Genesis 37:1-40:23

Hook

This opening to the Joseph narrative, often glossed over as a simple setup, is actually a masterclass in subtle foreshadowing and character introduction. It's not just about Jacob settling down; it's about the way he settles, and what that implies for his family, particularly for Joseph.

Context

The opening verse, "Now Jacob was settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan," is more than just geographical information. It directly contrasts Jacob's situation with that of Esau. The commentary from Ramban on Sefaria (https://www.sefaria.org/Ramban_on_Genesis.37.1.1) highlights this: Esau's "chiefs" dwelt in their land as a possession, while Jacob "dwelt as his father had, as a stranger in a land which was not their own." This immediately sets up a tension between inheritance and sojourning, between a settled claim and a precarious existence, a theme that will resonate deeply with Joseph's own journey. It also hints at the divine promise to Abraham concerning his descendants being strangers in a land not their own, a promise fulfilled in Jacob, but not in Esau.

Text Snapshot

Now Jacob was settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.

This, then, is the line of Jacob: At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father.

Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons—he was his “child of old age”; and he had made him an ornamented tunic.

And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him.

Once Joseph had a dream which he dreamed, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.

He said to them, “Hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf stood up and remained upright; then your sheaves gathered around and bowed low to my sheaf.”

His brothers answered, “Do you mean to reign over us? Do you mean to rule over us?” And they hated him even more for his talk about his dreams.

He dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: And this time, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

And when he told it to his father and brothers, his father berated him. “What,” he said to him, “is this dream you have dreamed? Are we to come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow low to you to the ground?”

So his brothers were wrought up at him, and his father kept the matter in mind.

One time, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing at Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “I am ready.”

And he said to him, “Go and see how your brothers are and how the flocks are faring, and bring me back word.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. When he reached Shechem, a man came upon him wandering in the fields. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?” He answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Could you tell me where they are pasturing?” The man said, “They have gone from here, for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers and found them at Dothan.

They saw him from afar, and before he came close to them they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer! Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we can say, ‘A savage beast devoured him.’ We shall see what comes of his dreams!”

But when Reuben heard it, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben went on, “Shed no blood! Cast him into that pit out in the wilderness, but do not touch him yourselves”—intending to save him from them and restore him to his father.

When Joseph came up to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ornamented tunic that he was wearing, and took him and cast him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Then they sat down to a meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels bearing gum, balm, and ladanum to be taken to Egypt.

Then Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.

When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph up out of the pit. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt.

When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes. Returning to his brothers, he said, “The boy is gone! Now, what am I to do?”

Then they took Joseph’s tunic, slaughtered a kid, and dipped the tunic in the blood. They had the ornamented tunic taken to their father, and they said, “We found this. Please examine it; is it your son’s tunic or not?” He recognized it, and said, “My son’s tunic! A savage beast devoured him! Joseph was torn by a beast!” Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and observed mourning for his son many days. All his sons and daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, saying, “No, I will go down mourning to my son in Sheol.” Thus his father bewailed him.

