Preface: Genesis 37 begins the final section of the book of Genesis, which centers on the life of Joseph (with the exception of Genesis 38). From the beginning, young Joseph is clearly at odds with his older half-brothers, who resent the favoritism of their father towards Joseph. Joseph has 2 dreams which particularly irritate his older half-brothers because they indicate that he would rule over them. When the brothers confront Joseph next, away from their father, they plot to kill him. Reuben convinces them not to kill him, but to simply throw him into a pit (hoping to rescue the boy later). Judah suggests that Joseph be sold as a slave and the other brothers agree to this.

Because Joseph is sold to traders, his older brothers send back Joseph’s bloodied and torn tunic, to make it appear that he had been attacked and killed by a wild animal. Jacob is heartbroken to receive this tunic and mourns inconsolably afterwards.

This should be the most extensive examination of Genesis 37 available, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 37:

Introduction

         vv.     1–4           Jacob Favors His Son Joseph

         vv.     5–11         Joseph’s Dreams

         vv.    12–17         Jacob Sends Joseph to Check on His Brothers

         vv.    18–27         Joseph’s Brothers Plot Against Him and Throw Him into a Pit

         v.       28           Joseph Is Sold into Slavery

         vv.    29–32         Joseph’s Brothers Make It Appear as if He Were Killed by a Wild Animal

         vv.    33–35         Jacob Identifies the Bloodied Rob of Joseph and Mourns Joseph's Death

         v.       36          Joseph is Taken to Egypt as a Slave

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Preface

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Genesis 37 on Joseph (a graphic)

         Introduction         The Authorship of Genesis/Authorship of Genesis 37–50

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Prequel of Genesis 37

         Introduction         The Principals of Genesis 37

         Introduction         The Places of Genesis 37

         Introduction         The Patriarchal Timeline for Genesis 37

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translations for Genesis 37 (from Dr. Bob Utley)

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Genesis 37

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Chapter Updates

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.       2              These are the generations of...

         v.       2              William Ramey’s Chiasmos of Genesis 37:2b–11

         v.       2              More on the Authorship of Genesis

         v. 

         v.       3              A Brief Review of Genesis 37:1–2

         v.       3              Tunic Opinions (Many Commentators)

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         v.       7              Sheaves of Wheat (a photo)

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         v.      10              Dreams in Genesis

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         v. 

         v.      12              William Ramey’s Chiasmos of Genesis 37:12–36

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         v. 

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         v. 

         v.      17              The Travels of Joseph (a map)

         v.      17              Dr. Robert Dean’s Preparation for Genesis 37–47

         v.      17              Quotations on Hitting Bottom

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         v.      24              Joseph and the Future of the United States

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         v.      25              Camels, Archeology and the Bible

         v.      25              Why the camel is so well-suited for desert travel

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         v. 

         v. 

         v.      28              The Full Order of Events of Genesis 37:28

         v. 

         v.      29              Quotations on Injustice

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         v.      35              Scofield on Sheol

         v.      36              First Resolution of the Contradiction of Genesis 37 & 39

         v.      36              Explaining the Contradiction Concerning Who Sold Joseph into Slavery

         Summary            Summarizing Genesis 37 Part I (using the NKJV)

         Summary            Observations Made in Genesis 37

         Summary            Wenstrom’s Outline of Genesis 37:1–50:26

         Summary            Joseph Reveals His Dreams to His Brothers by Raphael Santi and Giulio Romano (a painting)

         Summary            Summarizing Genesis 37 Part II (using the NKJV)

         Summary            Joseph's Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob by Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez (a painting)

         Summary            Basic Points on Adversity vs. Stress (by Dr. Robert Dean, Jr.)

         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            B. H. Carroll Summarizes Genesis 37

         Summary            Edersheim Summarizes Genesis 37

         Summary 

         Addendum          Contradictions in the Bible/Websites on Bible Contradictions

         Addendum          Why Genesis 37 is in the Word of God

         Addendum          What We Learn from Genesis 37

         Addendum 

         Addendum          Joseph Graphics

         Addendum          Life Lines: Joseph (a graphic)

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Genesis 37

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Genesis 37

         Addendum          Word Cloud from the Exegesis of Genesis 37

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An Introduction to Genesis 37

I ntroduction: Genesis 37 begins a whole new section in the book of Genesis. From around Genesis 12–36, it is reasonably easy to attribute various groups of chapters to one of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, nearly everything that is recorded from Genesis 37–50 is from the perspective of Joseph, Jacob’s first son by Rachel. Joseph is the second to the youngest of all his half-brothers; only Benjamin is younger.

