In chapter forty-seven of Genesis in the Bible, the authors describe the governance of Joseph in Egypt. The main content is that Joseph put foods that were stored in harvested years to people, for them safely through famine, and people's all money, livestock, land, even themselves, are gradually owned by the state. People became Pharaoh's tenants, who paid one-fifth of personal income to Pharaoh. This transaction is a voluntary transaction between the government and people. This measure makes Egyptian peace and prosperity in famine years. In my article, I will analyze the story described in the Bible from following aspects, first, the way that the story described and its advantages and disadvantages, secondly, my personal evaluation of characters …show more content…
He does not care about the welfare of civilians, lives of people, blindly pursued income of treasury, king's power, and collection of money. It seems that his eyes grow round with delight at the sight of money and he seeks nothing but profits. Also, he took advantage of other's difficulties to Extort property of people. However, I think such criticism is one-sided and unfair. First of all, Joseph knows how to bind people with a strict law in famine year. In an extraordinary period, if there is no strong policy, the state will certainly be unrest. Secondly, Joseph took a series of measures to make sure that people in famine will not starve to death. Although all money, cattle, and lands of citizens are unto Pharaoh, Joseph did not take anything from civilians. Finally, Joseph took a series of vigorous measures to make Egypt and surrounding countries safely through extended famine period and made almost all of Egypt's land into nationalized, which laid a foundation for the future prosperity of Egypt. People became Pharaoh's tenants, but they did not complain and kept thanks to Joseph's life-saving grace. Thus, Joseph's treatment of Egypt has followed the will of God and mind of people. At the same time, civilians' gratitude shows that new policy is not seen as harsh or unjust. It also proved argument which has Joseph deprived Egyptians of freedom and turned them into slaves is wrong. Slave owners are usually not satisfied with 20 percent of total income of slaves. In addition to tax, Pharaoh's possession of land is mostly in name rather than actual. At the same time, people do not think tax is too high. They are grateful for their survival and retain the right to use their livestock, houses, and land, although all these are nominally vested in Pharaoh. For above reasons, I think that Joseph's behavior in the
He began his career as Richelieu’s closest friend, adviser, and negotiator in 1612. Although he aided Richelieu in domestic affairs including military action against rebellious Huguenots Father Joseph’s signal achievement was the successful implementation of Richelieu’s anti-Habsburg foreign policy. During the Thirty Years’ War, Father Joseph promoted Richelieu’s strategy of keeping the Protestant king of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, in the field against the Catholic Habsburgs. But for the Father Joseph the most compelling project was a pan-European crusade against the Turks.
Living in Waknuk makes it extremely easy to be controlled by your religion. Joseph was a very religious man towards his family and the community. In the community of Waknuk Joseph was considered the “Head Priest” of his religious group. Each time a deviation was notified Joseph would quickly stop everything he was doing to pray for forgiveness. Stopping everything to pray for forgiveness is a big thing considering that the deviations were not his. This shows that he does not want God or his religion to look down on himself. Lastly, Joseph is always trying to do his best because he believes God is always testing them. He shows that he does not want to upset God in any way. All of these examples show how religious Joseph truly is. Joseph Strorm was a devoted and completely reliant man upon his religion.
After becoming familiar with the ideals of enlightened absolutism, Joseph II was determined to bring power and efficiency to the state. He would do this with various reforms with his monarchical rule against the Church and nobility. Joseph II was mostly committed to reform the political system because he wanted the best for the people he ruled against. He also believed people should share their views freely, so he made it possible for society to publicly debate on issues. The press was uncensored, therefore, writers, journalist, scientists, and scholars were allowed to publish their own works. The purpose of Joseph's reforms was to do good for the common people. Little did he know that his attempt to please people made them alienate him. His radical reforms eventually brought about a revolt, bringing everyone against
...lienated the church and nobility. Therefore, much more than half of Joseph’s empire was unemployed and confused of where to go next causing a great economic depression.
When a member of the Egyptian royal family became pharaoh, he became much more than ruler of a mighty empire, he ascended to the rank of god. This position allowed the pharaoh to commission monuments to himself and to his reign, controls his subjects regardless of their rank, and maintain Egypt’s status among her enemies. Just as in any hierarchical governmental system, the pharaoh treated different classes of individuals and groups in different ways from the austere priest to the lowly peasant. The them, Pharaoh was a god and he would allow no one to forget that fact; but to him, the world was below him and he treated each group accordingly. This is illustrated in some of the few surviving works from the Egyptian dynastic periods. Through personal letters, official government correspondence, and fiction, a broad picture can be painted as to how the pharaoh interacted with his people and how they reacted towards him.
