--- title: "The Sale of Joseph in Genesis 37:18–26: Narrative Cohesion and Coherence — McAffee 2024" description: "The author tests the documentary split of Genesis 37 into J (Judah, Ishmaelites) and E (Reuben, Midianites) against cohesion and coherence theory…" authors: ["Matthew McAffee"] year: 2024 venue: "Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 24" source: "https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29634" doi: "10.5508/jhs29634" licence: "CC BY 4.0 (Journal of Hebrew Scriptures)" licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License" canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/mcaffee-2024-sale-joseph-genesis-37-1826/" --- [Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/mcaffee-2024-sale-joseph-genesis-37-1826/) [home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [2024](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2024/page/6/) / The Sale of Joseph in Genesis 37:18–26: Narrative Cohesion and Coherence # The Sale of Joseph in Genesis 37:18–26: Narrative Cohesion and Coherence **Authors:** Matthew McAffee · **Year:** 2024 · **Venue:** Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 24, article 5 **Link:** [doi.org/10.5508/jhs29634](https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29634) · **Licence:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) [**0** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W4406772299) OpenAlex, 2026-10-14 · [Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 24](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/journal-of-hebrew-scriptures/) · published by [University of Alberta](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/publishers/university-of-alberta/) · [licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) - [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29634) - [PDF](https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/download/29634/21645) - [DOI 10.5508/jhs29634](https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29634) - [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W4406772299) **Authors (1)** 1. [Matthew McAffee](https://openalex.org/A5019013730) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2568-5387) · [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/122391847) · h 3 · 32 citations · 36 works Citations and author metrics: OpenAlex, 2026-10-14; authors with the same name are not always told apart. ## What it is about The author tests the documentary split of Genesis 37 into J (Judah, Ishmaelites) and E (Reuben, Midianites) against cohesion and coherence theory (Halliday–Hasan; cohesion as overt textual ties, coherence as semantic-pragmatic relations). He lists ties that cross the proposed source line: lexical (Joseph's approach — seen from afar v. 18, "here comes this dreamer" v. 19, "when Joseph came to his brothers" v. 23 — and Reuben's reply mirroring the brothers' "kill… cast" with "shed no blood… cast"), grammatical (וּבְטֶרֶם יִקְרַב, a temporal clause with yiqtol as past imperfective, dependent on the main clause across the split), instantial ("Reuben heard" v. 21 needs the brothers' plan of v. 20 as its object), and global (Reuben's "did I not tell you" in 42:22). Split, each source loses these referents; read whole, the chapter is coherent, and the Ishmaelite/Midianite alternation is the only real basis for the division. ## Ideas - I2. A participant's approach as one chain: "see from afar" → הִנֵּה + participle בָּא in a quote → וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר בָּא. The world reader should merge these into one movement event seen from two viewpoints (narrator and characters), a test case for event coreference. - I3. טֶרֶם/בְּטֶרֶם + yiqtol = a past action not yet completed when the main event happened; a tense rule for the gloss and the world's timeline (Gen 37:18, 27:33). - I4. Gen 37:25–36 (Ishmaelites, Midianites, Medanites) is a hard, labelled case for participant tracking: whether two group names co-refer is exactly what a reader must decide, so the world should keep both readings open. ## For Mova - I1. Speech as the object of perception: a וַיִּשְׁמַע with no object right after a quote takes that quote as what was heard. A world/`prag` rule linking the hearing event to the preceding speech event; test on Gen 37:21, 27:5, 18:10. I1 and I2 belong to the world reader and to `tools/macula/src/prag.rs` (speech carry, events), described in [languages/hbo/09-discourse.md](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/09-discourse/) (participant tracking, speech). I3 goes to `06-verb.md` (yiqtol in the past) and `08-syntax.md` (temporal clauses). I4 is a test case for participant tracking in `09-discourse.md`; Mova takes no position on sources. ## Institutions Also on the byline: [Welch College](https://ror.org/03xj38z92). 📚 Shelves 4[Arts and Humanities · 7,418 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/) · [Language and Linguistics · 7,357 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/language-and-linguistics/) · [Literature and Literary Theory · 271 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/literature-and-literary-theory/) · [Religious studies · 203 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/religious-studies/) 🧭 Topics 2[Hebrew & Aramaic · 474 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/hebrew-aramaic/) · [Biblical Hebrew · 254 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/biblical-hebrew/) ## Cite Cite as Matthew McAffee. 2024. The Sale of Joseph in Genesis 37:18–26: Narrative Cohesion and Coherence. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 24. The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. [DOI 10.5508/jhs29634](https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29634) ```bibtex @article{mcaffee2024sale, title = {{The Sale of Joseph in Genesis 37:18–26: Narrative Cohesion and Coherence}}, author = {Matthew McAffee}, journal = {Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 24}, year = {2024}, doi = {10.5508/jhs29634}, url = {https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29634} } ``` - [← previous The influence of foreign languages on the Algerian dialect of the Arabic language](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/s-2024-influence-foreign-languages-algerian-dialect/) - [next → What to Teach: Bilingual Arabic Teachers' Beliefs and Stances about Pedagogical Translanguaging and Transdialecting](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/deiri-2024-teach-bilingual-arabic-teachers-beliefs/) - [↑ back to papers of 2024](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2024/page/6/) Updated 23 October 2026