Genesis 37
37
Joseph’s Dream
1So Jacob (Israel) lived in the land #Lit of his father’s sojournings.where his father [Isaac] had been a stranger (sojourner, resident alien), in the land of Canaan. 2These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers [Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher]; the boy was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s [#I.e. concubines (see note 22:24).secondary] wives; and Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. 3Now Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a [distinctive] #The meaning of this word is uncertain; some sources indicate that it refers to a long-sleeved tunic that reaches the ankles, essentially a light robe. In any case, the tunic was a visible reminder to Joseph’s brothers of their father’s favoritism toward him.multicolored tunic. 4His brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than all of his brothers; so they hated him and could not [find it within themselves to] speak to him on friendly terms.
5Now Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they #In both vv 5 and 8 “hated him even more” is properly translated, but there is an interesting play on words. The literal Hebrew says, “they added to hate”—the Hebrew word for “added” is the same for the word for Joseph—“they ‘Josephed’ their hate for him.”hated him even more. 6He said to them, “Please listen to [the details of] this dream which I have dreamed; 7we [brothers] were binding sheaves [of grain stalks] in the field, and lo, my sheaf [suddenly] got up and stood upright and remained standing; and behold, your sheaves stood all around my sheaf and bowed down [in respect].” 8His brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Are you really going to rule and govern us as your subjects?” So they hated him even more for [telling them about] his dreams and for his [arrogant] words.
9But Joseph dreamed still another dream, and told it to his brothers [as well]. He said, “See here, I have again dreamed a dream, and lo, [this time I saw] eleven stars and the sun and the moon bowed down [in respect] to me!” 10He told it to his father as well as to his brothers; but his father rebuked him and said to him [in disbelief], “What is [the meaning of] this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down to the ground [in respect] before you?” 11Joseph’s brothers were envious and jealous of him, but his father kept the words [of Joseph] in mind [wondering about their meaning].
12Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13Israel (Jacob) said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing [the flock] at Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said, “Here I am [ready to obey you].” 14Then Jacob said to him, “Please go and see whether everything is all right with your brothers and all right with the flock; then bring word [back] to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.
15Now a certain man found Joseph, and saw that he was wandering around and had lost his way in the field; so the man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are pasturing our flocks.” 17Then the man said, “[They were here, but] they have moved on from this place. I heard them say, ‘Let us go to #Located about twelve miles north of Shechem.Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
The Plot against Joseph
18And when they saw him from a distance, even before he came close to them, they plotted to kill him. 19They said to one another, “Look, here comes this #Lit master of dreams.dreamer. 20Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the #These were earthen tanks that were dug or carved into rocky ground (perhaps limestone), designed to collect rainwater in the desert during winters. Some were cavernous, with a staircase carved into one of the walls for access to the bottom. The cistern selected by Joseph’s brothers must have been deep enough to make escape very difficult for someone of his size, but constructed without a staircase or other means of access (other than a rope).pits (cisterns, underground water storage); then we will say [to our father], ‘A wild animal killed and devoured him’; and we shall see what will become of his dreams!” 21Now Reuben [the eldest] heard this and rescued him from their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.” 22Reuben said to them, “Do not shed his blood, but [instead] throw him [alive] into the pit that is here in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him [to kill him]”—[he said this so] that he could rescue him from them and return him [safely] to his father. 23Now when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the [distinctive] #See note v 3.multicolored tunic which he was wearing; 24then they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25Then they sat down to eat their meal. When they looked up, they saw a caravan of #Descendants of Abraham and Hagar (Sarah’s maid, 16:15).Ishmaelites coming from Gilead [east of the Jordan], with their camels bearing ladanum resin [for perfume] and balm and #A valuable tree resin.myrrh, going on their way to carry the cargo down to Egypt. 26Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood (murder)? 27Come, let us [instead] sell him to these Ishmaelites [and #Descendants of Abraham and Keturah, his concubine.Midianites] and not lay our hands on him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” So his brothers listened to him and agreed. 28Then as the #The relationship between the Midianites and the Ishmaelites as they are mentioned here is unclear. It is possible, as some have suggested, that “Ishmaelites” came to be used as a general term for desert tribes, and that the same merchants are called by both names in this verse. This would also explain the reference to the “Midianites” in v 36. Another explanation, which was offered by the rabbis, is that Joseph was sold first to the Ishmaelites, who then sold him to the Midianites. Another possibility is that they were Ishmaelites from the area of Midian.Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt.
29Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow]. 30He rejoined his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where shall I go [to hide from my father]?” 31Then they took Joseph’s tunic, slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32and they brought the multicolored tunic to their father, saying, “We have found this; please examine it and decide whether or not it is your son’s tunic.” 33He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces!” 34So Jacob tore his clothes [in grief], put #An uncomfortable material woven from goat hair and worn in mourning.on sackcloth and mourned many days for his son. 35Then all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in mourning for my son.” And his father wept for him. 36Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph [as a slave] to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the [royal] guard.
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Genesis 37
37
Joseph’s Dreams
1#Ge 17:8; 28:4Now Jacob lived in the land where his father was a foreigner, in the land of Canaan.
2#Ge 35:25–26; 1Sa 2:22–24These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers, and the boy was with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
3#Ge 37:23; 37:32Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.#From the Septuagint, a cloak with long sleeves, a full-length cloak, or an embroidered cloak, showing favoritism. 4#Ge 27:41; 49:23But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
5#Ge 28:12Now Joseph dreamed a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have dreamed. 7#Ge 42:6; 42:9We were binding sheaves in the field. All of a sudden my sheaf rose up and stood upright, and your sheaves stood around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8His brothers said to him, “Will you really reign over us, or will you really have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
9Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “I have dreamed another dream. The sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing to me.”
10#Ge 27:29But when he told it to his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers really come to bow down ourselves to you to the ground?” 11#Lk 2:19; 2:51So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Joseph Sold Into Slavery
12#Ge 33:18Now his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.”
He answered, “Here I am.”
14#Ge 35:27; 13:18Israel said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15A certain man found him wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16And he said, “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”
17#2Ki 6:13The man said, “They have departed from here. I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ”
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18#Ps 37:12; 37:32When they saw him some distance away, before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
19They said one to another, “The master of dreams comes! 20Come now, let us kill him and throw him into some pit, and we will say, ‘Some evil beast has devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams.”
21#Ge 42:22But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not kill him.” 22Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him,” so that he might rescue him out of their hands and deliver him to his father again.
23#Ge 37:3When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat—his coat of many colors that he had on. 24#Jer 38:6And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty, and there was no water in it.
25#Ge 37:28; 43:11Then they sat down to eat. And looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, carrying it down to Egypt.
26#Ge 37:20; 4:10Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27#Ge 42:21; 1Sa 18:17Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let us not lay our hand on him, for he is our brother and our own flesh.” So his brothers agreed.
28#Ps 105:17; Ac 7:9Then when the Midianite merchants passed by, they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.#About 8 ounces, or 230 grams. They took Joseph to Egypt.
29#Ge 37:34; Job 1:20When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. 30#Ge 42:13; 42:32He returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is not there, and I, where can I go?”
31#Ge 37:23; 37:3They took Joseph’s coat and killed a young goat and dipped the coat in the blood. 32Then they took the coat of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found. Do you know whether it is your son’s robe or not?”
33#Ge 37:20; 44:28He knew it and said, “It is my son’s coat. A wild beast has devoured him. Joseph has without a doubt been torn into pieces.”
34#Ge 37:29; 2Sa 3:31Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his waist and mourned for his son many days. 35#Ge 42:38; 2Sa 12:17All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “For I will go down into the grave mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
36#Ge 37:28; 40:4Meanwhile the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
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