Portion VA-YESHEV (37 - 40)
CHAPTER 37

1. And Yaaqov settled [yeshev] in the land of his father's sojournings--the land of Kanaan.

Sojournings: Though Yitzhaq never left the Land, and it was promised to him, he lived there as a stranger, because it was still Kanaan's. Not until the inhabitants were dispossessed could it be Israel's Land. Many live there; few possess it. Our forefathers saw it as trivial, and did not guard it from idolatry. They gave its increase to YHWH's rivals. (Hoshea 7) The price is higher now, but it must no longer be the land of merchants, but the Holy Land again.

2. These are the chronicles of Yaaqov:

When Yoseyf was 17 years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers. He grew up with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives, but Yoseyf brought their father an evil report about them.

In Rachel's absence, he was raised by Yaaqov's other wives. Leah is no longer in the picture, yet notice that the sons of the bondwoman (cf. Gal. ) are still thought of as separate from hers. See how similarities you can find between the life of Yoseyf and that of Y'shua.

3. Now Israel loved Yoseyf more than all [the rest of] his sons, because he was a son of his old age, and he made him a robe reaching to his feet.

The rest of his sons: compare Psalm 45:7; Zech. 12:10. "Son of his old age": the one chosen by an aged father to look after him constantly. Robe reaching to his feet: translated variously as "fine woolen tunic", "striped robe",
"embroidered cloak", or "long-sleeved, reaching to his feet". (Compare Y'shua's garment in Rev. 1:13.) There is a similar word still used in present-day Arabic that literally means "dream-coat". If this is the intended meaning, Yaaqov gave it to Yoseyf in recognition that he was the one among all his sons who had the prophetic gifts.

4. And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, so they hated him, and were not able to speak peaceably to him.

It was the coat that made them recognize that he was their father's favorite. It designated him for leadership, foreshadowing Y'shua's "seamless garment, woven in one piece" (Yoch./John 19:23; Ps. 22:18), which represents the fact that He had no flaws in His righteousness. At his immersion, Y'shua was given a "garment" that his brothers did not have (compare Psalm 45:7)--the Holy Spirit (see Yochanan/John 7:39), and after this, His elders began trying to discredit Him.

5. One night Yoseyf had a dream, and he related it to his brothers, but it only made them hate him even more:

One treated as a favorite is often unconsciously presumptuous. Yet in a pastoral society, dreams were something non-mundane, and were often shared as a means of entertainment. But their meanings were taken seriously, and Yoseyf's seemed more significant than usual. Y'shua also gave a bad report about his brothers (provoking his fellow Jews to jealousy). The native American cultures, for which more and more evidence is turning up that they are descended from Yoseyf, have preserved the emphasis on the importance of dreams.

6. He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have dreamed!

7. "Here we were out in the middle of the field binding up sheaves, when, lo and behold! My sheaf began to rise, and stood all the way up! And then, behold! Your sheaves came around and bowed down to my sheaf!"

Josephus says this dream itself took place at harvest-time, when the crops are mature, and indeed Yoseyf's time of testing had come. Although the use of the word "youth " in verse 2, coupled with his "tattling" on his brothers, suggests immaturity, though it was probably the best things he could do because of THEIR immature behavior. (Prov. 26:5) The parable of the wheat and the tares also speaks of a separation between different kinds of people taking place at the Shavuoth harvest. Note that it was not him, but his sheaf--those he gathered--to which the others' sheaves bowed. Sheaves actually means "bound together". Psalm 126, which says that those returning, rejoicing, with their sheaves, were like dreamers, is thus identified as referring to the return of Yoseyf's bound-together descendants. Others, who bind people together as well, are very likely to express the same kind of jealousy.

8. But his brothers said to him, "Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed rule over us?" And they resented him still more for his dreams and for his words.

Resented him more: compare the question whether Y'shua would reign as a king in Yoch. 19:15. Dreams: Only one is recorded thus far, but he must have had others, or perhaps they thought it was his own fantastic invention.

9. Still, he had yet another dream, and he related it to his brothers. He said, "I have dreamed another dream, and behold! The sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing themselves to me."

Though he knew it would anger them, a prophet must reveal what he receives, whatever the outcome. He was not one of the stars here, but in Revelation chapter 12, he apparently is, for there there are twelve.

10. He also related it to his father, but his father rebuked him, saying to him, "What kind of dream is this one that you have dreamed? Shall we indeed come and bow ourselves to the earth before you--I, your mother, and your
brothers?"

Yoseyf never suggested an interpretation; Yaaqov, having the prophetic gift himself, knew immediately what it meant, even though it displeased him. He may have been warning Yoseyf not to tell his brother all he knew, since he knew how they would treat him. This also is a warning not to bow to a star. One of the false claimants to messiahship (heralded as such by the one responsible for making Rabbinic Judaism what it is today) was nicknamed Bar Kochba, "son of the star". He is not the one to bow to. Bowing all the way to the ground was the style later used in the Temple. It is a picture of the day when "every knee in heaven and earth shall bow" to Y'shua. (Philipp. 2:10) To the earth: or, in the Land. His mother was dead by this time, and the time they did bow to him was not in the Land of Israel, so clearly part of the prophecy must have a later fulfillment, relating to Yoseyf's descendants. Hereafter, when we see the sun and moon mentioned, they may relate to Yaaqov and Rachel.

