Genesis 37:1-36

Genesis 37:1-36

Genesis 37:1-36

1. And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

1. Habitavit itaque Iahacob in terra peregrinationum patris sui, in terra Chenaan.

2. 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.

2. Istae sunt generationes Iahacob. Joseph filius septendecim annorum pascebat cum fratribus suis pecudes, et erat puer cum filiis Bilhah et cum filiis Zilpah uxorum patris sui: et retulit Ioseph obloquutionem eorum malam patri eorum.

3. 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.

3. Porro Israel diligebat Joseph prae cunctis filiis suis, quia filius senectutis erat ei: et fecerat ei tunicam multicolorem.

4. 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.

4. Et viderunt fratres ejus, quod eum diligeret pater eorum prae cunctis fratribus ejus, et odio habebant eum, et non poterant alloqui eum pacifice.

5. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

5. Somniavit autem Joseph somnium, et nuntiavit fratribus suis: et addiderunt amplius odio habere eum.

6. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

6. Dixit enim ad eos, Audite quaeso somnium hoc quod somniavi.

7. 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.

7. Ecce enim ligabamus manipulos in medio agri: et ecce surrexit manipulus meus, ac etiam stabat: et ecce circumdabant manipuli vestri, et incurvabant se manipulo meo.

8. 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.

8. Et dixerunt ei fratres ejus, Num regnando regnabis super nos? num dominando dominaberis nobis? Addiderunt ergo adhuc odio habere eum propter somnium ejus, et propter verba ejus.

9. 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.

9. Et somniavit adhuc somnium alterum, et narrativ illud fratribus suis, et dixit, Ecce, somniavi somnium adhuc: et ecce, sol et luna et undecim stellae incurvabant se mihi.

10. 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?

10. Et narravit patri suo et fratribus suis: et increpavit eum pater ejus, et dixit ei, Quid est hoc comnium quod somniasti? Num veniendo veniemus ego et mater tua, et fratres tui, ut incurvemus nos tibi ad terram?

11. And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

11. Et inviderunt ei fratres ejus: sed pater ejus observabat rem.

12. And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

12. Profecti autem sunt fratres ejus, ut pascerent pecudes patris sui in Sechem.

13. 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

13. Et dixit Israel ad Hoseph, Nonne fratres tui pascunt in Sechem? Veni, et mittam to ad eos. Et dixit ei, Ecce adsum.

14. 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.

14. Et ait ei, Vade nune, vide incolumitatem fratrum tuorum, et incolmitatem pecorum, et refer mihi rem: et misit eum ex valle Hebron: et venit in Sechem.

15. And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

15. Porro invenit eum vir, et ecce errabat in agro: interrogavit autem eum vir ille, dicendo, Quid quaeris?

16. And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks

16. Et dixit, Fratres meos ego quaero, nuntia, obsecro, mihi, ubi ipsi pascant.

17. 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.

17. Et dixit vir ille, Profecti sunt hinc: audivi enim eos dicentes, Eamus in Dothan. Et perrexit Joseph post fratres suos, et invenit eos in Dothan.

18. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

18. Et viderunt eum e longinquo: et antequam appropinquaret eis, machinati sunt contra eum ut interimerent eum.

19. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

19. Ac dicebat alter alteri, Ecce, magister ille somniorum venit.

20. 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.

20. Nune igitur venite, et occidamus illum, et projiciamus eum in unam e cisternis: et dicemus, Bestia mala devoravit eum: et videbinus quid erunt somnia ejus.

21. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.

21. Et audivit Reuben, et eripuit eum e manu eorum, et dixit, Ne percutiamus eum in anima.

22. 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.

22. Dixit ergo ad eos Ruben, Ne effundatis sanguinem: projicite eum in cisternam hanc, quae est in deserto, et manum ne mittatis in eum: ut erueret eum e manu eorum, ut reduceret eum ad patrem suum.

23. 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;

23. Et fuit, ut venit Joseph ad fratres suos, exuerunt Joseph tunica sua, tunica multicolore, quae erat super eum.

24. And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

24. Et tulerunt eum, et projecerunt eum in cisternam: et cisterna erat vacua, non erat in ea aqua.

25. 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.

25. Postea sederunt ut comederent panem, et levaverunt oculos suos, et viderunt, et ecce turba Ismaelitarum veeniebat de Gilhad, et cameli eorum portabant aromata, et resinam, et stacten, iter facientes ut deferrent in Aegyptum.

26. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

26. Et dixit Jehudah fratribus suis, Quae utilitas si occiderimus fratrem mostrum, et celaverimus sanguinem ejus?

27. 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.

27. Venite, et vendamus eum Ismaelitis, et manus nostra ne sit in eum, quia frater noster, caro nostra est: et paruerunt ei fratres ejus.

28. 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.

28. Et transierunt viri Madianitae mercatores, et extraxerunt et sustulerunt Joseph e cisterna: et vendiderunt Joseph Ismaelitis viginti argenteis, qui abduxerunt Ioseph in Aegyptum.

29. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

29. Deinde reversus est Reuben ad cisternam, et ecce non erat Joseph in cisterna, et scidit vestimenta sua.

30. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

30. Et reversus est ad fratres suos, et dixit, Puer non est, et ego quo, ego quo ibo?

31. And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;

31. Et tulerunt tunicam Joseph, et jugulaverunt hircum caprarum, et tinxerunt tunicam in sanguine.

32. 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.

32. et miserunt tunicam multicolorem, et deferri fecerunt ad patrem suum, et dixerunt, Hanc invevenimus, agnosce nunc utrum tunica filii tui sit, annon.

33. 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.

33. Et agnovit eam, et dixit, Tunica filii mei est: bestia mala devoravit eum, rapiendo raptus est Ioseph.

34. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

34. Et scidit Iahacob vestimenta sua, et posuit saccum in lumbis suis, et luxit super filio suo diebus multis.

35. 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.

35. Et surrexerunt omnes filii ejus, et omnes filiae ejus, ut consolarentur eum, sed noluit consolationem admittere: et dixit, Certe descendam ad filium meum lugens ad sepulcrum: et luxit eum pater ejus.

36. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

36. Madanitae autem vendiderunt eum in Aegypto Potiphar satrapae Pharaonis, principi satellitum.

1. And Jacob dwelt. Moses confirms what he had before declared, that, by the departure of Esau, the land was left to holy Jacob as its sole possessor. Although in appearance he did not obtain a single clod; yet, contented with the bare sight of the land, he exercised his faith; and Moses expressly compares him with his father, who had been a stranger in that land all his life. Therefore, though by the removal of his brother to another abode, Jacob was no little gainer; yet it was the Lord’s will that this advantage should be hidden from his eyes, in order that he might depend entirely upon the promise.

2. These are the generations of Jacob. By the word תולדות toledoth we are not so much to understand a genealogy, as a record of events, which appears more clearly from the context. For Moses having thus commenced, does not enumerate sons and grandsons, but explains the cause of the envy of Joseph’s brethren, who formed a wicked conspiracy against him, and sold him as a slave: as if he had said “Having briefly summed up the genealogy of Esau, I now revert to the series of my history, as to what happened to the family of Jacob.” Moreover, Moses being about to speak of the abominable wickedness of Jacob’s sons, begins with the statement, that Joseph was dear beyond the rest to his father, because he had begotten him in his old age: and as a token of tender love, had clothed him with a coat woven of many colors. But it was not surprising that the boy should be a great favorite with his aged father, for so it is wont to happen: and no just ground is here given for envy; seeing that sons of a more robust age, by the dictate of nature, might well concede such a point. Moses, however, states this as the cause of odium, that the mind of his father was more inclined to him than to the rest. The brethren conceive enmity against the boy, whom they see to be more tenderly loved by their father, as having been born in his old age. If they did not choose to join in this love to their brother, why did they not excuse it in their father? Hence, then, we perceive their malignant and perverse disposition. But, that a manycoloured coat and similar trifles inflamed them to devise a scheme of slaughter, is a proof of their detestable cruelty. Moses also says that their hatred increased, because Joseph conveyed the evil speeches of his brethren to their father. Some expound the word evil as meaning some intolerable crime; but others more correctly suppose, that it was a complaint of the boy that his brothers vexed him with their reproaches; for, what follows in Moses, I take to have been added in explanation, that we may know the cause for which he had been treated so ill and with such hostility. It may be asked, why Moses here accuses only the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, when, afterwards, he does not exempt the sons of Leah from the same charge? One, indeed, of her sons, Reuben, was milder than any of the rest; next to him was Judah, who was his uterine brother. But what is to be said of Simon? What of Levi? Certainly since they were older, it is probable that they were leaders in the affair. The suspicion may, however, be entertained, that because these were the sons of concubines and not of true wives, their minds would be more quickly moved with envy; as if their servile extraction, on the mother’s side, subjected them to contempt.

Note 132. The second verse is rendered by Professor Bush in a manner different from that of any other commentator whom the Editor has had the opportunity of consulting. His view of the passage is, at least, worthy of consideration. “The correct translation,” he says, “is doubtless the following: ‘Joseph, being seventeen years old, was tending his brethren among the flocks, and he a (mere) lad, (even) the sons of Bilhah, etc.’ The mention of his youth is brought in parenthetically, as something peculiarly worthy of notice; while the clause, ‘the sons of Bilhah, etc.,’ is designed to limit and specify the term ‘brethren’ going before.” This interpretation he proceeds to vindicate by reference to passages of similar construction, which we have not room to quote. The point which it would establish is, that Jacob assigned to his boy, of seventeen years of age, the superintendence or oversight of the sons of Bilhah among the flocks; so that he was rather an overlooker of the shepherds than of the sheep. This would show more clearly the propriety of Joseph’s conduct, in carrying an ill report of his brethren to their father; and would also account for the hostility they felt towards him. But it may be doubted whether this interpretation can stand. — Ed.

Note 133. “Son of his old age.” The Chaldee renders it, “a wise son;” as if he were a man in intellect, while a boy in years. This would avoid a difficulty; for Benjamin was far more properly the son of Jacob’s old age than Joseph. — Ed.

