Forgiveness—it's as old as sin. People have always appealed for forgiveness in the hope that it could make up for the past.
The Bible's key figures repeatedly turned to it. Sometimes it was God's forgiveness they sought. Moses asked for it on behalf of the children of Israel after he caught them worshiping idols. Solomon, in dedicating the Jerusalem Temple, requested that God forgive all the past sins of the Israelites. And Jesus taught his followers to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matt. 6:12. Bible readers can only assume, given what the Psalmist says about the Lord as "ready to forgive," Ps. 86:5. that God grants each and every heartfelt prayer for forgiveness.
But the Bible has more to say about forgiveness than merely the art of asking for it. Even more important, it suggests, is the practice of expressing it, as seen in the story of Joseph. See Gen., chaps. 37, 39-50 . Owing to the favored treatment he received from his father, the patriarch Jacob, Joseph becomes victim of his brothers' bitter jealousy. They torment him, eventually selling him into slavery. Although he becomes a person of authority and saves Egypt from serious famine, he's not forgotten the experience of his youth, as the story later reveals.