11. His brothers also were jealous of him, but his father kept what he said in mind.

Kept in mind: observed, paid attention to, and safeguarded the matter. He knew there was something to it.

12. Now his brothers went out to pasture their father's flock in Sh'khem.

Sh'khem: in a mountainous area about 50 miles north of Hevron; modern-day Nablus; Josephus says it was particularly rich pasture-land. Perhaps the flocks they had plundered from those in this town whom they had killed were simply left there, alternately under the family's care and under the care of the city's children who survived.

13. Then Israel said to Yoseyf, "Aren't your brothers pasturing the flock in Sh'khem? Come, then, I will send you to them." So he said, "Here I am."

The name Sh'khem relates to shouldering a burden. This fits well with caring for our Father's flocks. Yaaqov may have feared for their safety because of the events in chapter 34. Here I am: ready to do your bidding. Y'shua also went willingly to do His unpleasant task (Psalm 40:7-8), since it pleased His Father. (Yeshayahu 53:10)

14. So he told him, "Please go and look into your brothers' welfare, and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me." Now he sent him forth from the depth of Hevron, and he arrived at Sh'khem.

Look into: evaluate and care for. "Depth"? Hevron is the city with the highest elevation in Israel! The "depth" may refer to "Avraham's bosom"--the tombs of the patriarchs (Makhpelah). If so, Yoseyf was sent on a mission from the grave of the very one who prophesied the enslavement that would result (ch. 15). Y'shua also had these two missions: check on your brothers and check on the flocks. He also had to judge the shepherds. He was heartbroken over the condition of Y'hudah. In Yochanan 10 Y'shua declares that all who came before Him were thieves or merely in it for the money.) Sh'khem was also the first town among the non-Jews where He began to look for His Father's lost sheep. (Yochanan 4)

15. But a man discovered him, because here he was wandering around the field! So the man asked him, "What are you looking for?"

Wandering around: going back and forth looking for them. Could this be the same "man" who wrestled his father and met his great-grandfather at the entrance to his tent? Interestingly, the first thing Y'shua did after being given his special "garment" was to wrestle with the adversary--perhaps an actual spiritual being outside of himself, and perhaps also the evil inclination to which the first Adam gave in. But Y'shua came out of it still valuing the recovering of his lost brothers more highly than his own safety and welfare.

16. He replied, "I am looking for my brothers! Can you tell me where they are pasturing the sheep?"

17. So the man said, "I'm sure they have left here, because I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Yoseyf went after his brothers, and he found them at Dothan.

Dothan: 12 miles north of Sh'khem. Later the home of the prophet Elisha, its name means "two wells", from the Aramaic dual, Dothayin. They represent Rabbinic Judaism and the Church. This is where we will find our brothers today, but neither is where the flocks belong.

18. But they saw him coming from a distance, and before he approached them, they conspired against him, to kill him.

19. Each of them said to his brother, "Here comes this 'master' of those dreams!

20. "So, come on, let's kill him now and throw him into one of these pits, and say a wild beast has devoured him! Then we'll see what will become of his dreams!"

These pits: the two wells there (v. 17). Both had dried up.

21. But Reuven heard them, and rescued him from their hands, saying, "Let's not strike him with a mortal blow."

Their hands: i.e., their plot. Reuven, the eldest, had a certain respect from his brothers.

22. Reuven told them further, "Do not shed blood. Throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him." (He said this because he intended to later deliver him from their hands and return him to his father.)

In the wilderness: where no one would hear his cries. Perhaps, knowing he had displeased his father already by what he did with his concubine, Reuven wished to get back into his good graces, or at least avoid getting in even deeper disfavor. In any case, he decided to act according to his role as older brother.

23. So when Yoseyf reached his brothers, they stripped him of his long coat--the embroidered one that reached to his feet--

They feared his dreams and visions, so the first thing they wanted to do was take away his authority to prophesy.

24. and they picked him up and threw him into the pit (since it was an empty one, having no water in it).

Y'shua was "hidden" in the well without water, a Torahless environment, the Church. It is one of the "broken cisterns" of Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 2:13. The Aramaic targum adds that there were snakes and scorpions in it--thus also a picture of Y'shua's descent into the lower parts of the earth and being harassed by demons (Psalm 22). Before leaving the Land, Efrayim also descended into "doctrines of demons".

25. Then they sat down to eat bread. Then they looked up and noticed a caravan of Yishmaelites coming from Gil'ad. Their camels were carrying spices, balsam resin, and myrrh, on the way to take them to Egypt.

Those who made the decision to execute Y'shua also immediately ate the Passover meal in peace, oblivious to His suffering. Yishmaelites: Arabs. Gil'ad: across the Yarden River east of Dothan, on the same trade route. Balsam resin: the famed "balm of Gil'ad".

26. So Yehudah said to his brothers, "What profit is there for us to kill our brother and conceal his blood?

Yehudah's mind was on profit. Yet it was one of his descendants, Y'shua, who saw value in rescuing the lost sheep of Yoseyf's apostate descendants from destruction, finding in them a potential usefulness to the rest of Israel--like the parable he told in which a tree was spared from destruction and given a second chance because someone saw that giving it better nourishment might restore it to fruitfulness. (Luke 13)

27. "Come on, let's sell him to the Yishmaelites, but don't let our own hand be upon him--because he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh!" And his brothers accepted [this alternative plan].

