pastord writes "Joseph’s brothers do bow down before him. They enter his presence as supplicants asking the head og Egypt for grain. Though Joseph instantly recognizes them, they do not know him and he takes pains to keep it that way. Joseph is greeted with the sight of all the brothers who betrayed him and is missing the one brother who is fully his kin and not a part of the decision to sell him as a slave. I don’t know whether his throwing the brothers into prison and then sending them away to fetch Benjamin was a well thought out scheme to be sure the brothers had changed and were treating Benjamin properly, or it was a burst of anger wishing to punish them for all his misery by throwing them in prison and scaring them. I’m not entirely certain Joseph knew. In the end it is a brilliant way to truly find out if his brothers have changed in the years since their betrayal. I am pretty certain Joseph enjoyed throwing them into the prison he had inhabited for all those years after Potiphar had him arrested. But Joseph does not get revenge. He saves his family from the famine and sets up the situation by which he will be able to see Benjamin and decide whter to reconcile with his family or support them with grain from afar. May we be as wise when the ones we hurt now need something from us.
Without Wax,
"
