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Joseph's Bones: Understanding the Struggle Between God and Mankind in the Bible

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Joseph's Bones offers a radically different interpretation from traditional views of the relationship between God and the Israelites (and more generally humanity). Dr. Segal presents the case that, at least initially, while God is powerful, he is not omniscient, nor particularly benevolent, and indeed, may be somewhat insecure and emotionally immature. Thus, the book is concerned with understanding the content of the Bible, rather than whether the Bible itself is true or whether God exists. Nevertheless, the issues the book raises may be troublesome for people who truly believe in God (though perhaps not impossible to accept, because, by its end, the book also raises the possibility that God may have evolved into a being that could be worthy of worship). Indeed, this book may be more difficult for true believers to dismiss than are books that outright deny the existence of God, because its arguments are so tightly bound to the Bible and therefore show that the Bible itself paints a not very pretty picture of God.
The author's case is not airtight. For example, at a few points in the text assumptions or interpretations are chosen because of their interest value rather than their validity (which is impossible to prove). That said, most of the assumptions are amply buttressed by evidence and quotations from the Bible, and the arguments that flow from them are clearly laid out. Moreover, I don't believe it was the author's intention to absolutely prove his thesis, which, in fact, may be an impossibility, just as proving any particular interpretation of the Bible may be. Instead, the author has put forth an interesting and logically plausible interpretation of the historical events, and the relationship between God and humans, that are described in the Bible. In that he has succeeded admirably.
Finally, while one might expect an extended logical argument on the interpretation of events in the Bible to result a dry scholarly work, Joseph's Bones is not. Instead, the text flows nicely, and the arguments and backing evidence are presented in a very accessible fashion. In sum, the book makes for an enjoyable and stimulating read.

Joseph's Bones will be controversial. Most people will not be persuaded by its radical interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. However, if you can read it with an open mind, you will find it full of insights. Segal bases his interpretation on a close reading of the text, minus the metaphysical and theological assumptions that we take for granted as the legacy of mainstream Judaism and Christianity. He does not clutter his argument with secondary scholarship or jargon, but focuses tightly on the story, which he deeply appreciates and admires. His interpretation unfolds with some of the suspense of a detective novel, but the stakes are much higher.

A highly readable, witty and insightful interpretation of why the Israelites cherished Joseph's bones (or more likely, a sarcophagus) through 400 years of slavery and the flight from Egypt. Why did they remember Joseph's trusting charge to have his bones returned to Canaan, not immediately but for future generations? Dr. Segal explores
Joseph's story of suffering and forgiveness and finds in it an example of compassion and unconditional love. He makes a daring link between Joseph's legacy and Jesus's teachings that gives fresh meaning to the Judeo-Christian traditions . A must read for lay readers and scholars alike!

This book is a great and enjoyable read. I was raised Christian and an enthusiastic one at that, then went secular, then eclectically spiritual. The Bible remains a huge influence in my life but not one I have looked into much in recent years. This book turned my understanding of what it may mean upside down in a most exciting way: the idea that the first six books of the Bible is the story of a relationship with a powerful God who needed to be taught morality by the people he was protecting. I am no Biblical scholar but Tikkun magazine (where I work) recently included a very positive review of the book by highly respected scholar Jack Miles, Distinguished Professor of English and Religious Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God. The review can be found at www.tikkun.org and put "Joseph's Bones" in the search function.

Joseph's Bones
Understanding The Struggle Between GOD And Mankind In The Bible
Jerome M. Segal

Loved Of The LORD

I just finished reading this book and I thought you might be interested in another direction I invested in.
Being a believer and follower of Jesus for thirty years, reading this work was somewhat a strain to do, as Jerome Segal suggests, to set aside my beliefs and read with an open mind. This was indeed a trek in unexplored space for me. Yet another review to add to my list
I found Jerome Segal to be an astute student and scholar of the bible. His extensive knowledge and understanding of Holy writ is obviously displayed in this in-depth critical analysis and perspective.
Segal sets aside conventional, theological and accepted views and uses Scripture (Those he chose.) alone to radically present his contentions.
His analysis thru the Torah and Joshua (Hexateuch ) portrays GOD as a immature neophyte, who is omnipotent, yet not omniscience nor magnanimous.
He seems to have Yahweh looking for a mentor and has Abraham and Moses as instruments in respectably shaping GOD's character and perspective on obedience, justice and punishment...
His writing displays his belief and love for GOD and he is scholarly neutral in his position on the deity of JESUS, while at the same time suggesting that JESUS was also a part of Yahweh's evolution.
He emphasizes the Israelites carrying two arks with them one being the bones of Joseph, which seems feasible, as the bones were with them till they buried them in Shechem, It was probably more a sarcophagus being of the rank he held in Egypt.
The Ark of the covenant being the visible image of GOD's Law and Judgment and the ark of Joseph's Bones reminding them of Joseph's Love and Forgiveness.
As hard as it was to read, (because of my beliefs) I found it never dry and it kept my interest as a mystery would. Dr. Segal did an exceptional job showing JESUS and Joseph being alike in so many ways.
Even though I have never found two people agree completely on what Scripture is saying and as different as this was, I have to say that, "All and all it was a good read for understanding how others see The Word Of GOD."
Dr. D. P. Gatten D.Min. [...]

