Joseph Part 2: Joseph's Dream

Joseph’s Dream

Today is the story about his dreams, his robe, the brothers becoming angry like Cain, doing something to their brother that will result in a robe deception, and that's the arc of the chapter. 

Genesis 37:2–14 NASB95

2 These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. 5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had; 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. 12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “I will go.” 14 Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

"Now, Yoseph was a son of 17 years." Almost all English translations just say 17 years old, but the Hebrew turn of phrase is to be a son of or a daughter of so many years.  So he was a son of 17 years. "He was shepherding the flock with his brothers.

And he was a young man along with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father. And Yoseph brought a bad report about them to their father.

Now, Yisrael loved Yoseph more than all of his sons because he was, for him, a son of old age, and he made for him a robe of many colors (we will come back to this). And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, and they hated him, and they were not able to speak to him in peace."

This section has three parts to it.

There's the age and his relationship to the brothers. 

in verse 3 in the middle, it shifts to his dad's perspective. 

And then in verse 4, we shift to the brothers' perspective.

So the focus on Yoseph, that's in verse 2, then a focus on the father, so the relationship to Joseph, and then verse 4 is about the brothers' relationship to Joseph. So Joseph and the brothers, father and son, Joseph and the brothers on the end. 

The word "shepherd" is spelled with the same three Hebrew letters as the word "bad." So that wordplay forms a little envelope frame as it were, a little opener and concluder to that first part of verse 2.

So he's a shepherd, ro'eh, with his brothers, but he brings a ra'ah, a bad report about them to their father. 

What we're highlighting here is this is a shepherd family. 

So this is a good moment where you're like, "Why am I being told this information?" Well, things are gonna take place in the field with animals later on, so I guess that's useful background information. But let's just do a quick mental search backwards about shepherds going back. We can start from here going back, or we can start from the beginning going forward. 

First shepherd?

Abel was, named as the first shepherd in Genesis 4 verse 2. And Cain is the first farmer. 

In ancient Mesopotamia, farming was connected to cities and shepherding is connected to being rural. Because farming was all about, the only reason you could have a city is if it was supported by a network of agriculture around it in the fields surrounding. 'Cause that abundance is what allows specialization. So we don't all have to be farmers. If you have a big farming infrastructure around a city, then you can have a blacksmith who gets his food from the farmer. You know what I'm saying, like how the economy would work. Whereas shepherds are just, they're just out there migrating with the seasons with their animals. 

Then it's actually Abel's shepherd role that, you know, puts him in possession of a firstborn animal that he brings for his offering. Notice it's Abel's shepherd role is connected to the offering of the animal that's connected to the origins of the conflict between him and his brother, right? 'Cause it's his offering of an animal that he shepherds that he offers that the Lord favors his sacrifice. 

The next time shepherds are brought up is in the story of Abram, and in particular, after he comes back from Egypt. He got rich off of tricking Pharaoh, and he has tons of livestock.

And what we're told is that Lot, his nephew, also has lots of flocks and herds and tents. So they're both migrating tent encampments with their herds going with where the grass and pasture is seasonally. But the land could not sustain them because their possessions were too, they have too much stuff, they're too blessed. And so there was strife between the shepherds of Abraham's livestock and the shepherds of Lot's livestock. And Abraham said, " let's not have any strife between your shepherds and my shepherds. We're brothers."

Should brothers have conflict and divide over something like shepherding? So they split ways, the brothers divide.

Even though they're nephew and uncle, he says they're brothers. But sadly, their blessing, Abraham's blessing of so much stuff leads to a division of the brothers. 

Jacob and Esau.

Jacob's a shepherd. Esau is the wild hunter. 

So at each iteration of the generations in the story, shepherds are associated with a moment where the brothers divide. 

So we can expect that some kind of division is coming. And it won't ever be identical. It'll be new, but usually some variation of what came earlier.

