‘Jacob,my father’: The character of Judah in the Joseph Novella (Gen. 37–50)

1.1 The Exposition (37.2–11)

The family portrayal depicted in Gen. 37 does not reveal much about Judah’s character, because the narrator presents him as a mere figurant. ¹² The text begins with an introduction of the protagonist: ‘Joseph, being seventeen years old, was a shepherd with his brothers in the flock. He was a young man [or a servant ¹³ ] with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. Joseph brought a bad report of them ¹⁴ to their father’ (v. 2). After this rapid sketch, the narrator highlights Jacob’s predilection for Joseph ¹⁵ (v. 3), and, at the same time, suggests that his partiality could be somehow blessed. ¹⁶ Only after this introduction does v. 4 focus on Joseph’s brothers’ point of view: ‘His brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him and they could not speak to him peacefully’. In this verse, Judah is not defined by any particular trait, and he simply shares his brothers’ hatred for Joseph. ¹⁷

The situation worsens when Joseph does not hesitate to tell his brothers his two dreams, showing some vanity ¹⁸ and manifesting a desire for self-affirmation ¹⁹ (v. 5). The brothers (including Judah) react with a harsh rhetorical question that presupposes a negative answer, ‘Will you really reign over us and govern us? (No)’ (v. 8). Regardless of these family tensions, ²⁰ Joseph tells them about his second dream ²¹ (v. 9) and the double insistence on the act of narrating (ספר‎, ‘to tell, to narrate’ is repeated in v. 9 and v. 10) indicates that, oblivious to the situation, he repeats his account many times. At the end, Jacob intervenes with a strong reproach. ²² In Gen. 37.2–11, therefore, Judah is a character who does not possess a strong identity; he is never singled out by name and his characterization emerges only through the representation of the brothers as a group, who together express a great hostility ²³ and feel a jealous resentment ²⁴ towards Joseph.

1.2 Judah’s first words (Gen. 37.12–34)

At the beginning of Gen. 37.12–34, Judah is again characterized as a part of a collective, rather than a man who voices his own convictions. Concerned for the harmony (שלום‎, ‘peace’) of his family, Jacob sends Joseph to find his brothers. ²⁵ However, as soon as they catch a glimpse of Joseph (‘from afar’, v. 18) they conspire against him, without recognizing him as their brother: they cannot see anything but the matter that separates them, as he is ‘that master of dreams’ (v. 19). They then decide to kill Joseph (vv. 19–20) but Reuben, the eldest son, intervenes to rescue him (vv. 21–22) in order to ‘restore him to his father’. ²⁶ The brothers accept his words but, when Joseph approaches, they strip him of his special tunic (humiliating him, undermining his identity as a beloved son) and throw him into a pit (vv. 23–24). As happens during any act of violence, the interaction between them takes place without words: they only sit down and eat (v. 25). At this moment, Judah pronounces his first words:

²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What is the profit if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh’.

After Joseph is sold to the Ishmaelites (v. 28), the brothers bathe his tunic with animal blood. They send it to Jacob and accompany this gesture with harsh words: not only do they not even pronounce Joseph’s name, but he is no longer considered as their brother, only as Jacob’s son (v. 32, ‘examine it whether it is your son’s tunic or not’). Back home, they do not meet Jacob, and by not recounting the facts, they let their father draw the conclusion on his own. Not knowing Joseph’s true fate, Jacob will never be able to grieve.

In Gen. 37.12–34, then, Judah is still represented as a part of a group, but also a cynical person who refuses to recognize the relationship with his brother Joseph and does not show compassion for his father Jacob. However, Judah’s characterization is somewhat expanded thanks to his words, and he is portrayed as a more divided figure. On the one hand, Judah seems to value his bond with Joseph, because he reminds the others that Joseph is ‘our brother’ and ‘our own flesh’. On the other hand, Judah’s discourse reveals some calculation (‘What is the profit?’ and ‘let us sell him!’ ²⁷ ), and his suggestion to sell Joseph is very controversial. ²⁸

1.3 The episode of Tamar (Gen. 38)

This trend in Gen. 37 is completely reversed in Gen. 38. This chapter has been interpreted by some as a passage inserted in a late period, with no obvious connection with the story of Joseph, ²⁹ because it deals only with Judah and interrupts the main narrative thread. Such a position has recently been revised: ³⁰ Wénin, for example, noticed that the place of Gen. 38 is coherent with its context, because Gen. 37, 38, and 39 all depict acts of misleading deception. ³¹ Moreover, others scholars consider Gen. 38 as a decisive chapter for the entire cycle. ³² This reconsideration is particularly important for our purposes here, because, in an unexpected way, Gen. 38 focuses on Judah and forgets Joseph.