Let our hand be upon him: as responsible for his murder.

28. Just then [some] men--Midyanite traders--came by. They pulled Yoseyf up, and got him out of the pit, and they sold Yoseyf to the Yishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they took Yoseyf to Egypt.

Men: it is noteworthy that this word is added, rather than just saying "Midyanites". "Men" in the text prior to this has often signified messengers of YHWH. Though these men seemed to be evil, this was YHWH's plan, for benefit would come from it in a roundabout way. This had to happen, because the sign that would make Avram certain that YHWH had given him the Land was that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land. It was Yehudah's idea, as he was already showing himself to be the leader who would father the tribe from which the kings would come. Y'shua was also sold for silver (which represents blood) by one of his brothers--a man named Yehudah--then turned over to the Gentiles. Midyanite: sometimes an idiom for caravan traders, as "Kanaanite" is also used as "merchant". The first "they" here is ambiguous, not specifying if it is the Midyanites or the brothers. Midyanites were descendants of Avraham's later wife Keturah, and Moshe would marry one of them. But Yishmaelites were also absorbed by the tribes into which they married, becoming hard to distinguish from them. (Note the converse identification of the two in Judges 7:1ff and 8:22-24.) They may have been the same as the Yishmaelites, or they may have come along while the brothers were still debating what to do. If so, they could represent people from other nations who found Y'shua useful while His brothers were still uncertain about what to do with Him.

29. When Reuven came back to the pit, lo and behold, Yoseyf wasn't there! So he tore his garment.

Tore his garment: an expression of extreme emotion and despair.

30. Then he returned to his brothers and said, "The young lad is not [here]! So as for me, where will I go?"

Is not: could also mean "is dead". As the eldest, the responsibility for Yoseyf, when with his brothers, fell on him. He would not be able to answer for this, so they had to devise a plan to conceal their irresponsibility.

31. So they took Yoseyf's long cloak, killed a male goat, and dipped the cloak in the blood.

An alibi that would not implicate any of them; they chose a goat because its blood resembles human blood. This suggests both the casting of lots for the dying Y'shua's garment, as well as the two goats at Yom Kippur. Yoseyf's "covering" was connected with the blood of the goat earmarked "for YHWH", the one that atoned. The "other goat" shows up in 38:17.

32. Then they dispatched some messengers with the long coat reaching to the feet, and they brought it to their father, saying, "We found this. Please examine it carefully: is it your son's long coat?"

33. He recognized it, and said, "It is my son's long coat! A wild beast has eaten him! Yoseyf has been torn to pieces for sure!"

The root word for the term used to describe his coat here is "to disappear", and this is indeed what happened to him and to his descendants again after him. They were "torn to pieces" in that they were scattered all over the world. But this scattering was also a "sowing" (see Hoshea 1). A wild beast: literally, an evil living thing, for they were lost to the Babylonian system, in which "making a living" is paramount.

34. And Yaaqov tore his clothing and tied sackcloth around his loins, and mourned many days for his son.

Sackcloth: an uncomfortable material like burlap. Around his loins: as a reminder of his lost offspring. He put off his other garments as a symbol of his glory departing. The curtain leading into the Holy Place of the Temple
was nicknamed "YHWH's garment", and when Y'shua, His firstborn, died, the veil was torn as an expression of His mourning.

35. And all his sons and daughters rose up to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted, saying, "I will go down into She'ol still mourning for my son." And his father bewailed him.

Daughters: either daughters-in-law or perhaps those adopted from Sh'khem. Rose up: did their best. She'ol: the underworld; here an idiom for the grave or the inability to ever return to normalcy. He must have questioned his own prophethood in recognizing Yoseyf as the next prophet of the family, wondering if his eyes were grown dim like his father's had become.

36. Meanwhile the Medanites sold him into slavery in Egypt--to one Potifar, an official in the Pharaoh's court, [specifically] the chief of the executioners.

Medanites: Apparently he was passed off in several trade deals along the way, or this is another way of writing Midyanites. The Aramaic targum adds, "on that day the exile in Egypt began", resolving the chronological ambiguity found in 15:13. Chief of the executioners: or, head of the butchers.



CHAPTER 38

1. Now it happened at that time that Yehudah went down, away from his brothers, and turned aside to a man of Adullam named Chirah.

Turned aside to: found lodging with. Adullam: 10 miles northwest of Hevron (1 Chron. 11:15). The name means "justice of the people", reminding us of the time of the judges when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. At that time: after the many days of Yaaqov's mourning. A few decades after the Messiah was given over to the nations, the tribe of Yehudah "descended"--also an idiom for leaving the Land of Israel. After A.D. 135, when the Jewish believers were rejected by their brothers for not joining a false messiah in battle, the rest of Yehudah was expelled from the Land and anyone seen in Yerushalayim except in mourning only one day a year, was put to death immediately. This may have been a punishment for their not having allowed Gentiles into the Temple as had been done in Shlomo's first Temple.

2. There Yehudah also saw a daughter of a Kanaanite man [or a prominent merchant] named Shua, and he took her as a wife, and went into her.

Shua means wealth and opulence, reminding us of the majority of Yehudah now living in a land of wealth and democracy, where the people rule. This tribe has often had an obsession for profit (as seen in 37:26). They survived for many centuries by being moneylenders in the nations of their dispersion. But later their great holdings were what kept them in Europe early in World War II when the doors were still open for them to escape the Nazis.

