Genesis 37:4

37:4 When Joseph’s ¹  brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, ²  they hated Joseph ³  and were not able to speak to him kindly. ⁴ 

Genesis 37:8

37:8 Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?” ⁵  They hated him even more ⁶  because of his dream and because of what he said. ⁷ 

[37:4]  ¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:4]  ² tn Heb “of his brothers.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “them.”

[37:4]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[37:8]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn This construction is identical to the one in Gen 37:5.

[37:8]  ⁷ 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.