While Jacob is still mourning his son (37.35; the narrator specifies that it happened ‘at that time’, 38.1), Judah decides to leave his family and to break with his past. He finds a wife among the Canaanites, Shua (v. 2), and acts differently with respect to Abraham’s (24.3) and Isaac’s (28.1) concerns. Although Judah is blessed with the birth of three children, everything seems to go wrong for him. Judah finds a wife for his eldest son Er—a woman named Tamar—but Er is depicted as ‘wicked in the sight of Yhwh’, ³³ who takes his life (38.7). Portraying Judah as a ‘man of action’, ³⁴ the text reveals that it is he who tells his second son, Onan, to fulfil his duty as a brother-in-law (v. 8) and marry Tamar. ³⁵ Onan accepts and marries her, but during the sexual relations he wastes his semen (v. 9). Paradoxically, Judah, who deceived his father, is now tricked by his own son, and Onan too is punished by death (v. 10). ³⁶ Paralyzed by fear, Judah promises Tamar his third son, but he does not actually give him to her (v. 11), exposing Tamar to the infamous and dangerous condition of widowhood. ³⁷

We see that, in Gen. 38, Judah is characterized as an individual who wants to be in control of the situation, but fails. ³⁸ In fact, just as Jacob was deceived through the use of a piece of clothing (37.31–33), so too Judah is played by Tamar, disguised as a prostitute (38.14–19). Through the signet, the cord, and the staff, Tamar invites Judah to acknowledge that he is the father of the children she is carrying and to recognize his wrongdoing (v. 26, ‘She is more righteous than I am’). ³⁹ With some delicacy, ⁴⁰ then, Tamar brings Judah to understand the evil he has done to her, and this facilitates his transformation process, which begins precisely with an acknowledgement of guilt. ⁴¹ From this point onwards, Judah’s journey as a character radically changes.

2.1 Judah takes responsibility for his younger brother

The subsequent chapters of Genesis are focused on Joseph: he is put in charge of Potiphar’s household (39.4), and imprisoned because of the false accusations of Potiphar’s wife (39.20); he interprets two prisoners’ dreams (Gen. 40), and, by explaining Pharaoh’s dreams (41.1–36), he rises to power in his court.

However, Judah reappears in the narrative when a severe famine has spread over all the earth; at that moment, Jacob sends his sons to the Egyptians because of the surpluses in their storehouses (Gen. 42). They meet with Joseph but he does not make himself known to them, and gives his brothers rough treatment: he puts them in prison for three days (42.17) and sends them back home with the order not to return without their youngest brother, Benjamin. When the brothers run out of grain again (43.2), it is Judah who takes the lead:

³ Judah said to him, ‘The man solemnly warned us: ⁴³ “You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you”. ⁴ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and procure food for you. ⁵ But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man has said: “You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you”’. (Gen. 43.3–5)

After being absent from the scene, Judah now acts as a spokesman and reminds Jacob (see Gen. 42.33–34) that they must bring Benjamin with them in order to have an official hearing ⁴⁴ with the vizier. The speech is very well organized, and the use of the expression ‘our brother’ (v. 4) is relevant for Judah’s characterization; his words suggest that the relationship with his family members has changed and that he now considers Benjamin as a brother. ⁴⁵ When Jacob/Israel objects to sending Benjamin, Judah answers in these words:

⁸ Judah said to Israel his father: ‘Send the young man with me, so that we will arise and go, and we may live and not die (ונחיה ולא נמות‎)—we, you, and our children (גם־אנחנו גם־אתה גם־טפנו‎). ⁹ I myself shall stand surety for him; from my hand you shall require him! If I do not bring him back to you, and set him in front of you, I shall stand guilty before you all my life’.