The Midianites, meanwhile, sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his prefect. About that time Judah left his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he took her [into his household as wife] and cohabited with her. She conceived and bore a son, and he named him Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and named him Onan. Once again she bore a son, and named him Shelah; he was at Chezib when she bore him. Judah got a wife for Er his first-born; her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s first-born, was displeasing to יהוה, and יהוה took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, “Join with your brother’s wife and do your duty by her as a brother-in-law, and provide offspring for your brother.” But Onan, knowing that the offspring would not count as his, let [the semen] go to waste whenever he joined with his brother’s wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother. What he did was displeasing to יהוה, who took his life also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Stay as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”—for he thought, “He too might die like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house. A long time afterward, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When his period of mourning was over, Judah went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, together with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is coming up to Timnah for the sheepshearing.” So she took off her widow’s garb, covered her face with a veil, and, wrapping herself up, sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him as wife. When Judah saw her, he took her for a harlot; for she had covered her face. So he turned aside to her by the road and said, “Here, let me sleep with you”—for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. “What,” she asked, “will you pay for sleeping with me?” He replied, “I will send a kid from my flock.” But she said, “You must leave a pledge until you have sent it.” And he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your seal and cord, and the staff which you carry.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she conceived by him. Then she went on her way. She took off her veil and again put on her widow’s garb. Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to redeem the pledge from the woman; but he could not find her. He inquired of the council of that locale, “Where is the prostitute, the one at Enaim, by the road?” But they said, “There has been no prostitute here.” So he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her; moreover, the local council said: There has been no prostitute here.” Judah said, “Let her keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. I did send her this kid, but you did not find her.” About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot; in fact, she is pregnant from harlotry.” “Bring her out,” said Judah. “She should be burned!” As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, “It’s by the man to whom these belong that I’m pregnant.” And she added, “Examine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?” Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he was not intimate with her again. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb! While she was in labor, one of them put out a hand, and the midwife tied a crimson thread on that hand, to signify: This one came out first. But just then it drew back its hand, and out came its brother; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez. Afterward his brother came out, on whose hand was the crimson thread; he was named Zerah. When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his prefect—a [type of] Egyptian official—bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. יהוה was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he stayed in the house of his Egyptian master. And when his master saw that יהוה was with him and that יהוה lent success to everything he undertook, he took a liking to Joseph. He made him his personal attendant and put him in charge of his household, placing in his hands all that he owned. And from the time that the Egyptian put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, יהוה blessed his house for Joseph’s sake, so that the blessing of יהוה was upon everything that he owned, in the house and outside. He left all that he had in Joseph’s hands and, with him there, he paid attention to nothing save the food that he ate. Now Joseph was well built and handsome. After a time, his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master gives no thought to anything in this house, and all that he owns he has placed in my hands. He wields no more authority in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except yourself, since you are his wife. How then could I do this most wicked thing, and sin before God?” And much as she coaxed Joseph day after day, he did not yield to her request to lie beside her, to be with her. One such day, he came into the house to do his work. None of the household being there inside, she caught hold of him by his garment and said, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and got away and fled outside. When she saw that he had left it in her hand and had fled outside, she called out to her servants and said to them, “Look, he had to bring us a Hebrew to dally with us! This one came to lie with me; but I screamed loud. And when he heard me screaming at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and got away and fled outside.” She kept his garment beside her, until his master came home. Then she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew slave whom you brought into our house came to me to dally with me; but when I screamed at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and fled outside.” When his master heard the story that his wife told him, namely, “Thus and so your slave did to me,” he was furious. So Joseph’s master had him put in prison, where the king’s prisoners were confined. But even while he was there in prison, יהוה was with Joseph—extending kindness to him and disposing the chief jailer favorably toward him. The chief jailer put in Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in that prison, and he was the one to carry out everything that was done there. The chief jailer did not supervise anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because יהוה was with him, and whatever he did יהוה made successful. Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt gave offense to their lord the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two courtiers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody, in the house of the prefect, in the same prison house where Joseph was confined. The prefect assigned Joseph to them, and he attended them. When they had been in custody for some time, both of them—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—dreamed in the same night, each his own dream and each dream with its own meaning. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught. He asked Pharaoh’s courtiers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you appear downcast today?” And they said to him, “We had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” So Joseph said to them, “Surely God can interpret! Tell me [your dreams].” Then the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph. He said to him, “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. On the vine were three branches. It had barely budded, when out came its blossoms and its clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: The three branches are three days. In three days Pharaoh will pardon you and restore you to your post; you will place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, as was your custom formerly when you were his cupbearer. But think of me when all is well with you again, and do me the kindness of mentioning me to Pharaoh, so as to free me from this place. For in truth, I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews; nor have I done anything here that they should have put me in the dungeon.” When the chief baker saw how favorably he had interpreted, he said to Joseph, “In my dream, similarly, there were three openwork baskets on my head. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of food for Pharaoh that a baker prepares; and the birds were eating it out of the basket above my head.” Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation: The three baskets are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale you upon a pole; and the birds will pick off your flesh.” On the third day—his birthday—Pharaoh made a banquet for all his officials, and he singled out his chief cupbearer and his chief baker from among his officials. He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand; but the chief baker he impaled—just as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not think of Joseph; he forgot him.

Close Reading

Insight 1: The "Ornamented Tunic" as a Catalyst

The "ornamented tunic" (Hebrew: ketonet passim) given to Joseph by his father is more than just a gift; it's a symbol of his special status and a direct trigger for the brothers' animosity. The text states: "And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him." (Genesis 37:4). This isn't just jealousy; it's a profound rejection of Joseph's perceived favoritism. The tunic, often translated as "coat of many colors," signifies a unique, perhaps even royal, designation, which the brothers interpret as a direct challenge to their own positions. This detail is crucial because it transforms a family dynamic into a narrative of perceived injustice and burgeoning resentment, setting the stage for the dramatic events to follow.

Insight 2: The Ambiguity of "A Man Came Upon Him"

When Joseph is sent to find his brothers, the text uses the phrase "a man came upon him" (Hebrew: ish matza' otō). The NJPS translation includes a helpful note: "Or 'an agent located him,' i.e., this figure could be construed as acting in God’s behalf. For this verb’s use to describe a mission, see 16.7; 37.17; 38.22." This seemingly innocuous encounter is loaded with theological implication. Is this man a random stranger, or is he an instrument of divine providence? The ambiguity itself is significant. It suggests that even in moments of apparent aimlessness or searching, divine forces might be at play, guiding individuals towards their destiny. This introduces a layer of theological determinism beneath the human drama, hinting that Joseph's path, however fraught, is not entirely accidental.