3. And she conceived, and gave birth to a son, and named him Er.

Er means "One who calls, arouses, exposes, or awakens". This was the result of Yehudah's connection with wealth: he was awakened, but also exposed. There is no indication that his wife ever became an Israelite, and his son proved to be pagan.

4. Then she conceived again and bore a son, and named him Onan ["vigorous"].

5. And still she continued to conceive and bore another son, and him she named Shelah, and he was at Kh'ziv when she gave birth to him.

Shelah means prosperous or at ease--another result of wealth.

6. Then Yehudah took a wife for his firstborn, Er; her name was Thamar.

Thamar means "a date-palm tree"--one of the most beautiful sights in a parched land.

7. But Er, Yehudah's firstborn, was evil in the eyes of YHWH, so YHWH let him die.

Evil in the eyes: Anything that gets in one's eye, no matter how small, consumes all our attention. YHWH had His eye on the firstborn of the son of the ancestor of the Messiah in a special way. He was held to a higher standard. Let him die: refused to continue sustaining him with breath any longer, and if YHWH withdraws that from a person, nothing he does can keep him alive.

8. Then Yehudah told Onan, "Go into your brother's wife and marry her, and raise up descendants for your brother."

Marry: here, a special term denoting marriage by a brother-in-law to raise up an heir for his deceased brother. This later became mandatory (Deut. 25:5) so that each man would have the dignity of an heir even if he died before he could have children. But the patriarchs were already practicing YHWH's instruction before it was formalized.

9. But Onan knew that the descendants would not be his, so what happened was that whenever he was having relations with his brother's wife, he let his seed go to waste on the ground.

The descendants would not be his: They would be called his brother's, and would take away some of his own children's inheritance. (Ruth 4:6). He had an open door to do what was right, but he thought only of self.

10. And what he did was evil in the sight of YHWH, so He caused him to die also.

11. And Yehudah told Thamar, "Live as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah has grown up" --because he said to himself, "What if he also dies like his brothers?" So Thamar went back and lived in her father's household.

Grown up: When he could exercise his own right to not marry her, leaving her free to marry outside the family (Deut. 25:9). Dies like his brothers: he probably thought she carried a curse.

12. After many years had passed, Yehudah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Yehudah was comforted, he went up with his friend Chirah of Adullam to supervise the sheepshearers.

Afraid to marry his youngest son off for fear of losing him too, Yehudah became without a lineage and fruitless. Likewise, having been punished over and over for straying into pagan religions, they have forsaken idolatry, but are also hesitant to embrace Y'shua as Messiah, perceiving him as foreign paganism also due to the admixture that has come about in the church largely since Constantine, and thus has lacked a king as well.

13. And Thamar was told, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his flocks."

14. So she took off her widow's garb, and covered herself with a veil, thus disguising her identity, and she sat down at the entrance to Eynayim, which is on the road to Timnah, for she saw that though Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

At the entrance to Eynayim: at the crossroads of the two springs, or perhaps, openly at the crossroads. Timnah means "portion".

15. When Yehudah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, since she had veiled her face.

This must have been a common Kanaanite way of identifying prostitutes. Why would a prostitute veil her face? Perhaps out of a stronger sense of shame than those of today who look at it only as a job, but perhaps so the man would not have to look her in the eye.

16. And he turned aside to her on the roadway, and said, "Come, please, let me consort with you." --for he did not realize that she was his daughter-in-law. But she said, "What will you give me, since you want to come
into me?"

17. So he said, "I will send a kid from among the goats in my flock." But she said, "What will you give me as a pledge until you actually send it?"

We saw on of the two goats from Yom Kippur in 37:31. Here is the other goat--the "scapegoat"--which, by law, it was only necessary to "send" into the wilderness, but in actual practice was thrown off a cliff to ensure its death, a symbol of the eradication of sin. It is amazing that today Yehudah, for the most part, in order to justify his rejection of Y'shua, denies the need for a blood sacrifice for atonement to be made, yet in ancient times Yehudah, whose words were the rule, went beyond what was written to ensure that blood was shed. But his Gentile relative knew the goat's value; everything she did was for the purpose of getting that goat.

18. So he said, "What kind of pledge would you like me to give you?" So she said, "Your signet ring, your belt, and the staff you have in your hand!" So he gave them to her, and had relations with her, and she became pregnant by him.

The pledge tokens were all marks of identity and station in life. His ring signified what he was connected to (in his case, YHWH, in a special way). His belt (or cord) was what bound his garments together. And a rod was a symbol of authority, especially Yehudah's, as the kingly son, but a shepherd's staff also had the events of his life recorded on it. He was willing to pledge all he was, is, or would be just to sleep with this "prostitute". He figured there would be no problem in giving her these, because, after all, he would get them back. But she outsmarted him; what she was asking for was connection, his authority, and his life, i.e., she wanted him to be her husband.

19. Then she got up and left, and took the veil off her face, and put her widow's garb back on.

20. When Yehudah sent the young goat by the hand of his Adullamite friend, in order to receive back the pledge from the woman's hand, he could not find her!

21. So he asked the men of her place, "Where is the prostitute who was by the roadside at Eynayim?" But they said, "There was no prostitute here!"

22. So he returned to Yehudah and said, "I didn't find her! And the men of the place said, 'There's never been a prostitute here'!"