He does not hide from his father the drama of the situation, and depicts Benjamin as a dependent, fragile ‘young man’ who needs the help of his brothers. ⁴⁶ Nonetheless, by quoting in 43.8 the words that Jacob uttered when he sent them to Egypt for the first time ––‘Go and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die’ (ונחיה ולא נמות‎, 42.2) ––Judah shows that it is the same desire which prompts him to make this request. ⁴⁷ In this way, he reminds Jacob how much of a concern the well-being of his relatives was to him in the past, and helps him to fulfil his duty as a father. To protect his family, Jacob has to let Benjamin go (thus ‘sacrificing’ his son: see Gen. 22). Furthermore, in creating an effect of intensification by listing those who are going to be saved (‘we, you, and our children’), Judah shows his father how many lives are at stake. In Gen. 43, Judah is characterized as a family member who is able to stand surety for a brother ⁴⁸ (Benjamin) and who manifests a genuine concern for his father. ⁴⁹ This passage, then, demonstrates that Judah learned an important lesson from Tamar: that putting the preservation of his own life above all else will only destroy it. ⁵⁰

2.2 Judah’s first speech and Joseph’s answer (Gen. 44.16–17)

The first surprising trait of Judah’s character growth is revealed in Gen. 44.16. Israel makes up his mind and lets the brothers leave for Egypt with Benjamin. At first, Joseph welcomes them (43.15–34), but then resorts to a stratagem to hold Benjamin back ⁵¹ (44.1–13), with the vizier demanding that he must be held as a slave (vv. 14–15, 17). At this point, Judah speaks again and formulates a complex discourse (vv. 18–34) preceded by a shorter speech (v. 16). Generally, scholars who have analyzed Gen. 44 do not pay much attention to v. 16, ⁵² but this verse is a crucial passage that anticipates some of the strategic tools used in vv. 18–34 and, at the same time, allows the reader to become aware of Judah’s ‘theological turn’.

¹⁶ Judah said: ‘What shall we say to my lord (לאדני‎)? What shall we speak? How shall we justify ourselves (ומה־נצטדק‎)? God has found the guilt (מצא את־עון‎) of your servants (עבדיך‎); here we are, then, servants of my lord (עבדים לאדני‎), both we and he in whose hands the cup was found (נמצא‎)’.

Judah’s speech has something in common with a captatio benevolentiae. ⁵³ He twice uses the polite ⁵⁴ form of address ‘my lord’, and refers to himself and to his brothers with the submissive epithet ‘your servants’ in order to capture Joseph’s attention and to win his sympathy. ⁵⁵ Moreover, Judah makes his arguments in a persuasive way, creating a semantic progression by means of a sequence of three questions. This passage, then, shows that Judah considers it impossible to prove the brothers’ innocence, ⁵⁶ and implicitly admits their guilt. ⁵⁷ Judah’s conversion in Gen. 38 has already prepared the reader for this turn of events.

To understand Judah’s development as a character, the most relevant part of his speech is the main sentence, ‘God has found the guilt of your servants’. When the verb מצא‎, ‘to find’, is used in a judicial context, it can denote that the inquiry has concluded with the determination that a crime has indeed been committed. ⁵⁸ Therefore, while it is Benjamin who is suspected to have committed a crime, Judah refers to a family guilt (‘How shall we justify ourselves?’). This admission is not surprising, because the narrator has already revealed that the brothers have begun to acknowledge their sin against Joseph.

‘They said to one another, “We are surely guilty on account of our brother, because we saw the anguish of his soul when he begged us and we did not listen; that is why this anguish has come upon us”’. (42.21)

In addition to this, Judah takes a step further in his statement, recognizing that it is God Himself who has unveiled their sin, ⁵⁹ and demonstrates that his character has indeed evolved. Now, to some readers, Judah’s statement in v. 16 might not have any theological significance, because it is similar to the exclamation uttered by the brothers when one of them has found his own money in the mouth of his sack ‘What is this that God has done to us?’ (42.28). Moreover, there is no other passage in which Judah shows such theological sensitivity. ⁶⁰ In our opinion, however, the mention of God in Gen. 44.16 is very significant for Judah’s characterization, because it signals his new awareness of the divine ‘cause’ ⁶¹ and of God’s providence.

