Genesis 37 Footnotes

37:5-11 The reference to “your mother” has Leah (Jacob’s remaining primary wife) in view since Rachel had died in childbirth years before (35:16-20). The observation that Jacob “kept the matter in mind” looks back on the prophecy of Jacob, the younger son, ruling over his older brother, Esau (25:23), as well as Jacob’s significant dreams revealing God’s will (28:12-15; 31:10-13). Jacob saw these prophecies fulfilled when Joseph became the second most powerful authority in Egypt (46:29-30).

37:15-17 The brothers had moved the family’s herds from Shechem to Dothan. Though located in northern Palestine, Dothan was situated on the primary trade route between the Fertile Crescent and Egypt. Those providential circumstances led to Joseph’s being carried to Egypt (vv. 28,36).

37:21-22,30-31 Two things probably motivated Reuben to try to save Joseph’s life. First, as the oldest son (35:23), he was most responsible to his father for the safety of his young sibling. Second, after having sexual relations with his father’s concubine, Bilhah (35:22), Reuben was undoubtedly attempting to get back in Jacob’s good graces.

37:35 When Jacob says that he will go down to “Sheol,” he does not mean he will go to hell (or heaven), but that he will be reunited with his son beyond death. In the Hebrew Bible, Sheol is the general term for the afterlife, the abode of departed spirits beyond the grave.