So you're told after he's a shepherd that, "Oh yeah, you know, his dad, yeah, had a lot of wives, like four." And so, you know, he's out there learning how to shepherd with these sons of, well, rival wives. His wives are all rivals. And that's a whole, they're scheming and trying to sleep with Jacob, and it was all this really sad situation created by Jacob and his uncle Laban's selfishness and abuse of these women in their family. 

So the family rivalries are resurrected with this little line. And then, as if that weren't enough, Joseph himself is kind of, I mean, he's a tattletale. You know, whenever they make a poor decision, like, "Let's go up over that hill," you know, "There'll be good pasture there. Oh, actually, nope, it wasn't that great." And then Yoseph is always telling his dad, you know, like, "Reuben, he made this really dumb move today."

A Father’s Favoritism and Rival Brothers

Struggles With God "loved Yoseph more than all of his sons, because he was a son of old age."

The story begins by highlighting Yoseph, son of Rachel, among Yaaqov’s other sons and wives. This recalls the favoritism Yaaqov showed for Yoseph’s mother, which was stated in exactly the same language.

This phrase only occurs just three times. It describes three sons in Genesis, Isaac, Joseph here, and then later after Joseph dies, Benjamin is then called by this title, so the beloved son of the old age. 

Genesis 29:16–18 LEB

16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Now the eyes of Leah were dull, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. 18 And Jacob loved Rachel and said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

Genesis 29:30–31 LEB

30 Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years. 31 When Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

In fact, Leah was hated. So in that story, Yahweh favors the one that Jacob has not favored. And he gives Leah a fruitful womb that leads to the birth of Reuben and to Judah. So it's this interesting thing where Yahweh sometimes will favor the surprise, like, second-born, but then when humans do it for twisted motives, he'll overturn it, and he'll show favor to the firstborn, unloved one.

Genesis 25:28 CSB

28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

And this favoritism that Yaaqov displayed toward his wives, a favoritism that introduced division and jealousy between the sisters, was itself a replay of how Yaaqov’s parents treated him and his brother.

This favoritism was what divided Yaaqov and Esau and ultimately caused their separation and alienation from one another.

And these stories of human favor are themselves a distorted mirror that echoes the many moments of divine favor given to a chosen one that also causes division between siblings.

Humanity is chosen to rule over the animals (Gen. 1).

Abel’s sacrifice is favored over that of Cain, the firstborn (Gen. 4).

Shem is elevated and blessed over his brothers Japheth and Ham (Gen. 9:24-27).

Abram is chosen over his brothers Nahor and Haran (Gen. 11:26-32).

Sarah and Isaac chosen over Hagar and Ishmael (Gen. 16-17, 21).

In each case, the divine/fatherly favor creates a division among siblings, which then generates jealousy and hostility between family members. The author wants us to bring all those stories to bear upon this final story about the favored Yoseph and his brothers.

Royal Robe

The Rob becomes the physical symbol of that love, which is the robe. So this little, the way the lines are put together, the robe is like the living symbol of the father's favoritism. And that's exactly how the brothers view that robe as the story goes on. To strip him of the robe is to try and rob him of that status.

The terms used to describe Yoseph’s robe combine a common word and a unique word.

The English translations say:

Varicolored tunic (NASB)

Ornate robe (NIV)

Robe of many colors (ESV)

Robe with long sleeves (NRSV)

Coat of many colors (KJV)

When you see so many different translations it means well we don’t know for sure.

The Hebrew word is ketonet passim, כתנת פסים.

The Old Greek (Septuagint) uses khitona poikilon, χιτωνα ποικιλον.

This phrase is only used one other time in the Hebrew Bible, to describe the coat of Tamar, the daughter of David who is raped by her brother (2 Sam. 13:18-19). That story is a deliberate hyperlink back to the story of Yoseph, who was abused by his brothers, and neither story focuses on the shape or appearance of the garment.

Image taken from ttps://www.visitstillwaters.com/CoatofColors.htm

2 Samuel 13:18–19 CSB

18 Amnon’s servant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a long-sleeved robe garment, because this is what the king’s virgin daughters wore. 19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long-sleeved robe she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away crying out.

