Genesis 37

Genesis 37 begins the story of Joseph. His father’s favoritism and his own dreams stir up deep hatred in his brothers. They sell him into slavery and deceive their father into thinking he is dead. The chapter looks like a tragedy, yet it is the first step in how God will later preserve the whole family.

Genesis 37:1

Jacob settled in Canaan, the land God promised to Abraham and Isaac. They had lived there as strangers, without owning it. The scene is set for the next generation, and the promise still rests on a wandering family.

BSA: resided (“sojourned, or made a temporary home”): Abraham and Isaac lived in the promised land as guests, still waiting for God to give it.

See also: Genesis 17:8.

Genesis 37:2

At seventeen Joseph worked as a shepherd beside his half-brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. He reported something wrong they were doing. Whether wise or not, it widened the gap between him and them.

BSA: report (“slander, gossip, accusation”): The word shows how his brothers heard it: not as honest concern but as tale-bearing against them.

Hebrew: דִּבָּתָם (dibbatam, H1681) — “their ill report, rumor.” The Hebrew word is the kind of talk that spreads about a person. Joseph carried it to his father, and the brothers surely resented it.

Genesis 37:3

Jacob openly favored Joseph, the son of his old age and of his beloved Rachel. The special robe was a visible sign of that favor. Jacob had himself grown up in a divided household, yet he repeated the pattern.

BSA: robe (“tunic, long shirt-like garment”): It was a long garment, not ordinary work clothes, marking Joseph out as set apart.

Hebrew: כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים (ketonet passim, H3801) — “a long tunic with distinctive markings.” The exact meaning of passim is uncertain. It may mean many colors or long sleeves. Either way it was a robe of distinction, not for working.

See also: Genesis 29:30.

Genesis 37:4

The brothers saw the favoritism, and it turned into hatred. They could not even greet him kindly. Envy that is left alone poisons ordinary speech first, and then it moves on to deeds.

BSA: kind (“peaceful, friendly”): They could not give him even a simple word of peace, the ordinary greeting between brothers.

Hebrew: לְשָׁלֹם (leshalom, H7965) — “in peace, for peace.” The Hebrew says they could not speak to him peaceably. The word for peace, shalom, is missing between them.

See also: Proverbs 27:4.

Genesis 37:5

Joseph then told his brothers a dream. Whatever his motives, sharing it made their hatred worse. The dreams were from God and pointed to the future, but they landed on hearts already hardened against him.

BSA: dream (“a prophetic vision”): In this story dreams carry God’s word about what will happen later.

Genesis 37:6-7

Joseph describes a dream set in the grain fields. His sheaf stands upright while the brothers’ sheaves bow to it. The picture is simple and farm-based, and its meaning is plain: they will bow to him.

BSA: bowed down (“made obeisance, showed respect”): The bowing is the kind of homage given to a superior.

See also: Genesis 42:6.

Genesis 37:8

The brothers understood the dream at once and took it as a claim to rule over them. Their hatred grew because of both the dream and the way Joseph spoke of it. They were fighting something God had in mind.

Hebrew: הֲמָלֹךְ תִּמְלֹךְ (hamaloch timloch, H4427) — “will you indeed reign?.” The Hebrew repeats the verb for reigning, ‘reigning, will you reign?’ It shows how bitterly and scornfully they asked.

Genesis 37:9

A second dream widens the picture. Now the sun, moon and eleven stars bow to Joseph. Two dreams with the same message in different forms suggest that the matter is certain. The eleven stars match his eleven brothers.

BSA: stars (“heavenly bodies, symbols of guidance”): The stars stand for his brothers, whose lives would one day depend on him.

See also: Genesis 41:32.

Genesis 37:10

Jacob rebukes Joseph, since the dream seemed to put even his parents beneath their son. Rachel, the mother, had in fact already died, so he may be speaking loosely of the family. His reaction shows how shocking the dream sounded.

BSA: rebuked (“as a parent, with paternal authority”): Jacob spoke as the head of the household, correcting a son who seemed to be overreaching.

See also: Genesis 35:19.

Genesis 37:11

The brothers’ reaction was jealousy. Their father’s reaction was quieter. He scolded Joseph, but he held on to the words and wondered what they meant. It is the mark of someone who senses that God may be speaking.

BSA: kept in mind (“remembered, pondered”): Jacob did not forget it. He turned it over in his thoughts.

Hebrew: וַיְקַנְאוּ (vayqanu, H7065) — “and they were jealous.” The root word means to burn with zeal. Here it describes a hot, possessive jealousy that cannot bear another’s honor.

See also: Luke 2:19.

Genesis 37:12-13

The brothers took the flocks to Shechem, about fifty miles from Hebron. Jacob sent Joseph after them. Joseph answered with a ready willingness, which shows his obedience even though he was walking toward danger.

BSA: ready (“here I am, behold me”): Joseph’s reply is the answer of a willing servant, ready for whatever his father asks.

Hebrew: הִנֵּנִי (hinneni, H2009) — “here I am.” It is the same ready reply Abraham gave to God. It means the person is fully present and willing to be sent.

See also: Genesis 22:1.

Genesis 37:14

Jacob asked Joseph to check on his brothers and the flocks and to bring back news. The father sends the favored son to those who hate him. Neither of them knew what that road would cost.

BSA: faring (“doing, prospering”): Jacob wanted to know how they were really getting along, in health and in their work.

