“♫ Feed the Birds…tuppence a bag…tuppence… tuppence…tuppence a bag.♫” (click for video…if you are reading this via email, visit the site) One of my favorite goodnight songs from Mary Poppins. And just before the sweet voice of Julie Andrews lulls you into a land of dreams and birds, let us examine the Old Testament.
Today’s reading covers Israel’s (Jacob’s) move to Egypt, his settlement in Goshen, the result of the famine and Israel’s (Jacob’s) last days. As with the last few OT readings, the vast majority of this reading is simply the recitation of historical facts and need no explanation, but here are a few notes:
Joseph brings both his sons to Israel for a blessing, and he places the older son on the right hand side and the younger on the left. Israel crosses his hands so that his right hand is on the younger and the left hand is on the eldest. This upsets Joseph, who tries to correct Israel (who is blind at this point) but Israel tells Joseph he knows what he is doing.
This is interesting, the fact that Israel gives the younger grandson the “right hand” blessing, i.e. the greater blessing. This seems to be the way of this family, as Jacob (now Israel) stole his older brother’s blessing, then Joseph, (the second youngest) was given the multi-colored tunic (which was normally reserved for the first-born son of a family) and now Jacob is blessing the younger son.
