Genesis 44 · a question people ask
Did Joseph really use his cup for divination?
Joseph has his steward say of the cup, "by which he indeed divines" (44:5), and he tells the brothers, "Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed do divination?" (44:15). Genesis doesn't say he did, and the law later forbids "one who uses divination" (Deuteronomy 18:10). Protestants read these lines in two main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Part of the test
Those who hold this view take the words as part of the role Joseph plays with his brothers, who still don't know him (42:7-8). Elsewhere Joseph gives God the credit for what he knows: "Don’t interpretations belong to God?" (40:8) and "It isn’t in me" (41:16).
Genesis 42:7-8 · Genesis 40:8 · Genesis 41:16
Words Genesis leaves unexplained
Those who hold this view take Joseph's words at face value as the claim of an Egyptian official, and note that Genesis records them without approving or explaining them, as it records Laban's "I have divined" (30:27). They stress that the law later forbids divination (Deuteronomy 18:10).
Genesis 30:27 · Deuteronomy 18:10
The verses
“Isn’t this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.’””
“Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed do divination?””
“There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who tells fortunes, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,”