Genesis 37

Genesis 37 opens the narrative of Jacob's son Joseph (chapters 37–50). After Genesis 36 traces the genealogy of the descendants of Esau, the narrative returns to Jacob's household in Canaan.

Outline

• Verses 1–4: Seventeen-year-old Joseph brings his father an evil report about his brothers. When Jacob makes a coat of many colors for Joseph, the son of his old age, his brothers come to hate him.
• Verses 5–11: Joseph tells two dreams. In the first, his brothers' sheaves of grain bow down to his sheaf; in the second, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bow down to him. His brothers hate him all the more, and his father rebukes him yet keeps the matter in mind.
• Verses 12–17: Jacob sends Joseph from the vale of Hebron to Shechem. Following directions from a man he meets in the field, Joseph goes on to Dothan and finds his brothers.
• Verses 18–24: The brothers plot to kill "this dreamer," but Reuben urges them not to shed blood. They strip Joseph of his coat of many colors and throw him into an empty pit with no water in it.
• Verses 25–28: At Judah's suggestion, the brothers sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.
• Verses 29–35: Reuben discovers that Joseph is gone and tears his clothes. The brothers send their father Joseph's coat, dipped in the blood of a male goat. Believing that Joseph has been torn apart by a wild animal, Jacob mourns and refuses to be comforted.
• Verse 36: The Midianites sell Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Key Verses

• Genesis 37:3: "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children ... and he made him a coat of many colours." The father's favoritism becomes the seed of conflict among the brothers.
• Genesis 37:11: "But his father observed the saying." This verse is read as foreshadowing the later fulfillment of the dreams.
• Genesis 37:28: "And sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver." This marks the turning point at which Joseph is taken down to Egypt.

People and Places

• Jacob (Israel): Joseph's father.
• Joseph: Jacob's son by Rachel.
• Reuben: Jacob's firstborn son, who seeks to save Joseph and return him to their father.
• Judah: Jacob's fourth son, who proposes selling Joseph rather than killing him.
• Bilhah and Zilpah: Jacob's concubines.
• Potiphar: An officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
• Hebron: Where Jacob was living.
• Shechem and Dothan: Where the brothers were pasturing the flocks.
• Gilead: The region east of the Jordan River from which the caravan of merchants came.
• Egypt: The land to which Joseph was sold.

Points for Reflection

• The coat of many colors: The meaning of the Hebrew expression is uncertain; it has been interpreted as a garment of many colors or as a long-sleeved robe, among other possibilities.
• Ishmaelites and Midianites: The text refers to the merchants by two names, and several interpretations have been proposed:
• That they were the same group, on the basis that Midianites are called Ishmaelites in Judges 8:24
• That Midianite merchants drew Joseph up out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites
• The critical view that distinct traditions have been combined
• "Thy mother" (verse 10): Rachel had already died in Genesis 35. Some therefore take the expression to refer to another mother in the household, while others read it as symbolic language within the dream.
• Fulfillment of the dreams: The dream of the brothers bowing down is fulfilled in Genesis 42, when they bow before Joseph in Egypt.
• Connection to the New Testament: In Acts 7, Stephen recalls that the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him.
• The tradition of reading Joseph as a type of Christ: Many preaching traditions read Joseph as a type (a figure that foreshadows) of Jesus Christ, pointing out that a beloved son was rejected by his brothers and sold for silver. Others hold that this reading should be applied with caution, since the New Testament does not explicitly make the connection.

In the Korean Church

The Joseph story is frequently featured in Sunday school lessons and children's sermons. In sermons for adults, it is often cited in connection with the theme of "dreams" and with God's providence at work even in the midst of suffering.