Genesis 37
Joseph’s Dreams
1But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, in the land of Canaan.
The rest of the book of Genesis will record the history of Joseph.
2This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, was taking care of the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
This is the eleventh and final toldoth of Genesis. It records the history of Joseph. The Hebrew for "Joseph" is יוֹסֵ֞ף (yosef), meaning "he will increase." Joseph will increase in power and authority, but only because of divine election.
Joseph was seventeen years old and learning the shepherding business from his brothers. He mostly worked with the sons of the concubines, who were closer to his age. Many commentators complain that Joseph was a tattle-tale, but tattling is good if the reports are true. Believers are called to expose evil. (Ephesians 5)
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son born to him late in life, and he made a special tunic for him.
The Hebrew for “special tunic” or “coat of many colors” is כְּתֹ֥נֶת פַּסִּֽים (katote panim), meaning a coat of royalty. Joseph was the first born son of Rachel, who was Jacob’s favorite wife. Therefore, although Joseph was the eleventh son born to Jacob, he was given the birthright of the firstborn. It is interesting to note that the Tombs of Bene Hassein in Egypt have pictorials that show Semitic chiefs wearing coats of full sleeves and many colors as an insignia of rulership.
4When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.
The brothers resented Joseph receiving the first-born rights over themselves.
5Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.
Joseph most likely told the brothers his dream out of naivety.
6He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down to it!”
In this dream, the brothers were all bowing down to Joseph. They were acknowledging that their little brother was their master.
8Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?” They hated him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.
The brothers understood the meaning of the dream, which caused them to hate Joseph for it.
9Then he had another dream, and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
Rachel was dead by this time. Bilhah the concubine would have taken over the raising of Joseph. The meaning of this dream was that Jacob, Bilhah, and the eleven brothers would one day bow to Joseph.
This dream is repeated in Revelation 12. The sun, moon, and stars are Israel, not the church.
10When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?”
Jacob was a patriarch who had wrestled with God. He has been given the Abrahamic Covenant verbally and directly from God. He never expected to bow down to one of his children. Therefore, Jacob rebuked Joseph for revealing this dream to the family.
11His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said.
Jacob's sons did not know God, but Jacob did know God. Jacob knew that this dream was divine revelation from God Himself.
According to Romans 3:2, Jews were entrusted with “the oracles of God.” What this means is that the Jews would interpret dreams for the Gentiles, such as Joseph for Pharaoh and Daniel for Nebuchadnezzar. However, Jews do not interpret dreams for other Jews.
12When his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,
Shechem was the city where Simeon and Levi killed all of the Canaanites for raping Dinah. The city was now considered a Jewish city by right of conquest.
13Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” “I’m ready,” Joseph replied.
Notice that Jacob and Israel were used as proper names interchangeably. Jacob sent Joseph to find his brothers in Shechem.
14So Jacob said to him, “Go now and check on the welfare of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word.” So Jacob sent him from the valley of Hebron.
Joseph was placed in a supervisory position over his older brothers.
15When Joseph reached Shechem, a man found him wandering in the field, so the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
The journey was a three or four day walk. A man in the field attempted to help Joseph. He would be blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant.
16He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are grazing their flocks.”
Joseph was looking for his brothers.
17The man said, “They left this area, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Dothan was another day’s journey. It was located north of Shechem, near a major trade route called the Via Maris. The Via Maris connects with Egypt in the south.
18Now Joseph’s brothers saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
The brother’s hated Joseph so much that they wanted to kill their own flesh and blood. Murder was a violation of the Noahic Covenant. The Noahic Covenant was given to all of the descendants of Noah, including both Jews and Gentiles.
19They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams!
The "master of dreams" was Joseph’s nickname that his brothers had given him. It was a derogatory nickname, meaning that the brothers disrespected Joseph and the divine revelation which was given to them.
20Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!”
The brothers wanted to stop the dream from coming true. With Joseph receiving the royal jacket, it seemed a very real possibility that Joseph might actually rule over them.
21When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, “Let’s not take his life!”
Reuben was the firstborn son. He had the most to lose. However, as the leader of the brothers, he at least stopped the murder of his little brother.
22Reuben continued, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.)
Joseph was set up to die of starvation, thirst, or heat exposure. This way, no single brother would be guilty of murder.
23When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore.
The brothers ripped the royal jacket off of Joseph.
24Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.)
This was a well that was empty of water.
25When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt.
The brothers sat down and ate bread while Joseph was crying for mercy. The Ishmaelites were descendants from Ishmael. They were cousins of Joseph. They were traveling down the Via Maris trade route to exchange goods.
26Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Judah will later become the seed-son of the Messiah.
27Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.
Reuben’s intercessary prayer worked.
28So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt.
The Midianites were descendants of Abraham and Keturah. They were a small tribe, so they often traveled along with the Ishmaelites on trade caravans for safety. Eventually, the Midianites intermarried and were absorbed by the Ishmaelites.
Twenty pounds of silver was the average price of a slave in that day. This was a divine marketing scheme planned by the Triune Creator God before the foundations of the world were founded.
The brothers thought that they were nullifying the dream, but their actions led to its fulfillment. God uses the evil actions of men to fulfill His sovereign will.
29Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it! He tore his clothes,
Reuben did not realize that his brothers sold Joseph into slavery. Evidently, they made this decision without the consent of their big brother. He tore his clothes in mourning.
30returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy isn’t there! And I, where can I go?”
Reuben had failed in his responsibility to Jacob as the first born. He was still hoping to gain the birth right.
31So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a young goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood.
Jacob had deceived Isaac with goatskins. Now, Jacob was being deceived by his own sons with goat’s blood.
32Then they brought the special tunic to their father and said, “We found this. Determine now whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”
Jacob deceived Isaac with Esau’s clothes, just as Jacob was deceived by Joseph’s clothes.
33He recognized it and exclaimed, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”
Jacob was completely fooled.
34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son many days.
This type of mourning was a Semitic custom.
35All his sons and daughters stood by him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” So Joseph’s father wept for him.
The sons knew the truth about Joseph, but they allowed their father to suffer emotionally. The daughters could have been other daughters of Jacob who were not mentioned in Scripture, or his daughters-in-law.
36Now in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
Potiphar is an Egyptian name, which means “the gift of Ra”. Ra was the sun god. Ra was one of the chief gods of the Egyptian polytheistic religious system. Potiphar was a military officer. As the captain of the guard, he was the chief executioner.
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The human viewpoint of the satanic world system is that spirits talk to humans through dreams. Some charismatics claim that God speaks to them through dreams. These charismatics then write books for profit.
The divine viewpoint of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God is that before the completion of the entire counsel of the Word of God, God sometimes spoke to Jews and Gentiles through dreams, but only the Jews chosen by God could interpret these dreams. God does not speak through dreams or prophets today. He speaks only through the written Word of God.