Joseph and the Way of Forgiveness: A Biblical Tale Retold

Written about the same biblical family as Anita Diamant’s novel, The Red Tent Stephen Mitchell’s Joseph and the Way of Forgiveness retells the story of Jacob’s favorite son, with insight into the characters that wouldn’t be known from just reading the biblical account. With the artistic liberties that Mitchell allowed himself, the reader is better able to relate on certain notes to these characters, keeping in mind that his retelling of some of the stories involving the family of Joseph are stretched a little far and are, for lack of better words, lies compared to the true biblical telling by Moses in the book of Genesis. That being said, from a literary perspective, Jacob’s personal reasons for his favoritism toward his second son based on past relationships with family and past loves make his actions more understandable, but still not, especially in our current society, acceptable. Mitchell has retold many stories in Genesis which should be known by all and has added his personal flair to help the reader better relate and understand, bringing them entertainment and additional insight into the workings of God through men.