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Notes on video lecture:
The Problematic of Chosenness: Samuel and Joseph
Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
starkly, certain, parallels, temple, punish, election, demeanor, Eli, differently, enjoyed, Israel, cost, Levenson, identity, service, elevated, afraid, behaviors, Deity, violence, prophecy, unchosen
Samuel
many                    between Samuel and Joseph
like Joseph
Samuel is about to be                  to a position of high authority
Samuel's elevation is going to come at the          of someone else
replaces the priest       
Eli's sons had misused their priestly privileges
so God decided to end this priestly house's service within the             
God revealed the grounds for that to Samuel in a vision
1 Samuel, 3:2
Lord keeps calling Samuel
Samuel goes to Eli multiple times
is sent back to bed
then Lord gives Samuel a                  of what will happen
will fulfill against Eli, will              his house forever
a disturbing vision for Samuel about the man he is in                to
just as with Joseph who had had dreams which he knows will disturb his brothers
and disturbed his family
but Joseph presumably                revealing this dreams so his brothers could revel in their pain
Samuel, however, acts                       
he lay until morning, and was              to tell the vision to Eli
Samuel knows that the verdict is just, but he still feels for the man he serves
only because Eli forces Samuel does Samuel reveal his vision
this contrasts                with Joseph's behavior who was all too eager to let his brothers in on his dreams
if Joseph had been more like Samuel, he probably would have kept his dreams to himself
how do we interpret Joseph's and Samuels different                   
through the lens of Israel's understanding of itself as a chosen nation
reveals to us how the Bible reveals the category of chosenness
the problematic of chosenness
Jon D.                 
Biblical scholar
the story of Joseph is the most sustained and the most profound exploration of the problematic of chosenness
a central theological concept not only of ancient             , but of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity
derives from the disparity between the frailty of the human ego and the mysterious operations of the choosing           
human nature is not constituted so as to facilitate the acceptance of chosenness
the one chosen is sorely tempted to interpret his special status as a mandate for domination
those not chosen are unlikely to view their status with grace and quiet acceptance
the challenge of the                  is to play their subordinate role with grace and the due regard for the common good
it is in the                  of Jacob that the well-being of the family is communicated
Jacob is absorbed with inconsolable grief thinking that Joseph is dead through his brothers' ruse, it is clear that neither the chosen nor the unchosen have met their distinctive but equally arduous challenges
chosenness seems to have proven fatal not only for the chosen but for the common good, leaving in emotional ruin the family it has touched
regarding Israel's self                 
                 as we have looked at it so far in the stories of Joseph and Samuel, seems to be an arbitrary acquisition of power by one group over another
leads to tension and perhaps                 
the reader must ask:
does God really intend this?
what is God doing by elevating                people in this fashion?

Vocabulary:

expiate, v. make amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing  "Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering for ever."
Eponymous Ancestors in the Bible
The Story of Jacob and his Sons
The Biblical Motif of First Born Son
The Shepherd Motif
Joseph's Dreams
The Problematic of Chosenness: Samuel and Joseph
Joseph in the Pit: Descent and Ascent
The Three Descents and Ascents of Joseph
Change in the Non-Elect
Joseph's Prison Dreams
The Symbolic of Joseph's Dreams as Service Not Power
Judah Pleads to Joseph for Benjamin
Judah as Most Important Son of Jacob
The Concept of Salvator Mundi
Transition from Israel to Jesus
Elijah and the Restoration of Israel
Preparing for the Restoration
Historical Jesus and the Importance of Criteria
The Historical Jesus and the Criteria of Coherence
Jesus: Who Do You Say I Am?
Chosenness and Responsibility to Love and Service
Discipleship as Service to Others
The Travel Narrative: Humanity's Blindness
Who was Responsible for the Death of Jesus
Rembrandt's Depictions of the Trial of Jesus