23. So Yehudah said, "Let her keep them for herself, so that we don't become a laughingstock. I really did send this kid, but you couldn't find her."

I.e., "I've done my part. To try any further will only be an embarrassment." He gave up his tokens as lost.

24. But after about three months passed, Yehudah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Thamar has committed adultery, and not only that, she is even pregnant by her whoredom!" So Yehudah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned!"

It appears that men were regarded as less guilty than women for engaging in such an act of incontinence. (Compare Yochanan/John 8:1ff.) Traditionally, Thamar's father was a priest, since only priests' daughters were required to be burned for harlotry (Lev. 21:9), for they were held to a higher standard of exemplary living. Her actual pedigree is never stated, but this only makes her more like Melkhitzedeq, the priest with no recorded ancestry. It would only stand to reason that this ancestress of Y'shua, who was not a Levite, might have a literal connection with the priest after whose order He bases His priesthood. (Psalm 110:4; Heb. 5:6) The word for harlotry just as often refers to idolatry, which is spiritual adultery (having intimacy with anything other than YHWH). But it also means "highly fed and therefore wanton." (Strong's Concordance) The better fed we are, the less we tend to appreciate what we have, and the more likely to grow morally slack. A study showed that the better the economy is, the higher the hemlines go. We tend to look to YHWH only when we are not well fed. But He expects just the opposite. If He feeds us well, He holds us accountable to work harder. This is why Israel, when it profaned itself, was treated all the more harshly. (Hoshea 8)

25. But as she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, "I am pregnant by a man to whom these things belong." And she said, "Identify, please, whose this signet ring, bracelet, and staff are."

All for the promise of having a goat sent, the apparent "harlot" who is actually Yehudah's kinswoman, keeps possession of what belongs to what Yehudah despised, and it is her salvation. Throughout the Scriptures, a "harlot" represents one who has committed spiritual adultery, and that is the accusation Yehudah levels against anyone who follows Y'shua today. But there has always been a faithful remnant in the church who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Though sometimes indistinguishable from the rest on the surface, those whom Yehudah would not allow to be connected to his son are now making him jealous by practicing the Shabbath, by celebrating "his" festivals and seeing in them the meaning really intended, by "keeping" them in a way Yehudah no longer does, and by wearing Tzitziyoth that are more kosher than those Yehudah wears. They say, "To whom do these things belong? Look, I'm not part of the prostitute! These are the things you should have given to me. Why did I have to get them in a roundabout way?

26. When Yehudah looked at them closely, he had to say, "She is more righteous than I, because I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he never had relations with her again.

Reminded of his own question to Yaaqov about whom Yoseyf's coat belonged to, Yehudah hears his own words and his hard-heartedness is gone, and he treats her with the respect she is due.

27. At the time of her delivery, it turned out that there were twins in her womb!

28. And while she was giving birth, what happened was that one baby thrust a hand out, and the midwife took hold of it and tied a piece of crimson thread on his hand, signifying "this one came forth first".

29. But when he pulled his hand back, his brother unexpectedly came forth! So she said, "How you have broken forth! This breach be upon you!" So he was named Paretz.

This breach be upon you! Or, "With what strength you have asserted yourself!" Paretz means "breach-maker", often related to overstepping boundaries as in the "first" man Adam's transgression, and foiling Satan's
seeming ascendancy. Yet see Matthew 11:12 for another way it was used.

30. Then his brother (on whose hand the crimson was tied) came forth, and he was named Zarach.

Zarach means "to rise, dawn, or shine forth." (e.g., Yeshayahu/Isa. 60:1) Yehudah's "house" had been destroyed twice, just like the two Temples. Only the third time, through this roundabout means, did Yehudah's firstborn receive an heir, so the royal throne of Israel, and by it the Messianic line was not lost after all. Yehudah's descendant Boaz, in another levirate marriage, was told (Ruth 4:12), "May your house[hold] be like the house of Paretz, whom Thamar bore to Yehudah, of the seed which YHWH shall give to you from this young woman"--a seemingly unflattering blessing, considering the circumstances of his conception. But, as in the case of Boaz, it was a roundabout means by which YHWH established the continuation of the Messianic line, which had been threatened by Yehudah's failure to allow his son's widow the proper levirate redemption. The "seed" refers not only to the immediate redemption, but also to the descendant of hers who would fulfill the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. In Ruth 4:18 lies the key to the strange blessing: "These are the generations of Paretz". This discourse pattern signals the continuity of the Messianic genealogy, which is reiterated several times throughout Genesis. After Adam's fall, this word "generations" is spelled "defectively", with one letter missing (though pronounced the same way) in every case until this one, where the full spelling is restored. Oved's birth, like that of Paretz, sealed the guarantee that the throne of his grandson David, and thus Messiah's throne, would be established. The missing letter has the numeric value of 6, the number of man. Also, through this combining of Jew and repentant Gentile, one new man was formed--cf. Ephesians 2:15, and the daughter of the "priests' church" is brought back into her proper place. In a traditional song to welcome the Sabbath, the Messiah is referred to as "the man who is the descendant of Paretz". In Hebrew, fingertip to shoulder counts as a "hand", so this could be a symbol of "the Arm of YHWH": Messiah, the true Firstborn who existed before yet came after Adam--or after Lucifer (the "angel of light" who "asserted himself" tried to "rise" to heaven as his counterfeit). The crimson or scarlet cord imagery appears again in Rahav (another Gentile saved from destruction, who became an ancestress of kings), the Tent of Meeting, and the cleansing of lepers (Lev. 14:4) through to Y'shua, who was made to wear scarlet just before He accomplished our redemption. Alternately, however, the red cord was tied to the horn of the "scapegoat", who represents haSatan, the "nearer kinsman" who withdrew his offer when he realize all the privileged position entailed, and so Y'shua, who actually became the firstborn could then "break through" on our behalf.



