'What Profit for Us?': Remembering the Story of Joseph

by Barbara Green

Overview

This book offers a fresh reading of the biblical story of Joseph, alert to, and explicit about current literary methodology. Joseph is sold south by traders; then his brothers must go down to barter for food; and finally all his kin relocate in Egypt to survive famine. The relentless pull of the characters into various literal and figurative pits mingles with their struggles to emerge. The major mystery presented to both characters and readers—who is responsible for the descent of Joseph into Egypt?—develops into a much deeper question articulated by the brothers about the significance of the journey: 'What profit for us?' The conversation among characters is the repeated effort to interpret and thus understand, even control, the details of the descents so that survival is possible. The significance of the Joseph story for characters and readers is in the re-enacting, re-playing, remembering, re-interpreting of the events so that they can be grasped and integrated. The characters' strategies become a model for what the readers must do with the text.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761805113
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	10/24/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.28(w) x 8.48(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Barbara Green is Professor of Biblical Studies at Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

Editorial Reviews

Here is a refreshing narratological reading of the Joseph narrative...a wealth of particulars and fresh angles of perception reside in her detailed reading of the text.

Michael Kolarick

Green's beautifully crafted analysis, enhanced by detailed and thorough notes, is highly engaging and provocative. It leaves one with a deep appreciation of the artistic design inherent in the story of Joseph.

Catholic Biblical Quarterly

...contains an excellent introduction to the basic principles of narratology...insightful and provacative.

The Bible Today

"Green maps an amazing web of thematic connections between the dreams and the surrounding narratives...[Green's work is] superior to previous literary readings of the Joseph story."

Hebrew Studies - William A. Tooman

Here is a refreshing narratological reading of the Joseph narrative...a wealth of particulars and fresh angles of perception reside in her detailed reading of the text.
— Michael Kolarick, S.J., Regis College

Theological Studies

Green maps an amazing web of thematic connections between the dreams and the surrounding narratives...[Green's work is] superior to previous literary readings of the Joseph story.
— William A. Tooman, University of Wisconsin

Hebrew Studies

"Green's beautifully crafted analysis, enhanced by detailed and thorough notes, is highly engaging and provocative. It leaves one with a deep appreciation of the artistic design inherent in the story of Joseph."

Catholic The Biblical Quarterly