Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Religion Profile of Joseph Profile of Joseph Joseph, son of Jacob, was surely destined for great things. Though his life consisted of many hardships, and ups and downs, he always got past them and lived a good life in the vision of God. His dreams took him very far, as he ended up with all of Egypt looking to him for help. Though he was a dreamer, he was also a very wise person, and this is what led him to great things. The first character trait that I see in Joseph is that he’s very compassionate and emotional. There are several instances where he weeps for his family, and he cannot hold in his emotions. One such example is when he first sees Benjamin. He is reunited with his full brother after many years and is overcome by such emotion that he must rush out so no one can see his tears. Another example is when Jacob dies. Joseph weeps all over Jacob and kisses him. These two examples show how much Joseph valued his family despite all the hardships he had to bear. Joseph was not concerned with getting revenge on his brothers, but rather he wanted to make up for lost time and be with them once again. The story of Joseph shows us that he’s a dreamer. The first dream of Joseph’s we see is where he dreams of his brother’s sheaves all bowing down to him. This is a foreshadowing of when Joseph is in power in Egypt and his brother’s come to him begging for food. The next dream Joseph had, “this time, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me”(Gen 37: 9), and this takes it even farther to foreshadow because later on, once Joseph is reunited with all eleven brothers, and Jacob Pharaoh says, “now that your father and brothers have come to you, the land of Egypt is at your disposal…” (Gen 47:5). The eleven stars symbolize his brothers, and the sun and moon symbolize Jacob. Dreams become a bit of a theme, and we see more of them when Joseph is thrown in jail. Since God is always with Joseph, he is able to interpret dreams, and do so for two others in jail with him. When doing so, Joseph asks them to think of him when the dreams do come true and help him to be brought out of jail since he does not justly belong there. Once the one man is set free, he does not end up remembering poor Joseph, but Joseph does not lose faith or hope because he knows the Lord is always with him. Then two years later, the Pharaoh hears about this “dreamer”, and asks Joseph to help interpret his dreams. Again Joseph does so, and this shows the Pharaoh that there is no other that could be blessed by God and so wise, so Pharaoh removes Joseph from jail and makes him his right-hand man. Another character trend that is also quite prominent in Joseph is his deep love for his family. Even in the beginning when his brothers would not even acknowledge his presence he cared for them deeply. In Genesis 37:17-18, he is sent out to find his brothers and does not stop searching until he indeed does find them. I don’t believe his brothers at that point in time would do the same for him. Joseph was also a very an honest man. Potiphar’s wife began courting him but he resisted saying “as long as I am here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, but has entrusted to me all he owns. He wields no more authority in this house than I do, and he has withheld from me nothing but yourself, since you are his wife. How, then, could I commit so great a wrong and thus stand condemned before God?” (Gen 39: 8). This passage illustrates many things. First of all it shows the keen level of respect he holds for Potiphar since it is his house that he is staying in. He realizes how much good Potiphar has done for him and does not wish to do anything to show disrespect for him, especially in Potiphar’s house. It also shows how much he respects God. He realizes that God is always with him and trusts him, which is why he cannot conceive doing something to anger God. Lastly, it shows the respect Joseph has for himself. I think he knows that he’s very lucky to be serving for Potiphar and he does not want to ruin a good thing, just for a moment of lust. This shows how wise Joseph is, and how much self-discipline he has. This episode with Potiphar’s wife shows the patient, and tolerant side of Joseph. I’m sure it wasn’t completely easy to resist Potiphar’s wife, and as Zornberg says, “…Joseph’s rejection of Potiphar’s wife can be considered a type of heroism.”(327) Also, he resists her, and he winds up in jail anyway. Joseph never lost hope though, and he patiently waited for his day to come, and it did. This is also another example of how the Lord is always with Joseph. Even when things couldn’t seem to look up, they actually do, and Joseph is brought out of jail, to work with Pharaoh. Once Joseph is brought to oversee Egypt during the famine he is a very fair ruler. When the people become slaves because they have nothing left, Joseph allows them to keep four fifths of their seed for their own families, and they only have to give one fifth of it up to the Pharaoh. Also, he shows much wisdom as he led Egypt through the famine, which was a great task in itself; so great a task that Pharaoh himself did not want to take it on. Another way that he is a great ruler is because he fulfills his promises. An example of this is when he promised Jacob that he would have him buried in the tomb that he prepared for himself in Canaan, which he holds true to. As like some other characters we read about in the Bible, it seems Joseph also has the Midas touch; everything he touches turns to gold. This is shown many times. For example, his brothers go to sell him as a slave, and he ends up working for Potiphar. Then he is thrown in prison, but even their God blesses him and uses him for a greater purpose. He interprets the dreams and ends up working for the Pharaoh, where in turn he is brought to his family; or rather his family is brought to him. Whenever things just seem like they can’t look up for Joseph, they do and once again we are reminded of God’s image in Joseph. I think the story of Joseph is a story of faith and tremendous forgiveness. Joseph's brothers do a horrible thing to him, but at the end, when they are afraid, he says: "Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve this present end, the survival of many people. Therefore have no fear. I will provide for you and for your children" (Gen 50:19-21). Joseph is able to forgive them and let go of the past. He realizes that everything that happened was because of God and he had such extreme faith in God that he never questioned it. Joseph's dedication to doing God's will made it possible for him to forgive his brothers. He had faith that God would lead him to where he needed to be and that is exactly what happened. In the end Joseph was brought together with his family and seated right under Pharaoh. In the end everything worked out and I believe this is because Joseph never lost faith in God. In the scheme of everything and how this fits into the Bible I think this can give us hope. There are always going to be some point when times get rough, but if we look to Joseph and remember that things have a way of working themselves out in the God’s light, then it can provide us with some comfort. It’s encouraging for those times when we just can’t make sense out of our lives. I think it shows us a little bit about human nature, since indeed this is a story about humans. It shows how one man can have many ups and downs in his life, but get past that by having faith in God. Bibliography: McKenzie, John L., S.J., “The Dictionary of the Bible.” Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1965 Senior, Donald, et al, eds. “The Catholic Study Bible.” New York: Oxford University Press, 1990 Zornberg, Avivah. “Genesis: The Beginning of Desire.” Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1995 Word Count: 1425
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