Genesis 37 – Joseph and his Brothers
A quick glance back will show that chapter 37 follows smoothly after chapter 35. The genealogy of Esau thus feels like an interruption in the narrative, which may give us a hint that the text of Genesis was not originally written as a single seamless work. This takes nothing away from the text, nor from its authority.
Vs. 1-4 Envy of the Brothers
The remainder of Genesis will focus on Jacob’s family, with Joseph as the key character. We are told that Jacob was dwelling in the land where his father had sojourned, namely in the region of Hebron. We are told (v. 2) that at this point Joseph is seventeen years old, meaning his brothers are well older. Though we are not told, we need to realize that by this time the family has probably grown. It is possible that some of the sons are married by this time. That would not necessitate them separating from Jacob’s household, as the cultural custom was to remain together as an extended family unit until the family grew too large to be sustained that way.
Verses 2-4 have as their main purpose to portray for the reader the dysfunction of the sibling relationships. The factors mentioned are a “bad report” on the brothers given by Joseph, the clear favoritism of Joseph demonstrated by Jacob, and the special gift of a “varicolored tunic.” We are told, and shall soon see, that Joseph’s brothers could not stand the sight of him. The reader is left to consider if Joseph did anything to help his case by passing along to Jacob an unfavorable report about the brothers.
The garment mentioned in verse 3 was clearly a gift intended to stand out. A parallel reference can be found in 2 Samuel 13:18, where Tamar (daughter of King David) is said to have worn a “long sleeved garment,” consistent with garments worn by the virgin daughters of kings. The varied English translations of this phrase (leaning toward either color or toward length) remind us that Hebrew can be a tricky language. What we can take with certainty is that the garment worn by Joseph was intended to denote special status. This was the problem for the brothers.
Vs. 5-11 Joseph’s Dreams
In the Bible, dreams are a common way in which God reveals messages to people. Joseph’s own father stands in that company of people, having received a dream from God in the place that would become known as Bethel. What we are not told here is that Joseph’s dreams were of God. As you could expect, Joseph’s brothers take the dreams to just be the nocturnal mental activity of a selfish teenager. Those of us who know the rest of the story are inclined to give the dreams divine weight.
The two dreams are very similar, with the second adding an element missing from the first. In the first dream, Jospeh sees himself with his brothers at harvest time. They are binding sheaves of grain in the field, when Joseph’s sheave stands upright and the other brothers’ sheaves bow down to it. The message was pretty obvious to all. Joseph’s second dream involved celestial bodies, with the sun and moon joining with eleven stars bowing down to Joseph. That one even got Jacob upset, and he rebuked Joseph for suggesting that even Joseph’s mother and father would bow and worship him. Obviously the dreams created no good will on the part of Joseph’s brothers. Jacob, however, was left wondering if God might be revealing something yet to come (as v. 11 suggests).
Vs. 12-36 The Plot Against Joseph
The remainder of the chapter tells us how Joseph winds up relocating from Canaan to Egypt. The section begins with a detail that will remind us of the nature of pastoral life. The wealth of Jacob and his family is largely expressed in livestock, assets that need consistent care and attention. A regular part of such life is taking the animals where grazing land and water are available. At times, this means shepherding the flocks away from home. Such was the case here. The brothers (some or all?) have gone from Hebron to Shechem to pasture the flocks of Jacob (see v. 14). According to one source this is about a fifty mile journey. For people who travel on foot and herd animals along the way, this was quite the journey. It is hard to say how long the young men had been gone, but it had probably been quite some time.
Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers and bring back a report. Given the previous report Joseph gave, we might expect the brothers to not be favorably disposed to Joseph bringing another report. Joseph goes, and with the help of an unnamed stranger, finally locates his brothers in Dothan, about 15 miles past Shechem at the edge of the Jezreel Valley.