The translation “many colors” in the KJV was derived not from the meaning of the Hebrew word passim, but from the choice made by the Septuagint translators to use poikilos, which means “diverse, multi-part.”

Cultural-Historical Significance

In the Middle Bronze Age (approx. 1900 BC, consistent with Ussher’s chronology), multicolored garments were luxury items. Egyptian Tomb #3 at Beni Hasan depicts Semitic traders in striped, variegated tunics; these frescoes corroborate the biblical portrait of Canaanite dress for persons of means. Lavish dyes (e.g., Tyrian purple, madder red, indigo) demanded specialized artisanship and costly trade, restricting such robes to the elite.

Legal Implications: Birthright Visualized

Ancient Near-Eastern law codes (e.g., Nuzi Tablets, c. 15th century BC) show that special items—garments, statuettes, seals—could transfer inheritance. Joseph’s robe signals legal transference, explaining why Reuben, the natural firstborn, is anxious to protect Joseph (Genesis 37:21-22); he risks losing double-portion rights permanently.

But the meaning of that robe right now, it's a symbol of the father's love. But as we're gonna see, robes are also a symbol of royalty

Yoseph’s Dreams of Royal Rule

Verse 5 and following.

"And Yoseph dreamed a dream and he told his brothers," mistake number one, "and they continued to hate him even more. And he said to them, 'Listen, please, to this dream that I dreamed. Look, we were gathering sheaves in the midst of the field,'" a farming scene, gathering in, harvest.

"'And look, my sheave got up and it stood, and your sheaves came around and bowed down to my sheave.' And the brothers said to him, 'Are you actually going to, like, be a king over us? You think you're gonna rule us?' And they continued to hate him even more because of his dreams and because of his words." Right? Those reports, the reports and now the dreams. Who does this kid think he is?

"Yoseph dreamed again another dream and recounted to his brothers. And he said, 'Look, I dreamed a dream again. And look, the sun and the moon and the 11 stars were bowing down to me.' And he recounted to his father and to his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said, 'What's this dream that you've dreamed? Will we really, me and your mother and your brothers, really come and bow down to you on the ground?' And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the word in mind."

Look at the hatred and the jealousy, but at the end, his father keeps that word. It's a contrast. His brothers take the words and the dreams and they, it harbors them. And his father's irritated, but he also is different than the brothers.

what's surprising about it, is because, you know, shepherding is migrant in their cultural setting so it led them all over. Whereas if you're farming, you're really settled. So in the Bible, the contrast of farmers and shepherds is the contrast between rural and urban.

Often, farming imagery is Eden imagery 'cause it was a landed, settled place where they were to work the land and experience the blessings of its abundance. Adam and Eve were the first caretakers of the land.

Joseph's dreams often symbolized his future and aspirations.

Shelves may represent organization and the gathering of resources.

The dream could reflect his role in managing and providing for others.

The dream serves as a foreshadowing of his eventual rise to power in Egypt.

Yoseph's royal dreams connect to a major theme that has quietly been running throughout the Genesis scroll about humanity’s calling to rule creation as the image of Elohim. This theme first appears in the image of Elohim poem found in day six of the first creation story (Gen. 1:26-28). Here, humanity’s earthly rule corresponds to that of the heavenly rulers appointed in day four (see Gen. 1:14).

The phrase sun and moon and stars appears two times in the book of Genesis, In day four and right here. 

Humanity’s calling is to rule over the land creatures, but as Psalm 8 and Daniel 7 make clear, this was part of a larger plan to exalt humanity as a cosmic ruler over Heaven and Earth together.

After humanity’s exile from Eden and the promise of a snake-crushing seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15, 3:21-24), the lineage is followed throughout Genesis, with promises of future kings peppering the story.

Genesis 17:5–6 NASB95

5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 “I have made you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.

