In many ways, the Bible is intended to be model for how Christians should act. Family relations is not one of these ways. In Genesis alone, fraternal relationships leave a lot to be desired. Cain kills Abel, leading to the first murder and fratricide. The descendants of half-brothers Ishmael and Isaac are at war with each other. Jacob manipulated and stole from Esau and Esau intended to murder his brother. And last but not least, Joseph’s 10 brothers sell him into slavery and convince his father that he’s dead. Siblings just have a unique way of expressing their love obviously.
The source of this fraternal conflict is the unequal distribution of power among siblings. Traditional social structures assert that the firstborn son is the offspring entitled to the most wealth and inheritance. However, Anderson comments that this may be the custom of man but God has other plans. God intentionally “elects” people that would have ordinarily been meaningless specs in their family tree and gives them greater purpose. While they may not have the same short term payments as their firstborn brother, in the long term, they are much better off. For Joseph, his brothers recognize that he fits the role of “beloved son,” even though, to them, he doesn’t appear to be very special. Tension heightens whenever he relays his dreams of becoming superior to them, which makes his brothers perceive him as a threat.
The conflict isn’t resolved until the end of the narrative when the role of “beloved son” is no more. Joseph is presumed dead by his father and Israel has another child to which he can call beloved. Now that the role has been assigned to someone else, Joseph and his brothers can converse as equals. There is a sense of poetic justice that comes from Joseph’s entrapment of his brothers. Just as they delivered him to slave traders for silver, they are delivered to him for silver. It is a test to see if this silver will bring out the worst of his brothers, just like before. When they rush to protect the beloved son Benjamin instead of sacrifice him, it becomes clear that they have seen the error of their ways. The pass the test and Joseph welcomes them again as family.
Austin's Theology Responses 
The pattern of wanting to kill and steal from your sibling is very prominent. How will this change as we continue? Will siblings finally get along or will they continue to fight? Also, right before Israel dies, he blesses Joseph more than any of his brothers. If Benjamin was the favorite, then why do this? Did Joseph regain his place as the favorite? This was something that drew my attention when I was reading.
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How do you think Joseph’s brothers really realized that he was the beloved son? Do you think they were reminded of that by Jacob’s reaction to hearing he was alive?
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You bring up a strong point when highlighting the pattern tension between siblings, as it is seen quite a lot throughout Genesis. Further, the idea of their being poetic justice, symbolized through the trading of silver for a brother, is also a good point to bring up. When Joseph planted the silver cup in Benjamin’s bag, do you think that Joseph had good intentions (have mercy on his brothers), bad intentions (trick them), or was genuinely curious to see if they had changed?
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Would you say that, even if not as a whole, the Bible has some stories on how a family should act? I see your point completely in the texts that we have read recently, but I think there might be other stories that would act as good examples of family life, like maybe with Mary and Joseph.
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It is interesting how you point out that Joseph’s brothers believe there is nothing special about him and feel he is threatening their own power and command, and that the brothers rid themselves of Joseph for interests relating to power.
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