Choice and change.

The sequence from Baratius 37 to 50 is the longest unbroken narrative in the Terror,

and there can be no doubt who its hero is, Joseph.

The story begins and ends with him.

We see him as a child beloved, even spoiled by his father, as an adolescent dreamer,

resented by his brothers, as a slave, then a

prisoner in Egypt, then as the second most powerful figure in the greatest empire of the ancient

world. At every stage, the narrative revolves around him and his impact on others. He dominates

the last third of Baratius, casting his shadow on

everything else. From almost the beginning, he seems destined for greatness. Yet history didn't

turn out that way. To the contrary, it was another brother who, in the fullness of time,

left his mark on the Jewish people. Indeed, we bear his name.

The covenantal family has been known by several names. One is Ivory, Hebrew, possibly related to the

ancient Abiru, meaning outsider, stranger, nomad, one who wanders from place to place. That's how Abraham and his children were

known to others. The second is Israel derived from Jacob's new name after he wrestled with God and

with man and prevailed. After the division of the kingdom and the conquest of the north by the Assyrians,

however, they became known as Yehudim, or Jews, because it was the conquest of the North by the Assyrians, however, they became known as Yehudim, or Jews,

because it was the tribe of Judah who dominated the kingdom of the South and they who survived the Babylonian exile.

So it wasn't Joseph, but Judah who conferred his identity on the people.

Judah who became the ancestor of Israel's greatest king, David,

Judah from whom the Messiah will be born.

So why Judah, not Joseph?

...