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| From www.thebricktestament.com |
As a novella, it is a real beauty, with (in my opinion) some strong stylistic linkages to Egyptian stories such as Sinuhe (much earlier - Middle Kingdom). It is clearly written in a novel-like form; my feeling is that this was an original Egyptian story that has been adapted for a Hebrew readership. Perhaps "Joseph" was originally a country boy from the North-Western delta, or he could indeed have been an Asiatic from the North-East. Little literary motifs in the story scream "Egypt!", and part of me wonders if somewhere in the desert there may be a jar with a hieratic document containing the original story. Maybe if we found that, we would know who the Pharaoh was (annoyingly, the bible mentions very few Pharaohs by name, making it difficult to contextualise some of the stories).
Any of you have any favourite stories? Incidentally, this is one story where I think an atheist can get just as much enjoyment as a theist. See? We don't *lose* anything - we *gain*! :-)
I hadn't thought about that for a long time. I always liked the stories of Jacob, because he was stubborn in wrestling with God, symbolically that is a nice message from the bible. Though it can get weird if you take it too far.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that popped into my mind is Genesis 1 though. Even Answers in Genesis with their sicko literalism can't take the poetry and majesty from the verses.
The Joseph story is one of my favourites for sure. God doesn't seem to interfere too much in the narrative, which makes the Joseph character stand out a little apart from other patriarchs and leading men.
ReplyDeleteAll of Genesis is genius. The authors and editors were masters of irony and balance.
This might be a little hokey, but a small set of the Jesus parables still stand out for me. Like the Good Samaritan story. It's a clear and deep statement on the surface level or on deeper, historical levels.
Mind you, my introduction to many bible stories was through Arch Books, and so even today I still see many of the stories in a stylized-comic-book sort of way.
http://tinyurl.com/samaritanpic
Yep, I think the Joseph story just *works* as fiction. As do several other stories, such as Esther.
ReplyDeleteIf Andrew wanted to consider an approach about as different from comic-book as it is possible to be he might consider Thomas Mann's magnificent (and monumental) "Joseph and his Brothers". It is probably my favourite novel and certainly reading it helped me understand myself more than any other book (of whatever kind) I have ever read.
ReplyDeleteThe narrative is immensely powerful and it is just one example of the great resource the Bible is in any quest to find out useful things about what it is to be human - being or system...
Hi Parrhaisos, thanks for the recommendation. It's a book I have been meaning to read for a long time, but (like so many) never got round to it. English translation, or do you recommend the original Deutsch?
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