Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
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This was Joseph’s second prophetic dream. Whereas the first one had only his brothers bowing down to him, the second has his mother and father as well. However, the first time I read this I realized a discrepancy. It says that his 11 brothers as well as mother and brother will bow down to him. But how can this be? A chapter or two earlier it clearly states that Joseph’s mother died in childbirth giving birth to Benjamin (his younger brother). How can they simultaneously bow down to him if they aren’t all alive at the same time? The problem gets worse as his father, Jacob, replies to him as if his mother is still alive.
I recall reading a quote by Origen that calls on the reader to look for a deeper meaning when faced with a seeming contradiction … I wonder if this is one of those moments?
In the story of Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac, the angel repeatedly call hims, “His only begotten son.” (However, we know that’s not literally true since he has an older son named Ishmael). But when we read it with the lens of Christ, we can easily see how this is foreshadowing Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection.