Genesis 37:1-17

Joseph’s Dreams

37:1 But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, ¹  in the land of Canaan. ² 

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ³  was taking care of ⁴  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ⁵  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ⁶  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ⁷  to their father.

37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons ⁸  because he was a son born to him late in life, ⁹  and he made a special ¹⁰  tunic for him. 37:4 When Joseph’s ¹¹  brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, ¹²  they hated Joseph ¹³  and were not able to speak to him kindly. ¹⁴ 

37:5 Joseph ¹⁵  had a dream, ¹⁶  and when he told his brothers about it, ¹⁷  they hated him even more. ¹⁸  37:6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ¹⁹  37:7 There we were, ²⁰  binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down ²¹  to it!” 37:8 Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?” ²²  They hated him even more ²³  because of his dream and because of what he said. ²⁴ 

37:9 Then he had another dream, ²⁵  and told it to his brothers. “Look,” ²⁶  he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 37:10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? ²⁷  Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?” ²⁸  37:11 His brothers were jealous ²⁹  of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said. ³⁰ 

37:12 When his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 37:13 Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers ³¹  are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” “I’m ready,” ³²  Joseph replied. ³³  37:14 So Jacob ³⁴  said to him, “Go now and check on ³⁵  the welfare ³⁶  of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word.” So Jacob ³⁷  sent him from the valley of Hebron.

37:15 When Joseph reached Shechem, ³⁸  a man found him wandering ³⁹  in the field, so the man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 37:16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Please tell ⁴⁰  me where they are grazing their flocks.” 37:17 The man said, “They left this area, ⁴¹  for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

[37:1]  ¹ tn Heb “the land of the sojournings of his father.”

[37:1]  ² sn The next section begins with the heading This is the account of Jacob in Gen 37:2, so this verse actually forms part of the preceding section as a concluding contrast with Esau and his people. In contrast to all the settled and expanded population of Esau, Jacob was still moving about in the land without a permanent residence and without kings. Even if the Edomite king list was added later (as the reference to kings in Israel suggests), its placement here in contrast to Jacob and his descendants is important. Certainly the text deals with Esau before dealing with Jacob – that is the pattern. But the detail is so great in chap. 36 that the contrast cannot be missed.

[37:2]  ³ tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”

[37:2]  ⁴ tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”

[37:2]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.

[37:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”

[37:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.

[37:3]  ⁸ tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information vital to the story. It explains in part the brothers’ animosity toward Joseph.

[37:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “a son of old age was he to him.” This expression means “a son born to him when he [i.e., Jacob] was old.”

[37:3]  ¹⁰ tn It is not clear what this tunic was like, because the meaning of the Hebrew word that describes it is uncertain. The idea that it was a coat of many colors comes from the Greek translation of the OT. An examination of cognate terms in Semitic suggests it was either a coat or tunic with long sleeves (cf. NEB, NRSV), or a tunic that was richly embroidered (cf. NIV). It set Joseph apart as the favored one.

[37:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:4]  ¹² tn Heb “of his brothers.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “them.”

[37:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “speak to him for peace.”

[37:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

[37:5]  ¹⁷ 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.

[37:5]  ¹⁸ tn The construction uses a hendiadys, “they added to hate,” meaning they hated him even more.

[37:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “hear this dream which I dreamed.”

[37:7]  ²⁰ tn All three clauses in this dream report begin with וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), which lends vividness to the report. This is represented in the translation by the expression “there we were.”

[37:7]  ²¹ tn The verb means “to bow down to the ground.” It is used to describe worship and obeisance to masters.

[37:8]  ²² tn Heb “Ruling, will you rule over us, or reigning, will you reign over us?” The statement has a poetic style, with the two questions being in synonymous parallelism. Both verbs in this statement are preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Joseph’s brothers said, “You don’t really think you will rule over us, do you? You don’t really think you will have dominion over us, do you?”

[37:8]  ²³ tn This construction is identical to the one in Gen 37:5.

[37:8]  ²⁴ sn The response of Joseph’s brothers is understandable, given what has already been going on in the family. But here there is a hint of uneasiness – they hated him because of his dream and because of his words. The dream bothered them, as well as his telling them. And their words in the rhetorical question are ironic, for this is exactly what would happen. The dream was God’s way of revealing it.

[37:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”

[37:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Look.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. Both clauses of the dream report begin with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which lends vividness to the report.

[37:10]  ²⁷ sn The question What is this dream that you had? expresses Jacob’s dismay at what he perceives to be Joseph’s audacity.

[37:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Coming, will we come, I and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to you to the ground?” The verb “come” is preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Jacob said, “You don’t really think we will come…to bow down…do you?”

[37:11]  ²⁹ 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.

[37:11]  ³⁰ 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.

[37:13]  ³¹ tn The text uses an interrogative clause: “Are not your brothers,” which means “your brothers are.”

[37:13]  ³² sn With these words Joseph is depicted here as an obedient son who is ready to do what his father commands.

[37:13]  ³³ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here I am.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[37:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “see.”

[37:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “peace.”

[37:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and he [i.e., Joseph] went to Shechem.” The referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:15]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and a man found him and look, he was wandering in the field.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the action through this unnamed man’s eyes.

[37:16]  ⁴⁰ tn The imperative in this sentence has more of the nuance of a request than a command.

[37:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “they traveled from this place.”