Episode 306 - Joseph has dreams - Genesis 37:1-11

Gen. 37:1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

Gen. 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

Gen. 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Gen. 37:9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

This is another one of those “toledot” markers in the narrative that gets translated as “These are the generations.” (v. 2) The attention turns immediately to Joseph, who was the first son of Rachel, the wife that Jacob loved. We already know that Rachel had another son whom Jacob named Benjamin. Rachel died giving birth to him. But that son is likely not old enough to be shepherding with his older brothers. In fact, this event may have happened before Benjamin was born, since the context later seems to indicate that Rachel may still have been alive. At this time, Joseph is seventeen years old and is working with his brothers shepherding their father’s flock. Moses writes that “he was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives” (v. 2). Moses doesn’t include Leah’s sons. So, it’s possible they were not present at this moment. But at least Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher are with Joseph while they are pasturing the flock.

The conflict of this next story develops quickly. The reader is told that Joseph was Dad’s favorite. The three oldest sons certainly haven’t endeared themselves to Jacob, given their actions previously mentioned. But given that Joseph is the first of Rachel’s sons, it’s not too surprising. No one would recognize the favoritism more than the children themselves. However, the conflict is exacerbated by the fact that Jacob makes it painfully obvious that Joseph is his favorite by giving him a multicolored coat. Moses writes that his brothers hated him and could not speak to him peacefully. Could it get any worse? Oh yeah. On this occasion, Joseph gave a “bad report” to his father about the brothers he was with. Perhaps they were being lazy or doing something that would have upset his father. Joseph clearly didn’t attempt to assuage his brothers’ hatred of him by keeping his mouth shut. He narc’d. Either Joseph is a naive, patronizing son, or perhaps he enjoyed rubbing his privilege in his brothers’ faces. We’re not told. We just understand that Joseph is not making anything better between himself and his brothers.

Then, Joseph had two dreams. The first was that he and his brothers were binding sheaves in the field, and his brothers’ sheaves bowed down to his sheave. Even though most people today wouldn’t ever have bound or even seen a sheaf of grain, we understand the imagery, and so did his brothers. You can hardly blame them for disliking him.

The second dream was that the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to Joseph, and he told it to his brothers as well as his father. You would think that he should’ve gotten a clue to keep his mouth shut after telling his brothers the first dream. Even Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph does not allow him to encourage or accept the idea that he and Rachel would bow down to their own son. He rebukes him.

I’m sure that if Leah’s sons weren’t present to hear these dreams from Joseph’s mouth, the word got to them rather quickly because it’s evident that everyone understands that Joseph is suggesting that these dreams are revealing that he will have authority over all of them.

The situation is ripe for a significant conflict between Joseph and his family. While Moses notes that his brothers were jealous of him, “his father kept these sayings in mind” (v. 11). Why do you think that might be? I think it’s because Jacob has had some pretty vivid dreams himself in which the LORD revealed himself and his plans to Jacob, and Jacob knows by now that the LORD fulfills what he reveals will happen. I suspect that, as ridiculous as this may have sounded to Jacob, these dreams of his son had a familiar vibe to them.