Oudenaarde Tapestry Around 1580 The History Of Joseph

Its register is "Arrest of Joseph and these brothers". This tapestry is surrounded by its original border decorated with fruit and plants. The Book of Genesis says that Joseph is one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the first of the two sons of Rachel. He was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, but became the most powerful man in Egypt alongside Pharaoh. When famine strikes the earth, he brings the children of Israel to Egypt, where they settle in the country of Goshen. He is the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, whose descendants will give two of the 12 tribes of Israel, those of Ephraim and Manasseh. According to the Bible account, Joseph is his father's favorite son, Jacob. This probably transfers the love he had for his favorite wife Rachel, who died when Benjamin was born, to their first son. This preference of the father, which manifests itself in the form of a tunic offered as a gift to his 17 years, leads to the jealousy of Joseph's half-brothers. Especially since Joseph tells them back to back the two dreams he has. In the first, eleven sheaves of fields (representing his eleven half-brothers) bow before Joseph's sheaf of wheat. In the second dream, eleven stars (representing his eleven brothers), the sun (Jacob?) And the Moon (Leah?) Bow down before Joseph. The story of these two dreams only increases the jealousy of the brothers. One day when Joseph joins his brothers who have left to graze the flocks, the brothers plot against him. The elder, Ruben, does not want Joseph killed. Rather, it will be stripped and then thrown to the bottom of a well. Judah offers to sell Joseph to a caravan of Ismaili merchants. But Madianite merchants, who pass by there, pull Joseph from the tank. They sell it for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who take him to Egypt. His brothers use the tunic and lamb's blood to make their inconsolable father Jacob believe that Joseph was dead. Joseph married Asnath and had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. After seven years of abundance during which Joseph organizes the constitution of reserves, famine hits the whole region and leads the surrounding populations to come and get supplies in Egypt. Jacob sends all his sons, except Benjamin, to buy grain. Joseph recognizes them but his brothers do not recognize him because he has changed a lot with age and he now looks like a viceroy of Egypt. He accuses his ten brothers of espionage and imprisons Simeon to force the others to return with Benjamin, the last of the brothers. When they return to Egypt, Joseph is moved to see his little brother again. He makes them leave together but places a cup in Benjamin's bag to accuse them of theft. Judah is devoted so that Benjamin can return to their father. Seeing that his brothers have learned the lesson, Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, then he forgives them (God made me come here). He invites his father and all his family to come and settle in Egypt. The day before he died, his heart swollen with joy, Jacob said to Joseph, "I can die now my son, since I saw you." "