CHAPTER XXXVII _Jacob continues to sojourn in Canaan_, 1. _Joseph, being seventeen years of age, is employed in feeding_ _the flocks of his father_, 2. _Is loved by his father more than the rest of his brethren_, 3. _His brethren envy him_, 4. _His dream of the_ sheaves, 5-7. _His brethren in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:2. _THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS_] תלדות _toledoth, the history_ _of the lives and actions of Jacob and his sons_; for in this general sense the original must be taken, as in the whole of the ensuing history there is no particular account of any _genealogical_ succession. Yet the words... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:3. _A COAT OF MANY COLOURS._] כתנת פסים _kethoneth passim_, a coat made up of stripes of differently coloured cloth. Similar to this was the _toga praetexta_ of the Roman youth, which was _white_, striped or fringed with _purple_; this they wore till they were _seventeen_ years of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:4. _AND COULD NOT SPEAK PEACEABLY UNTO HIM._] Does not this imply, in our use of the term, that they were continually _quarrelling_ with him? but this is no meaning of the original: ולא יכלו דברו לשלם _velo yachelu dabbero leshalom, they could not_ _speak peace to him_, i. e., they... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:7. _WE_ WERE _BINDING SHEAVES IN THE FIELD_] Though in these early times we read little of _tillage_, yet it is evident from this circumstance that it was practised by Jacob and his sons. The whole of this dream is so very plain as to require no comment, unless we could suppose that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:9. _HE DREAMED YET ANOTHER DREAM_] This is as clear as the preceding. But how could Jacob say, _Shall I and thy mother, c_., when Rachel his mother was _dead_ some time before this? Perhaps Jacob might hint, by this explanation, the _impossibility_ of such a dream being fulfilled, b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:14. _GO - SEE WHETHER IT BE WELL WITH THY BRETHREN_] Literally, Go, I beseech thee, and see the peace of thy brethren, and the peace of the flock. Go and see whether they are all in _prosperity_. Genesis 37:4. As Jacob's sons were now gone to feed the flock on the parcel of ground t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:19. _BEHOLD, THIS DREAMER COMETH._] בעל החלמות _baal_ _hachalomoth_, this _master of dreams_, this _master dreamer_. A form of speech which conveys great contempt.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:20. _COME NOW AND LET US SLAY HIM_] What unprincipled savages these must have been to talk thus coolly about imbruing their hands in an innocent brother's blood! How necessary is a Divine revelation, to show man what God _hates_ and what he _loves_! Ferocious cruelty is the principa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:21. _REUBEN HEARD IT_] Though Reuben appears to have been a transgressor of no ordinary magnitude, if we take Genesis 35:22 according to the letter, yet his bosom was not the habitation of _cruelly_. He determined, if possible, to save his brother from death, and deliver him safely... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:23. _THEY STRIPPED JOSEPH OUT OF HIS COAT_] This probably was done that, if ever found, he might not be discerned to be a _person of distinction_, and consequently, no inquiry made concerning him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:25. _THEY SAT DOWN TO EAT BREAD_] Every act is perfectly in character, and describes forcibly the _brutish_ and _diabolic_ nature of their ruthless souls. _A COMPANY OF ISHMAELITES_] We may naturally suppose that this was a _caravan_, composed of different tribes that, for their g... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:28. _FOR TWENTY_ PIECES _OF SILVER_] In the _Anglo-Saxon_ it is [Anglo-Saxon] _thirty pence_. This, I think, is the first instance on record of selling a man for a slave; but the practice certainly did not commence now, it had doubtless been in use long before. Instead of _pieces_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:29. _REUBEN RETURNED UNTO THE PIT_] It appears he was absent when the caravan passed by, to whom the other brethren had sold Joseph.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:30. _THE CHILD_ IS _NOT; AND I, WHITHER SHALL I GO?_] The words in the original are very plaintive, הילד איננו ואני אנה אני בא _haiyeled einennu, vaani anah, ani ba_!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:32. _SENT THE COAT OF_ MANY _COLOURS - TO THEIR FATHER_] What _deliberate cruelty_ to torture the feelings of their aged father, and thus harrow up his soul!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:33. _JOSEPH IS WITHOUT DOUBT RENT IN PIECES!_] It is likely he inferred this from the _lacerated_ state of the coat, which, in order the better to cover their wickedness, they had not only besmeared with the blood of the goat, but it is probable reduced to _tatters_. And what must a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:35. _ALL HIS SONS AND ALL HIS DAUGHTERS_] He had only one daughter, _Dinah_; but his _sons' wives_ may be here included. But what hypocrisy in his sons to attempt to comfort him concerning the death of a son who they knew was alive; and what cruelty to put their aged father to such... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 37:36. _POTIPHAR, AN OFFICER OF PHARAOH'S_] The word סריס _saris_, translated _officer_, signifies a _eunuch_; and lest any person should imagine that because this Potiphar _had a wife_, therefore it is absurd to suppose him to have been a _eunuch_, let such persons know that it is not... [ Continue Reading ]