modern-day readers everything they’d want to know. Sometimes, we have to use our imaginations to fill in some gaps when we are reading a story that is missing a Genesis 42:23.
I hope realizing this is as helpful to you as it was to me.