First, unlike in Gen. 42.28, the term ‘Elohim’ does not appear here in an exclamation, but it is used in a strong statement which serves as the conclusion of an articulated argument. Secondly, Gen. 44.16 presents the same deferential tone that is found in vv. 18–34, which will be one of Judah’s main rhetorical strategies (see below); v. 16 must therefore be considered as the first part of an elaborate speech and not just the result of an emotional outburst. Thirdly, God has been mentioned earlier in the narrative: after the brothers’ captivity, Joseph reassures them by saying ‘Do this and you will live, for I fear God’ (42.18); his speech facilitates the brothers’ acknowledgement of their sin (42.21) and is perhaps the reason why they refer to ‘God’ in 42.28. Furthermore, Jacob himself refers to God in his prayer when he allows the brothers to take Benjamin with them: ⁶² ‘May God Almighty grant you compassion before the man and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin’ (43.14). Finally, God is mentioned also by Joseph’s steward: ‘Peace be with you, do not be afraid! Your God, the God of your father, has put treasure in your bags for you’ (43.23). While the servant does not believe in God (he says ‘your God’), he seems to share in the same ‘theological wisdom’ of his master (see 45.5–8). ⁶³ Therefore, Judah’s theological insight in Gen. 44.16 is not unexpected. The previous references to God, together with Judah’s individual experiences, facilitates the acknowledgement that all the adversities the brothers have faced were permitted by God. In this way, Judah is similar to Joseph, because he discloses an analogous theological comprehension of history that Joseph will display in Gen. 45. ⁶⁴

Against Judah’s expectations, Joseph replies with acerbic words. With an oath formula ⁶⁵ (44.17) the vizier emphasizes his righteousness, and shows that he does not want to punish them indiscriminately. Indeed, Joseph creates some irony when he says that only the guilty one must pay while the others are free to leave, because the truth is quite the opposite: the ten brothers are the guilty ones, while only Benjamin, who is about to be punished, is innocent. ⁶⁶

2.3 Judah’s second speech: First part (vv. 18–23)

In Gen. 44.18–34 Judah offers a dramatic and extended speech. This speech’s intensity will cause Joseph’s emotional outburst in Gen. 45.1, ⁶⁷ and its literary and rhetoric quality has been the subject of much study. ⁶⁸ Grossman, for example, observed that by retelling the past, Judah’s speech creates a therapeutic narrative that benefits first and foremost the speaker himself. ⁶⁹ Bridge focused on form, by employing the theory of linguistic politeness. ⁷⁰ Finally, Twiss states that ‘To make his case, Judah recounts the past, quoting words spoken by each major party. By retelling events in this way, the speech becomes an extended and comprehensive second-level narrative’, ⁷¹ a metadiegetic narrative ⁷² that impresses on Joseph a different version of the past. Judah, then, plays the role of an authoritative narrator who presents Jacob as the primary victim in Joseph’s ‘ordeal’.

The following re-reading of Gen. 44.18–34, then, contributes to existing research in several ways. Firstly, by considering Judah’s persuasive art of speaking, the reader will come to notice the connections and continuity between his two speeches (v. 16 and vv. 18–34). Secondly, the sophisticated rhetorical strategy deployed in Judah’s second speech will provide a counterpoint to what is more surprising in his words: his abundant use of familial language, and his insistence on his relationship to Jacob. The reader will thus recognize that Judah’s words do not offer a merely therapeutic account, but also depict him as a character that has a new awareness of his filial identity. The narrative arc that we have summarized above (re-reading Gen. 37–38) and the connection with 44.16 show precisely that his personal development is prepared by the acknowledgement of his faults and by his new relationship with God.

¹⁸ Then Judah moved close to him and said: ‘Please, my lord (אדני בי‎), let your servant utter a word in my lord’s ears (ידבר־נא עבדך דבר באזני אדני‎); let not your anger burn against your servant (בעבדך‎), for you are the equal of Pharaoh!’ ⁷³

In verse 18, Judah makes extensive use of politeness strategies, both conventional and accessory; he is not just using the formulae that would be expected in an official and hierarchical context, but he is strategically trying to avoid any conflict with Joseph. ⁷⁴ The expression בי אדני‎ is a polite construction that can introduce a plea, ⁷⁵ and through these words Judah acknowledges his inferiority even more strongly. ⁷⁶ As in the case of v. 16, the style is very deferential: the words אדון‎, ‘lord’, and עבד‎, ‘servant’, are used respectively twice each. Therefore, Judah inaugurates his new speech with a second captatio benevolentiae and continues what he has already begun in 44.16.

