Genesis 37.1-36

Joseph’s Dreams / Joseph Sold by His Brothers

Joseph’s Dreams: Genesis 37.1-11

Jacob settles in Canaan, land of his father, and lives there as an alien. This is the story of his family.

Seventeen-year-old Joseph shepherds flocks with his brothers, and one day brings back a bad report of them. Israel loves his youngest son Joseph more than any of his other children, and made him a long robe with sleeves (or if you’re reading the Greek translation, a coat of many colors). This causes some tension among the other brothers, who can no longer speak peaceable with him.

Favorite sons are a common theme in Genesis: Isaac is favored by Sarah over Ishmael, Esau is favored by Isaac and Jacob by Rebekah. Joseph is the youngest son of the favorite wife of Israel.

Surely it does not help that Joseph has prophetic dreams. In one he and his brothers are binding sheaves (of grain) in the field when Joseph’s sheaf rises and stands upright. The other sheaves gather around the standing sheaf and bow down to it. Joseph’s brothers do not care for this dream and the implication that he is greater than them. In another dream Joseph sees the son, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him. Neither Joseph’s sons nor his father care for this dream either – especially with the obvious symbolism. Israel rebukes his son: “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” (Gen. 37.10). The other brothers are jealous, but Israel stores the information in the back of his mind.

Note that Rachel appears to be alive in this narrative, represented by the moon.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers: Genesis 37.12-36

Though Joseph supposedly shepherds flocks, he is at home with his father. Israel tells Joseph to go to Hebron to check up on his brothers, who are with the flocks.

A man find Joseph wandering in the fields and directs him to Dothan, where his brothers are. The brothers see Joseph approaching, and say to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams” (Gen. 37.19-20). Ironically, the brothers will in fact see what will become of his dreams as a direct result of throwing him in the pit. Only they will not kill him. Reuben suggests simply throwing Joseph in with the intention of rescuing him later. The other brothers agree. They strip Joseph of his robe and throw him into a pit. That task finished, they sit down to eat.

A caravan of Ishmaelites comes near, headed for Egypt. Judah suggests that rather than killing Joseph, they should sell him to the Ishmaelites. He is, after all, their own blood and flesh. When the Midianite traders (the composite narrative creates the effect that the Ishmaelite caravan transforms into Midianite traders) reach the brothers, they pull Joseph out of the pit, selling him to the Ishmaelites (who have changed back, apparently) for twenty pieces of silver.

Apparently Reuben is away during this, as when he returns to the pit he tears his clothes in grief. The brothers then dip Joseph’s robe in the blood of a slaughtered goat to create evidence of Joseph’s death. They give it to Jacob/Israel, who tears his garments and puts on sackcloth, traditional signs of mourning. He mourns his son many days and cannot be comforted: “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning” (Gen. 37.35). Meanwhile the Midianites (or whoever they are) sell Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials.

A Tale of Two Texts

If you read through the biblical text, you can easily see the interplay between the two sources. Joseph has two defenders and is taken by two different groups of people. The interweaving of the narratives, however, creates a cohesive whole, much like the flood story, though with fewer contradictions. 

What is Sheol, exactly?

This reference to Sheol is the first reference to any idea of hell in the bible. Sheol is one ancient understanding of the afterlife. It’s pretty much just a long sleep with everyone else who has ever died, which isn’t much fun, because you’re sleeping. But it’s not horrible torture, either, because you’re not being horribly tortured. At this stage, the heavens is where God resides, a place inaccessible to humans (with the exception, perhaps, of Enoch). Every dead person, though, goes to reside in Sheol after death. So Joseph would in fact be joined by his father, but there would be no emotional reconnection. The identification of Sheol with a pit (etymologically) gives a tinge of irony to the story, for a pir is exactly where Israel’s son has been thrown.