Genesis37

Genesis 37 introduces Joseph, Jacob's favored son, whose prophetic dreams of his family bowing to him ignite his brothers' intense hatred. Sent to check on them, Joseph is conspired against, stripped of his coat, and cast into a pit. Ultimately, his brothers sell him to Ishmeelite merchants for twenty pieces of silver, leading to his arrival in Egypt, while they deceive Jacob into believing Joseph was killed by a wild beast.

The Generations of Jacob and Joseph's Favoritism

1
Ya'akov continued living in the land where his father had lived as a foreigner, the land of Kena'an.
2
Here is the history of Ya'akov. When Yosef was seventeen years old he used to pasture the flock with his brothers, even though he was still a boy. Once when he was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, he brought a bad report about them to their father. ​
3
Now Isra'el loved Yosef the most of all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long-sleeved robe. ​
4
When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they began to hate him and reached the point where they couldn't even talk with him in a civil manner. ​

Joseph's Prophetic Dreams

5
Yosef had a dream which he told his brothers, and that made them hate him all the more. ​
6
He said to them, "Listen while I tell you about this dream of mine.
7
We were tying up bundles of wheat in the field when suddenly my bundle got up by itself and stood upright; then your bundles came, gathered around mine and prostrated themselves before it." ​
8
His brothers retorted, "Yes, you will certainly be our king. You'll do a great job of bossing us around!"And they hated him still more for his dreams and for what he said.
9
He had another dream which he told his brothers: "Here, I had another dream, and there were the sun, the moon and eleven stars prostrating themselves before me."
10
He told his father too, as well as his brothers, but his father rebuked him: "What is this dream you have had? Do you really expect me, your mother and your brothers to come and prostrate ourselves before you on the ground?" ​
11
His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Is Sent to Dothan

12
After this, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father's sheep in Sh'khem,
13
Isra'el asked Yosef, "Aren't your brothers pasturing the sheep in Sh'khem? Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "Here I am."
14
He said to him, "Go now, see whether things are going well with your brothers and with the sheep, and bring word back to me." So he sent him away from the Hevron Valley, and he went to Sh'khem, ​
15
where a man found him wandering around in the countryside. The man asked him, "What are you looking for?"
16
"I'm looking for my brothers," he answered. "Tell me, please, where are they pasturing the sheep?"
17
The man said, "They've left here; because I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dotan.'"Yosef went after his brothers and found them in Dotan.

The Brothers Conspire and Sell Joseph

18
They spotted him in the distance, and before he had arrived where they were, they had already plotted to kill him.
19
They said to each other, "Look, this dreamer is coming! ​
20
So come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these water cisterns here. Then we'll say some wild animal devoured him. We'll see then what becomes of his dreams!" ​
21
But when Re'uven heard this, he saved him from being destroyed by them. He said, "We shouldn't take his life. ​
22
Don't shed blood," Re'uven added. "Throw him into this cistern here in the wilds, but don't lay hands on him yourselves." He intended to rescue him from them later and restore him to his father.
23
So it was that when Yosef arrived to be with his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the long-sleeved robe he was wearing,
24
and took him and threw him into the cistern (the cistern was empty; without any water in it).
25
Then they sat down to eat their meal; but as they looked up, they saw in front of them a caravan of Yishma'elim coming from Gil'ad, their camels loaded with aromatic gum, healing resin and opium, on their way down to Egypt. ​
26
Y'hudah said to his brothers, "What advantage is it to us if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ​
27
Come, let's sell him to the Yishma'elim, instead of putting him to death with our own hands. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers paid attention to him.
28
So when the Midyanim, merchants, passed by, they drew and lifted Yosef up out of the cistern and sold him for half a pound of silver shekels to the Yishma'elim, who took Yosef on to Egypt. ​
29
Re'uven returned to the cistern, and, upon seeing that Yosef wasn't in it, tore his clothes in mourning. ​
30
He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I go now?"

