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Genesis 45 ends with Jacob unable to believe his sons that Joseph still lives, until the wagons revive him. Jubilees retells the moment but changes the cause, tracing the disbelief to a troubled mind rather than shock.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 45:26
Hebrew Bible
25 So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they related to him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, their father Jacob’s spirit revived.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Jubilees 43:24
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
23 And they went up and told their father that Joseph was alive, and was measuring out grain to all the nations of the earth, and that he was ruler over all the land of Egypt. 24 And their father did not believe it, for he was too stunned to believe; but when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent, the life of his spirit revived, and he said: 'It is enough for me if Joseph lives; I will go down and see him before I die.'
Date: 170–125 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... The stories in Genesis and Jubilees end in very similar ways. Verse 24 includes material from Genesis 45:26b-28. Genesis 45:26b-28: He was stunned; he could not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, 'Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.' Jubilees 43:24: Their father did not believe (it) because he was disturbed in his thoughts. But after he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent, his spirit revived and he said, 'It is enough for me that Joseph is alive. Let me go down and see him before I die.' The writer of Jubilees switches the first two clauses around and links them as cause and effect ...
James C. VanderKam, Jubilees 1: A Commentary on the Book of Jubilees Chapters 1–21 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018), 1085.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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