The Book of
Genesis 37
36 verses≈ 7 min4 peopleBSB
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In this chapter
Where we are
- 1–11BeginningsCreation, fall, flood, Babel
- 12–24AbrahamThe call and the promise
- 25–36Isaac and JacobThe promise passed on
- 37–50JosephGod meant it for goodChapter 37
Joseph’s Dreams
Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan.
This is the account of Jacob.
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When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had:
We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine.”
Joseph's brothers
“Do you intend to reign over us?” his brothers asked. “Will you actually rule us?”
So they hated him even more because of his dream and his statements.
Joseph
Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”
And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
Genesis 37:11
Reflect
Where envy grows
Favor from a father, a bright robe, two dreams told out loud. First the brothers “could not speak a kind word to him”; then they “hated him even more.” Envy rarely starts big. Is there someone whose blessing you find hard to watch? Name it honestly before God, and write down what you see.
Joseph Sold into Egypt
Stylised map · locations approximate
On the map
From Hebron to Dothan
Jacob sends Joseph “from the Valley of Hebron” to find his brothers near Shechem, about 50 miles north. They have moved on, so he follows them another dozen miles or so to Dothan, a valley of good pasture beside the road that ran from Gilead, east of the Jordan, down toward the coast and Egypt.
Some time later, Joseph’s brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks near Shechem.
Jacob
Israel said to him, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them.”
Joseph
“I am ready,” Joseph replied.
Jacob
Then Israel told him, “Go now and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring word back to me.”
So he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. And when Joseph arrived in Shechem,
A man in the field
a man found him wandering in the field and asked, “What are you looking for?”
Joseph
“I am looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Can you please tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?”
A man in the field
“They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Now Joseph’s brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another. “Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!”
When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue Joseph from their hands.
Reuben
“Let us not take his life,” he said. “Do not shed his blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.”
Reuben said this so that he could rescue Joseph from their hands and return him to his father.
for he is our brother, our own flesh
Genesis 37:27
When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes, returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”
Pray
When people turn on you
Joseph went looking for his brothers and found people who said, “let us kill him.” He was stripped, thrown in a pit and sold “for twenty shekels of silver.” If someone close to you has turned against you, bring it to God now. Ask Him to hold you in the pit, to guard your heart from bitterness, and to work in the story you can’t yet see the end of.
Jacob Mourns Joseph
Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe or not.”
His father recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
0:41
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son
Genesis 37:35
Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
Question
Quick question
The brothers had to decide what to do with Joseph once he was in the pit.
Which brother said, “Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites”?
You’ve experienced
Genesis 37
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A verse to carry with you
And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
Genesis 37:11
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