Jacob Deceived and Mourns

31
They took Yosef's robe, killed a male goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
32
Then they sent the long-sleeved robe and brought it to their father, saying, "We found this. Do you know if it's your son's robe or not?"
33
He recognized it and cried, "It's my son's robe! Some wild animal has torn Yosef in pieces and eaten him!"
34
Ya'akov tore his clothes and, putting sackcloth around his waist, mourned his son for many days. ​
35
Though all his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, he refused all consolation, saying, "No, I will go down to the grave, to my son, mourning." And his father wept for him. ​
36
In Egypt the Midyanim sold Yosef to Potifar, one of Pharaoh's officials, a captain of the guard. ​

Study Notes for Genesis 37

Verse 2

The phrase 'These are the generations of Jacob' (Hebrew: *toledot*) introduces the main focus of the subsequent narrative, which centers on Joseph and his role in the destiny of Israel. Joseph's 'evil report' immediately highlights the deep friction within the family.

Verse 3

The 'coat of many colours' (*kethonet passim*) was likely an ornate, long-sleeved tunic, signifying Joseph’s status as Jacob’s favored son and possibly marking him as the designated inheritor, deeply offending the older brothers.

Verse 4

The brothers’ inability to 'speak peaceably' reveals the intensity of their hatred, a direct result of Jacob’s unwise display of favoritism, which violated the principles of family unity.

Verse 5

Joseph’s dreams, while prophetic of God’s plan, were told to his brothers in a way that intensified their existing jealousy, demonstrating his youthful lack of wisdom and discretion.

Verse 7

The imagery of the sheaves bowing down clearly communicated Joseph’s future authority and dominance over his agriculturalist brothers, confirming their suspicion that he sought to rule over them.

Verse 10

Jacob rebukes Joseph publicly, yet the text notes that he 'observed the saying' (v. 11), suggesting that Jacob, having experienced prophetic dreams himself, recognized the potential divine origin of the message.

Verse 14

Jacob sends Joseph from the secure area near Hebron (site of covenant promises) to Shechem, a place previously associated with extreme violence and vengeance (Gen. 34), foreshadowing the danger Joseph would face.

Verse 19

The sarcastic title 'this dreamer' (Heb. *ba'al hachalomot*, 'master of dreams') shows their contempt for Joseph and their determination to destroy the prophetic destiny attached to him.

Verse 20

The brothers explicitly state their motive: to kill Joseph and thereby negate God’s promises revealed through the dreams. This act is a direct attempt to thwart divine sovereignty.

Verse 21

Reuben, as the eldest, attempts to prevent murder, likely motivated by a sense of familial responsibility and the hope of redeeming himself after his earlier offense against Jacob (Gen. 35:22).

Verse 25

The brothers sitting down to eat while Joseph is in the pit highlights their cold-heartedness. The appearance of the Ishmaelite traders provides the means by which God’s providential plan will proceed via Egypt.

Verse 26

Judah suggests selling Joseph, viewing it as a profitable alternative to murder. This decision, though still cruel, saves Joseph's life and sets Judah on a path toward moral development later in the narrative.

Verse 28

Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver, the standard price for a slave aged 5 to 20 (Exod. 21:32). The terms 'Midianites' and 'Ishmeelites' are used interchangeably, referring generally to nomadic trading caravans of the region.

Verse 29

Reuben’s distress upon finding the pit empty demonstrates that he was not involved in the sale and feared the repercussions of not fulfilling his self-appointed role as Joseph's protector.

Verse 34

Rending clothes and wearing sackcloth were common ancient Near Eastern signs of intense mourning. Jacob's grief is exacerbated by the false belief that his favorite son suffered a violent death.

Verse 35

Jacob's refusal to be comforted and his declaration that he will mourn until he goes down into the grave (*Sheol*) reflects the depth of his despair and the devastating impact of the brothers’ deceit.

Verse 36

This verse concludes the chapter, establishing Joseph's new identity as a slave in the house of Potiphar, an Egyptian official, thereby setting the physical and political stage for the next phase of the narrative.

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