As he desires to establish a fruitful communication with the vizier, Judah wants his words to reach their destination (Joseph’s ears). The intention of having a personal and close meeting is specifically highlighted by using נגשׁ‎, ‘to come near’. ⁷⁷ This verb creates an allusion to the judicial setting, because it can express the institution of a trial; ⁷⁸ in this case, however, it is not the one who claims to be in the right who moves towards the ‘judge’ (see 2 Sam. 15.2, 6), but the guilty party (Gen. 44.16). In vv. 19–23, then, Judah reminds Joseph of what happened in their first encounter:

In v. 19, Judah begins a part of his speech that can be compared to a narratio, ⁸² ‘the account of an action useful for the persuasion’. ⁸³ Judah presents a brief report of the first visit made to the Egyptian vizier (42.7–20) and, as in 44.16, he continues to use formal language (‘my lord’ and ‘your servants’). His ‘reproductive’ quotations ⁸⁴ change relevant parts of the dialogue ⁸⁵ in order to create an intentional effect for the hearer.

The original exchange of words in Gen. 42 begins with a harsh question (v. 7): ‘Where do you come from?’ It is no surprise, then, that with an informal, direct answer, the brothers justify themselves: ⁸⁶ ‘From the land of Canaan, to buy food’. The narrator ironically insists on presenting the brothers’ inability to recognize Joseph (v. 8), ⁸⁷ and mentions Joseph’s memory of his dream. ⁸⁸ After Joseph’s accusation that they are spies (v. 9) the brothers start to use a deferential tone and reject the accusation of espionage (v. 11). By answering him through an asyndetic and hurried series of sentences, ⁸⁹ they show that even if they are together, they do not form a group (v. 11), and that they are not ‘brothers’, but only ‘sons of one man’. ⁹⁰ Joseph continues to accuse them (v. 12) and only after that second attack, do the brothers allude to Jacob and refer vaguely to Joseph (v. 13, ‘one is no more’).

In Gen. 44, Judah reproduces this dialogue but radically changes both Joseph’s and his brothers’ words. He describes Pharaoh’s official as a noble person ⁹¹ whose first concern is the family of his interlocutors (v. 19, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’), and who does not make any accusation of espionage. The brothers also do not attempt to justify themselves, and immediately describe the situation of their family. The repetition of relational terms in v. 20 (the substantive ‘father’ appears twice, the terms ‘brother’ and ‘mother’ are used once each) creates the impression that the brothers have had a deeper concern for their family, while in the previous dialogue they showed such a concern only after Joseph’s accusation (see 42.13). ⁹²

In the dialogue of Gen. 42, Joseph reiterates his accusation (42.14, ‘You are spies’) and, manifesting his authority, formulates his demand through the repetition of the oath formula ‘by the life of Pharaoh’: ⁹³ the brothers will not be allowed to leave Egypt unless they will bring to him their youngest brother (vv. 15–16). Moreover, Joseph does not limit himself to words, but he confines ⁹⁴ the brothers in the guardhouse for three days (v. 17). In Judah’s quotation, however, Joseph’s words are much softer (44.21, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him’). In addition to this, the spokesman Judah recounts something his brothers have never uttered: ‘The young man cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, he would die’ (44.22). Through this, Judah highlights the familial relationship and characterizes his brothers as people who are genuinely worried about Jacob, even if their distance from him is still palpable (Jacob is still called ‘his father’, referring to Benjamin). In doing this, however, the emphasis of the narrative is shifted, drawing attention to Jacob’s suffering. ⁹⁵

In Gen. 42.18–20, Joseph’s tone changes radically. He expresses the desire that they may continue to live, and he manifests his fear of God, without mentioning his bond with Pharaoh (v. 18, ‘Do this and you shall live, for I fear God’). He then requests that only one of the brothers stays behind, and makes them relive the same situation they had with Joseph, ⁹⁶ even if he shows some apprehension for the well-being of their family (v. 19). In Judah’s reconstruction of Joseph’s words, on the other hand, Joseph merely repeats the same request: ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again’ (44.23). This articulated speech, therefore, characterizes Judah as a skilful storyteller who, without mentioning the brothers’ imprisonment and Simeon’s detention, ⁹⁷ creates a very noble image of the Egyptian vizier in order to win his sympathy.

2.4 Judah’s speech: Second part (vv. 24–29)

Just as in the first part of his speech, in vv. 24–29, Judah presents the facts by using the ‘showing mode’, ⁹⁸ giving the impression that he wants to leave the listener to judge the events narrated, ⁹⁹ while at the same time adjusting the dialogues according to his intentions.

The first quotation demonstrates that Judah can reproduce the words of his father literally, because he reports them verbatim: ‘Go back and buy us a little food’ (43.2; 44.25). This detail shows even more clearly that when Judah tells things differently, he does so intentionally (also thanks to the narrative medium). By using the deferential formulas in reference only to Jacob (called ‘your servant’, vv. 25 and 27), Judah attempts to focus Joseph’s attention on Jacob alone. The main detail that the reader immediately notices, however, is something that perhaps Judah lets slip without thinking: in v. 24 he calls Jacob ‘my father’ for the first time, while in v. 25 he refers to him as ‘our father’. This new awareness of his family bonds could not be expressed more strongly: ¹⁰⁵ Judah has rediscovered his condition of being a son and a brother.

Following this first quotation, the reproduction of the dialogue is completely different. In 43.3–5, Judah twice repeats the vizier’s words (created by Judah himself: see 42.12–16, 18–20) to Jacob, as if they were a refrain impressed in his mind (‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you’, in vv. 3 and 5); the relationship with his brother is affirmed in clear terms (Judah calls him ‘our brother’ in v. 4), but the main emphasis falls on Joseph’s speech. Yet, in 44.26, Judah does not quote Joseph’s words, but he twice repeats the expression ואחינו הקטן‎, ‘our youngest brother’, focusing once again on the bond with his brothers and with Benjamin in particular. Lastly, in 43.6, Jacob rebukes his sons for revealing the existence of another brother.

Judah’s reproduction of Jacob’s speech in 44.27–29 is again a masterpiece. Firstly, Judah calls Jacob ‘my father’ (v. 27) for the second time, showing once again that the relationship with Jacob is completely restored. ¹⁰⁶ Moreover, Judah quotes words that Jacob has never uttered, omits the brothers’ self-justification of 43.7, and presents his point of view in a more radical way. ¹⁰⁷ According to Judah, his father said, ‘You know (very well) that my wife bore me two sons’ (v. 27). The surprising element is that although Jacob seems to completely forget his ten other sons, Judah can refer to his words without feeling any jealousy towards his youngest brother: his father’s preferences do not shake his identity as Jacob’s son. ¹⁰⁸ Indeed, he shows a genuine concern for his father, by presenting him as the one who has suffered the most ¹⁰⁹ and by saying that if Jacob lost his favourite son, it would kill him (vv. 28–29). Finally, Judah implicitly admits his (and his brothers’) guilt towards Joseph when he makes his father say, ‘Now, if you take this one away from me, too …’ (v. 29). Jacob’s use of גם‎, ‘too’, creates an implicit allusion to Joseph’s disappearance. ¹¹⁰

By omitting any mention of Benjamin’s alleged crime, Judah gives an example of positive politeness, and seeks an agreement with Joseph regarding a matter that has already been discussed (v. 16). ¹¹¹ Therefore, by emphasizing in stronger terms the relationship between Jacob and Benjamin, Judah is characterized as an individual who tries to move the vizier and generate in him a sense of empathy towards Jacob. If he shows such a compassion towards Jacob, it is because he himself has experienced the anxiety of a father who does not want to lose his only son ¹¹² (as Benjamin is in Jacob’s eyes: see vv. 27–29). Nonetheless, the repetition of the expression ‘my father’ shows that Judah can stand surety for Benjamin precisely because he has rediscovered his identity.

2.5 Judah’s speech: The conclusion (vv. 30–34)

The last part of Judah’s speech is in two sections, each one introduced by the particle ועתה‎, ‘and now’, marking a logical and argumentative transition which separates different stages of a single discourse. ¹¹³ The argument of vv. 30–32, ¹¹⁴ then, is the logical consequence of the narratio of vv. 19–29. ¹¹⁵

³⁰ Now, when/if I come to your servant, my father , and the young man is not with us—his own life is bound up with his—³¹ when he sees that the young man is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servants, our father , to Sheol in sorrow. ³² But your servant stood surety for the young man to my father , saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I shall stand guilty before my father all my life’. ³³ Now, please let your servant remain as a servant to my lord instead of the young man, and let the boy go back with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go back to my father and/when ¹¹⁶ the young man is not with me? Do not let me see the woe that would befall my father !