CHAPTER 39

1. Now when Yoseyf had been taken down to Egypt, Potifar, a court official of the Pharaoh (chief of the executioners)--an Egyptian man--had bought him from the Yishma'elites who had made him to go there.

Egypt was then ruled by a line of Semite kings called the Hyksos, and being outsiders like Yoseyf, would be better disposed toward him than the Pharaohs that followed when Egypt was retaken by the native dynasties (Ex.
1:8). Thus the presence of a courtier who was a native Egyptian would be worth mentioning. Potiphar means "belonging to the sun". After Yehudah was no longer in the majority in the Called-out Congregation, Constantine "cut a deal" with the Gentile element that sold Yoseyf's descendants into Roman sun-worship. So our ancestor's experience is instructional for us today as we face the same kinds of temptation he did.

2. And YHWH was with Yoseyf, and he was a prosperous man, and he was stationed in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

He was successful, yet still a slave. Those who are called back out to be Israel usually turn out to be the people who did most of the work while still in the church (which Egypt pictures).

3. And his master noticed that YHWH was with him, and that everything which Yoseyf did was prospering in his hand.

4. So Yoseyf found favor in his sight, and he became his assistant, and he appointed him as head over his house, and he placed all that he owned in Yoseyf's custody.

Assistant: or administrator; custody: literally "hand".

5. And it came about that starting from the time he appointed him over his house and over all that he owned, YHWH blessed the Egyptian's household for Yoseyf's sake. And the blessing of YHWH was on all that he had, both in the house and in the field.

The only this Egyptian's house was blessed was Yoseyf's presence. What would happen if he was taken back out of that house? Likewise, the only reason YHWH has protected the half-pagan Church is that His people were slaves there. Its welfare was only for their sake. As far as Yoseyf's father, Israel, knew, Yosyef was dead, but he was very much alive, bringing blessing to Egypt. Those who today are best known by the name Israel (Yehudah) geerally does not know the House of Yoseyf is still alive and well is because all of its blessing has been going to a different household. But that is about to change.

6. And he left Yoseyf in charge of all that he had; he did not concern himself with anything he had except the bread he was eating.

Concern himself with: keep track of. Egypt is often a symbol of the antithesis of Israel, but when Y'shua is given liberty to demonstrate what he can be among them, Gentiles also could come to be blessed in both religious
and secular realms. However, the "harlot" the Gentiles were married to often tries to co-opt Y'shua for her own purposes...

Now Yoseyf was also both handsome in face and attractive in physical appearance.

7. And after these things it happened that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Yoseyf and said, "Come to bed with me!"

Who does the Egyptian's wife represent? Security, the bedfellow it uses to promote itself to the masses (eternal security) and to generate revenue (pay your tithe and you will have financial security). Now she is after Yoseyf as well. What should our response be?

8. But he refused, telling his master's wife, "Look, my master doesn't concern himself with anything that is in the house with me, and all that he owns he has put under my authority.

9. "No one in this house is higher than I, and he has not withheld from me anything except you, since, after all, you are his wife! So how could I do this horrible wickedness, and sin against Elohim as well?"

Like Adam in the Garden of Eden, Yoseyf could have anything he wanted except one thing. Security is also what Chavvah was looking for: if I am like Elohim, He will not be more powerful than I, and He cannot harm me. HaSatan also offered Y'shua all the kingdoms of the world. But if He was to succeed as the second Adam, there was something he is not to touch: the god of security (since this is contrary to faith in YHWH; he recognized that we cannot serve both YHWH and Mammon, or wealth).

10. But it kept happening, and though she spoke the same way to Yoseyf day after day, he did not listen to her and lie beside her, or be with her.

He not only refused to be intimate with her; he would not even be seen with her (abstaining from all appearance of evil). It is not enough to simply not make security our highest priority; we must not even do anything to make people think that is where our heart is. Had he given in, at best he would have put down his roots permanently in Egypt, but more likely she would have killed him when she grew tired of him, because security is always a liar that will ultimately leave you stranded.

11. But on a day like this one, it so happened that he went into the house to do his work, and not a man of the household staff was there in the house:

That working in the house was not a pretext is supported by a detailed house plan found in the tomb of an Egyptian high priest, showing that all the storerooms (which Yoseyf had charge of) were all the way in the back of the house. (i.e., It was normal for him to be alone within the house.)

12. She caught him by his cloak, and said, "Come to bed with me!" But instead he left his cloak in her hand, and ran away, going outside.

Yoseyf took literally the command to "flee fornication", going out of his way to choose the right way, even when it was inconvenient, in contrast to Yehudah, who had to be seduced into doing what was right. (But finally he did, and he maintained his authority over his brothers.) The only thing she could catch was his garment; he left his security with her. The word for cloak in Hebrew means "treachery" as well, for Adam and Chavvah did not need clothing until after they had rebelled. To the mother of harlots, Y'shua's "Body" is just something to use for herself. But she does not own Y'shua, though she claims to because she has garbed her paganism in His terminology (in the Hellenized form of "Jesus Christ"). She claims to have something to do with Him, when in fact He refuses to. So His followers will ultimately have to leave that deceitful cloak of security behind (whatever keeps us tied to Egypt and prevents us from obeying Him). It actually belongs to Egypt anyway. ("Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.")

