So far in the chapter of Genesis, the green eyed monster known as jealousy has reared its
ugly head around on a number of occasions. One could argue that Esau was jealous when Jacob
was offered the divine blessings of his father, whilst Jacob may have been jealous of the love
shown by his father to Esau and the benefits Esau would have received as the first born.
Jealousy had sprung up even further back between Abraham’s wife Sarah and her handmaiden Hagar,
who had borne another child to Abraham in the form of Ishmael.
Even more recently was the jealousy between Rachel and Leah, with both women competing in
an effort to curry the favour and love of Jacob. All in all, what the bible shows believers is that
jealousy isn’t only unavoidable, but it is also normal to feel. Why, even God himself in Exodus
admits to being a ‘jealous god’ - one who will not suffer his subjects worshipping another god.
Jealousy is after all another human emotion that we ultimately have very little control over.
Indeed, in some cases, we cannot help but feel envious over what someone has or who someone is,
and for the most part, there’s really nothing wrong in feeling this way, so long as we recognise
our own strengths and be grateful for the elements of our life that we do have. Furthermore,
jealousy can be used as a motivator - it can help us achieve the things that we want for ourselves
and it can help us become better people, by recognising the feeling for what it is and working
on our own insecurities to overcome it. But of course, we know that overcoming jealousy is easier
said than done - again, something that even the biblical god himself struggles with, and in some
cases, it may be easy to venture down a darker path courtesy of jealousy’s wavered influence.
The bible shows us what that path might look like as various
characters do find themselves succumbing to jealousy and failing to rise above it.
In a way, you might say that through these examples, believers might be prepared to
face jealousy in their own lives and learn to be cautious of how potent jealousy can be in
not only hurting oneself and the others around them, but also leading them away from their God.
Jealousy by these examples can lead us to doing some very drastic and even horrible things and so,
if anything, the bible seeks to show the magnitude of being impulsive in these situations. Once more,
it is not a sin to feel jealousy - no, but it is a sin to act upon it in a negative fashion…
something we see the sons of Jacob do without hesitation as they turn on their own brother.
The chapter opens up with us being explained that Jacob (sometimes now known as Israel
after being renamed by his God) set up his home in the land of Canaan and it was there
he had raised his large family, courtesy of his two wives and there many handmaidens.
The story at last steers away from Jacob, who’d had a mainstay presence in Genesis and
is inherited by Jacob, a young man of seventeen who tended to the flocks with his brothers.
Now, the bible tells us that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons - perhaps, on the
account that Joseph was the only biological child of Rachel- the wife he was known to love the most.
It might also be said that because Rachel had given birth to Joseph at such an old age,
his birth was also seen as miraculous, prompting Jacob to shower the boy with even more adoration.
Now this favouritism by Jacob was never subtle - in fact, you might say that Jacob made a show of
his blatant love for Joseph as we are told early on in chapter 37 that Jacob made an ornate robe
for him - a gesture that is arguably metaphoric for a thousand kindnesses that were not offered
to his other sons. These affections by Jacob did not go unnoticed by Joseph,
but they did not go unnoticed by his brothers either, which only inspired resentment toward him.
We are told, “When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them,
they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him” (Genesis 37:4)
Indeed, Jacob's favouritism of Joseph was likely one of many conflicts within the family.
You must remember that this was a considerably large family from particularly dubious origins,
so conflicts between the family members were likely commonplace.
But it would appear that Joseph receiving special treatment from the head of the household in Jacob
was something of a more urgent matter that required resolving. Yet, matters are only
made worse when you consider one idea that Joseph didn’t really help himself, because
he was known to report to his father of the bad behaviour committed by his brothers. Indeed,
some regard Joseph as a bit of a snitch and a ‘goody two shoes’, one who solidified his own
favour with his father by ratting out the others. Others however believe that Joseph reporting on
his brothers’ bad behaviour was only an isolated incident, as the bible tells us “He brought their
father a bad report about them.” (Genesis 37:2) Whatever the case, Joseph’s brothers really
didn’t like him and the more special treatment that Joseph received,
the more the resentment of him grew and grew. But it would all come to a boiling point when
Joseph received not only the good tidings of his father, but also a message from God.
We are told, “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain
out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves
gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” Some might say that Joseph was quite naive to
reveal this dream to his brothers, considering that it would have only angered them more.
