Untitled Sermon

Jacob’s gift of a special coat to Joseph was a profound act of favoritism that revealed deep family dynamics and had significant consequences. The coat was actually a “shirt with long sleeves” that was multi-colored and heavily ornamented, reaching from hands to ankles. It was a garment reserved for overseers and royalty—specifically, the heir—and marked its wearer as a chieftain or clan head1.

By presenting this coat to Joseph, Jacob plainly indicated that Joseph was to have a higher rank in the family than his brothers. This wasn’t arbitrary; Jacob was emphasizing Joseph’s noble character. Joseph gained his father’s preference not just in love, but in rank, because of his exceptional character2. This was particularly significant because Reuben, the oldest son, had disqualified himself through incest, and Jacob’s other sons from handmaids were not suitable. Joseph, the eldest son of Jacob’s favorite wife, became the only viable choice1. Unsurprisingly, this attention created intense jealousy among Joseph’s brothers, who “hated him and could not speak peaceably to him”1. Tragically, the coat that had initially given Jacob pleasure would ultimately become a symbol of his daily anguish3.

1

Alan Carr, “A Rose among Thorns (Genesis 37:1–11),” in The Sermon Notebook: Old Testament (Lenoir, NC: Alan Carr, 2015), 190–191.

2

John G. Butler, Jacob: The Sower and Reaper, Bible Biography Series (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 1999), 325.

3

K. A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27–50:26, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 1b:689.