Restoration of Torah Ministries’ Haftarah Connections
Finding Thematic Connections Between Parashat Vayeishev (Genesis 37:1-40:23) and the Haftarah Reading (Amos 2:6-3:8)
1. How is Amos 3:1 (Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[1]
2. How is Amos 3:3 (Can two walk together, except they be agreed) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[2]
3. How is Amos 2:13 (Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[3]
4. How is Amos 3:6 (If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[4]
5. How is Amos 3:7 (Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[5]
6. How is Amos 2:11 (I raised up some of your sons as prophets, And some of your young men as Nazirites. Is it not so, O you children of Israel?” Says the Lord.) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[6]
- How is a Amos 2:12 (“But you gave the Nazarites wine to drink, And commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[7]
- How is Amos 2:11 – (And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men [r[n] for Nazarites) thematically connection to the Torah portion? [8]
9. How is Amos 2:6 (Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they sell the righteous for silver, And the poor for a pair of sandals.) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[9]
- How is Amos 2:7a (They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, And pervert the way of the humble . . .) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[10]
11. How is Amos 3:4 (Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[11]
12. How is Amos 2:7b (They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, And pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, To defile My holy name.) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[12]
13. How is Amos 3:2 (“You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[13]
14. How is Amos 2:16 (The most courageous men of might Shall flee naked in that day,” Says the Lord.) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[14]
15. How is Amos 2:6 (Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[15]
16. How is Amos 3:5 (Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[16]
17. How is Amos 2:12 (“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, And commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[17]
18. How is Amos 2:8 (They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge, And drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.) thematically connected to the Torah portion?[18]
Copyright Ó 2014 Restoration of Torah Ministries[1] Genesis 37:1-2 – Remember that Jacob’s sojourn in Padan Aram is seen as an Exile from Canaan. Therefore, when Jacob and his family left Padan Aram and returned to Canaan Scripture sees that as a prophetic forshadowing of what is referred to here in Amos 3:1, the return of Israel from their exile in Egypt to the land of Canaan.
[2] Genesis 37:4 – And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. The passage in Amos speaks of the strife and disagreements that follow when people are not agreed and is therefore connected to the family strife of Jacob’s family.
[3] Genesis 37:7 – For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
[4] Genesis 50:20 – But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Once we get to the end of the story of Jacob’s life we realize that the evil and strife that Jacob’s family experienced was all part of Adonai’s plan.
[5] Genesis 37:5-10; 40:5-23 – These passages recount how God used Joseph as a prophet, revealing prophetic dreams and secrets to him concerning future events.
[6] Clearly, Joseph was raised up from amongst Jacob’s sons as a prophet.
[7] Genesis 37:5-10 - Joseph’s brothers rejected his dreams which were actually prophetic revelations from Adonai. This is consistent with the Haftarah reading where there is opposition to the prophetic messages brought forth by Joseph.
[8] Genesis 37:2 - This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad (r[n) was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. Both passages refer to a lad, or youth.
[9] Genesis 37:26-28 – The brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver
[10] Genesis 40:15 – For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
[11] Genesis 37:33 – And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
[12] Genesis 38:18 – Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” So she said, “Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and [Judah] went in to her [his daughter-in-law], and she conceived by him.
[13] Genesis 38:25-26 – . . . By the man, whose these are, am I with child . . . And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I. Thus, Judah suffered punishment by humiliation in the same manner he had sinned against Jacob his father. Remember, it was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph into slavery. The connection between Judah’s participation in the sin of deceiving Jacob and his measure for measure humiliation in the incident with Tamar is clearly seen in the Artscroll Chumash translation. Note the phrasing of words when the brothers deceived Jacob concerning Joseph’s “death”: “ . . . ‘We found this; identify, if you please: Is it your son’s tunic or not?’” (Genesis 37:32). Now look at how this exact phrase re-appears when Judah is confronted with his sin against Tamar: “ . . . ‘By the man to whom these belong I am with child.’ And she said, ‘Identify, if you please, whose are this signet, this wrap, and this staff.’” (Genesis 38:25). The usage and re-appearance of the phrase, “identify, if you please”, clearly connect these two stories teaching measure for measure divine judgment.
[14] Genesis 39:12 – that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. Although he didn’t flee naked, it is clear that Joseph’s flight without his coat is connected to the Haftarah passage thematically.
[15] Genesis 40:12-13 – The three branches are three days . . . within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head . . .
[16] Genesis 40:17 – In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”
[17] The Haftarah verse relates how the Nazirites were tempted to sin by having them drink wine. This is thematically connected to how Potiphar’s wife tried to tempt Joseph to have relations with her. Genesis 39:7 – And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”
[18] Genesis 38:18 – Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” So she said, “Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.