Genesis · chapter 37 of 50
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Genesis 37 tells how Joseph, Jacob's favorite son, receives a special robe and has two dreams in which his family bows down to him. His brothers envy him and, at Dothan, throw him into a cistern and sell him to Ishmaelite traders for twenty shekels of silver. They deceive Jacob with the bloodied robe, while Joseph arrives in Egypt as a slave in the house of Potiphar.
With Genesis 37 begins the last great section of the book, the story of Joseph, which fills chapters 37 to 50. Until now Genesis followed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; now it focuses on Jacob's sons and how the family will end up in Egypt. The chapter shows a family divided by favoritism and envy, and raises the question of how God will fulfill his promise through so much sin.
Joseph is seventeen and tends the flock with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. He brings his father a bad report of what they do. Jacob loves him more than all his other sons, because he was born in his old age, and makes him a robe with long sleeves. His brothers hate him when they see the favoritism, and they cannot speak peacefully to him.
Joseph dreams that his brothers' sheaves bow down to his, and then that the sun, the moon and eleven stars bow down to him. He tells his brothers and his father. They hate him even more and envy him; Jacob rebukes Joseph, but keeps the matter in mind. Soon afterward Jacob sends Joseph to see how his brothers are doing as they tend the flock near Shechem. A man finds him wandering and tells him they have gone to Dothan.
The brothers see him coming and plot to kill him. Reuben tries to save him and proposes throwing him into a cistern, planning to bring him back to his father. They strip off his robe and throw him into the empty cistern. While they eat, they see a caravan of Ishmaelites and Judah proposes selling him. They sell him for twenty shekels of silver. Reuben returns to the cistern and, finding it empty, tears his clothes. The brothers dip the robe in the blood of a goat and bring it to Jacob. He recognizes the robe, believes a wild animal has devoured Joseph and mourns for many days. Meanwhile the traders sell Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jacob loves Joseph more than his other sons and makes him a special robe. The brothers see the favoritism and cannot speak peacefully to him. The chapter shows how favoritism in a family feeds envy and hatred.
Joseph dreams that his brothers' sheaves bow to his, and he tells them. His brothers ask whether he will really rule over them and hate him all the more. The dreams foreshadow what will happen, but Joseph shares them without wisdom.
Judah proposes selling Joseph instead of killing him, and they sell him for twenty shekels of silver. It seems a milder solution, but it is still a crime. This is the same Judah from whom the royal tribe will come and who will be transformed in Genesis 44.
Jacob tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and mourns his son for many days, refusing to be comforted. The man who deceived his father with the skin of a goat is now deceived by his sons with the blood of another goat.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Seventeen years old. — Genesis 37:2
Answer: Because their father loved him more than them, and because of the dreams he told. — Genesis 37:4-5
Answer: That the sun, the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him. — Genesis 37:9
Answer: Not to kill him but to throw him into a cistern, planning to return him to his father. — Genesis 37:21-22
Answer: For twenty shekels of silver, to Ishmaelites. — Genesis 37:28
Answer: They dipped Joseph's robe in the blood of a goat and brought it to him. — Genesis 37:31-33
Genesis 37 warns about the effects of favoritism and envy. Jacob repeated with Joseph the favoritism that had marked his own family, and his sons answered with hatred. In a Sunday school class, the chapter helps us look at how we treat children, students or fellow believers, and how to avoid comparisons that divide.
At the same time, it encourages those who suffer injustice. Joseph falls into a cistern, but God is at work in hidden ways. Ask in what situation you feel abandoned or betrayed, and how you can trust that God uses even the evil of others to fulfill his purposes.
Genesis 37 ends with Joseph a slave in Egypt and Jacob mourning a son he believes dead. In Genesis 38 the story is interrupted to show Judah and Tamar, and in Genesis 39 we will return to Joseph in Potiphar's house.
The text describes it as a robe with long sleeves or of many colors, depending on the translation. What matters is that it was a special garment that marked Jacob's favor toward Joseph, which is why the brothers used it in their deception.
The text mentions both peoples. In verse 28 the brothers sell him to Ishmaelites, and the same verse speaks of Midianite traders passing by. Most interpreters see a mixed caravan or two names for the same group.
In Genesis 37 God neither speaks nor intervenes visibly, but Joseph's dreams point to his plan. As the story goes on, it teaches that God works through human circumstances and that what others intended for evil, God uses for good.