Reconciliation in the Joseph Story

Abstract

Abstract This article uses contributions from the field of conflict transformation to illuminate the Joseph story and provide a more nuanced understanding of the type of resolution attained by Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 50. This analysis demonstrates important and revelatory differences between the concepts of forgiveness and reconciliation. Understanding the differences between these terms clarifies certain interpretive aspects of the Joseph story and the history of its authors heretofore overlooked in biblical scholarship. The emphasis of the biblical text on public reconciliation—not the private act of forgiveness—operates as a polemic against egocentricity and reflects an attempt to memorialize intertribal reconciliation. Such concerns provide support for those who assert a monarchic background to Genesis 50.