Genesis 37:1-11

1 And Jacob dwelt in the land in which 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 to 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] colors.

4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [it] to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

6 And he said to 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 around 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 to 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 to 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.

Genesis 37:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 37

In this chapter begins the history of Joseph, with whom the remaining part of this book is chiefly concerned; and here are related the hatred of his brethren to him, because he brought an ill report of them to his father, and because his father loved him, and which was increased by the dream he dreamed, and told them of, Ge 37:1-11; a visit of his to his brethren in the fields, whom he found after a long search of them, Ge 37:12-17; their conspiracy on sight of him to slay him, but by the advice of Reuben it was agreed to cast him into a pit, which they did, Ge 37:18-24; and after that, at the motion of Judah, sold him to the Ishmaelites, who were going to Egypt, Ge 37:25-28; this being done, Reuben being absent, and not finding Joseph in the pit, was in great distress, Ge 37:29,30; their contrivance to deceive their father, and make him believe that Joseph was destroyed by a wild beast, which on the sight of the coat he credited, and became inconsolable, Ge 37:31-35; and the chapter concludes with the sale of Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, Ge 37:36.