Genesis 17:15–16 NASB95

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Genesis 35:10–11 NASB95

10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him Israel. 11 God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.

We have angry brothers, On one level, you could kind of tell the story and tell it in a way, like, "Oh, the brothers. I can't believe they would do what they're about to do." But if you've been reading through the Genesis scroll, like you know, you know what's gonna happen. It's like what God said about humans after the flood. He's like, "You know, I bet they're gonna keep on doing the same thing." It's not a lot of surprises here. And that's exactly what the author's teeing us up for here.

Stop Here but just in case

A Man in the Field

Genesis 37:12–30 CSB

12 His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.” “I’m ready,” Joseph replied. 14 Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem. 15 A man found him there, wandering in the field, and asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph said. “Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?” 17 “They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18 They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert! 20 So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” 21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father. 23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s robe, the long-sleeved robe that he had on. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water. 25 They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and his brothers agreed. 28 When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt. 29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

"Now, his brothers went to go shepherd the flock of their father in Shechem."

and Yisrael said to Yoseph, 'Aren't your brothers shepherding in Shechem? Go, let me send you to them.' And he said to him, that is Yoseph said to his father Yaaqov, 'Look, it's me,' and he, that is Yaaqov, said to him, that is Yoseph, 'Go, please, look after the peace of your brothers and the peace of the flock, and return to me a word.' And he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem."

Does it seem like Yaaqov has any awareness of what's the dynamics among his sons?

In fact, he wants him to go and check up to bring back a word. And what is it that makes the brothers angry?The word.

So an ignorant father unaware of the dynamics with his children, this is classic Yaaqov.

This is in verses 15 to 30, and this has this really cool design where it begins with a brother going to look for a brother, and he can't find them. And he says, "Where are my brothers?" And it's matched by the close of this scene where Reuven will come looking for his brother and cannot find him and says, "Where am I supposed to go?" And inside of that are the two deception scenes, one featuring Reuven, the other featuring, Judah. 

Verse 15, so there was a guy, and that guy found Yoseph, and, look, he was wandering about in a field, and the guy asked, "Hey, what you looking for?" And he said, "Oh, I'm looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where are they shepherding?" And the guy said, "Oh, they've journeyed on from here. In fact, I heard them saying, 'Let's go to Dothan,'" and so Yoseph went after his brothers, and he found them in Dothan.

The Mysterious Man in the Field

Why is this there?

How does he know that he's their brother?

This guy, he knows a lot.

"Whatcha looking for?" "Ah, my brothers. Where are they?" Oh, and he, yeah, he like somehow knows who this guy's brothers are, and where they're ... It's really odd. Everything about this exchange is very odd. 

Notice, the play on words of finding, "a man found him," in other words, Yoseph was lost.

It's not like Yoseph found a man while he was ... He was lost. He would not have found his brothers unless that man had found him. 

The wording is really emphasizing that the only way he would have found his brothers

This scene of Yoseph encountering a random man in the field is not random at all, but a key part of the narrative message at work in the larger story of Yoseph. If it were not for this man, Yoseph would not have found his brothers, and he would not have been kidnapped, sold as a slave, and taken to Egypt. Without going to Egypt, Yoseph would not have been discovered by Pharaoh and elevated as ruler of Egypt able to save his family from the famine.

If Yoseph had not met this man, he and his entire family would have died in the famine.

It cannot be a coincidence, then, that Yoseph encounters a “man” (איש) who directs him toward his brothers’ true location. We are meant to see a similarity here with Abraham’s encounter with the “men” (אנשים) who walk by his tent (Gen. 18:1-5), and with the “man” (איש) who comes to Yaaqov at the Yabbok and picks a fight with him (Gen. 32:23-32). We are surely meant to see this man as yet another disguised divine messenger (that is what the men Abraham encountered are called in Gen. 19:1-3) who guides Yoseph toward his destiny. God intentionally leads the beloved Yoseph into danger as part of his paradoxical plan to exalt him. - Tim Mackie BibleProject Classroom: Joseph (2022).

