Plot Summary

The story begins in Egypt, in the marketplace of Avaris where Joseph is sold as a slave to Potiphar, the Pharaoh's Chief Steward. Joseph, the favored son of the patriarch Jacob, was given into captivity by his own envious brothers. A tireless and highly productive worker, Joseph wins his master's trust and is named steward of Potiphar's household. However, Joseph also unwittingly arouses the lust of Potiphar's wife. Luring him into her room one day, she orders Joseph to give her pleasure. But Joseph prefers punishment, even death, to betraying his master. As he flees from the room, the desperate woman tears off Joseph's garment and brandishes it as proof of her violation. As Potiphar questions him, Joseph begins to narrate the story of his past, a tale of suffering and hardship. We flash back to the time when Jacob and his family settled near the town of Schechem. It is a brief and unhappy stay, for when Jacob's daughter Dinah is ravished by the young prince of Schechem, Jacob's sons decide to exact revenge with a bloodbath - despite an agreement reached between Jacob and the Schechemites. As Jacob and his family flee, Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife, dies while giving birth to Benjamin. A few years elapse, and Jacob's older sons become increasingly resentful of their father's preference for Joseph. When Joseph turns seventeen, his father has a wonderful colored coat made for him, which further excites the jealousy of the brothers. When Joseph is sent to a distant pasture one day to look after his brothers, they seize him, tear off his coat, throw him into a dry well and, the following day, sell him as a slave to traders on their way to Egypt. This is how he enters the service of Potiphar. Despite his doubts about his wife's version of the "rape", Potiphar has Joseph jailed to vindicate his wife publicly. In prison, Joseph is assigned to attend two high court officials who are suspected of having stolen a bracelet from the Pharaoh. Tormented by dreams, the men ask Joseph for help. Joseph tells the cup-bearer that he will be reinstated, and the chief-baker that he will hang. Two years later, the cup-bearer remembers Joseph when the Pharaoh is unable to obtain from his priests a rational interpretation of two anguishing dreams. Joseph is summoned and predicts that after seven years of plentiful harvest, Egypt will suffer seven years of famine. Convinced, the Pharaoh appoints Joseph as his chancellor and gives him a beautiful Egyptian woman as his wife. Joseph immediately begins to put aside a fifth of the country's harvest. After seven years a murderous famine strikes, driving people from nations near and far to come to Egypt to buy grain. Among the famished, Joseph recognizes his brothers. Testing them to see if they have changed, Joseph is satisfied and reveals his identity. Finally reunited with his beloved brother Benjamin and his father Jacob, Joseph reconciles with his family, and the Pharaoh invites them to settle in Egypt as overseers of his livestock.—Anonymous