Genesis 37
Joseph's Dreams and Sale into Slavery
1Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan.
2This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic of many colors.
4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
5Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.
6He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:
7for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
9He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.”
10He told it to his father and to 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 indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you?”
11His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
12His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”
14He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.”
17The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
18They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
19They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes.
20Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”
21Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.”
22Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
23When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him;
24and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.
25They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him.
28Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt.
29Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
30He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?”
31They took Joseph’s tunic, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood.
32They took the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son’s tunic or not.”
33He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.”
34Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
35All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him.
36The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.
Genesis 37 introduces the dramatic story of Joseph, Jacob's favored son who receives prophetic dreams indicating his future dominance over his family. Joseph's special status, symbolized by his coat of many colors, and his dreams of his family bowing down to him provoke intense jealousy among his brothers. When Joseph is sent to check on his brothers tending flocks, they conspire to kill him but instead sell him into slavery to passing merchants, telling their father that Joseph was killed by wild animals.
Context
This chapter marks a pivotal transition from the patriarchal narratives to the extended Joseph cycle that will dominate the remainder of Genesis.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-4Joseph's Favored StatusJacob's preferential love for Joseph and the gift of the colorful tunic create hatred among his brothers.
- 5-11Joseph's Prophetic DreamsTwo dreams depicting Joseph's future authority over his family intensify his brothers' resentment and envy.
- 12-17Journey to Find His BrothersJacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers pasturing flocks, leading him from Hebron to Dothan.
- 18-28The Brothers' ConspiracyThe brothers plot Joseph's death but Reuben intervenes, and they ultimately sell him to Midianite traders.
- 29-36Deception and GriefThe brothers deceive Jacob with Joseph's bloodied coat while Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt.
Joseph's Dreams and Sale into Slavery
37:1–37:36Joseph's prophetic dreams of future authority anger his jealous brothers, who sell him into slavery to Egyptian merchants. Jacob believes Joseph is dead after seeing his bloodied coat.
person_contrast
Joseph's dreams uniquely combine divine revelation with sibling jealousy, making this the only Genesis narrative where prophetic visions directly trigger family violence.
Genesis 37:2
Genesis 46:18lexicalThese are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls.
Genesis 35:22lexicalWhile Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now th…
Genesis 46:25lexicalThese are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were s…
1 Samuel 16:11lexicalSamuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the…
Genesis 37:3
2 Samuel 13:19lexicalTamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head a…
2 Samuel 13:18lexicalShe had a garment of various colors on her, for the king’s daughters who were virgins dressed in such robes. Then his se…
Genesis 37:4
Deuteronomy 21:16lexicalthen it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the b…
Ecclesiastes 3:8lexicala time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Genesis 37:5
Genesis 40:8lexicalThey said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.” Joseph said to them, “Don’t inter…
Genesis 41:15lexicalPharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you,…
Genesis 42:9lexicalJoseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nak…
Genesis 41:25lexicalJoseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh.
Genesis 37:9
Deuteronomy 4:19lexicaland lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the…
Deuteronomy 17:3lexicaland has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the sky, which I…
Psalms 148:3lexicalPraise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you shining stars!
Isaiah 13:10lexicalFor the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, an…
Jeremiah 31:35lexicalThe LORD, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, wh…
Genesis 37:10
Genesis 40:8lexicalThey said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.” Joseph said to them, “Don’t inter…
Judges 7:13lexicalWhen Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. He said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and be…
Genesis 37:22
Jeremiah 22:3lexicalThe LORD says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no…
Ezekiel 22:6lexical“‘“Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.
Ezekiel 22:12lexicalIn you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your…
Ezekiel 22:9lexicalSlanderous men have been in you to shed blood. In you they have eaten on the mountains. They have committed lewdness amo…
Ezekiel 22:27lexicalHer princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest…
Genesis 37:23
2 Samuel 13:19lexicalTamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head a…
2 Samuel 13:18lexicalShe had a garment of various colors on her, for the king’s daughters who were virgins dressed in such robes. Then his se…
Genesis 37:31
Leviticus 14:6lexicalAs for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living…
Leviticus 14:51lexicalHe shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird,…
Leviticus 16:15lexical“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do wit…
Genesis 37:32
2 Samuel 13:18lexicalShe had a garment of various colors on her, for the king’s daughters who were virgins dressed in such robes. Then his se…
2 Samuel 13:19lexicalTamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head a…
Genesis 37:35
Jeremiah 31:15lexicalThe LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses…
Ezekiel 31:16lexicalI made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit.…
Lamentations 1:16lexical“For these things I weep. My eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far f…
Genesis 37:36
Genesis 39:1lexicalJoseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him f…
Genesis 41:10lexicalPharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, with the chief bake…
Genesis 40:2lexicalPharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker.
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