Pharaohs had the authoritative role in ancient Egypt and were worshiped just like the gods. Having the most power in ancient Egypt, the pharaoh owned all the land and the people. While the pharaoh was still living he had the responsibility to keep the land in the condition where people can live there and would not starve, but if he died the role could have been passed on to his eldest son (Jovinelly28).
Society-Peasants and farmers made up the bulk of the population however the land was owned by the pharaoh or one of the temples which were very wealthy. Peasants were also subjected to tax labor and were at times required to do public projects such as irrigation or construction
Chapters thirty-nine through forty-one of Genesis chronicle a portion of the life of Joseph, the eleventh, and most favored, son of Jacob. “The book of Genesis is an account of the creation of the universe (Genesis 1-2), the origins of human communities (Genesis 3-11), and the beginnings of the people set apart by God (Genesis 12-50)” (Hauer and Young 67). The Joseph story begins in chapter thirty-seven, and spans nearly fourteen full chapters; the book ends, in chapter fifty, with the death of Joseph. The narrative of Joseph’s life is well crafted and highly detailed. It is, in fact, the most comprehensive narrative in the book of Genesis. The story flows, from beginning to end as a novel would. “Unique, too, is the somewhat secular mold in which the biography is cast. The miraculous or supernatural is conspicuously absent” (Sarna 211). Although God is mentioned, as a presence, he never overtly presents himself as he did with the many of the heroes that came before Joseph. The ending chapters of Genesis are a coming of age story; the tale of a boy, becoming a man.
All biblical stories are dedicated in providing a life lesson. They are God’s ways in teaching His people on how they should behave and how to better their relationships with Him. In addition, the accounts also give insight to characteristics and truths of God. The lives of numerous biblical characters serve as archetypes that affirm the fact that God is the sovereign Creator, the supreme Judge, and the merciful Savior.
Ancient Egypt was a single tightly organized state for much of its history (Centanni, n.d.). In all its phases, the Egyptian government was led by the pharaoh. The pharaoh was held to be descended from gods, with the power to assure success and control the rituals that assured the flow of the Nile and the fertility derived from irrigation. Wanting gods to favor Egypt, the entire population of people did not hesitate to carry out laws that the pharaoh placed upon them. Egypt’s pharaohs claimed additional power and authority as actual incarnations of the gods
The authors acknowledge that many books have been written on this topic. Their goal is to be unique by focusing on different types of literature (genres) so their readers will understand how to properly interpret them in the context they were written. This review will examine the principles the authors use to interpret the Bible. The review will summarize the book, followed by a critique, and a conclusion.
In the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, we read of the fall of man. As we study the Bible and recognize it’s importance in our lives today we must realize the role these stories play in our time. The Bible is not simply a history book or a book of stories of morality, but it is a book that speaks to us today of how we should live and interact with God. We are confronted with this fact in Genesis “through a graphic and dramatic representation it gives a
Joseph II was so keen on implementing his reforms that he did not care how his subjects felt about their changing lives. From the start of his reign, Joseph’s reforms brought conflict. His first reforms were only minor but, like many of his later ones, were opposed by the nobility and clergy, as the reforms restricted their power. Seeing the upset, Joseph’s mother decided to rule alongside him in co-regency, putting a check on what Joseph had the power to do. Once Maria died, Joseph was free to enforce all of his ideas, no matter how radical they were.
...n 1163 B.C., Egypt entered a period of slow decline (Scarre 1997:116). Pharaohs became less powerful, and their prestige dwindled. Hungry soldiers were terrorizing the community, while tomb robbers were raiding the pyramids for resources that were very much needed. They had buried their pharaohs with food, goods and jewelry, all of which were needed to keep the civilization in tact. They had built too many pyramids, and there were setbacks in Asia which corrupted trade. People did not understand why the pharaohs could not fix the problems that were going on. They viewed them as gods and lost trust and faith. Egypt fell apart as these things culminated with loss of belief in the pharaohs.
Answering these questions is the purpose of this essay. I begin by arguing that the Bible cannot be adequately understood independent of its historical context. I concede later that historical context alone however is insufficient, for the Bible is a living-breathing document as relevant to us today as it was the day it was scribed. I conclude we need both testimonies of God at work to fully appreciate how the Bible speaks to us.