Summary: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph — Genesis 12-50

• Abram and Sarai go to Egypt and Abram tells Pharaoh Sarai is his sister; God intervenes.
• Abram and Lot separate; Lot is captured in a local war and Abram rescues him; Melchizedek blesses Abram.
• Sarai gives Haggar to Abram in order to produce an heir; Haggar bears Ishmael; Haggar and Ishmael are banished (Ishmael becomes the father of the Arab people).
• God changes Abram’s name to Abraham and establishes circumcision as the sign of his covenant with the Israelites.
• God promises a son, Isaac, to Abraham and Sarah (her new name).
• God judges and destroys Sodom and Gomorrah; during the escape Lot’s wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt.
• Abraham obeys God’s direction to sacrifice Isaac, but God provides a sacrificial ram at the last moment.
• Abraham dies at 175 and is buried with Sarah.
• Isaac marries Rebekah and she has twins – Esau and Jacob.
• Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew.
• Jacob deceives Isaac into blessing him instead of Esau, the first-born; Jacob then leaves the family home to escape Esau’s anger.
• Jacob dreams of a ladder between the earth and heaven and sets up a pillar at Bethel.
• Jacob marries Laban’s daughters, first Leah then Rachel; he ends up having 11 sons and a daughter with them and their two servants.
• Jacob works twenty years for Laban, then tricks him in order to leave with his extended family and the wealth he has earned.
• During the trip Jacob wrestles with God, who dislocates Jacob’s hip and changes his name to Israel.
• Jacob returns to Canaan and makes peace with Esau and buys property in Shechem.
• Jacob’s daughter Dinah is raped in Shechem and her brothers avenge the rape by destroying the town.
• Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin.
  Isaac dies at 180; Esau and Israel bury him.
• Israel favors Joseph over his other brothers.

• Joseph dreams his brothers bow down to him and also dreams his father and mother bowed to him as well as his brothers.
• Joseph’s brothers sell him to a caravan, but Reuben and Israel believe he was killed by a wild animal; Joseph ends up in Egypt.
• Israel’s son, Judah marries a Canaanite woman and has several children.
• In Egypt, Joseph works for Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, but Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him and falsely accuses him when he refuses – Joseph ends up in prison.
• Joseph interprets dreams for Pharaoh’s servants, which leads to interpreting Pharaoh’s dream of seven good years before a famine.
• Joseph becomes Pharaoh’s chief governor, marries and has two sons – Manasseh and Ephraim.
• Israel sends his sons to Egypt to seek relief from the famine; Joseph recognizes them but they don’t recognize him; he sends all the brothers but one back with instructions to return with Benjamin, the youngest brother.
• The brothers return to Canaan with the grain and the money Joseph had returned to them, but Israel refuses to let them take Benjamin.
• The famine forces Israel to send the brothers back to Egypt with Benjamin; Joseph continues to conceal his identity.
• Joseph sends the brothers back with grain (and their money), but he sets it up to look like Benjamin stole his silver cup; he has the brothers stopped and returned to him.
• Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers; he tells Pharaoh and Pharaoh then tells them to get the rest of their family and move to Egypt; Israel’s entire family moves to Egypt and settles in the area called Goshen.
• Israel blesses Joseph and his sons and directs Joseph to bury his remains in Canaan with Abraham and Isaac; Israel then prophesies about each of his sons.
• Joseph forgives his brothers before he dies at 110 and is buried in Egypt.
• Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph,
  [Exodus 1:8]

Genesis 29-30*
(Birth order)
Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Issachar
Zebulum
Joseph
Benjamin