13. Then it happened: when she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and fled out into the street,

In Scripture, one's garment is symbolic of his works. Even while we are doing the work YHWH has assigned us, security will come looking for us and make us an offer. In order to stay on the path of no compromise, Y'shua left His visible "works" behind, giving up (for a time) the power and position that was His as the rightful King of Yehudah, so He could be King of all Israel. (The book of Galatians

14. she called for the men of her household and complained to them, "Look! He [my husband] has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us! He came onto me, presuming to have sex with me, and I screamed.

He chose a Semite, another of those who had the upper hand, occupying Egypt, which may be why she thought he received better treatment.

15. "And when he heard me scream, he ran away and went outside, forgetting that he'd left his cloak with me."

16. She kept his garment close by her until his master came back home.

One's garment is also often a mark of our authority, as it had been in his father's household. Thamar (ch. 38) had used the symbols of Yehudah's rank to prove his guilt, and Potifar's wofe was trying to do the same again here.

17. Then she told him what happened, using the same ruse: "The Hebrew slave whom you brought in to us came inside where I was, to make sport with me!

18. "But what happened was that when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his robe beside me and fled outside!"

19. And it worked: when his master heard the argument which his wife put to him, saying, "Your slave did to me everything I said", his anger glowed.

We need to expect betrayal when we refuse to lie down with security. The Jezebel spirit cannot stand to be spurned. When Y'shua refuses to link his teaching with the harlot's religion, he is back to being mocked again as a Hebrew and a slave--neither of which the proud harlot would associate with. Jews were held in high esteem by the Romans, so they were given a special dispensation of not being required to worship idols. But after the Bar Kokhba rebellion, the believers in Y'shua were a frustration to the Romans, because they not only refused to worship idols but kept the Sabbath and Hebrew festivals, yet were disclaimed by other Jews as traitors; they were considered good for nothing and were simply slaughtered--or forced to live underground in the catacombs.

20. Then Yoseyf's master took him and put him into the prison where the king's own prisoners were held, and he remained there in the prison-house a long time.

Like Y'shua, he suffered for something he did not do, and for positively doing the right thing. Prison-house: literally, a house of roundness. Jewish mystics speak of round things as symbolic of what is real and permanent, but square things as the temporary physical things through which they are perceived. They are not meant to be separate; we have to live in the "square" realm and find the "circle" there, rather than seeking to be one or the other. Even the physical things YHWH uses to teach us deeper truths about Himself are square--the four-cornered garment on which our fringes are to hang, the phylactery (tefillin), the tabernacle, altar, and ark. This is because no matter how we feel, Israel is always a spiritual people. It is the glory of kings to search out what YHWH has hidden. (Prov. 25:2) We are called kings and priests. So every physical act we commit has an effect in the spiritual realm, either feeding the Kingdom or energizing its enemies. Even eating, as mundane as it seems, is the transfer of energy from one being to another, and to fail to recognize this as a gift from YHWH makes it actually a profane act rather than a merely neutral one.

21. But YHWH was with Yoseyf, and extended kindness to him, giving him favor in the eyes of the prison's warden,

Extended kindness to him: or "endowed him with grace/charisma".

22. and the prison warden put all the prisoners therein under Yoseyf's jurisdiction, and whatever they did there was carried out by his order.

By his order: literally, "as his doing". Instead of being in the deep trouble "Jezebel" hoped he would be in, he was already in authority again.

23. The warden never investigated anything that was under Yoseyf's authority, seeing that YHWH was with him, and that YHWH was causing everything he was doing to prosper.

Both among his fellow countrymen and among the Gentiles, it has usually been the "prisoners"--the outcasts and the despised--who have seen Y'shua for who he really is, and recognized his rulership. He spent his time with
prostitutes, gluttons, winebibbers, and tax collectors, who knew they were wretched. He now lives among the captives, blinded ones, and humbled ones (Yesh./Isa. 61; Luke 4:16ff), for these all describe the Northern Kingdom, whose return home was Y'shua's top priority. Even sects despised because they take one part of Scripture too far are at least taking truth very seriously and are recognizing that the mainstream is missing the target. He came to bring release and proclaim the time of YHWH's acceptance. In His day, the curse of "no pity" had run its course; In descending (into the heart of the earth, for Yoseyf's dungeon was much like a grave) He took captivity captive (Eph. 4:8), meaning that what happened to those in exile was now under His control. He thus ascended to the throne over the lost tribes in His own exile. In our day, the sentence of "not a people" is also up, and the wrath has departed, so it is time to live as free Israel for the first time since the Assyrian captivity began over 2,700 years ago. With that over, Y'shua will soon be able to reign over a united Israel--his own home tribe included.


CHAPTER 40

1. And after these things it happened that the king of Egypt's cupbearer and baker transgressed against their master --against the very king of Egypt himself.

Cupbearer: the one responsible for making sure the king's food had not been poisoned. Trangressed against: or, offended.

