Sale of Yosef in Art

Introduction

One of the most dramatic scenes in the Yosef narrative is when he is sold as a slave. The three artworks shown here, the engraving by Gustave Doré,¹ the image from the Hortus Deliciarum,² and the lithograph by an unknown artist,³ all depict the scene. The many differences in the details of the images raise questions as to who participated in the sale, the identity of the merchants, and the nature of Yosef's coat.

Contrasting Images

Gustave Doré

Dore's print highlights the merchants rather than the brothers. Several sit upon the camels, while others stand in a half circle around Yosef. The image divides them into two groups, with some colored in light shades and others in dark. Yosef himself is garbed in white, with no evidence of his "כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים" anywhere in the image. As he faces one of the merchants, his back is to the viewer, leaving his expression unknown. In the top right of the image, the brothers stand in a group, presumably dividing up the money from the sale.

Hortus Deliciarum

The  picture from the Hortus Deliciarum is the most static of the images, depicting only the various characters of the story and almost no activity.  The eleven brothers stand in a group to the left, each dressed similarly in rich colored cloaks. Yosef is significantly younger than them, and uniquely dressed in a striped garment.⁴  He looks back at his brothers as he is taken by the Yishmaelites, perhaps accusingly, perhaps just perplexed. Two merchants are portrayed on the right. One stands by the loaded donkeys, while the other grasps Yosef by the arm and pays the brothers.

Providence Lithograph

In this colorful image, only five of the brothers are depicted. They stand in a semi-circle, waiting for the elder brother to divvy up the money from the sale. The brother in the corner of the picture holds a colored garment, presumably, Yosef's cloak. None of them pay attention to the pleading Yosef as he is led away by a merchant to the trail of camels.

Relationship to the Biblical Text

The artists' choices reflect certain ambiguities in the Biblical text and different possible interpretive stances:

Number of Brothers

The Hortus Deliciarum has all the brothers participate in the sale, while Dore and the unknown artist portray only a few of them (seven and five respectively). How many brothers were actually present during the sale? Most readers assume that everyone but Reuven and Binyamin played a part. The text, though, is ambiguous. Only Yehuda is mentioned by name and the number of accompanying brothers is not explicit. R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 37:25About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, in fact, suggests that half the brothers were shepherding with Reuven when the Midianite merchants passed, and these were unaware of the sale. See Who Sold Yosef for more.

כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים

The unknown artist paints Yosef's cloak in solid colors while in the Hortus Deliciarum it is portrayed as a striped garment.⁵ Which depiction best matches a "כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים"? Though readers versed in modern Hebrew assume that the phrase refers to a striped coat, the meaning of the word "פַּסִּים" is unclear in Biblical Hebrew. It appears in only two other places in Tanakh, in Shemuel II 13:18-19,⁶ where it can refer to any adjective that might be applied to a tunic, and, in Aramaic, in Daniel 5:5 where it seems to mean the palm of a hand. Commentators in Bereshit, thus, offer an array of possible meanings including: long sleeved, embroidered, striped, colored, and ankle-length.⁷

Midianites or Yishmaelites?

Though not highlighted, in the lithograph the merchants appear to all be dressed similarly and be part of one long caravan. In Dore's image, in contrast, they appear to be divided into two groups, some portrayed in darker shades and others in lighter tones. The different portrayals might relate to a difficulty in the Biblical text. While Bereshit 37:25,27 and the end of verse 28, speak of selling Yosef to the Yishmaelites, the beginning of verse 28 as well as verse 36 speak instead of Midianite merchants. What is the relationship between these two groups? Are they simply different names for the same people?⁸ Did the caravan contain traders of multiple ethnicities,⁹ or was Yosef later resold from one group of slave traders to another?¹⁰ See Who Sold Yosef.

"When he pleaded with us…"

In both the lithograph and the Hortus Deliciarum, Yosef turns towards his brothers with an imploring look, perhaps pleading with them not to go through withe sale. Interestingly, in Bereshit 37, there is no mention at all of Yosef's reaction to the sale. It is only in Chapter 42, when Yosef accuses the brothers of spying, that we hear from the brothers, "אֲשֵׁמִים אֲנַחְנוּ עַל אָחִינוּ אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ צָרַת נַפְשׁוֹ בְּהִתְחַנְנוֹ אֵלֵינוּ וְלֹא שָׁמָעְנוּ". It is unclear if Yosef's anguished cries were a response to being thrown into the pit or to the sale.¹¹ Moreover, why does the text share this fact only at this later point in the story?¹²

¹ Gustave Doré (1832–1883) was a French artist, printmaker, and illustrator.  This engraving was made as part of 241 images for La Grande Bible de Tours (1866), an illustrated edition of the 1843 French translation of the Vulgate Bible.

² The Hortus Deliciarum is a 12th century illuminated encyclopedia compiled by a nun named Herrad of Landsberg at the Hohenburg Abbey in Alsace. The original manuscript was destroyed in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, but by then many of the images had already been reproduced. A copy of the book was published between the years 1879-1899.

³ This illustration was published in 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company.

⁴ Interestingly, though, it looks much shabbier than the brothers' cloaks.

⁵ The cloak is held by one of the brothers in the back left of the image. A close look reveals that it is made of alternating strips of dark colors.

⁶ Here, too, the verses speak of a כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים, elaborating only that this was the royal garb of virgin princesses.

⁷ See the various opinions brought in Bereshit Rabbah84:8About Bereshit Rabbah, Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan)Bereshit 37:3About Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan), Ibn EzraBereshit 37:3About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, and RadakBereshit 37:3About R. David Kimchi.

⁸ See Ibn EzraBereshit 37:28About R. Avraham ibn Ezra who takes this approach.

⁹ See R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 37:25About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor who points out that the Yishmaelites and Midianites were all related, being born from the concubines of Avraham, and were traveling together in the same caravan.

¹⁰ See RashiBereshit 37:28About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki who prefers this option.

¹¹ Compare Seikhel TovBereshit 42:21About R. Menachem b. Shelomo and RadakBereshit 42:21About R. David Kimchi.

¹² See RambanBereshit 42:21About R. Moshe Nachmanides who suggests that the Torah found it unnecessary to relay this information, as pleading would be the natural reaction of anyone in such a situation. Alternatively, the Torah was silent so as not to portray the brothers in an even more negative light, or simply, because Torah often is concise in one area while elaborating in another.