Letter to the Ordinary Egyptian (Gen 46 & 47)

Dear Ordinary Egyptian

I write this letter to you, not knowing you but understanding you were impacted by the events we read of in these few chapters.

The account focuses on the migrants, Joseph and his family but I wonder what life was like for you at this time of famine. As I read through I am aware you were suffering real hardship and you would have seen your ruler providing wagons for these foreigners. I am sure the wagons would have been identifiable in some way as being provided by Pharaoh, who seemed to be doing very well out of your suffering and having to give him all you had for food.

It says 70 people came into Egypt with Jacob. I wonder what size settlements were then and what impact an extra 70 people (and I am thinking this number may not be exact but rather may be one of ritual significance) have in each area they stopped. Did they share their food with the local inhabitants or not and if not did this build up resentment?

I suspect they were not the only people to come into Egypt at this time of famine searching for some pasture or anything which might help them survive.

When they took the best land they were given did you or others get displaced? I wonder what you felt about this. I can see how the disruption caused may have caused social problems and perhaps the rise of racism.

When the famine was at its most severe how did you feel about Joseph and Pharaoh? It seems that the worst aspects of the market economy are at play here. When supply fails and demand is high the prices increase and in this case actually require you to become exploited whilst the richest in society get rich through this. In this case it shows how you become surfs as a result of this natural disaster and yet you show gratitude for this because you say it was enabled you to survive.

Did the fact that the Canaanites had been able to buy food too cause division between your peoples?

I can’t get my head around quite what it must have been like. Yet we see different echoes in our own society. Greece is a country which is suffering economic suffering, in a large part as a result of the debt repayment conditions being put on it by the EU but they are also having to deal with a migrant crisis.

In terms of the ethics of it all reading through it helps me to understand how racism and division might grow but also it underlines that those who should be targeted are not migrants but rather those exploiting these situations for profit.

I know I am supposed to see Joseph as a kind of hero in this over all tale but to be honest I see him as a man who used his power to exploit others. The fact that God seems to be putting him in this position and almost encouraging the exploitation is something I find really problematic. Yet, I do wonder if through these actions more of your people’s lives were saved than if the famine had taken hold without any planning.