Dreams were considered to be omens afterall and many biblical characters have had visions from God
in the form of their dreams. If dreams were to be trusted, then Joseph’s dream was quite alarming,
considering it suggested that everyone else would end up bowing to him. The meaning of the dream is
not lost on Joseph’s brothers who immediately go on the defensive. They question the dream, saying
“Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because
of his dream and what he had said” (Genesis 37:8) Jacob then had a second dream and once again,
despite now knowing of his brothers’ concern and resentment, decided to tell them of it anyway.
“Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven
stars were bowing down to me.” (Genesis 37:9) Joseph might’ve been forgiven for sharing the
first dream out of naivety, but now, some might question whether Joseph was kind of rubbing his
brothers’ faces in his good fortune. He surely now must’ve known how annoyed his brothers were over
his good fortune and so, it would’ve been far more tactful to have kept the second dream to himself.
Furthermore, the second dream is far more dramatic when we consider its content.
Now, not only are the sheaves that were collected by his brothers bowing down
before Joseph, but now so too were the sun, the moon and the stars.
This certainly placed him not only above his brothers, but above everyone in the
land - a sure indication that he was meant to reign over everyone, not just his siblings.
Whatsmore, Joseph doesn’t confine his dreams to his siblings, but chooses to announce them
to his father. This however is not met with appreciation and it is perhaps the
first time that Jacob shows disapproval of his favourite son. He rebukes Joseph, saying to him,
“What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow
down to the ground before you?” (Genesis 37:10) Some might say that even Jacob expresses some
jealousy here, for after being the ‘chosen son of Isaac for so long, he is in disbelief that it is
now someone else’s chance to carry such an honour. Even though that someone else is Jacob’s preferred
son, he is still reluctant to bow to him, perhaps showing us how much he still valued his status as
head of the household and how reluctant he was to, in effect, grow old and eventually
pass everything he had once held over to Joseph. In any case, the bible does tell us that where
his brothers were jealous of him, his father kept him in mind, suggesting that eventually,
after the initial shock, Jacob accepted that his son was now ultimately usurping him.
At some point, Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers who had gone to graze the flocks near
Shechem. Remember, Joseph was considered by some to be reporting on his brothers’ behaviour and so,
considering that Jacob does not give a specific task to Joseph other than to ‘see
if all is well with them’, it’s possible that this was what he was sent to do.
Now, when Joseph arrived at Shechem, he instead found a man who told him that his brothers had
moved onto Dothan. This sees Joseph travelling there instead and you might say that already,
Joseph had reason to be suspicious and certainly had something to report back to his father when he
returned. His brothers may have been skiving off, or they might’ve been up to no good,
but they were most certainly not where they were supposed to be… and that was concern enough.
When Joseph arrived at Dothan, his brothers saw him coming.
Almost immediately, they began plotting to kill him.
“Here comes that dreamer! They said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw
him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see
what comes of his dreams.” (Genesis 37:19) As we can see, his brothers are ruthless.
Perhaps they were simply sick of the favouritism that he’d been shown by their father, or maybe
they realised that he was going to expose them for their latest wrongdoing - whatever the case,
their reaction is drastic and the fact that they were so quick to resort to murder only deliniates
the magnitude of their resentment. ‘Dreamer’ they call him, showing us that whilst they acknowledged
the potential of his visions, they also mocked him for it, showing how little they cared for their
brother's words and arguably, how little they cared for the word of God. They were, after all,
willing to sin in the first place by committing murder and so, it’s reasonable to suspect that
Jacob’s sons were not particularly God fearing. But Reuben, one of the brothers, heard what was
going to transpire, and he attempted to spare Joseph and told his brothers,
“Let’s not take his life, he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in
the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and
take him back to his father.” (Genesis 37:21-22) At the very least, Reuben was not so evil and he
sought to appease both sides. On the one hand, he wanted to make sure that Joseph wasn’t killed
before he was thrown into the cistern, for at least this would ensure a window of survival,
whereby he could later rescue him. But he also sought to mollify his brothers by allowing them to
harm Joseph by throwing him into the cistern. In a sense, Reuben was trying to outsmart his brothers,
and knowing full well that they would not agree to leave Joseph alone, he had to compromise.
