Figuring Resurrection: Joseph as a Death and Resurrection Figure in the Old Testament and Second Temple Judaism

by Jeffrey Pulse

2022 Center for Biblical Studies Award Finalist in Old Testament
The death and resurrection of Joseph. Towards the end of Genesis, the narrative slows down to tell the story of Joseph. There is no dispute that Joseph's story is unique, but why does it deserve such focused attention? And how does this story relate to the rest of Genesis?
In Figuring Resurrection, Jeffrey Pulse presents the view that Joseph is a death-and-resurrection figure. A close literary reading of Genesis 37–50 reveals that Joseph's story is one of rejection and restoration, descent and ascent, condemnation and exaltation, exile and return, death and resurrection. Far from a lengthy diversion, Joseph's story of "death and resurrection" plays an important role in the theology of Genesis and later Second Temple Jewish literature. Figuring Resurrection has implications for our understanding of Joseph's narrative, the book of Genesis, Hebrew thinking on the afterlife, and typology.

Genres: Old Testament

288 pages, Paperback

Published March 17, 2021

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of the death and resurrection themes found in the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50, and the ways in which the ancient Jewish community (and a little on the early Christian community) interpreted this story. Nothing groundbreaking, but definitely a good read. It is a bit technical in some places, but any interested layperson could read 99% of the chapters on the overview of Gen 37-50 and the concluding chapters without trouble.

The opening two chapters deal with Pulse's interpretive method, and unless this is your cup of tea you may want to skip these. All you need to know is that Pulse reads the Joseph story, and the Bible as a whole, as a unified theological narrative.

Pulse also dedicates multiple chapters in the second half of the book to some targums and other ancient Jewish writings on Joseph, and while these were interesting it was not always clear how these related to the death and resurrection theme. In a few places it got a bit repetitive and covered things already mentioned multiple times in the preceding chapters, almost as if the author was writing in such a way that anyone familiar with the Joseph story and the literature around it could pick up any chapter in this book on its own and read it without having to read the preceding chapters.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this book, Pulse argues that the life of Joseph is a figure of the death and resurrection. Throughout the course of his argument, there are a lot of insights into the text. Also, I found his engagement with the Genesis targum and the LXX of interest. He is not arguing here that Joseph is a direct type of Jesus (i.e., a salvific figure) but that the various layers of his life parallel death and resurrection. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in a close reading of the Hebrew text and for the reader interested in the theological import of Joseph's life.