Genesis 38 is the exception to this, which is possibly written by Judah (although it will be a very unusual chapter, there are very specific reasons for this chapter). There may be a few glosses throughout the chapters written by Joseph as well.

Dr. Robert Dean: This is one of the most significant and pivotal times in all of history because this chapter begins with Joseph in the land with his brothers, with his father, in his home, and enjoying the blessings of this land that God has promised to give to Abraham and his descendants, but at the end of the chapter he is a slave in Egypt. So the chapter itself is almost a picture of what is going to happen to Israel starting in the land and ending up as slaves in Egypt, and that God is preparing them for the future. We can say in short that the chapter provides a transition for the family of Abraham from the land of promise to the land of protection.

It may be worth asking, what is God’s big plan here and why Egypt? The sons of Jacob have been influenced by the decreasing levels of morality in Canaan. A few chapters ago, they killed all the male relatives of Shechem because of Shechem’s actions. In this chapter, they will discuss killing Joseph just because he is Jacob’s favorite son. In Genesis 38, we will see a great failure on the part of Judah. So, despite the great blessing that Jacob’s family has received from God, their actions in the Land of Promise are deplorable. The morality of the people of Canaan will continue to degenerate; and God will separate His people from the Canaanites in order to protect them.

Dean: In going to Egypt they are going to a place of adversity and hostility, a place where they are enslaved for several hundred years, a place where there are many abuses that are going to take place. So why is that a place of protection? That is the whole point of their being taken there. God recognizes what has happened to them where they are in the land of Canaan-they have begun to have deteriorated so much and begin to be influenced so much by the thinking of the cosmic system around them at that time, the Canaanite culture, the fertility religions, etc.-and that in order to bring about His planned purposes for the descendants of Israel He has to take them out of the land and put them down into an incubator, as it were, so that the nation can grow to a size where He can then take it back to the land. So Egypt, then, becomes a place of protection to protect them from themselves. Sometimes God has to do that with each one of us, He has to protect us from our own negative volition and our own sin nature, and so we see a picture in this passage of how that happens. God in His infinite knowledge knows exactly what He is doing and He is always working things out to bring about His desired goal.

Genesis 37 on Joseph (a graphic); from One Christian Chick; accessed June 5, 2017. This example of Bible journaling may help you to recall what this chapter is about.

The idea is, sometimes the things that we face in life seem horrible, but they often occur for our protection and/or benefit. Remaining in the land could have resulted in all of their children taking Canaanite wives, which would have been to the ruin of this new people.

The family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will enter into Egypt as a small clan; and they will exit Egypt a nation under God.

Genesis 37 centers around Joseph, who is clearly one of the most important character of the book of Genesis. Approximately the same amount of space is devoted to Joseph as is devoted to Abraham, the father of the Jewish race. With the exception of one chapter, the rest of Genesis will be about Joseph (the Bible devotes 12 chapters to Abraham and 13 chapters to Joseph).

In this study, we will see that greater the privilege and blessing, greater the responsibility and greater the punishment. Joseph will be blessed in a material way and exalted by God beyond what has happened to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but we will also see God put Joseph on the bench for a two years because of one short sentence and one moment of misplaced trust (Joseph trusted in man rather than God).

In this chapter, we will see the jealousy felt by his brothers. One of the greatest mistakes made by Isaac and Rebekah was the favoritism which they showed toward their children. It is normal in the course of human events to have favorites in the realm of people. It is even normal to love one child more than another. However, that is not to be revealed in any way to the children. This caused almost lifelong jealousy between Jacob and Esau. It was not until twenty or so years prior to their father's death when they reconciled—yet they still lived in vastly separated areas. Joseph will also bear the brunt of the jealousy of his brothers in this chapter. Jacob makes it obvious that he prefers his sons Joseph over all the rest of his sons and this causes them to become quite envious to the point that they even plotted Joseph's death.

As with all previous sections of Genesis, we have no idea at what point the patriarch sat down to write any of this. My belief is, this was a fairly organic process. The History of God and Man was spoken from father to son; and most fathers added some additional information to what his father told him—particularly Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph. What was modified, appended, edited out, etc. was an organic process which continued with each generation, guided by God the Holy Spirit. With Joseph, this process appeared to end, until Exodus 1:1, some 400 or so years later, when the narrative is picked up again. When we come to the time of Moses, it is clear that writing exists, and it is likely that Moses actually wrote all of the words of Genesis down, having heard them from his own mother (or, possibly, from his brother or sister).

In any case, as we will see in Exodus 1, the Jews of Egypt, even when enslaved, knew some of the details of the book of Genesis. The genealogical records found in the first chapters of Chronicles suggests that they kept such records, even while enslaved. Keeping the genealogical records combined with their knowledge of their relationship to God suggests that the people knew all or portions of the book of Genesis; and that some set of genealogical records existed as well.

