Genesis 37:3

37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons ¹  because he was a son born to him late in life, ²  and he made a special ³  tunic for him.

Genesis 37:31-33

37:31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a young goat, ⁴  and dipped the tunic in the blood. 37:32 Then they brought the special tunic to their father ⁵  and said, “We found this. Determine now whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”

37:33 He recognized it and exclaimed, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! ⁶  Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”

Genesis 42:21

42:21 They said to one other, ⁷  “Surely we’re being punished ⁸  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ⁹  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ¹⁰  has come on us!”

Psalms 22:18

22:18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;

they are rolling dice ¹¹  for my garments.

Matthew 27:28

27:28 They ¹²  stripped him and put a scarlet robe ¹³  around him,

[37:3]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information vital to the story. It explains in part the brothers’ animosity toward Joseph.

[37:3]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[37:31]  ⁴ sn It was with two young goats that Jacob deceived his father (Gen 27:9); now with a young goat his sons continue the deception that dominates this family.

[37:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they sent the special tunic and they brought [it] to their father.” The text as it stands is problematic. It sounds as if they sent the tunic on ahead and then came and brought it to their father. Some emend the second verb to a Qal form and read “and they came.” In this case, they sent the tunic on ahead.

[37:33]  ⁶ sn A wild animal has eaten him. Jacob draws this conclusion on his own without his sons actually having to lie with their words (see v. 20). Dipping the tunic in the goat’s blood was the only deception needed.

[42:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ⁸ tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ¹⁰ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.

[22:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “casting lots.” The precise way in which this would have been done is not certain.

[27:28]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:28]  ¹³ sn The scarlet robe probably refers to a military garment which had the color of royal purple, and thus resembled a king’s robe. The soldiers did this to Jesus as a form of mockery in view of the charges that he was a king.