Parallels between Joseph of Egypt, Adam, and Christ

There are a lot of parallels between Joseph of Egypt, Adam and Jesus Christ. Since nearly all Old Testament figures have parallels and are symbolic to other figures (most commonly symbolic of Christ) I looked into which figure Joseph of Egypt tracked better with. I would say that the evidence favors Joseph being more Christlike than Adamic, but there are striking parallels between both of them that I found interesting:

*I received some help from here
**Received help from “The Hidden Christ” or “The Holy Secret,” both by James Ferrell

Highlights and Commentary

Coats

This whole idea to study this came from noticing that Adam and Joseph were both given some sort of coat just before they got kicked out from the presence of their Fathers. For whatever it’s worth, the same Hebrew word (Kthnuth or כְּתֹנֶת) is used to describe the coat of skins that Adam received in the Garden, as well as the coat that Joseph received from Jacob.

Christ had a notable coat as well. All four gospels refer to the Roman soldiers casting lots for Christ’s garments, but John gets the most specific, noting that

The coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

John 19:23

Where the other Gospels use some form of the Greek word “himatia” to describe Christ’s garments, John identifies Christ’s robe using the word “chitOn.” “Himatia” is usually translated to “garments” in English, while “chitOn” is translated to the word “coat.” It’s hard to go too far in interpreting any parallels between Christ’s coat, Joseph’s coat, and Adam’s coat when it passes through so much translation detail and when clothing shows up as an extremely common theme throughout the scriptures, but there might be opportunities there.

One thought being the fact that Christ’s coat and Joseph’s coat were both made quite bloody. Gen 37:31 explicitly mentions the brothers dipping Joseph’s coat into the blood of a goat. Although the New Testament doesn’t contain a phrase explicitly saying that Christ’s clothing was made bloody, they put his raiment back on Him after scourging Him (Matt 27:31). Isaiah also includes prophecy relating to the second coming in Isa 63:2-3, pointing out that Christ’s robes will be red with His “garments like him that treadeth the winefat.”

I’m not sure what new things to learn from the fact that both had significant coats made bloody, but sometimes it seems that parallels exist to help us gain context. If we have evidence like this to show us that Joseph may be a Christ figure, then it provides some justification to see if other aspects of his life provide additional insights into the significance of Christ.

 Egypt as the World

Many of the parallels require Egypt to represent the world. Just as Joseph may be a tad ambiguous in what he symbolizes depending on the instance, Egypt has many potential meanings attached to it throughout scripture. Some of these include being a place of refuge, as well as of oppression; a place of deliverance as well as of bondage; a place of wisdom as well as of false knowledge (see Bible Study Tools or LDS.org).

I find the “Egypt as the world” symbolism legitimate as well since it seems to be a place that the patriarchs, as well as the children of Israel in general, seem to go to for a time and then return to the “land of their Fathers.” Just as how all of us leave the presence of our Heavenly Father to come to the world with the goal of returning, Egypt can play the role of Earth. This make Joseph a bit more of an Adamic figure since he and Adam both lead God’s children to a very terrestrial realm, only to be later extracted with the help of God’s power and One sent by Him. This creates an analogy that Joseph is to Adam where Moses is to Christ.

Reading the story of Joseph, as well as that of the Exodus, become far more interesting and pertinent to our day in that light. You have to be careful extrapolating too far, but this idea lends itself to the story of Moses being a foreshadowing narrative of the Second Coming. The Book of Revelation already made it clear that plagues would be a thing, but will we also be in a sort of bondage to worldly rulers when that time comes? Will the words of God’s prophets make things harder and cause us to disdain God’s word (Exo 5:19-23)? What will be our “red sea” that we have to cross?

Bringing All Under King’s Rule

This is one of the parallels I found most interesting. When I first read how Joseph first brought in all the money, then all the cattle, then all the land (which pretty much bought the people themselves) I initially thought that it sucked to be the people. Looking at the parallels, it makes more sense as a symbol of Christ. Although I have also heard this story used to point out how governments only give their people goodies as a way of gaining more power over them, it’s worth noting the potential symbolism here, since Christ will certainly be bringing all things under the rule of the Father. Although it may not have been the ideal situation for the people in Joseph’s time to be fully ruled by the kingdom, it will be much better under God’s rule.

Adam with God

For my analysis, I used the Latter-day Saint understanding of Michael the Archangel referred to in Revelation 12:7–that Michael is Adam, the same that was the first man on the earth. Different sects and religions have different interpretations for who Michael is, so you may have to ignore certain parallels that rest on my assumptions here.

 Moses, D&C, And Other New Books

You may notice some references to books that you haven’t heard of in the chart. You have probably figured out that I’m a Mormon (LDS) by now, and I have made use of all of the scriptures I believe are true (which include the Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants (D&C), and the Pearl of Great Price, together often called The Standard Works). Once again, if you don’t ascribe to LDS beliefs, you may need to ignore parallels that depend on such assumptions.

Keep seeking truth.