"Joseph" as Allegory?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

This is probably a very stupid idea; it popped into my head during mass two Sundays ago when the priest felt the need to bring up the original Joseph in reference to Joseph the carpenter.

It occurred to me that, in some cases, the vague details of the biography of Joseph of the Many Colored Coats serves as a sort of allegory for the story of the Jewish (or Hebrew) people as a whole. This is based much more on my recollection than on a rereading of the Biblical story or the Wikipedia page, but it appears that Joseph, from birth, was identified by his father as special, if not "chosen". While his older brothers were put to work in the fields, gaining physical strength, Joseph was made to learn to read and write (or am I just remembering this from the cartoon?). His brothers resented this special treatment, eventually opting to sell Joseph into slavery. In Egypt, despite having been relegated to the position of slave, Joseph's literacy distinguishes him from others of the same class, allowing him to rise to the position of even adviser to the Pharaoh. During the imminent famine, Joseph's managerial abilities serve to benefit all, as grain is rationed under his watch.

My initial thought was that, perhaps, the story of Joseph served as a parable reinforcing the importance of literacy, a feature that, in the Common Era, set Jews apart from their contemporaries, allowing them to become part of the managerial and commercial classes. It then struck me as a potential allegory of the general history of the Jewish people. Marked by God as chosen from early on, they would nevertheless find themselves resented by the people and leadership of every polity in which they settled, betrayed, and even enslaved time and again. Despite these hardships, in a number of cases, it would be their distinctiveness that saved them, as their unique skillsets allowed them to permeate middle and upper classes of various countries in which they later settled. The Joseph story could be drawn a step further as it comes to take in all the sons of Israel: they settle in Egypt, only to be betrayed, despite what it was Joseph had done for Pharaoh. Thus would seem to be the basic pattern for much of subsequent history, both Biblical and historical.

I'm inquiring if this is half mad rambling, something others have noticed, or an original thought.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

This is based much more on my recollection than on a rereading of the Biblical story or the Wikipedia page, but it appears that Joseph, from birth, was identified by his father as special, if not "chosen". While his older brothers were put to work in the fields, gaining physical strength, Joseph was made to learn to read and write (or am I just remembering this from the cartoon?). His brothers resented this special treatment, eventually opting to sell Joseph into slavery. In Egypt, despite having been relegated to the position of slave, Joseph's literacy distinguishes him from others of the same class, allowing him to rise to the position of even adviser to the Pharaoh. During the imminent famine, Joseph's managerial abilities serve to benefit all, as grain is rationed under his watch.

My initial thought was that, perhaps, the story of Joseph served as a parable reinforcing the importance of literacy, a feature that, in the Common Era, set Jews apart from their contemporaries, allowing them to become part of the managerial and commercial classes. It then struck me as a potential allegory of the general history of the Jewish people. Marked by God as chosen from early on, they would nevertheless find themselves resented by the people and leadership of every polity in which they settled, betrayed, and even enslaved time and again. Despite these hardships, in a number of cases, it would be their distinctiveness that saved them, as their unique skillsets allowed them to permeate middle and upper classes of various countries in which they later settled. The Joseph story could be drawn a step further as it comes to take in all the sons of Israel: they settle in Egypt, only to be betrayed, despite what it was Joseph had done for Pharaoh. Thus would seem to be the basic pattern for much of subsequent history, both Biblical and historical.

I'm inquiring if this is half mad rambling, something others have noticed, or an original thought.

While Joseph was indeed doted on by Jacob, there's no mention in the bible of him being literate, let alone set aside to study. He certainly took his turn at shepherding. Still the idea that Joseph in the New Testament was chosen to harken back to Joseph of the Old Testament. Yosef, Miriam, and Yeshua all have names harking back to major Old Testament characters.