From Bane to Blessing: The Food Leitmotif in Genesis 37–50 *

Abstract

The story of Joseph and his brothers is peppered with references to food and drink. These recurrent images are not incidental details. Instead, as this article argues, they are a literary leitmotif that signals the imbalance of favor and power in the story and the resulting rivalry that drives the plot. This analysis helps to explain the apparently passing comments the narrator makes about the brothers sitting down to ‘eat bread’ after imprisoning Joseph in the pit (Gen. 37.25), and in the notice that Potiphar ‘knew nothing but the bread which he ate’ (Gen. 39.6). In addition, the seemingly anti-climactic resolution of the plot's crisis following the meal in Joseph's house is explained by the shift in imagery that accompanies the movement away from the table. While food imagery is heavily associated with favor, power, and rivalry; the cup is paired with restoration and it is the cup that provokes the reunification of the family.