Exegesis Presentation: Critical Analysis of Genesis 37:13-36 Narrative

This presentation provides an exegesis of Genesis 37:13-36, analyzing the narrative through a critical lens. The presentation focuses on the story of Joseph and his brothers, exploring themes of family conflict, jealousy, and the relationship between Joseph and his father. The analysis involves identifying key questions, such as the nature of the brothers' relationships and the justification of Joseph's portrayal as a dreamer. The presentation utilizes various resources, including biblical commentaries, YouTube videos, journal articles, and biblical dictionaries, to develop a comprehensive understanding of the text. The exegesis aims to provide a critical interpretation of the text, considering different perspectives and scholarly insights to gain a deeper understanding of the narrative and its implications.

Exegesis Presentation-
Narrative Criticism

Exegesis presentation-Narrative Criticism
Exegesis is the critical explanation or interpretation to a particular text which is generally
extracted though scripture. It helps in critically examining the text and ascertaining the pros and
cons of the same. It also helps in addressing each and every aspect so that better understanding
can be developed. The present text, which has been chosen with the perspective of Exegesis is a
small genesis from bible. It is Genesis 37: 13- 36 which is a story of Joseph, who is central
character of the short story that has been described in it. In order to develop an effective
exegesis, it is important to understand and build basic question based on which the whole critical
interpretation will be dependent (Wenham, 2017).
Genesis 37: 13- 36 states regarding a story of the boy named Joseph, where, his brothers
plan to murder him out of hatred in their minds. However, one of the brother stated that they
should not kills him and rather handover him to the Ishmaelites. The troop of Ishmaelites took
him to the Egypt. The text is revolving around the family issues that are faced by brothers and
father. Critically understanding the same, it can be stated that it is difficult to ascertain the
relationship between brothers through a single genesis as the past story between them can not be
ascertain though the text being stated in it (Genesis 37:13, 2017).
Ones of the phrases in genesis states reading Joseph being a dreamer but the same have
not been justified in the text that he was a dreamer in what format. In the early society, dreams
were considered to be a thoughtful action (Bleicher, 2017). Hence, the phrase is bitterly ironical.
Moreover, the hatred and jealously being analysed in the set up of brothers are not being stated in
words in this genesis. However, the same can be interpreted through the acts being performed by
them. The act that were performed by them was out of dislike which represent their character and
their unwillingness of not living with their brother.
Another critical aspect that can be stated through the analysis is the relationship between
father and son. In the end of genesis 37: 13- 36, it can be ascertained that Joseph shared quite a
strong bond with his father (Lazarus - Yafeh, 2014). In the last paragraph of genesis, it can be
ascertained that father mourned for his son’s death for quite a long term indicating his
attachment and love for him.
The three main questions that can be analysed in further assignments can be:
 What type of relationship that was shared between brothers?
 What is the justification that can be provided based on the stated that “Joseph is a dreamer”?
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 What type of relationship was actually shared by Joseph and his father?
Based upon the above questions framed, there are various types of printed format and online
resources that can be used to critically analyse the statements mentioned in question format.
Hence, to ascertain the same, it is important to take help of various sources. Some of them are
mentioned below:
 Commentary series from World Biblical Commentary which will help in getting the
commentaries on the text of bible so as to develop better understanding though the genesis.
 You tube videos helping in understanding the genesis in story format. Visual format always
helps in developing better thoughts regarding the text or any other subject matter (Brotzman
and Tully, 2016).
 Journal articles which have been written since lase decade. It will help in developing
adequate area of knowledge regarding the subject matter.
 Analyse the thoughts of interpreters of bible which can be found at “New Interpreter’s bible”
 Referring various biblical dictionaries which are available in both print and digital format. It
includes, Dictionary of the Old Testament [DOT], Anchor Bible Dictionary [ABD],
Encyclopedia Judaica [EJ], New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and
Exegesis [NIDOTTE] The New Interpreter's Bible [NIB].
 Bible itself can also be used to ascertain the in-depth analysis of the text.
Hence, the above articles, books and journals will be quite helpful in development of
exegesis for the text that has been provided in Genesis 37: 13- 36. Moreover, effective critical
interpretation of the same can be gathered by analysing the explanation being provided by
various researcher (Hodgson, 2017). It will help in understading pros and cons related to text and
ultimately develop an effective exegesis from the same.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bleicher, J., 2017. Contemporary hermeneutics: Hermeneutics as method, philosophy and
critique (Vol. 2). Routledge.
Brotzman, E. R. and Tully, E. J., 2016. Old Testament textual criticism: A practical introduction.
Baker Academic.
Hodgson, G. M., 2017. Karl Polanyi on economy and society: a critical analysis of core
concepts. Review of Social Economy. 75(1). pp.1-25.
Lazarus-Yafeh, H., 2014. Intertwined worlds: medieval Islam and Bible criticism. Princeton
University Press.
Wenham, G. J., 2017. Genesis 1-15 (Vol. 1). Zondervan.
Online
Genesis 37:13. 2017. [Online]. Available through < https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?
search=Genesis+37%3A13&version=NIV>
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