So this is the biblical narrative's way of exploring moments that we might think of as chance.

I mean, what a random moment in a scene, but yeah, it's this chance encounter that's the pivot. The entire narrative would be completely different if it were not for this moment.

This is a great example of the biblical narrator just giving you very little to work with here, but the narrative so sticks out that it just begs for you to think back through the previous narratives to see what other fill similar slots in the story. 

Genesis 45:7–8 CSB

7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

In Genesis 45, the moment he takes off his disguise, what he says, "Elohim sent me here before you."

Yoseph is likely alluding to this very scene when he speaks with his brothers in Egypt.

Remember, what did the story just say? Now, Yaaqov sent Yoseph, "Come, let me send you." "Elohim sent me here before you to preserve a remnant in the land to keep you alive through a great salvation.

Now, therefore, it was not you all who sent me here. It was Elohim."

These divine humans or these divine spiritual beings who take on a human appearance at key moments to alter the course in the story of the chosen one, to assure that events go in their proper direction, and that's certainly the confession that Yoseph makes here. 

This is a narrative dedicated to focusing on moments in our lives where, in the moment, we cannot see how God could be active in our stories, but it's showing us that there is not a moment of our lives that isn't somehow woven into the plan. 

Now, does that mean that Yahweh is responsible for what the brothers are about to do? And Yoseph himself will go on to clarify what he means and what he does not mean. Near the end of the scroll, in Genesis 50:20

Genesis 50:20 CSB

20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

he says to his brothers, "You, my brothers, you planned evil against me, but God planned good in order to bring about the saving of many lives."

So does that mean God authored the brothers' evil?

It doesn't necessarily mean that, 'cause he says the brothers planned their evil, but yet their evil, apparently, didn't surprise God, and it certainly didn't thwart God's ultimate purpose. 

And what the Joseph narrative does is it leads us to the precipice of a great mystery of God's providence and human freedom, and the narrative puts both in front of us on page one with God is creator and author of life, but exalting humans as royal partners and giving them real dignity and a degree of limited freedom, limited, but real freedom, and the narrative just doesn't resolve it philosophically. It just explores it narratively. 

And I think this scene right here with the man in the field is such a great riddle.

You're like, "What was that thing about?"

Murderous Brothers and Rescue Plans

Yeah, verse 18.

"So they," which is the brothers, "they saw him from afar, and before he came near to them," so that little before he came near is going to match, finally, verse 23, "and it came about when he arrived or came to his brothers." So everything that's about to happen is kind of bracketed between he was far off, dialogue, all this scheming, and then he arrives.

"Before he came near, they made a deceitful plan to kill him." Killing the brother out in the field, "And they said, each to his brother, 'Look, this master of the dreams, here he comes. Come, let's murder him. Let's throw him into one of the pits, and we'll say, "An animal, a terrible animal ate him," then we'll see what becomes of his dreams.'" Okay, plan number one is kill him.

Reuven comes along with plan number two.

"Reuven heard, and he delivered him from their hand, and he said, 'No, do not strike his life.' And Reuven said to them, 'Don't spill blood. Throw him into the pit that's in the wilderness, but don't send out your hand against him.' This was in order to deliver him from their hand and to return him to their father.

So it came about when Yoseph came to his brothers that they stripped Yoseph of the robe." They stripped him of the father's favor, that robe of many colors that was on him, "and they took him, and they threw him into the pit.

Oh, I should probably tell you the reason he didn't drown is because that was an empty pit, desolate, no water.

But they, up above, in the land of the living, sit down and break bread together."

He dreams of bein raised up, even above the stars but now he is thrown into the pit. This is a cistern used to collect water in the desert, but it was dried out. The same word is used of dungeon or even graves at different parts of the scriptures.