So that there is no misunderstanding, most of these statements come from logical deductions. Nowhere in Scripture is Moses said to have written out the book of Genesis; nowhere in Scripture is he called the author of Genesis. Nowhere that I can recall is the method of the transmission of the book of Genesis given. Nowhere are the patriarchs called the authors of Genesis. We will return to this topic.

Back to the narrative at hand: whereas, Jacob’s spiritual growth was questionable, his son Joseph became a great man of grace. This will not become apparent at first; but as we delve into his life, this will become clear.

As we study the next few chapters, we should keep in mind, the line of the Messiah will go through Judah. Why is that? Throughout most of these final chapters of Genesis, it would seem most logical for the Messiah to come through Joseph.

The Patriarchal Timeline for Genesis 37

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I don’t like to divide up verses or chapters; but v. 2 could have been a good beginning for this chapter (Genesis 37:1 might be a good ending to the previous chapter); and most translations place vv. 1 and 2a together.

Jacob Favors His Son Joseph

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. From http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_genesis.html and first published in 1862.

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so dwells Jacob in a land of dwellings of his father in a land of Canaan.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Targum of Onkelos                AND Jakob dwelt in the land of the habitation of his father, in the land of Kenaan. Translation for Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. (1862).

Targum (trans. Etheridge)      And Jakob dwelt in peace in the land of the sojourning of his fathers, in the land of Kenaan.

Revised Douay-Rheims         And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan wherein his father sojourned.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        Ya'aqub lived in the land of his father's travels, in the land of Canaan.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    AND Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a sojourner, in the land of Canaan.

Septuagint (Greek)                JOSEPH and his brothers. Gn.37.1-11

And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father sojourned, in the land of Chanaan. This is the New Brenton translation.

NETS (Greek)                        .

Brenton’s Septuagint             .

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in the land of Canaan.

Easy English                          Israel (Jacob) lived in Canaan. This is where his father had lived.

Easy-to-Read Version            Joseph the Dreamer

Jacob stayed and lived in the land of Canaan. This is the same land where his father had lived. This is the story of Jacob’s family. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

God’s Word™                         .

Good News Bible (TEV)         Joseph and His Brothers

Jacob continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived, and this is the story of Jacob's family. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

The Message                         Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan.

Joseph and His Brothers

This is the story of Jacob. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

Names of God Bible               Joseph’s Brothers Sell Him into Slavery

Jacob continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived.

NIRV                                      Joseph Has Two Dreams

Jacob lived in the land of Canaan. It’s the land where his father had stayed.

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Joseph dreams of power

Jacob lived in the land of Canaan where his father was an immigrant.

Contemporary English V.       Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father Isaac had lived, and this is the story of his family. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

The Living Bible                     .

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             Joseph the Dreamer

Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived. This is the family history of Jacob:... A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

New Life Version                    .

New Living Translation           Joseph’s Dreams

So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          ⁴⁴ However, Jacob lived in the land where his father stayed, the land of CanaAn.

Chapter 37

¹ And these are the generations of Jacob. As you can see, the AEB’s v. 44 from the previous chapter is equivalent to v. 1 in most Bibles. This may have been a better way to have divided up the chapters (division of chapters or verses is not inspired).

Beck’s American Translation .

International Standard V        Joseph’s Life before His Captivity

Jacob continued to live in the land they were occupying, where his father had journeyed in the territory of Canaan. This is a record of Jacob’s descendants. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Jacob, meanwhile, had settled in the land of Chanaan, where his father lived a wanderer’s life before him; and this is the record of Jacob’s line. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

Revised Knox Bible      .

Translation for Translators              Joseph had two dreams about himself and his brothers

Jacob continued to live in Canaan land, where his father had lived previously.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Awful Scroll Bible                   Jacob was to settle down, on the solid grounds of his father's sojourning, even the solid grounds of Canaan.

Conservapedia                       Jacob continued to live in the country that his father had been a foreigner in, in the land of Canaan.

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                Continuance of the History of Jacob and of Joseph

Jacob continued to reside in the land of his father's foreignhood — in the land of Canan.

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, that is to say in the land of Canaan.

HCSB                                     .

H. C. Leupold                         History of Jacob (chapters 37-50)

And Jacob dwelt in the land of the sojournings of his father, in the land of Canaan.

Lexham English Bible            The Dreams of Joseph

And Jacob settled in the land of the sojourning of his father, in the land of Canaan.

NIV, ©2011                             .