2. And the Pharaoh was angry with both of his officers (for they were the chief of the cupbearers and the chief of the bakers).

While later we will see Pharaoh as representing someone else, here he is the leader of Egypt, which was the strongest, most feared, most civilized nation in the world. But it is also a picture of the church since it was paganized and co-opted by the Babylonian system. Whether its head represents Constantine or the pope, here we see it temporarily casting aside the one who tends the bread and the one who tends the wine. Bread represents Y'shua's Body in its unity and community (1 Cor. 10:17), and wine sometimes represents joy and sometimes blood. Joy is not only a weapon of our warfare (Nehemyah 8:10) and how we overcome; it is a command. (Psalm 33:1; 97:12)

3. And he put them in custody in the prison-house of the chief executioner's household (the place where Yoseyf was incarcerated).

4. And the chief of the executioners assigned Yoseyf to them, and he attended them, and they remained in his ward for a set number of days.

The chief of the executioners: possibly Potifar himself. This might be why Yoseyf was given authority, though imprisoned; Potifar knew he was innocent, but had to keep him out of his wife's sight. But he had seen the prosperity that had come with having Yoseyf in his house. As a type of Y'shua, we see him held captive by the Gentiles, yet still having authority, yet understanding the need to uphold both the keeper of the bread and the keeper of the wine. Y'shua Himself said the leaders among His people must be servants. (Mat. 20:25ff) Because he chose to serve the community and the joy of YHWH, he set the stage for how he would be treated later. (cf. Phil. 2:5-11)

5. And they each dreamed a dream, both on the same night, each with the same symbolism as the other's dream--the cupbearer and the baker who worked for the king of Egypt, and who were incarcerated in the prison.

6. When Yoseyf came to them in the morning, he looked at them, and, behold, they were haggard!

7. So he asked the officers of Pharaoh who were with him in custody in the house of his lord, "Why are your faces so downcast today?"

8. And they told him, "We have each had a dream, and there is no one to interpret them." But Yoseyf asked, "Don't interpretations belong to Elohim? Please tell me the dreams!"

Belong to Elohim: i.e., "and He is with me, so tell me..."

9. So the chief of the cupbearers recounted his dream for Yoseyf. He told him, "In my dream, here before me was a vine.

10. "And the vine was made up of three branches. As soon as it budded, out came its blossoms, and its clusters ripened into grapes.

As soon as it budded...blossoms: this is more quickly than usual.

11. "And the Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I placed te cup in the palm of Pharaoh's hand."

12. Then Yoseyf told him, "This is the interpretation: the three branches--these represent three days.

13. "Within another three days, the Pharaoh will lift up your head and return you to your position, and you will place Pharaoh's cup into his hand as was your custom earlier when you were his cupbearer.

Lift up your head: release or pardon you; and count you among his courtiers.

14. "But remember me along with yourself, when it is again going well for you, and please do me this kindness: mention me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house--

15. "because I was in fact brought by stealth from the land of the Hebrews, and I have not done anything here either that justified their putting me in the dungeon."

Brought by stealth: or kidnapped. Y'shua did not willingly leave his brothers, nor did he intend to go into "Egypt"; he did nothing wrong. But he bloomed where he was planted and made the best of the Gentile world, improving it in many ways, just as Yoseyf did, and preserving it from judgment for a time.

16. Now when the chief of bakers saw that the interpretation was favorable, he told Yoseyf, "In my dream I also saw three baskets of white bread upon my head,

17. "and in the top basket, samples of all kinds of foods to be served to Pharaoh--all the work of a baker. But the birds were eating them from the basket on top of my head."

Birds: often a picture of unclean spirits (e.g., Mat. 13:32), symbolizing the selfishness that devours the life of the called-out community.

18. So Yoseyf answered and said, "This is its interpretation: the three baskets represent three days.

19. "Within another three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you and hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh from off of you."

Note the play on words "lift up your head" again. Tree: or any wooden pole.

20. And so it happened: on the third day (which was Pharaoh's birthday) he prepared a feast for all his courtiers, and he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and chief baker along with his servants,

Birthday: every time birthdays appear in Scripture, they are related to pagan rulers or bad things happen. This does not mean they are innately evil, but it shows that YHWH does not necessarily place a high priority on
celebrating them, nor does He ask that His Son's birthday be celebrated as such. On the third day, Y'shua was raised from the dead, and that third day was the first day of the week, which, following the Sabbath, is symbolically the first day again--the beginning of a new cycle, the anniversary of the first day.

21. and he restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearer's office, and he once again placed the cup into Pharaoh's hand;

22. but he hanged the chief of the bakers.

Likewise, the leaders of the Church chose to uphold the joy and the blood of Y'shua, but not the united community of Israel. On another level, the highest ruler destroyed the one who did not take care of his bread--which is the same as the parable of the vineyard-keepers (Mat. 21:33-41) and the prophecy about the self-seeking shepherds who let the flock ail. (Yehezqel 34) But with the counterfeit out of the way, a true "preserver of the bread" was waiting in the wings.

23. However, the chief of cupbearers did not remember Yoseyf, but forgot about him.

Forgot: or neglected to do him a favor; abandoned him. Likewise, the focus in the church on joy and the blood marginalized the Man himself, since they were considered unconditional gifts without obligation to the Giver, and Y'shua had to wait much longer to be restored to His position of authority, and the still higher place that He will be given. (Yeshayahu 49:6)