Third part: the story of Joseph
1Jacob lived in the land where his father had settled, in the land of Canaan. 2 ① This is the history of Jacob’s family.
Joseph and his brothers
3Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was shepherding the flock with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph informed his father of the bad reputation they had.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, for he was the son of his old age and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. 4His brothers who saw that their father loved him more than he loved them, hated him and could no longer speak to him in a friendly way.
5Joseph had a dream which, when he told it to his brothers, made them hate him the more: 6“Listen to the dream I had. 7We were binding sheaves in the field when my sheaf rose and stood up and your sheaves gathered round and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8His brothers said to him, “So you want to rule us or lord it over us!” They hated him even more because of his dreams and what he said.
9Joseph had another dream which he told to his brothers, “I saw the sun, the moon and seven stars bowing down before me.” 10When he told this to his father and brothers his father rebuked him, “What is this dream of yours? Are all of us, myself, your mother and your brothers to bow to the ground before you?” 11His brothers were jealous of him but his father kept in mind what he had said.
Joseph sold by his brothers
12His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem, 13and Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the flock at Shechem; come along, I’ll send you to them.” Joseph replied, “Here I am.” 14Then his father said, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flock; then come back and tell me.” Jacob sent him from the valley of Hebron and Joseph arrived at Shechem.
15A man met him as he was wandering through the countryside and said to him, “What are you looking for?” 16He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers, please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.” 17The man said, “They have gone from here, for I heard them say: Let’s go to Dothan!” So Joseph went off after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18They saw him in the distance and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19They said to one another, “Here comes the specialist in dreams! 20Now’s the time! Let’s kill him and throw him into a well. We’ll say a wild animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what his dreams were all about!” 21But Reuben heard this and tried to save him from their hands 22saying, “Let us not kill him; shed no blood! Throw him in this well in the wilderness, but do him no violence.” This he said to save him from them and take him back to his father.
23So as soon as Joseph arrived, they stripped him of his long-sleeved coat that he wore 24and then took him and threw him in the well. Now the well was empty, without water.
25They were sitting for a meal when they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with spices, balm and myrrh, which they were taking down to Egypt. 26Judah then said to his brothers, “What do we gain by killing our brother and hiding his blood? 27Come! We’ll sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother and our own flesh!” His brothers agreed to this.
28So when the Midianite merchants came along they pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the well. For twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph to the Midianites, who took him with them to Egypt. 29When Reuben went back to the well, Joseph was no longer there. He tore his clothes 30and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy has disappeared, and what am I to do?”
31They then took Joseph’s coat, killed a goat and dipped the coat in its blood. 32They sent the long-sleeved coat and had it taken to their father, saying, “This we have found; see if it is your son’s coat or not.” 33He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s coat. Joseph has been attacked by a wild animal and torn to pieces.” 34Jacob then tore his garments, put on sackcloth and mourned his son for a long time. 35All his sons and daughters came to comfort him but he refused to be consoled saying, “No, I shall go down to the land of Shadows, mourning for my son.” Thus his father wept for him.
36Meanwhile the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the commander of the guard.
- Gen 37,2 The story of Joseph begins here and continues until the end of Genesis as a kind of transition between the Patriarchs and the events of the Exodus which follow. Joseph, next to the last of Jacob's sons, is shown as the most important of the twelve brothers. The dreams of the young Joseph tell us that what will happen to him will not be pure coincidence, but rather will serve God's plans: through him God will save the whole family from hunger. The long, moving story of Joseph, sold by his brothers, and who later would become their savior is a work of art of competent writers at the time of Solomon, but it draws support from the more ancient traditions, and it is also inspired by Egyptian books. But were they aware of the fact that they were expressing the whole plan of redemption: God saves us through the trials of a just person persecuted by his brethren? Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, for he was a child of his old age. The son most loved and also the most delicate. Among his crude and unscrupulous brothers, Joseph shows nobility: from his youth this child of shepherds reveals that a great future awaits him. Two of the twelve tribes stood out: the tribe of Judah and that of Joseph. See the commentary on Joshua 13 on this subject. That is why the traditions about the patriarchs, or fathers, mention especially these two sons of Jacob.