This is an exciting book to read. You don't know exactly where the author will take you but you know it will be interesting, thought-provoking and offer a different explanation of the Bible than you have ever read. This book is written as a consistent serious thought and not for flashi or glitter. An excellent read. It is written from the Jewish position, but aware of the Jesus of Christians.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

Though the book mentions Joseph, its subject matter encompasses the various men in both the Old and New testament who talk to God, and include Moses, Noah, Joseph, Joshua and Jesus to name the primary ones. The book argues that the Bible can be viewed as a comparison and contrast of the various relationships God has with the men cited above, and how they range from pure subservience in the case of Noah, to rounds of pleading, bargaining, and sometimes the use of shame by men to get God to agree to do or not do something, as in the case of Moses. Usually the drive for the latter is man's desire to protect his fellow men from punishment by God. The author supports his arguments with numerous quotes from the Bible. This is the first time I have considered such points, and give kudos to this book for focusing on them and linking them together into one cogent argument. The author devotes the last chapter to exploring the role that human authorship could have had in what the Bible is supposed to mean. I wish the book could have explored more on this topic, such as examining other philosophical and cultural trends occurring over the centuries that the books in the Bible were being authored. Overall, a good read, and a fast one at that.

Once again, Dr. Segal brings extraordinary insight to his subject. In "Joseph's Bones" he turns the difficult, never-ending struggle of man's relation to God and God's relation to man into a lively discussion filled with insight. I'm proud to have encouraged Dr. Segal along the way in completing this work for the result is something worth having, reading, learning from and keeping.

Others who have reviewed this book most likely have better credentials than I. I am no theologian, historian, biblical scholar or philosopher. I have immersed myself in the bible since my chilhood and consider myself well read. Mr Segal leaps to sweeping conclusions about both Joseph and God that have little concrete foundation. Certainly he is unaware of the amazing love story between God and His creation.

That the Bible stands as a text with near limitless potential analysis goes without saying; yet nothing in that unique capacity ensures that every such endeavor will prove worthy of a readers intellectual efforts. This in turn brings us to Dr. Jerome Segal's "Joseph's Bones," a highly derivative, hodgepodge of shoddy analysis, conjecture, and material from insufficiently credited scholars of far greater ability and nuance.

Before considering Dr. Segal's thesis, a mention must be given to the perspective of his analysis. One may look at the Biblical text from myriad perspectives -- historical, theological, literary, modern, post-modern - each offers its own methodology and may illuminate different aspects of the text. That said, readers should beware the author who does not explicitly say which he favors, especially if he leaps between them in order to grasp at any straw he thinks may aid his or her thesis. Dr. Segal, even as he claims to eschew "21st Century" ethical standards as a basis for reading the text, often embraces them, and a reader may well grow dizzy as he leaps to and fro in order to seize on anything that might strengthen his rather thin thesis.

What is his thesis? Dr. Segal reads the text as a conflict between two "arks" the one bearing the remnants of the original Decalogue broken by Moses and the other containing Joseph's bones; the first ark represent for Israel the power of the Divinity that brought them forth from Egypt and the latter an ethical system based on kindness and forgiveness which in his mind Joseph represents. If the notion of "two arks" strikes readers as unfamiliar, do not worry, you did not miss something in Sunday School. No, Dr. Segal engages in a torturous, highly selective, albeit occasional clever reading of the text in order to achieve this end. A few highlights of this are:

-Basing his reading on the "Hexateuch" - the Bible from Genesis through Joshua, at the end of which Israel lays Joseph's bones to rest. Which Segal often refers to the "writer" of the Bible as wishing to emphasize this, he neglects to much consider that public reading of the Torah, a practice going back at least to the 4th Century BC, excludes Joshua, ending instead at the death of Moses.

-Ignoring the lack of reference to an "Ark of Joseph" instead relying on the fact that as an Egyptian viceroy, he would have been buried in a sarcophagus (after all, we've all seen pictures of Tut) and that it is in this conveyance he would be carried. That this sarcophagus is never mentioned is given little attention, as Dr. Segal hangs his hat on a single midrashic reference; a thin basis indeed.

-Constructing --or reconstructing -- Joseph as an ethical ideal in his imagined perspective of the "text," based on his willingness to forgive his brothers. Again this seems a bit odd, ignoring Joseph's role in reducing the starving Egyptians to poverty, disrespecting his father when in his youth he claims that his Jacob will bow before him, torturing not only his deservingly guilty brothers but his father as well in the incident of the theft. All of this Dr. Segal ignores.

Of course Dr. Segal's thesis on why Israel carries Joseph's bones to the Promised Land of course fails to mention the obvious explanation and the one far more in line with the themes of the text going back to the story of Eden. The Bible tells tales of fidelity and betrayal, over and over again. The return of Joseph's bones, far from a sign of Israel's fear and loathing of the divinity is an effort to reestablish fidelity with one whom the Tribes named ancestors betrayed by selling him into slavery. By returning his bones, they symbolically redeem him from slavery, just as they were brought froth from slavery in Egypt, and in so doing liberate themselves from the guilt of their ancestors' misdeeds. In this case, as in episodes through the text, Dr. Segal rejects interpretations either because they are traditional or because they place God in a good light.

A reviewer could go on endlessly about the rather odd exegesis of Dr. Segal, his failure of imagination in being unable to consider the perspective of a bronze/iron age text, and his liberal "borrowing" of the works of other greater scholars with what might generously be described as minimal citation. Readers with less of a background may come across interesting ideas in "Joseph's Bones" without realizing they in fact belong to another. Jack Miles, author of the inventive "God: A Biography" added a jacket blurb to the book, so must not mind and the others, Buber and Heschel just to name a few, will not get the chance having long passed from the earth.

Had Dr. Segal wished to prove his thesis, he would have needed not only more evidence, but to have considered and countered the more general understandings of the text to make the case for his own. His notion of the Torah as a thing binding on man and God alike is hardly original and misses the second aspect of this school, that God and Israel together are in a long evolving relationship growing towards some goal. Over all, "Joseph's Bones" offers little new, saying more about the opinions and prejudices of a 21st Century liberal American Jew than it does about the text on which it purports comment.