1 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.
33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
1. Joseph aggravates his brothers by giving a bad report about them to his father.
2. Joseph relates his dreams to his family, suggesting that he will sometime in the future hold a position of preeminence over his family.
3. Jacob sends Joseph to Shechem to find his brothers.
4. Joseph’s brothers seize him and sell him into slavery.
Verses 1–11. This chapter relates a story of hatred, envy, and deceit. This sort of sin ruins families in all times and places. It is not unusual. There are sins that are corporate and systemic, which set the conditions for more sin. In this story, the conditions that served to foster sin and corruption among the sons of Jacob were polygamy, idolatry, and a fleshly rivalry rooted in pride. Should it be any surprise to us that the sons of Rachel and Leah took on the pride and jealousy of their mothers, or that the sons of Jacob gave way to deceptive ploys? Oftentimes, children will take on the sins of their fathers with increased consistency and greater passion. Such was the case with Jacob and his sons. Like the spreading of germs in a dirty hospital, sin is the leaven in the body of a family. It is impossible to entirely escape its effects in the lives of families, churches, and nations.
At this point, Jacob’s failure to provide adequate spiritual leadership in his home should be fairly evident. A pattern emerges throughout the account of Jacob’s life as we recall his hesitation to get involved in the Dinah affair, or his pursuit of more polygamy at Rachel’s suggestion, or his apparent passivity towards Reuben’s abominable behavior, or his angry response to Rachel in her barrenness. All of these sins of omission and commission served to create a “perfect storm” in the life of Jacob’s family, as this story evidences. All in all, the fundamental problem was still the human heart. It was the corruption of their hearts that defiled these brothers and produced the dastardly, hateful deed.
Concerning the matter of favoritism, there is nothing essentially wrong with a father providing some special treatment for one child over another. Of course, a father should demonstrate true love for each and all of his children. But if a father should reward one child for responsible behavior, the others should take delight in this. Sadly, this is not usually the case. When hearts are already smoldering in bitter hatred, selfish pride, and sinful rivalry, favoritism will serve as gasoline on a pile of hot coals. In the case of Jacob, one would have a hard time making the case that he cared all that much for his older sons, especially in view of his treatment of Leah’s sons on the day he had the encounter with his brother, Esau.
Before we start labeling this family as the worst possible example of family unity in the history of mankind, we should point out that Jacob’s marriages stayed intact until the end, and the family still worked together as a unified household. These things could hardly be said of many Christian households in “developed” nations today. Families used to retain an integral solidarity as they formed their own economy, and as members of the family worked for that economic vision. In this case, however, it seems that Joseph was more honest and more dedicated to the success of his father’s ventures than the rest of Jacob’s sons. When he reported problems with his brothers in the field, this served only to sour their relationship. Relationships disintegrated even more when his father rewarded him with a coat of honor. In those days, a man’s clothes communicated his wealth and his place in society, and Joseph’s brothers did not miss the message.
To make matters even worse, Joseph told his family about some dreams he had, in which he assumed a position of preeminence over all of them, parents included. Does Joseph betray a lack of wisdom in his interactions with his brothers? Well, Proverbs warns us about the “wringing of the nose” and the provoking of strife among those who are already controlled by envy, hatred, and pride (Prov. 30:33). Yet even if this was a failure on Joseph’s part, it is clear that Joseph was more righteous than all of them, and certainly far more deserving of his father’s trust and honor.
Verses 12–36. Having appointed Joseph as supervisor over his brothers, Jacob sent him off to monitor his brothers who were tending the sheep at Shechem. Here Joseph again proved himself as the paradigm of a faithful servant and a responsible son as he followed his father’s wishes and searched for his brothers. But it was just this moral quality about the young man that fueled the fire of envy in the hearts of his brothers. “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?” (Prov. 27:4). When he finally came upon his brothers on the plains of Dothan, dark clouds were gathering. We can learn from this that if anger and envy are not addressed, these sins will eventually yield terrible, destructive effects, not even excluding the sin of murder. Remember that it was Cain who was warned about sin that crouched at the door like a tiger. If that sin is not mortified in the heart and in the tongue, it will often spring forward in violent, harmful actions. This is precisely what we see in this story, as the brothers made plans to kill Joseph. Thankfully, Reuben intervened and saved the boy’s life. It is never too late to repent, and even the slightest shift in a man’s heart is welcome. Repentance can avert a world of grief. In this case, however, their repentance was half-hearted and pusillanimous. The brothers proceeded to strip Joseph of his coat, breaking the Eighth Commandment. They threw him into a pit and sold him to Ishmaelite slave traders, breaking the Sixth Commandment. Afterward, they proceeded to concoct a false story for their father, breaking the Fifth and Ninth Commandments. This is a vivid picture of the sinful hearts of men involved in a whole series of sinful actions.
The story was not over. God was working. As the story unfolds, we will find that God was working through the evil actions of Joseph’s brothers to accomplish His marvelous plans.
1. This is a good story for all children who possess the same sinful tendencies as Joseph’s brothers. Let it be a warning to all of us! It reminds us of the dreadful evils of jealousy and hatred that lurk in every person’s heart. If these sins are left to simmer in the hearts of boys and girls over many years, they will produce very bad fruit. Do you see how important it is that you repent of these sinful inclinations while they are still tiny, fleeting thoughts in the mind? Do not allow the sin of proud rivalry or hateful jealousy to grow in your heart. Confess these sins to Christ and receive His forgiveness today. It is very important that you deal with these sins when you are young. Plead for God’s help now or your sin may cause terrible destruction in your family in the years to come.
2. What can we say about “tattling” or reporting the sins of others to parents and superiors? On the one hand, we want to be careful that we do not appear self-righteous to others. This happens sometimes when a child fails to acknowledge his own sins while at the same time being very up-front about everyone else’s sins. Parents should watch for this sort of hypocrisy. Still, there is nothing wrong with a truthful witness. When a child truthfully reports sins happening in his home and confesses his own sins in the process, a parent ought to commend it. Of course, other rebellious hearts may hate that child for bringing their sin to light. According to Proverbs, the fool is defined as the one who hates reproof, but “he that regards reproof shall be honored” (Prov. 13:18). And “he that hears reproof gets understanding” (Prov. 15:32), but “he that hateth reproof shall die” (Prov. 15:10). God holds parents responsible for correcting sin, and we expect our children to be faithful in reporting sin to us. Our little ones should be careful not to despise the one who brings their sins to light, even if he “tattles.” They should avoid playing the part of the lawyer who argues every little fact in the matter when they are clearly guilt of a sinful heart, sinful motivations, and sinful actions. If our children are in sin, then they should admit it, confess it, and receive forgiveness from those they have offended. People who instinctively recoil against every confrontation or accusation of sin, and those who argue with every reproof and rebuke, are playing the part of the scoffer and the fool.
1. What are the themes of Chapters 1 through 37?
2. What did the coat of many colors symbolize?
3. How did Joseph’s brothers react when Jacob favored Joseph with the coat of honor?
4. How did Joseph’s behavior demonstrate his faithfulness and responsibility as Jacob’s son?
5. How did Joseph’s brothers show that their actions were motivated by hatred and envy?
6. How did Joseph’s brothers deceive their father?
7. How did Reuben demonstrate his repentance towards his father in this story?
1. What are the fundamental sinful heart inclinations in our family that might result in more sinful behavior?
2. Children, are you ever jealous of your brothers and sisters? Do you covet gifts that your parents give to any of your siblings? Is there any hate in your heart against a brother or sister today? How do we address sins like this?