Genesis 37:5

37:5 Joseph ¹  had a dream, ²  and when he told his brothers about it, ³  they hated him even more. ⁴ 

Genesis 37:11

37:11 His brothers were jealous ⁵  of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said. ⁶ 

Genesis 28:12

28:12 and had a dream. ⁷  He saw ⁸  a stairway ⁹  erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it

Genesis 49:23

49:23 The archers will attack him, ¹⁰ 

they will shoot at him and oppose him.

¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

³ sn Some interpreters see Joseph as gloating over his brothers, but the text simply says he told his brothers about it (i.e., the dream). The text gives no warrant for interpreting his manner as arrogant or condescending. It seems normal that he would share a dream with the family.

⁴ tn The construction uses a hendiadys, “they added to hate,” meaning they hated him even more.

⁵ sn Joseph’s brothers were already jealous of him, but this made it even worse. Such jealousy easily leads to action, as the next episode in the story shows. Yet dreams were considered a form of revelation, and their jealousy was not only of the favoritism of their father, but of the dreams. This is why Jacob kept the matter in mind.

⁶ tn Heb “kept the word.” The referent of the Hebrew term “word” has been specified as “what Joseph said” in the translation for clarity, and the words “in mind” have been supplied for stylistic reasons.

⁷ tn Heb “and dreamed.”

⁸ tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).

⁹ tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.

¹⁰ tn The verb forms in vv. 23-24 are used in a rhetorical manner, describing future events as if they had already taken place.