The Law · Chapter 37 of 50

Genesis 37

Jacob loves Joseph above his brothers and gives him a coat of many colors. Joseph's dreams of his family bowing to him deepen their hatred. Sent to check on them, Joseph is seized; his brothers strip his coat, cast him into a pit, and sell him to passing traders for twenty pieces of silver. They dip the coat in blood to deceive their father, and Jacob mourns bitterly, while Joseph is taken to Egypt.

What happens in Genesis 37

Jacob loves seventeen year old Joseph more than his other sons and gives him a coat of many colors, and his brothers hate him for it. Joseph reports two dreams in which sheaves and then the sun, moon, and stars bow to him, and their envy grows; even Jacob rebukes him, though he keeps the sayings in mind. When the brothers are pasturing flocks near Shechem, Jacob sends Joseph to check on them. He finds them at Dothan, and seeing him afar off, they conspire to kill the dreamer. Reuben intervenes, urging that they only cast him into a pit, meaning to rescue him later.

They strip Joseph of his coat and throw him into an empty pit, then sit down to eat. Spotting a caravan of Ishmaelites, Judah proposes selling him, and they sell Joseph for twenty pieces of silver. Reuben returns to find the pit empty and tears his clothes. The brothers dip the coat in goat's blood and bring it to Jacob, who concludes a beast has devoured his son and mourns inconsolably. Meanwhile Joseph is sold in Egypt to Potiphar.

Genesis 37 in context

Genesis 37 opens the extended story of Joseph, which carries the book to its close and explains how Israel's family came to be in Egypt. It grows out of a household already fractured by favoritism, going back to Jacob's own upbringing and his love for Rachel, Joseph's mother.

The dreams introduce a theme of divine purpose that will unfold across many chapters, as the very hatred and betrayal here become the unlikely path by which God preserves the family and fulfills what the dreams foretold.

Main themes of Genesis 37

Genesis 37 (KJV)

1And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. 12And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 18And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. 23And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; 24And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 25And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? 31And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. 33And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. 34And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. 36And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

Verses to carry from Genesis 37

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.”Genesis 37:3

“Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.”Genesis 37:20

“Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.”Genesis 37:28

Reflection

The very dreams and betrayal that seemed to destroy Joseph's future became the road God used to save many lives. In your own story, the pit can look like the end. When you cannot see how God could bring good from what others meant for harm, what would it mean to trust that he is still writing the story?

A prayer from Genesis 37