As Joseph approaches, the brothers notice him while he was still at a distance. This is at least mildly remarkable, as the brothers had no advance notice of Joseph’s arrival, and would not have been keeping watch for him. Perhaps it was the tunic that stood out to them. Regardless, it gave the brothers the few moments they needed to plot Joseph’s demise. Their plan was to kill him and throw him into a pit (probably a cistern). Reuben intervenes, insisting that they do not harm Joseph, but only put him into the pit. What Reuben has in mind is to return at a later time and retrieve Joseph (v. 22). Though Reuben’s actions still seem unkind, they are more honorable than the intention of the other brothers. We don’t know if Reuben was motivated out of integrity and the responsibility of the oldest brother, or if he anticipated to some degree being restored to Jacob’s good graces. It may have been some of both. The brothers accept Reuben’s proposal, strip Joseph of his tunic, and toss him into a waterless pit (v. 24).
Feeling some satisfaction after dealing with Joseph, the brothers sit down for a meal. As they are eating a caravan of merchants pass by, coming from Gilead with a variety of balms, spices and other goods available in the region. In this passage the travelers are identified both as Ishmaelites and Midianites. It could seem to us that the writer was confused, but that is not the case. Ishaelites and Midianites both descended from Abraham: Ishmael born to Hagar, and Midian born to Keturah, the wife Abraham took after Sarah’s death (Genesis 25:1-2). The groups were thus closely related and from time to time pursued common interests. As such, the terms Ishmaelite and Midianite were often used interchangeably. Judah, seeing the potential for financial gain, suggests selling Joseph to the travelers. The others are amenable to the plan, and Joseph gets sold for the price of a slave.
Reuben was apparently not present at the time of this transaction. He returns expecting to find Joseph in the pit, but finds that Joseph is gone. This causes grief for Reuben. His response “as for me, where am I to go?” (v. 30) may speak to the dread Reuben is considering around the prospect of having to tell Jacob that his favorite son is dead. If that isn’t bad enough, it is possible that Jacob, upon hearing such news, will turn to the other sons and demand why they didn’t protect Joseph. And if that happens, Reuben knows he will be at the front of the line to face Jacob’s displeasure.
Though we are not explicitly told, the brothers must have informed Reuben of Joseph’s fate. Reuben becomes part of their coverup plan to take Joseph’s “long sleeve tunic” and soil it with the blood of a goat. The tunic is returned to Jacob for identification purposes, thus confirming the belief that Joseph has been mauled by a wild animal. It must have been uncomfortable for the sons to watch Jacob mourn, knowing that he was mourning a lie. Though the “sons and daughters” tried to comfort Jacob (v. 35), their efforts are unsuccessful.
The section ends by telling us that Joseph is sold into service of a high ranking official in Egypt. We will anticipate how the narrative continues, but not before a break in the narrative to address an incident in Judah’s life.
Genesis 38 – Judah and Tamar
Again we come to a passage that seems to be an interruption to the narrative. This chapter is solely about Judah and how his offspring come about. None of Jacob’s other sons get this level of attention regarding their offspring, which could make us wonder why it is the case for Judah. With the privilege of hindsight, we know that Judah and the sons produced by Tamar will be mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus recorded in Matthew 1. The nature of events recorded in Genesis 38 remind us once again of how God works within humanity’s brokenness to bring about our redemption.
The chapter begins by telling us “at that time” Judah departed from his brothers. It suggests that the events involving Joseph may have been a motive for Judah to distance himself from the family dynamic. While this is not certain, what we do know is that Judah, instead of returning home to Hebron, goes to a town known as Adullam. This was geographically located in the low Judean foothills called the Shephelah, northwest of Hebron. The area would be noteworthy later in the biblical text. One such instance mentions a cave near there where David hid from King Saul (1 Samuel 22:1).
It appears that Judah did more than just pass through Adullam, but rather stayed there for a while with a friend named Hirah. During that time Judah took a Canaanite bride whose name we are not given. This bride produced three sons for Judah, whose names were Er, Onan, and Shelah. All of this sets up the entrance of Tamar into the narrative.
