Who Was Joseph in the Bible? (Old Testament)

Understanding Genesis 50:20

Joseph's story, spanning Genesis 37-50, is the longest continuous narrative about a single individual in the book of Genesis. It is also one of the most artfully constructed stories in all of ancient literature — a tale of betrayal, slavery, false accusation, imprisonment, divine gifting, dramatic reversal, and ultimately, forgiveness. At its theological core, Joseph's life demonstrates one principle: God is sovereign over human evil and can transform it into redemptive good.

The favored son

Joseph was the eleventh of Jacob's twelve sons and the firstborn of Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife. Jacob's favoritism toward Joseph was open and provocative: he gave Joseph a 'richly ornamented robe' (Genesis 37:3) — the famous 'coat of many colors.' Joseph compounded the problem by sharing two dreams in which his family bowed down to him (37:5-11). The result: 'his brothers were jealous of him' (37:11).

Sold into slavery

When the brothers find Joseph alone in the fields, they conspire to kill him. Reuben intervenes, and Judah suggests selling Joseph to Ishmaelite traders for twenty pieces of silver (37:26-28). They dip his robe in goat's blood and present it to Jacob, who concludes his son is dead. Joseph is seventeen years old and has lost everything.

In Potiphar's house

In Egypt, Joseph rises to manage Potiphar's household. When Potiphar's wife attempts to seduce him, Joseph refuses: 'How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?' (39:9). She falsely accuses him, and Joseph is thrown into prison — punished for doing the right thing.

Rise to power

In prison, Joseph interprets dreams. When Pharaoh has troubling dreams no one can explain, Joseph interprets them: seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh appoints Joseph as vizier — second-in-command of all Egypt (41:40-44). Joseph is thirty. Thirteen years have passed since his brothers sold him.

The brothers' return

The famine strikes, and Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to buy grain. They appear before Joseph, who recognizes them — but they do not recognize him. Joseph tests them through a series of ordeals (Genesis 42-44). The decisive moment comes when Judah — the brother who suggested selling Joseph — offers himself as a slave to protect Benjamin (44:33). The brother who sold one of Rachel's sons into slavery is now willing to become a slave to save Rachel's other son.

The reveal

Joseph reveals his identity: 'I am Joseph!' (45:3). His interpretation of his own suffering is theology, not bitterness: 'It was not you who sent me here, but God' (45:8). Joseph fully acknowledges that his brothers acted with evil intent. But he sees a deeper causality: God was working through their evil.

Genesis 50:20 — The theological center

'You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.' This verse is the Old Testament's most explicit statement of divine providence. The same event — the selling of Joseph — had two intentions operating simultaneously: the brothers' malicious intention and God's redemptive intention. Both were real. God's was ultimate.

This principle — God working through suffering, not despite it — reaches its fullest expression in the cross of Christ, where human evil became the instrument of human salvation.

Joseph as a type of Christ

Christian interpreters see Joseph as a foreshadowing of Christ: beloved of his father, rejected by his own, falsely accused, exalted to power, and ultimately saving the very people who rejected him. These parallels illuminate Christ without replacing Him.

Joseph's life demonstrates that faithfulness does not guarantee comfort, that suffering is not evidence of God's absence, and that the longest, darkest chapters of our story may be the ones God is using most powerfully.