Genesis 37

Genesis 37:1

D. Joseph (37:150:26)

1. Joseph Sold into Slavery (Chap. 37)37:1-17 The words “This is the history of Jacob” seem abrupt. Jacob’s history (chaps. 25-35) is interrupted by the generations of Esau (chap. 36), then continued from chapter 37 to the end of the book, with emphasis on Jacob’s son, Joseph. Joseph is one of the most beautiful types (symbols) of the Lord Jesus Christ in the OT, though the Bible never labels him as a type. A. W. Pink lists 101 correspondences between Joseph and Jesus, and Ada Habershon lists 121. For example, Joseph was loved by his father (v. 3); he rebuked the sin of his brothers (v. 2); he was hated by his brothers and sold into the hands of enemies (vv. 4, 26-28); he was punished unjustly (chap. 39); he was exalted and became the savior of the world, for all the world had to come to him for bread (Gen_41:57); he received a Gentile bride during his rejection by his brethren (Gen_41:45). The tunic of many colors (or a long robe with sleeves, RSV) was a sign of his father’s special affection, and it stirred up the jealous hatred of his brothers. In Joseph’s first dream, eleven sheaves of grain bowed down to the twelfth sheaf, a prophecy that his brothers would one day bow down to him. In the next dream, the sun, moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to Joseph. The sun and moon represented Jacob and Leah (Rachel had died), and the eleven stars were Joseph’s brothers (vv. 9-11). 37:18-28 When Joseph was sent on an errand to his brothers, they conspired . . . to kill him, but at Reuben’s suggestion they agreed to cast him into a pit near Dothan. As they sat down to eat, they saw a company of Ishmaelites bound for Egypt, and at Judah’s suggestion decided to sell him. In this passage, the Ishmaelites are also called Midianites, as in Jdg_8:22-24. As the Midianite traders passed by, Joseph’s brothers brought Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the traders. 37:29-36 Reuben was absent when all this was taking place. When he returned he was terrified, since he would be responsible to explain Joseph’s absence to his father. So the brothers dipped Joseph’s tunic in the blood of a goat and then callously returned it to Jacob, who naturally assumed that Joseph had been killed. Jacob had once deceived his father with a goat, using the skin to impersonate his brother’s hairy arms (Gen_27:16-23). Now he himself was cruelly deceived by the blood of a goat on Joseph’s coat. “The pain of deceit is learned once again.” The Midianites unwittingly fulfilled God’s purposes by providing free transportation for Joseph to Egypt and selling him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Thus God makes man’s wrath to praise Him, and what will not praise Him, He restrains (see Psa_76:10).