Judah took Tamar as a wife for his oldest son, Er. We are told without detail that Er was evil in the sight of the Lord (v. 7), and thus the Lord took his life, leaving Er with no male offspring. The Levirate law had not been formalized in biblical text at this point, but it obviously was fixed in the culture. This is what Judah is instructing Onan to do in verse 8, to “raise up offspring” for his brother. Refusing to do so would have been unacceptable, a sign of disregard for one’s family. Onan gave a pretense of obedience by “going through the motions,” but ensured that his seed would not result in offspring who would not be considered his own. Though Judah may not have known about Onan’s strategy, the Lord did, and thus the Lord took Onan’s life also (v. 10).
At this point Judah has become wary of Tamar. Judah has one remaining son, Shelah, whom he would be expected according to custom to give to Tamar to provide offspring for the family. We do not know how old Shelah is at this point, but he was obviously young enough that Judah could use his age to cover his real motivation. Judah instructs Tamar to return to her own father’s house (v. 11) and remain a widow there until Shelah is old enough to marry. Technically, Tamar would still be under the authority of Judah, as she has come under that authority in her marriage to Er. Still, Judah puts physical distance between his household and Tamar, possibly hoping by some turn of events to be rid of her.
When we get to verse 12 we are told that a considerable amount of time has passed, long enough that Judah has probably forgotten about Tamar. She, though, has not forgotten about him, nor the responsibility Judah has to do right by her. We are told that Judah’s wife died, and that Judah went through the customary time of mourning. When that time had passed, Judah and his buddy Hirah prepare to go to Timnah for sheep shearing. The work of shearing sheep was often done as a community celebration. People would gather from surrounding areas to share in the work and, in the process, enjoy some festivities. Tamar gets word that Judah is making this journey, and thus employs a crafty strategy to get things right for herself.
Tamar seems confident that she can lure Judah by posing as a prostitute. It may seem curious to us that Tamar should expect to keep her identity hidden in such an encounter. She would have been aided by the common practice of prostitutes keeping themselves largely veiled, including their faces. Until this time Tamar is still observing her role as a widow (v. 14), so she must remove the garments associated with that role and take the garments to portray herself as a harlot. Sure enough, she gets Judah’s attention and his interest.
Before the encounter, Tamar asks for payment (v. 16). Judah promises a young goat from his flock, which obviously he does not have with him at the time. What Judah must therefore do is leave a pledge with Tamar as a guarantee of payment. The items he leaves with her, according to her request, are his seal and his staff, both of which were items by which Judah could be identified. With the deal settled, Judah has his encounter that he surely considered to be inconsequential, and Tamar now has the seed of Judah’s family.
In verses 20-23 we see Judah trying to make good on his payment. He sends a friend with the young goat with the expectation that he will retrieve his seal and staff. Of course, the friend is unsuccessful in locating any prostitute and returns without Judah’s personal items. Judah, wanting to not be ridiculed, lets the issue drop with the hope that it will all be forgotten. After three months Judah gets word that Tamar is pregnant through an act of harlotry. We recall that Tamar is still under Judah’s authority, and Judah considers her action to be disgraceful. He thus calls for Tamar to be brought out and put to death. It is in bringing her out into public that Judah’s own sin is exposed. In a moment of humility, Judah declares Tamar’s actions to be righteous in comparison to his own.
The passage ends with the birth of Tamar’s sons. Twins must have been in the genes of the family, as Judah follows in the pattern of his grandfather in producing a set. Even their birth bears similarity to the birth of Jacob and Esau, with some type of struggle between the brothers. In this case, the first born is not the first to begin exiting the womb. One child stretches a hand out of the womb. The midwife tied a scarlet thread around the wrist to identify which came first. However, that child withdrew the hand and the other child was the first to fully exit. Perez, indicating breach, is the name given to the “firstborn,” while the name given to the scarlet-thread baby is Zerah. A definition of the word breach is interesting: “to break a law, agreement, or code of conduct.” Allusions to Jacob’s own behavior are pretty obvious, as one who coerced from his brother the birthright of the oldest son. As we mentioned at the beginning of this section, these details become more interesting when we check our New Testament genealogy of Jesus, where we find that Perez is the one through whom Christ’s lineage is developed.
The Winding Path 