Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Genesis
Chapter 37: Joseph and His Dreams
The story of Joseph begins here, and it is one of the greatest in all of Scripture. Jacob loves Joseph above his other sons and gives him a coat of many colours, and the boy dreams dreams that put him above his whole family. His brothers, already jealous, come to hate him bitterly. When their father sends Joseph to check on them, they conspire to kill him, throw him into a pit, and finally sell him to passing traders for twenty pieces of silver. Then they dip his coat in goat's blood and let their father believe a wild beast has torn him apart, and Jacob refuses to be comforted. Yet beneath this dark family tragedy, God is at work. In the beloved son sent to his brethren, hated without cause, stripped, and sold, we see a striking picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Genesis 37 is where God begins to bring good out of the worst that men can do.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Genesis chapter 37. For each section you will find the KJV text, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus where the text touches the sovereignty of God, the sin of envy, and the many ways Joseph foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 37 opens the account of Joseph, whose suffering will become the salvation of his family. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Favored Son
Jacob loves Joseph above the rest and gives him a coat of many colours, and Joseph's God-given dreams stir his brothers to hatred.
This Dreamer Cometh
Sent by his father to his brothers, Joseph is met not with welcome but with a plot to kill the dreamer and end his dreams.
Twenty Pieces of Silver
Reuben spares his life and Judah proposes a sale, and Joseph is drawn from the pit and sold to traders bound for Egypt.
The Bloody Coat
The brothers deceive their father with Joseph's blood-dipped coat, and Jacob mourns, refusing all comfort, for the son he thinks is dead.
A Coat of Many Colours (Genesis 37:1-11)
Jacob's open favoritism and Joseph's dreams of rule kindle a hatred and envy in his brothers that will soon turn deadly.
They Could Not Speak Peaceably Unto Him
"And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan."
Hebrew Study
Joseph's coat of many colours is kethoneth passim, a long ornamented tunic — the same phrase that clothes the king's daughter Tamar (2 Samuel 13:18), a mark of princely, favored rank. The word hated (sane') beats like a drum through the scene (vv. 4, 5, 8); they "could not speak peaceably" — literally could not speak shalom — to him. And they made obeisance in his dreams — shachah, to bow or worship — a bowing fulfilled in Egypt (42:6). The beloved son, sent by the father to his brethren, is already a portrait of Christ.
Explanation
Joseph is seventeen, the firstborn of Jacob's beloved Rachel, and his father loves him "more than all his children." Jacob shows it openly, giving Joseph a special "coat of many colours," a garment that set him apart from his brothers and marked him as the favorite. The brothers see it plainly, and they hate him so much they "could not speak peaceably unto him." Into this tense home come Joseph's dreams. In the first, his brothers' sheaves bow to his sheaf; in the second, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow to him. He tells the dreams, and the brothers hate him "yet the more." Even his father rebukes him, asking whether the whole family will bow to him, yet Jacob "observed the saying," quietly pondering it. Joseph may have been unwise to speak his dreams so freely, but the dreams themselves were true, and God had given them.
Gospel Focus
The tragedy of this chapter grows out of favoritism. Jacob, who had himself suffered as the less-favored son of Isaac, now repeats the sin in his own home, loving one child openly above the rest, and it poisons the whole family with envy. Partiality among children, or among any people we are called to love equally, sows bitter fruit. And notice the deadly power of envy. The brothers' jealousy grows step by step, from not being able to speak peaceably, to hatred, to a plot of murder. The proverb warns that envy is "the rottenness of the bones" (Proverbs 14:30), and left unchecked it hardens into cruelty. Yet over the whole scene stands the quiet hand of God. The dreams were not Joseph's ambition; they were God's revelation of a future He had already planned, in which Joseph would indeed be exalted to save his family. Already we can see the outline of the greater Son to come, the Father's beloved, of whom it was said that His own "received him not" (John 1:11). What men despised, God had chosen to lift up.
Behold, This Dreamer Cometh (Genesis 37:12-20)
Sent by his father to seek his brothers, Joseph finds them at Dothan, where they see him coming and plot to kill him.
Let Us Slay Him
"And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt."
Hebrew Study
"Behold, this dreamer cometh" — the Hebrew is sharper, ba'al ha-chalomoth, "this master of dreams," spoken in scorn. They cast him into a pit — bor, a cistern — and Scripture pauses to note "there was no water in it," an empty grave-like hollow. The father sends the beloved son to seek his brothers' welfare, and the brothers "conspired against him to slay him" — the beloved sent, and the beloved plotted against by his own.