6. And Joseph dreamed a dream. Moses having stated what were the first seeds of this enmity, now ascends higher, and shows that Joseph had been elected, by the wonderful purpose of God, to great things; that this had been declared to him in a dream; and that, therefore, the hatred of his brethren broke forth into madness. God, however, revealed in dreams what he would do, that afterwards it might be known that nothing had happened fortuitously: but that what had been fixed by a celestial decree, was at length, in its proper time, carried forward through circuitous windings to its completion. It had been predicted to Abraham that his seed should be wanderers from the land of Canaan. In order, then, that Jacob might pass over into Egypt, this method was divinely appointed; namely, that Joseph, being president over Egypt in a time of famine, might bring his father thither with his whole family, and supply them with food. Now, from the facts first related, no one could have conjectured such a result. The sons of Jacob conspire to put the very person to death, without whom they cannot be preserved; yea, he who was ordained to be the minister of salvation to them, is thrown into a well, and with difficulty rescued from the jaws of death. Driven about by various misfortunes, he seems to be an alien from his father’s house. Afterwards, he is cast into prison, as into another sepulcher, where, for a long time, he languishes. Nothing, therefore, was less probable than that the family of Jacob should be preserved by his means, when he was cut off from it, and carried far away, and not even reckoned among the living. Nor did any hope of his liberation remain, especially from the time in which he was neglected by the chief butler; but being condemned to perpetual imprisonment, he was left there to rot. God, however, by such complicated methods, accomplishes what he had purposed. Wherefore, in this history, we have not only a most beautiful example of Divine Providence, but also two other points are added especially worthy of notice: first, that the Lord performs his work by wonderful and unusual modes; and, secondly, that he brings forth the salvation of his Church, not from magnificent splendor, but from death and the grave. Besides, in the person of Joseph, a lively image of Christ is presented, as will more fully appear from the context. But since these subjects will be often repeated, let us follow the thread of Moses’ discourse. God, of his mere grace, conferred peculiar honor on the boy, who was the last but one among twelve, in giving him the priority among his brethren. For, by what merit or virtue shall we say that he attained the lordship over his brethren? Afterwards he seemed, indeed, to acquire this by his own great beneficence: but from the dream we learn, that it was the free gift of God, which in no way depended upon Joseph’s beneficence. Rather, he was ordained to be chief, by the mere good pleasure of God, in order that he might show kindness to his brethren. Now, since the Lord was, at that time, wont to reveal his secrets by two methods — by visions and by dreams — one of these kinds is here noted. For no doubt Joseph had often dreamed in the common manner: but Moses shows that a dream was now divinely sent to him, which might have the force and weight of an oracle. We know that dreams are often produced by our daily thoughts: sometimes they are indications of an unhealthy state of the body: but whenever God intends to make known his counsel by dreams, he engraves on them certain marks, which distinguish them from passing and frivolous imaginations, in order that their credibility and authority may stand firm. Thus Joseph, being certainly persuaded that he had not been deluded by an empty spectra, fearlessly announced his dream as a celestial oracle. Now, although the dominion is promised to him under a rural symbol, it is one which does not seem suitable for instruction to the sons of Jacob; for we know that they were herdsman, not ploughmen. Since they had no harvest which they could gather in, it seems hardly congruous that homage should be paid to his sheaf: But perhaps God designedly chose this similitude, to show that this prophecy was not founded upon the present fortunes of Joseph, and that the material of his dominion would not consist in those things which were at hand, but that it should be a future benefit, the cause of which was to be sought for elsewhere than at home.

8. Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Here it is plainly shown to us that the paternal favor of God towards the elect, is like a fan to excite against them the enmity of the world. When the sons of Jacob heard that they were fighting in vain against God, their unjust hatred ought, by such means, to have been corrected. For it was as if God, setting himself in the midst, would repress their fury by these words, “Your impious conspiring will be fruitless; for although you boast, I have constituted as your chief, the man whose ruin your wicked envy hurries you to seek.” Perhaps, also, by this consolatory dream, he intended to alleviate the trouble of the holy youth. Yet their obstinacy caused it to be the more increased. Let us then learn not to be grieved if, at any time, the shining of the grace of God upon us should cause us to be envied. The sons of Jacob, however, were but too acute interpreters of the dream: yet they deride it as a fable, because it was repugnant to their wishes. Thus it often happens that they who are ill-disposed, quickly perceive what is the will of God: but, because they feel no reverence, they despise it. To this contumacy, however, succeeds a stupor which destroys their former quick-sightedness.

9. And he dreamed yet another dream. The scope of this dream is the same. The only difference is, that God, to inspire greater confidence in the oracle, presents him with a figure from heaven. The brethren of Joseph had despised what was said concerning the sheaves; the Lord now calls upon them to look towards heaven, where his august Majesty shines forth. It may, however, be asked, how it can be reconciled with fact, that his mother, who was now dead, could come and bow down to him. The interpretation of certain Hebrews, who refer it to Bilhah, is frigid, and the sense appears plain without such subterfuges: for the sun and moon designate the head of the family on each side: thus, in this figure, Joseph sees himself reverenced by the whole house of his father.