Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 37:1-24

It is tempting for parents to have favorite children. If a parent is athletic or musical, they will tend to favor the child that has similar talents. If a parent has a particular hobby or interest, they may become partial to the child that participates in that hobby. A business owner may give preference to a child that joins the family business.

While it may be natural to have a favorite child, today’s passage teaches us that parents should resist that urge, because openly favoring one child over the other can have a devastating effect upon the non-favored children.

Gen. 37:1 ¶ Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.

Gen. 37:2 These are 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 an evil report about them to their father.

Take note of Joseph’s age. He was seventeen. Joseph was born near the end of Jacob’s sojourn with Laban, so this incident of Joseph bringing a bad report to his father occurred around 15 years after Jacob left Laban.

Gen. 37:3 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.

Look at the phrase “son of his old age”. That expression makes it sound like Joseph was much younger than all his other brothers. However, Joseph and all ten of his older brothers were born in a 13 year window between the time Jacob married Leah and Rachel and when he left Laban. Leah gave birth to six sons, and there was a gap between the first four and the last two. Therefore, some of Joseph’s older brothers could not have been more than a couple years older than Joseph.

Don’t miss the phrase “Israel loved Joseph more”.

Gen. 37:4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him in peace.

Notice the word “hated”. Jacob’s favoritism was obvious and so Joseph’s older brothers hated Joseph.

It is tempting for parents to have favorite children. If a parent is athletic or musical, they will tend to favor the child that has similar talents. If a parent has a particular hobby or interest, they may become partial to the child that participates in that hobby. A business owner may give preference to a child that joins the family business.

While having a favorite might be natural, parents need to resist the temptation to indulge their favorite child because the effect on the rest of their children could be devastating.

Gen. 37:5 ¶ Then Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; so they hated him even more.

Gen. 37:6 And he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had:

Gen. 37:7 Indeed, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf rose up and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Gen. 37:8 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you really 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.

There are many people mentioned in the Bible. Some of them, such as Samson or King Saul, had many flaws and are portrayed somewhat negatively. On the other hand, Joseph is mostly portrayed as being honest and wise. One exception would be his decision to tell his brothers about his dream. They already hated him, so recounting this dream probably felt like salt in a wound.

Gen. 37:9 ¶ Then he had still another dream and recounted it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

Gen. 37:10 And he recounted 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 really come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?”

Look at the word “rebuke”. Even Jacob was somewhat offended at Joseph’s dream.

Gen. 37:11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

Take note of the phrase “his father kept the saying in mind”. While Jacob was offended by the dream, he apparently recognized that Joseph’s dreams may have been foretelling something.

Gen. 37:12 ¶ Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem.

Gen. 37:13 And 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.”

Gen. 37:14 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.

It was 50 miles / 80 km from Hebron to Shechem. It would have taken Joseph at least two days to walk that distance. It would take longer to traverse that distance with a flock. A flock of sheep can only travel about 5-10 miles per day. That explains why Jacob desired to know the welfare of the flock. Jacob’s sons were not home every night to tell Jacob how things were going.

Gen. 37:15 ¶ And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “What are you seeking?”

Gen. 37:16 And he said, “I am seeking my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.”

Gen. 37:17 Then the man said, “They have journeyed from here; for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

It was about 15 miles / 25 km from Shechem to Dothan. It probably took Joseph’s brothers at least 3 days to move the flock to Dothan, but Joseph would have been able to walk there in one day.

Gen. 37:18 ¶ And they saw him from a distance, and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.

Look at the word “death”. Joseph’s brothers hated him so much they wanted to kill him. Any family in the 21st century in which brothers are plotting the death of a sibling would be considered a dysfunctional family.

Gen. 37:19 Then they said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer!

Gen. 37:20 So now, come and let us kill him and cast him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!”

Gen. 37:21 But Reuben heard this and delivered him out of their hands and said, “Let us not strike down his life.”

Gen. 37:22 Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not put forth your hands against him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands to return him to his father.

Reuben is generally portrayed negatively, but in this instance he was trying to do the right thing.

Gen. 37:23 Now it happened, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;

Gen. 37:24 and they took him and cast him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

While it might be tempting to have a favorite child, parents need to resist the temptation to indulge their favorite child because the effect on the rest of their children could be devastating, as we see in the lives of Jacob’s sons. Jacob was so overt in favoring Joseph over the rest of his sons, that Joseph’s brothers hated Joseph.

Did your parents have a favorite child?

Did they overly indulge the favored one?

What were the ramifications of that favoritism?

Do you have a favorite child?

To what extent are you making the same mistake made by Jacob?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”