Where is the furthers point you could possibly go from above the heavens? It's to go below the land, down into the pit. So it goes from one end of the cosmos to another

The jealous anger of Yoseph’s brothers recalls a motif that has repeated in every generation of characters. When God elevates his chosen one, the non-chosen people consistently respond with anger and jealousy that leads to violent conflict and deception. Less often, the non-chosen people respond with humility and a recognition of God’s blessing.

These narratives paint an accumulative portrait of a humanity that does not understand, or feels threatened by, God’s purpose to raise up one human family among the many to be the vehicle of divine rule and blessing for all the others.

This is precisely what the brothers resist: the elevation of their youngest brother to the place of rule over the family.

You have animals eating, representing the demise of their brother, and then here they are eating as their brother suffers in the pit.

Reuven and Yehudah as Rivals

But then you got Reuven, the older brother.

What do we know about Reuven? He's only been featured in a couple other stories in Genesis. 

He slept with his Father's concubine.

When Yoseph's mom died, what he did was then sleep with Rachel's slave-wife, which was certainly a power play to take out that, to gain authority over the lineage of the favored brothers, certainly a power play.

And that's gonna earn him a curse by the end of Genesis. 

He's already in bad standing, and so we can only speculate, but it's a sympathetic portrait. The narrative tells us that he's trying to save his brother, but does he succeed? He doesn't, yeah, he doesn't succeed because of that deceiver, Judah.

Notice how the literary design of this paragraph contrasts the unsuccessful plan of Reuven, the firstborn of Leah, with the successful plan of Yehudah, the fourth-born of Leah. This is a key part of the design of the larger Yoseph story to elevate Yehudah as the real leader among the brothers. This scene is matched by the later scene when Reuven and Yehudah propose plans to Yaaqov for returning to Egypt to get more food (in Gen. 43), and Yehudah’s plan succeeds.

The Sons of Abraham Conspire Against the Chosen Son

Verse 25, so here they are enjoying a meal, "and they lift their eyes, and they see a caravan of Yishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels, oh, they were loaded, carrying spice gum and balm and myrrh, and, oh, yeah, they were carrying it down to Egypt," down to Egypt.

"And Yehudah said to his brothers, 'You know, there's no money in murder.'"

"There's no money if we murder our brother and cover up his blood," yeah? 'Cause you gotta cover it up, so it doesn't cry out to God. So see, that's good to see a little echo there, because you don't want the blood to cry out, so cover it up with some dirt. "So come, let's sell him to the Yishmaelites. Don't let our hand be upon him.'" That's what Reuven said. "Don't let your hand be against him." Yehudah's similar plan, "Don't let our... Why should we do the dirty work here? After all, he is our brother, he is our flesh." Slavery in Egypt is better than dead.

The narrative clearly highlights how all the brothers are in the plot to resist Yaaqov’s elevation of Yoseph and to prevent his dreams from coming true.

But there are other, more distant relative brothers who also become entangled in the plot. The presence of the Yishmaelites widens the circle of culpability, so that the entire family of Abraham plays a role in the loss of the beloved son.

Look at verse 27 and 28

His brothers, Judah's brothers, listened to him. Verse 28, "Now Midianite men, traders, were passing by, and they drew up and brought Yoseph up from the pit, and they sold Yoseph to the Yishmaelites for 20 silver pieces, and they brought Yoseph to Egypt."

It's a famous little puzzle here.

Who is it?

You've got Yishmaelites and Midianites, and then you have the "they" in verse 28.

So it could be that you have two groups of traders, 'cause if it's a trading route, you have Midianites, Midian.

It says that it... It literally says unclear.

Genesis 37:25 CSB

25 They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.

You have the Yishmaelites in verse 25,

Genesis 37:28 LEB

28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and brought him up from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt.

then you have Midianites, and then it says they, then you have this unclear they (sometimes translated as the brothers), somebody took Joseph up outta the pit and sold him to the Yishmaelites.

Genesis 37:36 NASB95

36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

And then in verse 36, what you're told is the Medanites sold Yoseph to Egypt. 