Tree of Life Version                Parashat Vayeshev

Joseph, Favored Son

Now Jacob dwelled in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. These are the genealogies of Jacob. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  Third part:

the story of Joseph

Jacob lived in the land where his father had settled, in the land of Canaan.

The Heritage Bible                 And Jacob sat down in the land of the temporary residence of his father, the land of Canaan.

New American Bible (2002)   .

New American Bible (2011)             Joseph Sold into Egypt.

Jacob settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.

The statement points ahead to 47:27, “Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen.” These two statements frame the Joseph narrative; the later material (47:28–49:33) is about Jacob; chap. 50 brings to a conclusion themes remaining from the earlier story. One aim of the Joseph story is to explain how Israel came to Egypt after sojourning so long in Canaan.

New Jerusalem Bible             .

New RSV                               Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.

Revised English Bible            Joseph

JACOB settled in Canaan, the country in which his father had made his home, and this is an account of Jacob's descendants. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           Parashah 9: Vayeshev (He continued living) 37:1–40:23

Ya‘akov continued living in the land where his father had lived as a foreigner, the land of Kena‘an.

exeGeses companion Bible   And Yaaqov settles in the land

of the sojourning of his father

- in the land of Kenaan.

Hebraic Transliteration           .

Hebrew Names Version         .

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               .

Judaica Press Complete T.    .

Kaplan Translation                 Joseph is Sold

Meanwhile, Jacob settled in the area [Hebron; Genesis 37:14. Also see Genesis 35:27.] where his father had lived in the land of Canaan. The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Exodus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

Natural Israelite Bible             .

Orthodox Jewish Bible           [VAYESHEV]

And Ya’akov dwelt in the eretz megurei Aviv (in the land wherein his father was a ger) in Eretz Canaan.

Restored Names Version       .

The Scriptures 1998              .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                Joseph’s Dream

So Jacob (Israel) lived in the land where his father [Isaac] had been a stranger (sojourner, resident alien), in the land of Canaan.

The Expanded Bible              Joseph the Dreamer

Jacob ·lived [settled] in the land of Canaan, where his father had ·lived [sojourned; lived as an alien]. ·This is the family history [^LThese are the generations; 2:4] of Jacob:... A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

The Geneva Bible                  .

Kretzmann’s Commentary    Verses 1-4

Joseph Hated by his Brothers

And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. He had now entered upon the inheritance of his father, he was the bearer of the patriarchal blessing; although a stranger in the land of Canaan, he knew that eventually the entire country would belong to his children.

NET Bible®                             Joseph’s Dreams

But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed [Heb “the land of the sojournings of his father.”], in the land of Canaan. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote. Some of their notes will be reproduced in the exegesis of the chapter.

The next section begins with the heading This is the account of Jacob in Gen 37:2, so this verse actually forms part of the preceding section as a concluding contrast with Esau and his people. In contrast to all the settled and expanded population of Esau, Jacob was still moving about in the land without a permanent residence and without kings. Even if the Edomite king list was added later (as the reference to kings in Israel suggests), its placement here in contrast to Jacob and his descendants is important. Certainly the text deals with Esau before dealing with Jacob – that is the pattern. But the detail is so great in chap. 36 that the contrast cannot be missed.

Syndein/Thieme                     And Jacob kept on dwelling in prosperity {yashab} in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan {land of promise}.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

American KJV                        .

Benner’s Mechanical Trans.  ...and Ya'aqov ^{[He restrains]} settled in the land of the pilgrimages of his father, in the land of Kena'an ^[Lowered],...

Concordant Literal Version    And dwelling is Jacob in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

A Conservative Version         .

Context Group Version          .

Darby Translation                  .

Emphasized Bible                  .

English Standard Version      .

English Standard V. – UK       .

Evidence Bible                       .

Green’s Literal Translation    And Jacob lived in the land of his father's travels, in the land of Canaan.

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

King James 2000 Version      .

21^st Century KJV                   .

Modern KJV                           Joseph’s Dreams

Now Jacob lived in the land where his father was a foreigner, in the land of Canaan.

NASB                                     Joseph’s Dream

Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. These are the records of the generations of Jacob. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

New European Version          Joseph and His Dreams

Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan.

New King James Version       Joseph Dreams of Greatness

Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. This is the history of Jacob. A portion of v. 2 is included for context.

Owen's Translation                .

Third Millennium Bible            .

Updated Bible Version 2.11   .

A Voice in the Wilderness      .

Webster’s Bible Translation  And Jacob dwelt in the land in which his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

World English Bible                .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young’s Updated LT             And Jacob dwells in the land of his father’s sojournings—in the land of Canaan.

The gist of this verse:          Jacob lives in the land of his father, which is Canaan.