Silver Cup

Why does Joseph plant the silver cup? What is the ultimate aim of such a move? How does this relate to his status as the beloved son? Appeal explicitly to the story as a whole (i.e. Gen 37-50) and to article from Anderson in your answer?

In the chapters 37-50 of the Book of the Genesis, we are taught the stories of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph was the little brother, and he used to have dreams of moments when his own brothers and family would bow to him. His big brothers used to be very jealous of him and when they had the chance, one day as they were working in the fields, they decided to kill him. Nevertheless, this did not go as they planned, for they were convinced not to kill him but just to throw him into a whole where water was supposed to be kept. Moreover, they took the robe their father had given Joseph and filled it with animal blood so their father would think that Joseph had died rather than disappeared.

This was not really what happened, for Joseph was sold by his brothers to the Egyptians that were going by. It was a life full of downfalls for him, but in the end he got to be the ruler of Egypt. One day his brothers were starving, there was a famine that would last for a very long time, and they decided to go to Egypt and ask the ruler for food. It was then that Joseph was able to recognize them, but they did not recognize their younger brother. Joseph decided to plant the silver cup in Benjamin’s bag just to see what would happen when their brothers and Benjamin were accused. As the guards found out that Benjamin was “stealing” the silver cup, the older brothers stood up for him and decided they would not leave him alone in this horrible situation. Joseph cried a lot as he learned that his brothers had changed from how they used to be, and gave them food and reconciled.