Genesis 39:1 NASB95

1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.

And then in chapter 39 verse1, you say the Egyptian man purchased him from the Yishmaelites.

So what's going on here? 

So a famous solution to this was the source solution of, well, multiple sources have come together as a good one of like a little splice, where two sources came together in one version. They were called Yishmaelites and, another, Midianites. 

So that's one possible explanation.

The Problem I have with this is This author or at least editor, show a lot of intentionality and careful purpose in the selection of individual words, down to individual words.  So even if it was from multiple sources, is there anything preventing somebody from doing something more intentional? 

If this is a mistake or, like, something being jumbled together,

It's very odd. 

Genesis 25:1–6 CSB

1 Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah, 2 and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 And Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah. 5 Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, and while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East.

Here's something interesting, that both Medan and Midian were also sons of Abraham from his third wife, Keturah, Genesis 25. And they migrated eastward to the land of the east.

What's also interesting is, a paragraph later, you're told about the sons of Yishmael who also go and settle in the east.

Genesis 25:18 CSB

18 And they settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He stayed near all his relatives.

So what's happening here is that all the sons of Abraham, the non-chosen, are going and living in the same area together. And you can call them Yishmaelites, Midianites, or Medanites, and they all become different ways of referring to the non-chosen. 

Now, how do we know we're not just making that up? 

Judges 8:12 CSB

12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.

Judges 8:21–24 CSB

21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and strike us down yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. 22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” 24 Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.

Here's a story in Judges chapter 8, where Gideon is fighting against the Midianites, and in that narrative, they're called Midian, Midian, and then in a little comment, they were actually also called Yishmaelites.

So what this represents is the author of Judges is aware of this little thing going on with the Joseph story that's all about the rivalry of the brothers. 

But think of what's happening here. So you have, how many brothers are in on the conspiracy against the chosen one?

You have the 10, and they're the sons of Jacob, but then who also participates in the conspiracy against the chosen one?

The wider circle of the non-chosen. 

So it's as if the whole family of Abraham is in on the conspiracy. Israel and the nations are rebelling against God's purpose to raise up his chosen one. 

We're building to a crescendo here. It's not just Cain and Abel, the immediate brothers, it's the whole family against the purposes of God, whether they know it or not. 

We can be participating in a family, culture, or group that is at direct odds with the purposes of God and not even know it. - Tim Mackie

Genesis 37 portrays all the sons of Yaaqov as replaying their fathers' failures, an intensified act of betrayal against the beloved son of God’s promise. The appearance of the Yishmaelites and Midianites includes the wider family of Abraham in the betrayal, so that the entire line of Abraham’s blessed lineage is caught up (intentionally or unintentionally) in the betrayal that will fracture the family, only to bring it together in the ultimate reunification under Yoseph’s reign.

Bibliography

BibleProject. “Joseph.” BibleProject Classroom. Accessed March 17, 2026. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/joseph.

Bible Hub. “What is Joseph’s Robe’s Significance?” Bible Hub. Accessed March 17, 2026. https://biblehub.com/q/What_is_Joseph_s_robe_s_significance.htm.

Moisés Silva and Merrill Chapin Tenney, in The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, A-C (Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 2009), 75.

Jeffries M. Hamilton, “Adullam (Place),” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1:81.

David Mandel, in Who’s Who in the Jewish Bible (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2007).

Shabda History. “Egyptian Seven Cows.” Shabda History. April 15, 2026. https://history.shabda.co/articles/egyptian-seven-cows/.

Thoralf Gilbrant, “שָׁלוֹם,” in The Old Testament Hebrew-English Dictionary (WORDsearch, 1998).

Douglas Mangum, Miles Custis, and Wendy Widder, Genesis 12–50, Logos Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2026).

John M’Clintock and James Strong, “Shaving (1),” in Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1880), 9:623.

Marvin R. Wilson, “Barbers & Beards,” in Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical & Post-Biblical Antiquity (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2014), 1:139.