6 February Daily Question

Why does Joseph plant the silver cup? What is the ultimate aim of such a move? How does this relate to his status as the beloved son? Appeal explicitly to the story as a whole (i.e. Gen 37-50) and to article from Anderson in your answer?

The reason Joseph plants the cup is to test his brothers to see if their actions would again mimic their previous actions with him. Previously they had thrown him into the pit and then sold him into slavery because of their jealously and envy(for he was the favored son of Jacob), and Joseph wished to know if this envy was still present. He knew that Benjamin was the favored son of their father, so he put the cup in his sack to see if the other sons would give him up in order to save themselves, and thus gage how they would react to the revelation of his identity. When he sees that Judah pleads for the life of Benjamin, he now knows that the envy has left his brothers hearts and he is finally able to reveal himself. Joseph’s status as beloved son relates to the whole cycle of suffering and rebirth that is associated with the patriarchs of the Bible. The suffering that he endures is obvious, at first he is the favored son of his father and enjoys all his blessings likewise, and then he is sold into slavery and constantly deals with hardships not brought by his own ill deeds(him being thrown into jail and the butler not remembering his promise until 2 years later). However, through all his suffering he is reborn in the way that now he is older, wiser, and an almost governor-like figure of Egypt. Through the suffering he endures, very similar to that of Christ, his brothers(and all of the Middle East) is saved by him and his management of the grains of Egypt.