Explanation
Jacob sends Joseph from the vale of Hebron to check on his brothers, who are grazing the flocks far to the north. Joseph goes obediently, saying, "Here am I." When he cannot find them at Shechem, a stranger directs him on to Dothan, and Joseph faithfully follows until he finds them. But the brothers see him coming "afar off," and before he even reaches them they conspire to murder him. "Behold, this dreamer cometh," they sneer, and they plot to kill him, throw him in a pit, and blame a wild beast, saying, "we shall see what will become of his dreams." It is a chilling scene: a father's beloved son, sent in trust and coming in obedience, is met by his own brothers with a plan to destroy him and, they suppose, to destroy the purposes of God with him.
Gospel Focus
The brothers' words are a preview of a far darker day. Centuries later, Jesus told a parable of a father who sent his beloved son to his tenants, and "when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him" (Matthew 21:38). Joseph, the beloved son sent by his father to his brethren and met with a plot to kill him, is a clear picture of the Lord Jesus, sent by the Father to His own people and rejected. Joseph was "hated without a cause," and so was Jesus, who said, "They hated me without a cause" (John 15:25). And notice the brothers' foolish confidence: "we shall see what will become of his dreams." They imagined that by killing the dreamer they could kill the dream, but no one can overthrow the purpose of God. The very plot meant to destroy Joseph's dreams became the road to their fulfillment, just as the cross meant to end Jesus became the means of the world's salvation. Men may rage against God's plans, but "the counsel of the LORD standeth for ever" (Psalm 33:11).
Sold for Twenty Pieces of Silver (Genesis 37:21-28)
Reuben spares Joseph's life and Judah proposes a sale, and the brothers draw him from the pit and sell him to traders bound for Egypt.
Let Us Sell Him to the Ishmeelites
"And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?"
Hebrew Study
He is sold for twenty pieces of silver — the price fixed for a young slave (Leviticus 27:5); the beloved brother is traded for silver, as another Son would be handed over for thirty (Matthew 26:15). The verb is makar, "to sell," and it is Judah — in Greek Ioudas, Judas — who proposes the sale, the same name that would mark the betrayer at the last. Over the empty pit Reuben cries in despair, "the child is not; and I, whither shall I go?" (v. 30).
Explanation
Reuben, the eldest, cannot stomach murder and persuades the others to throw Joseph into a pit instead of killing him, secretly meaning to rescue him later. They strip Joseph of his special coat and cast him into an empty pit. Then, coldly, "they sat down to eat bread" while their brother pleads from the pit. When a caravan of traders passes by, Judah proposes a way to be rid of Joseph and profit besides: "let us sell him to the Ishmeelites." So Joseph is drawn up and sold "for twenty pieces of silver," the price of a slave, and carried down to Egypt. The brothers have not shed his blood with their own hands, but they have betrayed him for money and doomed him, they think, to a life of slavery far away. Reuben, who had stepped away, returns to find the pit empty and tears his clothes in dismay.
Gospel Focus
The parallels to Christ deepen here. Joseph is stripped of his robe, betrayed by his brothers, and sold for pieces of silver. It was Judah who said, "let us sell him," and it was another son of the tribe of Judah, Judas, who said of Jesus, "What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver" (Matthew 26:15). The beloved son handed over for silver by his own is a shadow cast long before the reality. Yet see how God is already turning evil toward good. The brothers meant only cruelty and profit, but the caravan that carried Joseph away was, unknown to them, God's chariot bearing the future savior of Israel down into Egypt at exactly the right time. What they intended for harm, God was steering toward rescue. Joseph himself would later say it plainly: "ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20). The same God still works, weaving even the betrayals done against us into a plan of salvation we cannot yet see.
An Evil Beast Hath Devoured Him (Genesis 37:29-36)
The brothers deceive their father with Joseph's blood-dipped coat, and Jacob mourns without comfort, while Joseph is sold in Egypt.
It Is My Son's Coat
"And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard."
Hebrew Study
The brothers deceive Jacob with a garment dipped in the blood of a kid of the goats — se'ir izzim, the very animal Jacob once used to deceive his own father Isaac (27:16); the deceiver is now deceived by his sons with goat and garment. He puts on sackcloth (saq, its first mention in Scripture) and refuses comfort, resolved to go down mourning to the grave (she'ol). The deception returns upon the deceiver's own head — yet the son he mourns as dead is very much alive.
