Anna Karenina: Part V, Chapter 6

Joseph and His Brethren Welcomed, James Tissot

This week's passage is found in Part V, Chapter 6 of Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. I've divided it into three posts. Today I'll cover the portions highlighted in green, and blue. In last Sunday's post I covered the red, orange and yellow sections.

We are nearing the end of the wedding ceremony of Levin and Kitty. They've plighted their troth to one another, and now it is time for the final prayer.

They prayed:

'Endow them with continence and fruitfulness, and vouchsafe that their hearts may rejoice looking upon their sons and daughters.'

They alluded to God's creation of a wife from Adam's rib, 'and for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh,' and that 'this is a great mystery'; they prayed that God would make them fruitful and bless them, like Isaac and Rebecca, Joseph, Moses and Zipporah, and that they might look upon their children's children. 'It's all beautiful,' thought Kitty, catching her words, 'just as it should be,' and a smile of happiness, unconsciously reflected in everyone who looked at her, beamed on her radiant face.

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 Joseph

Genesis 37, Genesis 40-50
This is referring to Joseph from the Old Testament. He was the favored son of Jacob. His older brothers sold him into slavery because they were jealous of him. Later, through a miraculous series of events, he rose to become a powerful ruler in Egypt -- second only to Pharaoh. In one of the Bible's most ironic twists, Joseph's treacherous brothers ended up showing him obeisance. His story is significant to all of the Abrahamic religions because it "connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt." source


Moses and Zipporah

Exodus 2
Moses was born a slave in Egypt yet became a prince when he was adopted by Pharoah's daughter. He met Zipporah, his wife, while hiding out in Midian after he killed an Eygptian (whom Moses witnessed brutally striking a Hebrew). Zipporah was the daughter of Jethro, a Midianite priest.

Moses is also an important character in Abrahamic religions.

He was a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed . . . he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths. source

The complete story of Moses is found in four books of the Bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Moses is accredited with transcribing the first five books which are known as the Pentateuch or the Torah (Hebrew Scripture).

Next week I'll wrap up this passage with some links to Scripture which refer to the blessing of children.

Blessings to all! Have a great Sunday!

*All Scripture quotes are from the King James Version unless otherwise stated.

(Source: BibleGateway. Image Source: WikiPaintings)

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