Feasting like Royalty in a Time of Famine: Reflections on the Meaning and Composition of the Feast in Gen 43:15–34

Abstract

This investigation of the composite text of the feast in Gen 43 explores how Joseph’s banquet with his brothers—and the placement of Joseph’s cup in Gen 44—functions as performative action in establishing the relationships between the commensal parties. In this way, the feast takes part in the larger story’s narrative thread of the complex reconciliation of the brothers. The argument explores the nature of this meal from several angles: (1) insights provided by anthropological theory on power dynamics at feasts, (2) illumination cast by ancient comparative texts, especially related to Persian feasting, and (3) light shed on the feast’s meaning by the significance of the cup in Persian feasts, given the cup’s role in Gen 44 to concretize the feast’s performative action in Gen 43:31–34.