In comparison with the preceding verses, v. 30 passes from the scenic to the argumentative mode ¹¹⁷ (although another narrative element is found in v. 32). Judah emphasizes once again the bond that unites him to his father (the expression ‘my father’ is repeated three times in vv. 30–32) and that which binds him to his brothers (Jacob is called ‘our father’ in v. 31 and the expression ‘with us’ is repeated twice in vv. 30–31). Moreover, Judah again refers to Benjamin without showing any jealousy ¹¹⁸ and expressing his sense of responsibility towards him, since Benjamin is thrice called נער‎, ‘young man’, using a term that denotes his condition of dependence. ¹¹⁹ Judah, then, does not hesitate to indicate the close bond between Benjamin and Jacob (v. 30), and exhibits his concern for the life of his father by repeating the same concept in more intense words: ‘he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, to Sheol in sorrow’ (v. 31).

In v. 32, Judah concludes the first part of his final argument and presents his last retelling of past events. Until this very moment, Judah has cleverly created an expectation in the heart of his interlocutor, who cannot help but ask: ‘If Jacob loves Benjamin so much, how did they convince him to let him go?’ ¹²⁰ In v. 32 Judah answers this question by quoting his own words:

Judah, then, once again shows a great sympathy for his father, and states that it is his very bond with Jacob that prevents him from abandoning his youngest brother in Egypt. The twofold repetition of the expression ‘my father’ cannot be accidental and further demonstrates that Judah truly wants to define his own identity by referring to his sonship.

The second ועתה‎ is followed by a volitional form plus נא‎, “please” (v. 33), making the request a logical consequence of what is said before. ¹²¹ The use of this particle makes vv. 33–34 similar to a peroratio. ¹²² The end of Judah’s speech can be interpreted as a request for mercy ¹²³ and a petition in which he provides himself as a substitute, in order to be punished in his brother’s place. ¹²⁴ In this way, Judah demonstrates that he loves his father so much (repeating twice more in v. 34 the expression ‘my father’) that he is willing to offer his own life to protect Benjamin’s. ¹²⁵ This last sentence is so compelling that it causes Joseph to lose control of his emotions (see 45.1) and facilitates the resolution of the entire Joseph Novella.

Numerous conclusions can be drawn from this analysis. Firstly, the rhetorical analysis of Gen. 44.16 and 18–34 helps the reader notice the continuity between the two discourses. Just as Judah admits his guilt in v. 16 and tries to win the sympathy of his hearer (with a captatio benevolentiae) by using an exaggerated deference, so too he uses the same deferential tone in vv. 18–29. This connection is further clarified as, after Joseph’s harsh words in v. 17, Judah once again begins his speech with a captatio benevolentiae (v. 18).

Secondly, Judah’s skilful oratory is remarkable when his characterization is borne in mind. Although his complex speech may suggest that the narrator intends to portray him as a manipulator who plays on the vizier’s feelings by evoking the universal value of respect for fathers, Judah’s portrait is much more nuanced. He certainly does use familial language and repeatedly alludes to the bond between Jacob and Benjamin (44.20, 27–28, 30–31) to provoke Joseph’s compassion. However, he also repeats, particularly at the end of his speech, the unnecessary expression ‘my father’; this expression is used five times in vv. 30–34, while in the rest of the discourse it is used only twice. If Judah had merely wanted to refer to Jacob’s paternity, he could have simply denoted Benjamin as ‘his son’. Instead, these repetitions show that Judah is truly interested in his father’s well-being and that he cannot contain his concern, to the extent that the very last words of his speech are precisely ‘my father!’

This analysis of Gen. 44.16 and 18–34 demonstrates that Judah’s character development is rooted in the acknowledgement of his guilt (prepared by the experiences with his own family in Gen. 38), in his new knowledge of God’s providence (44.16), and in the reconciliation with his father (44.18–34). This reunion will later be sealed when Jacob asks his son to perform the symbolic act of arranging the meeting with Joseph (46.28), and the narrative arc of Judah’s character is completed precisely by means of this encounter. In addition to this, Jacob will confirm Judah’s character growth through a special blessing at the end of his life (49.8–10): he will depict him as a lion’s cub who has gone up from the prey and crouched in a non-violent manner (49.9). Given where the Joseph narrative begins, the narrative reversal is astonishing: according to Jacob’s words, the brothers will no longer bow before Joseph, but before Judah, the new leader (49.8, 10). ¹²⁶