If you are looking for the beginning of this study you can start HERE with the brief introduction. At the bottom of that introduction will be the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. For this study the English Standard Version is the translation that is being utilized and you can read it online HERE or pick up the copy of your choice from Amazon or your local book store. I find THIS EDITION to be useful for deep study and annotation.
Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)
What did God say to Israel in “visions of the night”? (46:2-4)
How many “persons of the house of Jacob” moved to the land of Egypt? (46:27)
Where do the people of Israel settle in Egypt? (47:6)
What did the Egyptians sell to Joseph in order to buy food? (47:13-19)
Who alone did not have to sell anything to Pharaoh? (47:22, 27)
What did Jacob make Joseph swear not to do? (47:29-30)
What did Jacob do which displeased Joseph? (48:14-19)
What did Jacob do with his sons before he died? (Ch. 49)
Where did Jacob ask to be buried? (49:29-32)
In what way was Jacob prepared for burial? (50:1-3)
What did Joseph’s brothers fear after their father’s death and what was Joseph’s response to their fear? (50:15-21)
What did Joseph make his family swear to him before he died? (50:25)
Logic Questions: (The Interpretation/Comparison of the Text)
The text tells us that “every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” (46:34) Why is this important to the people of Israel’s time in Egypt?
Why would Jacob say “few and evil have been the days of my life”? (47:9)
In Genesis 47:22 we are told that the priests “had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance”. Why would Pharaoh give an allowance to the priests?
Why did it upset Joseph that his father, Jacob, placed his right hand upon his younger son while blessing the boys? (48:14)
While Jacob is blessing Judah he states, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet…” (49:10). What does this mean?
Why is it so important to Jacob (49:29) and Joseph (50:25) not have their final burial place in Egypt?
Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)
How significant was the effect of the famine on Egypts social and economic situation? What are some things which the famine brought about which would have significantly changed Egyptian society thereafter?
Was Joseph just to do what he did with the people during the famine?
Of the blessing of Jacob’s 12 sons in Ch. 49, which one would you argue are positive, which are negative? Are any of them “neutral”?
Joseph tells his brothers, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” (50:20) How can God be good but still use evil for good purposes?
Theological Analysis: (Scripture Interprets Scripture)
Read Romans 8:28. How can we relate this to Joseph’s story?
Read Matthew 1:1-17. Jesus is born into the line of which of Jacob’s twelve sons? What other names of note are in Jesus’ genealogy?
Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)
Wisdom, Deception, Fear, Hope