Genesis 37:1-36
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.a
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, seeb 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 dreamerc 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 coloursd 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 officere of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
Genesis 37:2. These are the generations, or events which happened to Jacob's family. Sons of Bilhah. Jacob seems to have divided Leah's sons from the sons of the bond-women, who proved very wicked children; and Joseph's calamities began by accusing them. Concumbentes cum bestiis.
Genesis 37:3. Israel loved Joseph, because of Rachel, and because of his great piety at the age of seventeen; and having taken the birthright from Reuben, on account of his sin, he conferred it on Joseph on account of his piety. With this view he made him a coat of many colours, that he might assist him at the altar. But it might be called a coat of varied colours, from the embroidery, as the Tunicam manicatam seems to imply. The art of dyeing was understood by the ancients, as appears from the Tyrian purple, chiefly produced by secretions found in a fish. The works of art would obtrude discoveries on the old world.
Genesis 37:4. They hated him. The partiality of their father, the complaints preferred against them for their faults, the coat of many colours, and the character of his dreams, instead of attracting the esteem of their better nature, excited their hatred, as was the case of the Lord Christ, of whom Joseph was a figure.
Genesis 37:14. Whether it be well with thy brethren. Jacob might fear some calamity on account of the massacre at Shechem.
Genesis 37:19. This dreamer cometh. A bitter sarcasm, and word of infidel reproach, which God, in the interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, converted into real honour, and a diadem of prophetic glory. So in the case of Jesus Christ, the crown of thorns was turned into a crown of glory, the reed into a sceptre of iron, and the purple robe into garments of light and majesty.
Genesis 37:20. Let us slay him. Simeon and Levi, according to Abarbanel, were the two that moved the rest to this wicked deed. Poli. Synopsis. Simeon is said to have bound Joseph, which apparently accounts for his being bound in Egypt.
Genesis 37:24. The pit was empty; being a pit to catch water in the rainy season.
Genesis 37:34. Jacob mourned. There was more cause to have mourned for the wickedness of his sons yet alive, than for Joseph, who was supposed to be dead. When a man is supposed to have died in a distant land, his family should endeavour meekly to leave the matter with providence.
REFLECTIONS.
Entering now on the history of Joseph, one of the finest and most instructive providences is unfolded to our view which the sacred writings afford; and there is nothing in all the pagan writings, which either in point of consummate virtue or literary excellence, has claims to equal merit. May the Lord assist us in tracing its prominent features, and may our hearts be softened and sanctified by a review of his early providences and grace. We find Joseph, at the age of seventeen, inheriting the virtues of the patriarchs, and twice favoured with divine revelations of his future greatness. So it is that providence is wont to buoy up the mind with sacred hope, before the days of affliction approach.
He was hated of his brothers, because of his virtue; because he complained of their vices, and because he was honoured of his father and of his God. And providence is the same still; the cross and the crown are uniformly joined. We have seldom known a man eminently holy, but he was eminently tried. The one without the other might have been awful even to St. Paul: hence the joys of his revelations were allayed with a thorn (of infirmities) in the flesh. Consequently we ought not to be discouraged at adversity, for having God's favour our crosses shall do us good, and not evil.
We learn also, that real religion is characterised by abundance of simplicity, and a disposition to overcome evil with good. How simply did this youth relate his dreams! Intending no harm himself, he little suspected that another would thereby take occasion to seek his destruction. How cheerfully did he run to Shechem, and then to Dothan, to seek his envious brothers! A deep work of God on a young man's mind is accompanied with the most engaging simplicity. Living to God, he has no secrets but what might be known. Wishing to do all things right, he opens all his soul without reserve. His friendship is without suspicion, and his conversation untainted with guile. Grace makes a man once more as a little child, and restores even to old age the heaven of infantile simplicity. On the other hand, how wicked, how inconceivably wicked must the human heart be, which can hate and persecute so much goodness in the soul of a brother. Oh, how sin estranges the heart from God: what a desert, a dry and barren desert, it brings upon the soul. Oh, how soon may a course of crimes reduce the human heart to become the habitation of devils, and the seat of every infernal plot. Suppress, oh my soul, every evil thought in its commencement, for thou knowest not but a single folly once indulged may prove thy destruction, or embarrass thee for life. A single folly did I say? But where is the sin that is not complicated? Here is a plot to kill a young, a pious, and unoffending brother. Next follows a scheme to cover the crime, by dipping his sacred coat in the blood of a kid; and sad is the recollection, that by a kid Jacob had deceived his father Isaac. Next the venerable Sire must be murdered too, or nearly so, with sorrow for a favourite son; and next, this horrid story must be persisted in for twenty years, till providence should develope the guilt. These brothers cast Joseph into a pit, and would have fallen themselves into the bottomless pit, had not God graciously brought them to deep repentance. Flee, oh young man, the society and counsel of ungodly men; for when once entered on a course of crimes, you may not stop at the limited point; and every kind of sin must terminate either in humiliating confessions, or everlasting misery.