Explanation
To cover their crime, the brothers kill a young goat, dip Joseph's coat in its blood, and send it to their father with a cruel, lying question: "know now whether it be thy son's coat or no." Jacob recognizes it at once and draws the conclusion they intended: "It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him." He tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, and mourns for many days, refusing all comfort, saying he will go down to the grave still mourning his son. Meanwhile Joseph is alive, sold in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. The chapter ends in deep sorrow and deep irony: a father weeping over a son who is not dead, deceived by his own children, while God is quietly setting the stage in Egypt for a rescue no one can yet imagine.
Gospel Focus
There is a solemn justice in how Jacob is deceived. Long ago he had taken a kid of the goats and his brother's garment to deceive his own blind father and steal a blessing. Now his sons take a kid of the goats and his son's garment to deceive him. The deceiver has been deceived once more, and the same principle holds: "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." God had long forgiven Jacob, yet the harvest of his old sins still came home. This should make us tremble at sin and tender toward the God who forgives it. Yet the chapter does not leave us in despair, for the reader knows what Jacob does not: Joseph lives. In our darkest griefs, when we are sure that all is lost and refuse to be comforted, God may be working a deliverance we cannot see. Jacob wept as though God had failed, but God was at that very moment carrying the answer to his family's future safely into Egypt. Faith learns to trust the God who is at work even in the hour that looks like the end.
A Note on History
The price Joseph was sold for is quietly period-accurate. Twenty pieces of silver was about the going rate for a slave in the early second millennium BC, the age of the patriarchs, as seen in Old Babylonian and Mari-era contracts. The price rose later, to about thirty shekels by the time of Exodus 21:32, and to fifty or more in first-millennium Assyrian records. A writer inventing the story much later would likely have used the price of his own day; the figure here fits the patriarchal period exactly, as documented by the historian K. A. Kitchen.
Chapter 37 in Review
Genesis 37 opens the story of Joseph. Jacob loves him above his brothers and clothes him in a coat of many colours, and Joseph's God-given dreams of rule turn his brothers' jealousy into hatred. Sent by his father to check on them, Joseph comes in obedience and is met with a plot to kill "this dreamer." Reuben spares his life, Judah proposes a sale, and Joseph is stripped, drawn from a pit, and sold for twenty pieces of silver to traders bound for Egypt. The brothers deceive their father with Joseph's blood-dipped coat, and Jacob mourns without comfort for a son who is not dead, while Joseph is sold in Egypt to Potiphar.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter is heavy with meaning. It warns against favoritism and the deadly growth of envy, and it shows the deceiver Jacob reaping, in a kid of the goats and a bloody garment, the very kind of deception he once used. But its glory is what it reveals about Christ. Joseph is the father's beloved son, sent to his brethren, hated without a cause, stripped of his robe, and betrayed for silver by a hand of Judah, a living portrait of the Lord Jesus, rejected and sold by His own. And above all it displays the sovereignty of God. The brothers thought to bury Joseph's dreams, but they only carried them toward fulfillment, for "God meant it unto good, to save much people alive." Even in the pit, even in the caravan, even in a father's mistaken grief, God was working out salvation. He still does.
- Favoritism sows division, and envy left unchecked hardens into cruelty (37:4; Proverbs 14:30).
- Joseph, the beloved son sent to his brethren and hated without cause, is a picture of Christ (37:18-20; Matthew 21:38; John 15:25).
- Betrayed and sold for silver, Joseph foreshadows the Lord sold for silver by one of Judah's line (37:28; Matthew 26:15).
- Jacob the deceiver is deceived again by a goat and a garment; we reap what we sow (37:31-33).
- God rules over the worst men do: "ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good" (37:28; Genesis 50:20).
Questions for Reflection
- Envy grew step by step until it turned murderous. Is there a resentment in your heart you need to root out before it hardens?
- The brothers thought they could bury God's plan. Where are you tempted to believe that circumstances have overthrown what God has promised?
- Jacob mourned as though all were lost while God was working to save. How might God be at work in a grief that feels beyond comfort to you?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The "coat of many colours" was a distinctive long robe marking Joseph as the favored son, as can be checked in any Bible reference. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The twenty-shekel slave price as period-accurate: Old Babylonian and Mari contracts; K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament.
- The favored son and the dreams: Genesis 37:1-11; John 1:11; Proverbs 14:30.
- The beloved son rejected: Genesis 37:12-20; Matthew 21:38; John 15:25; Psalm 33:11.
- Betrayed and sold for silver: Genesis 37:21-28; Matthew 26:15; Genesis 50:20.
- The deceiver deceived and the father's grief: Genesis 37:29-36; 27:1-29.