FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 37: Joseph, Spoilt Son Sold into Slavery (for
contents of Part 2D scroll to bottom of page)
v.1-4
The Family Background
v.5-11
The Lord gives Joseph Two Dreams
v.12-17
Joseph sent to his Brothers
v.18-22
The Brothers Plan to Kill Joseph but Reuben restrains them
v.23-28
The Brothers sell Joseph to traders
v.29-36
The Brothers lie to their father, while Joseph is sold in Egypt
v.1-4
The Family Background
v.1
Jacob
lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
v.2
This
is the account of Jacob's family line.
Joseph,
a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers,
the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives,
and he brought their father a bad report about them.
v.3
Now
Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he
had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe
for him.
v.4
When
his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of
them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
[Notes:
Joseph,
son of Rachel, his father's favourite, stirs up animosity in his
brothers.]
v.5-11
The Lord gives Joseph Two Dreams
v.5-8
Dream One
v.5
Joseph
had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him
all the more.
v.6
He
said to them, “Listen to this dream I had:
v.7
We
were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my
sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around
mine and bowed down to it.”
v.8
His
brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you
actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of
his dream and what he had said.
v.9-11
Dream Two
v.9
Then
he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,”
he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon
and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
v.10
When
he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked
him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and
I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before
you?”
v.11
His
brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in
mind.
[Notes:
Two
dreams with the same message – he, Joseph, will be elevated and
the rest of the family will bow down to him. This upsets them
all.]
v.12-17
Joseph sent to his Brothers
v.12,13
Now
his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem,
and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing
the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”
“Very well,” he replied.
v.14,15
So
he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers
and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent
him off from the Valley of Hebron.
When
Joseph arrived at Shechem, a man found him wandering around in
the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
v.16
He
replied, “I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they
are grazing their flocks?”
v.17
“They
have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say,
‘Let's go to Dothan.'” So Joseph went after his brothers and found
them near Dothan.
[Notes:
Unwisely
Jacob sends Joseph out to the brothers tending the sheep some
miles away to the north.]
v.18-22
The Brothers Plan to Kill Joseph but Reuben restrains them
v.18
But
they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they
plotted to kill him.
v.19
“Here
comes that dreamer!” they said to each other.
v.20
“Come
now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and
say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what
comes of his dreams.”
v.21
When
Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let's
not take his life,” he said.
v.22
“Don't
shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness,
but don't lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from
them and take him back to his father.
[Notes:
Seeing
him coming they plot to kill him but Reuben, the oldest of the
brothers, sought to calm them down and save Joseph.]
v.23-28
The Brothers sell Joseph to traders
v.23,24
So
when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the
ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw
him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water
in it.
v.25
As
they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan
of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with
spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them
down to Egypt.
v.26
Judah
said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother
and cover up his blood?
v.27
Come,
let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him;
after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers
agreed.
v.28
So
when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph
up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver
to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
[Notes:
They
throw Joseph into a well and while Reuben is away [see next verse]
they sell Joseph off to some passing traders who take him south
to Egypt.]
v.29-36
The Brothers lie to their father, while Joseph is sold in Egypt
v.29
When
Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there,
he tore his clothes.
v.30
He
went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn't there! Where
can I turn now?”
v.31
Then
they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe
in the blood.
v.32
They
took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found
this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe.”
v.33
He
recognized it and said, “It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal
has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
v.34
Then
Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son
many days.
v.35
All
his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to
be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I
join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.
v.36
Meanwhile,
the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's
officials, the captain of the guard.
[Notes:
Reuben
is upset when he returns and, taking the responsibility as the
oldest, worries about what he will tell Jacob. They take Joseph's
coat that he left behind and cover it with blood and return to
Jacob with the tale that he must have been killed by wild animals.
Jacob believes then and mourns for Joseph.]
Lessons
or Challenges to Ponder from Genesis Chapter 37
1.
Observing spoilt brat Joseph receiving prophetic dreams reminds
us that being charismatic does not equate with maturity or holiness
(similarly in the case of Samson in Judges 13 onwards). It simply
means God knows who is available that He can use to (ultimately)
bless His people.
2.
Joseph's story also reveals a father with favourites (which always
brings trouble and should be avoided) and a bunch of bad-attitude
brothers for whom no excuses can be made. Perhaps it warns us
that Jacob may have ‘found God' but he still has some way to go
in creating a godly family, a challenge to all parents.
Continue
to Chapter 38
PART
2D: Gen 37-50 – Joseph's Story
Ch.37-40
Joseph in tough times
Ch.37:
Joseph sold into Slavery
Ch.38:
Judah & Tamar [An aside]
Ch.39:
Joseph & Potiphar
Ch.40:
Joseph in Prison: Two dreams & interpretations
Ch.41
Joseph saves the world
Ch.41:
Joseph & Pharaoh: Joseph implements the rescue plan
Ch.42-45
Joseph tests the brothers
Ch.42:
Joseph meets his brothers
Ch.43:
The Brothers' Second Visit to Egypt
Ch.44:
Judah takes responsibility
Ch.45:
Joseph Revealed
Ch.46-50
Settling in Egypt while holding the faith
Ch.46:
Jacob & Family go to Egypt
Ch.47:
Jacob settles the family in Egypt
Ch.48:
Jacob blesses Ephraim & Manasseh
Ch.49:
Jacob blesses all the sons; Jacob dies
Ch.50:
Jacob buried in Canaan; Joseph eventually dies