Genesis 37:3

Israel In J this name is generally used. Contrast the use of Jacob by P in Genesis 37:2.

the son of his old age This is hardly the description that we should expect from chap. Genesis 30:22-24, which records the birth of Joseph. The phrase is used in Genesis 44:20 of Benjamin with greater appropriateness.

a coat of many colours Rather, as R.V. marg., a long garment with sleeves. The familiar rendering "a coat of many colours," derived from LXX χιτῶνα ποικίλον, Vulg. tunicam polymitam, is certainly incorrect. It is literally "a tunic of palms," i.e. reaching to the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, differing from an ordinary tunic by having sleeves, and by reaching to the feet. The same word is used in 2 Samuel 13:18 of a dress worn by a princess, where LXX χιτὼν καρπωτός and Lat. tunica talarisare correct. The rendering of the margin, of Pesh., Symm. (χειριδωτόν) and Aquila (χιτὼν ἀστραγάλων), if less picturesque, is more accurate.

The unwise favouritism shewn by his father heightened the unpopularity of the boy.