Genesis 37:25 | 73 broth ers , they hat ed him all the more . 6 He said to them , “ Lis ten to this dream I had : 7 We were bind ing sheaves of grain out in the field when sud den ly my sheaf rose and stood up right , while your sheaves gath ered around mine and bowed down to it .”
8
His broth ers said to him , “ Do you in tend to reign over us ? Will you ac tu al ly rule us ?” And they hat ed him all the more be cause of his dream and what he had said .
9
Then he had an oth er dream , and he told it to his broth ers . “ Lis ten ,” he said , “ I had an oth er dream , and this time the sun and moon and elev en stars were bow ing down to me .”
10
When he told his fa ther as well as his brothers , his fa ther re buked him and said , “ What is this dream you had ? Will your moth er and I and your broth ers ac tu al ly come and bow down to the ground be fore you ?” 11 His broth ers were jeal ous of him , but his fa ther kept the mat ter in mind .
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12
Now his broth ers had gone to graze their father ’ s flocks near She chem , 13 and Is ra el said to Jo seph , “ As you know , your broth ers are graz ing the flocks near She chem . Come , I am go ing to send you to them .” “ Very well ,” he re plied .
14
So he said to him , “ Go and see if all is well with your broth ers and with the flocks , and bring word back to me .” Then he sent him off from the Val ley of He bron .
When Jo seph ar rived at She chem , 15 a man found him wan der ing around in the fields and asked him , “ What are you look ing for ?”
16
He re plied , “ I ’ m look ing for my broth ers . Can you tell me where they are graz ing their flocks ?”
17
“ They have moved on from here ,” the man an swered . “ I heard them say , ‘ Let ’ s go to Do than .’ ”
So Jo seph went af ter his broth ers and found them near Do than . 18 But they saw him in the distance , and be fore he reached them , they plot ted to kill him .
19
“ Here comes that dream er !” they said to each oth er . 20 “ Come now , let ’ s kill him and throw him into one of these cis terns and say that a fe ro cious an i mal de voured him . Then we ’ ll see what comes of his dreams .”
21
When Reu ben heard this , he tried to res cue him from their hands . “ Let ’ s not take his life ,” he said . 22 “ Don ’ t shed any blood . Throw him into this cis tern here in the wil der ness , but don ’ t lay a hand on him .” Reu ben said this to res cue him from them and take him back to his fa ther .
23
So when Jo seph came to his broth ers , they stripped him of his robe — the or nate robe he was wear ing — 24 and they took him and threw him into the cis tern . The cis tern was emp ty ; there was no wa ter in it .
25
As they sat down to eat their meal , they looked up and saw a car a van of Ish ma el ites com ing from Gil e ad . Their cam els were load ed with spic es , balm and myrrh , and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt . way the Septuagint ( the ancient Greek translation of the OT ) translates kethoneth passim . Regardless of its appearance , the robe distinguishes Joseph from his brothers and possibly indicates a position of authority over them . 37:5 Joseph had a dream Dreams were considered a common means of divine communication in the OT and throughout the ancient Near East ( Ge 20:3 ; 28:12 ; 31:10 – 11 ). Particular dreams , like those Joseph has , were also believed to be prophetic . they hated him all the more It is difficult to know whether Joseph baits his brothers with a dream that symbolically depicts them as subservient to him , or whether he simply fails to discern their hatred .
37:7 This dream probably refers to Joseph ’ s rise to power in Egypt and his brothers being forced to come to him in order to survive ( chs . 42 – 46 ).
37:9 the sun and moon and eleven stars This probably refers to Joseph ’ s entire family , as a unit . The sun is a reference to Jacob , while the moon could be Bilhah or Leah — Rachel , Joseph ’ s mother , was already deceased , making Bilhah , Rachel ’ s servant , his stepmother ( v . 10 ) and Leah the chief wife . The 11 stars refers to Joseph ’ s 11 brothers . While Joseph ’ s dream is not literally fulfilled — Jacob is never recorded as bowing down to Joseph — it is in essence when the entire family becomes dependent on Joseph ( chs . 42 – 46 ). 37:14 Shechem The distance from Hebron to Shechem was about fifty miles , probably at least five days on foot . 37:15 a man The identity of this man is unknown . The overall mystery of the sequence and wording is reminiscent of the event when Jacob wrestled a man who turned out to be a divine being ( 32:24 – 32 ; see note on 32:24 ). 37:17 Dothan Roughly 15 miles north of Shechem . 37:20 these cisterns Referring to human-made containers for storing water .
Genesis 37:20
CISTERN Ancient Israelites cut cisterns out of solid rock to gather and store water during the rainy season . Many cisterns have been found in Israel , some of which are quite large and deep ( over 20 feet ).
37:21 Let ’ s not take his life Reuben ’ s motive for intervening is unknown . As the oldest , he may have assumed that he would be held responsible for anything that happened to Joseph . In later years , Reuben still regretted his failure to save Joseph ( 42:22 ) and thus takes a different approach when a similar situation later arises involving his youngest brother Benjamin ( 42:37 ). 37:25 caravan of Ishmaelites This is a problematic phrase since these Ishmaelites are said to sell Joseph to Potiphar ( 39:1 ). Elsewhere , it is Midianite traders who take Joseph from his brothers ( v . 28 ) and sell him to Potiphar ( v . 36 ). This discrepancy could show that two versions of the same story were combined by an editor . It could also be that Joseph changed hands several times , or that the Ishmaelites were the Midianites . Judges 8:24