Hebrew: שְׁלוֹם (shelom, H7965) — “peace, well-being.” Jacob asked to see ’the peace’ of his sons and flocks. The word for peace appears again, now on the lips of a father whose sons have no peace with Joseph.

Genesis 37:15-17

Joseph is lost in the fields, and an unnamed man helps him. He tells Joseph the brothers have gone on to Dothan. These small details show how Joseph is led step by step toward what awaits him. God’s purposes often run through ordinary chance meetings.

Hebrew: תֹּעֶה (toʼeh, H8582) — “wandering, straying.” The word is used of someone who has gone astray. Joseph was wandering physically, yet his road was already being directed.

Genesis 37:18-20

The brothers see him coming and plot to kill him. Their words show the root of it. They mock him as the dreamer, and they mean to kill the dreams along with him. They plan to hide the crime behind a lie about a wild animal.

BSA: dreamer (“man of dreams, the one with prophetic visions”): The name is full of contempt. They saw him only as the boy with the visions.

Hebrew: בַּעַל הַחֲלֹמוֹת (baʼal hachalomot, H1167) — “master of dreams.” The Hebrew literally says ‘owner’ or ’lord’ of dreams. They use it as a sneer. The word is bitter, since their own plot will soon help to fulfil the dreams.

See also: Mark 15:10; 1 John 3:12.

Genesis 37:21-22

Reuben, the eldest, argues against murder. He proposes the pit instead, secretly planning to rescue Joseph and send him home. He acts, but not boldly. He works around the brothers when he should perhaps have stood against them openly.

BSA: rescue (“snatch away, deliver from danger”): Reuben meant to pull Joseph out of their hands before any real harm was done.

See also: Genesis 42:22.

Genesis 37:23-24

They strip Joseph of the special robe, the sign of his father’s love, and throw him into a dry pit. A cistern like this was dug to hold water. Now it holds a young man in terror. The cry of a brother goes unheard.

BSA: empty (“worthless, without value”): The pit had nothing in it, no water to keep him alive and no comfort.

Hebrew: רֵק (req, H7386) — “empty.” The Hebrew stresses that the pit was bare. The detail also shows God’s mercy. Joseph was spared drowning in the pit and would live.

See also: Genesis 42:21.

Genesis 37:25

While they eat, a caravan appears, heading down to Egypt with spices, balm and myrrh. They sit down to a meal while their brother cries out in the pit. Then the unexpected travelers arrive, and God uses them.

BSA: balm (“a fragrant resin, possibly myrrh or balsam”): It was a costly aromatic resin used in medicine and perfume, traded to Egypt.

Genesis 37:26-27

Judah argues that killing Joseph would bring them nothing. Selling him is both profitable and lets them avoid blood guilt. He says the right thing, that Joseph is their own flesh, and then uses it to justify selling him. It is a half-hearted mercy.

BSA: profit (“unjust gain, advantage”): Judah thinks like a trader, weighing what they could get out of it. flesh (“physical body, living being”): Joseph was their own flesh and blood, which should have kept them from harming him at all.

See also: Genesis 4:10.

Genesis 37:28

Traders pull Joseph from the pit and buy him for twenty shekels of silver, and he is carried off to Egypt. The names Ishmaelite and Midianite seem to be used loosely for the same caravan. A brother becomes merchandise. Years later Joseph will see God’s hand in it.

See also: Genesis 45:5; Acts 7:9.

Genesis 37:29-30

Reuben returns to rescue Joseph and finds the pit empty. He tears his clothes in grief. His cry is more about himself than about Joseph. As the eldest he is responsible, and he sees that his own plan has failed.

BSA: tore (“to rend or rip apart, an act of grief or distress”): Tearing the clothes was the outward sign of deep sorrow.

Genesis 37:31-32

The brothers dip Joseph’s robe in goat’s blood and send it to their father with a careful question. They never state the lie outright. Jacob had once deceived his own father using a goat, and now he is deceived by sons in the same way.

BSA: goat (“kid, female goat”): A young goat was easily found among the flocks, and its blood would pass for the evidence they wanted.

See also: Genesis 27:9; Genesis 27:16.

Genesis 37:33

Jacob knew the robe at once, and he drew the conclusion the brothers wanted. Grief overwhelms him, and he pictures his son torn apart by an animal. The father who loved Joseph so much now bears the pain his own favoritism helped to cause.

BSA: recognized (“acknowledging, knew it”): He knew the robe he had made himself, and he did not question the story.

Genesis 37:34-35

Jacob mourns with torn clothes and sackcloth, and he refuses all comfort. He expects to carry his grief to the grave. The sorrow is real, though what he mourns is not true. God knows that Joseph is alive.

BSA: Sheol (“the underworld, grave, place of no return”): Jacob speaks of the place of the dead and expects to meet his death in sorrow. refused (“would not accept, rejected”): His grief was so deep that he turned away every attempt at comfort.

Hebrew: שְׁאֹלָה (sheʼolah, H7585) — “to Sheol, to the realm of the dead.” Sheol is the Old Testament word for the place of the dead. Jacob speaks as someone who sees nothing ahead but the grave.

See also: Genesis 42:38.

Genesis 37:36

The chapter ends with Joseph sold again in Egypt, now to Potiphar, a high official of Pharaoh. A slave far from home seems to have lost everything. But God has not lost sight of him, and the story continues from here.

BSA: captain (“head, chief”): Potiphar was in charge of Pharaoh’s guard, a man of real rank and power.

See also: Genesis 50:20; Psalm 105:17-19.