Insight 3: Judah's Pragmatic Shift

The brothers' initial impulse is to kill Joseph. However, it's Judah who proposes a different course of action: selling him to the Ishmaelites. His reasoning is starkly pragmatic: "What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” (Genesis 37:26-27). This is a pivotal moment. Judah shifts the motive from pure hatred to a calculated, albeit still cruel, act of disposal that also offers a degree of self-preservation and avoids direct bloodshed. This also marks a significant development for Judah, moving him from a passive participant in his brothers' anger to an active decision-maker. His later actions, particularly his encounter with Tamar, will further develop this complex character arc, showing a capacity for both deep moral failing and eventual self-awareness.

Two Angles

Angle 1: The "Child of Old Age" as a Divine Signal (Ramban)

Ramban, in his commentary on Genesis 37:3 (https://www.sefaria.org/Ramban_on_Genesis.37.3.1), emphasizes the phrase "child of old age" (ben zequnim) not just as a description of Joseph's birth order, but as a divine designation. He suggests that this status, coupled with Jacob's favoritism and the ornamented tunic, signifies that Joseph is the one chosen to carry on the covenantal lineage. Ramban interprets Jacob's actions as divinely inspired, recognizing in Joseph the qualities necessary to succeed him. The brothers' hatred, from this perspective, is not merely personal but a rejection of God's apparent will. This reading frames Joseph's early life as a prelude to his leadership role, with his special treatment being a sign of his destined purpose.

Angle 2: The Tunic as a Symbol of Unearned Privilege and the Seeds of Conflict (Ibn Ezra)

Ibn Ezra, in his commentary on Genesis 37:3 (https://www.sefaria.org/Ibn_Ezra_on_Genesis.37.3.1), offers a more grounded, humanistic interpretation. He focuses on the tangible aspects: Jacob's late-in-life child and the resultant favoritism, symbolized by the tunic. Ibn Ezra sees this not as a divine signal, but as a human failing on Jacob's part, creating an imbalance within the family. The tunic, in this view, is a visible marker of this unfairness, exacerbating the brothers' existing resentments and fueling their hatred. The dreams, then, are not necessarily prophetic visions but are interpreted by the brothers through the lens of this established animosity, making them seem like Joseph's arrogant pronouncements rather than divine messages. This reading highlights the human dynamics of jealousy and favoritism as the primary drivers of the narrative's initial conflict.

Practice Implication

The intricate unfolding of Joseph's early life, from the coveted tunic to the deceptive bloodstains, offers a potent lesson in the power of perception and the consequences of favoritism. In our own lives, whether as parents, leaders, or simply members of a community, we are constantly navigating dynamics of preference and perceived fairness. This passage urges us to be acutely aware of how our actions, even those seemingly rooted in love or intention, can be interpreted by others. The brothers' hatred wasn't born in a vacuum; it festered due to a visible disparity in affection. This means actively working to ensure that our expressions of favor or recognition are balanced, transparent, and do not create an environment where some feel inherently excluded or less valued. It calls for conscious effort to communicate and demonstrate equitability, preventing the seeds of resentment from taking root, and ultimately, fostering healthier relationships and environments.

Chevruta Mini

1. The "Ornamented Tunic" vs. Divine Mandate: If the ornamented tunic truly symbolized Joseph's divinely ordained destiny as suggested by commentators like Ramban, then the brothers' hatred was a rejection of God's will. However, if interpreted through Ibn Ezra's lens, it was a human-created imbalance that led to conflict. What does this tension between human action and divine orchestration imply about our responsibility when we perceive injustice or favoritism? Do we focus on the human source, or do we look for a deeper, perhaps divine, message in the unfolding events?

2. Judah's "Pragmatic" Sale vs. Reuben's "Moral" Intervention: Reuben initially suggests putting Joseph in a pit to save him, a seemingly more moral act than selling him. Yet, it's Judah's pragmatic decision to sell him that ultimately leads to Joseph's survival and rise in Egypt, albeit through a terrible betrayal. This presents a trade-off between immediate ethical purity (Reuben) and a more complex, outcome-oriented strategy (Judah). When faced with morally ambiguous situations, how do we weigh the immediate ethical imperative against the potential for a more beneficial, albeit compromised, long-term outcome?

Takeaway

The Joseph story's beginning is a masterclass in how favoritism and dreams, when entwined, can unravel families and set destinies in motion.