On a side note, you might say that Reuben may have actually been trying to find redemption of
his own as in the previous chapter, we do see him seduce Bilhah (one of his father’s concubines).
By saving his father’s most treasured son, it may have been Reuben’s golden ticket into
getting back into his father’s good books and perhaps to ultimately being forgiven by him.
In any case, the brothers agree with what Reuben suggests and we see them proceed to attack Joseph,
stripping him off his robe and throwing him into the cistern. Indeed, they did not kill him, but
they certainly did a number on him. The bible even tells us that the cistern which he was thrown into
had no water in it, so it can be gathered that Joseph suffered terribly during this experience.
With that done, the brothers sit down to eat a meal - which is as casual as it sounds.
They don’t appear to show any remorse for what they have done and evidently are not lost for
appetite. At this time, they also happened to see a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
whose camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, on their way to Egypt.
It was Judah who came up with the next stage of their diabolical plan and whilst murder
had been the original intention, it seemed a worser fate was to befall their brother.
Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come,
let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all,
he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. (Genesis 37:26-27)
And so when the merchants came by, the brothers fetched Joseph out from the
cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver. Then, he was taken by them to Egypt.
Now, you might say that at least his brothers didn’t kill him. But when you think about
what they gained from this maliciousness, it paints them in an even darker light. If they
just killed Joseph, then they would not only be responsible for murder, but they would have to
carry the burden of his death. But if they sold him into slavery, as they do, they not only got
him to go away, but they also made a profit off of him - twenty shekels of silver, to be precise…
Now when Reuben returned to the cistern to rescue Joseph, he found that he was not there.
The bible tells us, “He tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t
there! Where can I turn now?” (Genesis 37:29-30) Reuben tearing at his clothes shows us
how horrified he was to learn that Joseph was not where he’d been left.
He was suddenly overcome with grief and perhaps, because of his roundabout way of
saving his brother’s life, he had only succeeded in losing him anyway. ‘Where can I turn now?’ he
asks his brothers, perhaps showing us that he was at a complete loss and that any efforts to
earn back his father’s trust were now dashed. To cover their tracks, the brothers slaughtered
a goat and dripped its blood onto the ornate robe they had torn from Joseph’s back.
Then, they took the robe to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see
whether it is your son’s robe.” (Genesis 37:32) Such was the cruelty of the sons of Jacob, that
they would not only do something so horrendous, but would go to such extremes to maintain their
false innocence. Some say that in using the robe to justify Joseph’s disappearance and clear them
of suspicion, they also sought to torture their father Jacob for having favoured him over them,
which is why ask him to examine it. The bible tells us,
“Jacob recognised it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him.
Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on a sackcloth and
mourned for his son many days.” (Genesis 37:33-35) Jacob is none the wiser to the ruse and falls for
it without question. Like Reuben, he too tears at his own clothes in grief and resorts to nothing
more but a sackcloth - an expression of his utter despair now that his favourite son has perished.
We cannot blame Jacob for not being suspicious, for who could have invented
such a despicable lie… unless the people in question were indeed despicable themselves.
To show how villainous Jacob’s sons could be, they are even
shown to comfort Jacob - pretend comfort indeed, but Jacob refused to be comforted.
“No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.”
So his father wept for him.” (Genesis 37:35) As we can see, it’s interesting that despite
their best efforts, Jacob still favoured a dead Joseph over his living sons and that in some way,
despite their plan, it only made Jacob long for Joseph even more. The attempt on Joseph's life was
probably never about trying to gain acceptance in their father’s eyes, but more so to exact
their vengeance upon their brother for being so liked. It would've probably then only irked
the brothers more to see that their father now pined for Joseph in the way that he did and that,
even with Joseph gone, things weren’t really about to change. In fact, it’s not so much of
a stretch to say that without his favourite son, Jacob forgot he had sons altogether.
“Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar,
one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.” (Genesis 37:36) As we can see,
the chapter concludes by telling us of Joseph's fate and teasing the beginning
of the next extraordinary character arc that the bible has to offer.
Will Joseph survive Egypt? How will a pampered man who has known only comfort function as a slave?
Will he succumb to the will of his God, or will he wrestle against him as his father once had?
All will be revealed… As always guys, if you’ve enjoyed
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for more content just like this. Until next time!