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Genesis 37:1-38:30
Joseph and His Brothers: Pride and Prejudice

As last week’s lesson ended, Jacob – now named Israel – returned to Canaan with his large family and herds. He settled in Hebron, home base for his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham. Tonight’s lesson opens a new chapter in the saga with what Moses (the author) refers to as “the account of Jacob” (37:2) – though the story actually focuses on the sons of Jacob . . . Joseph in particular. The bible uses the names Jacob and Israel interchangeably, so the story can be confusing; we’ll try to call him Israel from now on.

The bible describes Joseph as “a young man of seventeen” (37:2). It’s been 31 years since Israel fled from Canaan to Haran (30:25). Israel is 108; his oldest son Reuben is 23-24; there are 9 other brothers between Reuben and Joseph in age.

Israel was the 2nd son, and was not the favorite of his father (25:28); he so coveted his older brother’s rights of primogeniture that he stole them. He of all people should know the negative effects of parental favoritism. Yet his favoritism for Joseph is blatant: “Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, . . . and he made a richly ornamented robe for him” – or a “long, colorful tunic” (37:3). In the culture of the time, this marks Joseph as superior to his 10 older brothers.

Joseph and his brothers are shepherds, and though the youngest, Joseph seems to be the supervisor. The NIV reads “Joseph . . . was tending the flocks with (four of) his brothers” (37:2), but the Hebrew can be translated that Joseph was watching over his brothers while they tended the flocks; this interpretation is justified by the fact that Joseph reported to Israel about his brothers’ poor job performance (37:2). The innate organizational skills which Joseph shows later makes it likely he deserves the position of supervisor – but of course, his brothers think it’s just because he’s the favorite.

Israel’s preference for Joseph has the predicted effect: “When his brothers saw that their father loved (Joseph) more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him” (37:4). Perhaps it was this attitude by Israel that led to what may have been an abortive coup against him by the sons of Leah a while back (35:22) – but now the brothers take their anger out against Joseph. And Joseph’s natural ability surely doesn’t help his popularity with his brothers!

Joseph’s brothers seem to keep their anger against him well hidden from Israel – and also from Joseph, who continually seems to make things worse for himself. The four brothers against whom Joseph “brought their father a bad report” (37:2) were surely angered by this – justifiable though it may have been. And when Joseph told all his brothers about a dream which elevates him above them, “they hated him all the more” (37:5); in this dream, the brothers are all “binding sheaves of corn out in the field when suddenly (Joseph’s) sheaf . . . stood upright, while (his brothers’) sheaves . . . bowed down to it” (37:7)

And if that weren’t bad enough . . . Joseph has another dream – which he shares with his father, as well as with his brothers. In this dream “the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to” him (37:9). This makes even Israel angry; he “rebukes” Joseph: “What is this dream you had? Will your mother” – presumably meaning his Aunt Leah – “and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” (37:10). The bible says Joseph’s “brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind” (37:11). Israel ponders the meaning of this dream; perhaps he wonders if it is prophesy from God. Why does Joseph share these dreams? The bible doesn’t say – and who knows what goes through the mind of a teenager. We’ll never know the answer.

Everything comes to a head when Joseph’s brothers take the herd to pasture 50 some miles away in Shechem . . . and afterward Israel sends Joseph, his “manager,” to check things out (37:13). Israel must have very large herds – why else would he need to pasture them so far away, and how else would he expect Joseph to find them in the open range!

Arriving in Shechem, Joseph learns the brothers have moved the herd 17 miles further north to Dothan. Joseph follows them there. “But (his brothers) saw him in the distance” – no doubt recognizing his multi-colored tunic – “and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him . . . and throw him into (a) cistern and say that a ferocious animal devoured him” (37:18, 20, 23). Although Joseph’s brothers are apparently nice to him when their father is around, they are now 67 miles away – it might as well be the other side of the world – so their animosities come out full force. All they need to do is get together on a story to tell their father, and they can do anything they want to Joseph!

But, as we know, there’s a big difference in being the leader, and being on the sidelines saying what the leader ought to do. Reuben, the firstborn, is the one whom his father will call to account if something happens to Joseph; and before things get out of hand, he intervenes: “Let’s not take his life. . . (just) throw him into this cistern” – fortunately a desert cistern which is empty at the time. So that’s what they do . . . then they go about their business: Reuben to whatever he was doing, and the brothers nearest Joseph to eat lunch (37:21-22, 24-25).

Here we see the effects of herd mentality. Reuben plans “to rescue (Joseph) . . . and take him back to his father” (37:22); #4 son Judah doesn’t want to kill him either; but both are afraid to say anything to their other brothers, set on revenge because Joseph has so “disrespected” them! However, when Judah sees a caravan, he pitches a financial angle. Why should we “kill our brother,” Judah says, “after all, he is our brother . . . let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites.” The “brothers (who are there) agreed” (37:26-27), and they sell Joseph for 20 sheckels of silver – presumably split 2 sheckels per brother.

Reuben is distraught when he returns to the cistern and finds Joseph gone (37:29). But there’s nothing he can do; he can’t chase after the caravan and buy Joseph back. So the brothers dip Joseph’s multicolored tunic into goats’ blood, take it home to Israel, and claim they found it (37:31-32). Israel concludes his favorite son has been killed by a wild animal, and mourns with grief all out of proportion for even so tragic an event. He refuses to be comforted, and says: “in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son” (37:35).

“Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard” (37:36). The caravaneers are referred to as “Midianites” and “Ishmaelites”; apparently both are correct: they are Midianites, descended through Keturah, but the term “Ishmaelites” refers to all non-Hebrew descendants of Abraham.

Chapter 38 interrupts the story of Joseph for a story about his brother Judah, covering several years. Why does Moses insert this story here? If we think about it, it’s the most logical place. Joseph is in Egypt for about 22 years before his family comes to join him, so if Moses wishes to insert this story about Judah at all, the question is not whether to interrupt the story of Joseph . . . the question is when. This is a logical break, because chapter 37 takes place in Canaan, as does the story of Judah; so it seems logical to insert the story of Judah here, then move the focus to Egypt for the balance of Genesis.

The bible doesn’t reveal the time lag between chapters 37 and 38 – we might be charitable to Judah and say he was angered because his brothers wanted to kill Joseph and left home immediately. Judah doesn’t go far from Hebron, but he marries a Canaanite woman (38:2). Remember . . . Judah is the ancestor of King David and Jesus, so he is heir to God’s offspring promise; yet he marries a Canaanite – something God would not allow for either Isaac or Israel. Go figure! In any case, Judah has 3 sons, and finds a Canaanite woman named Tamar as a wife for his oldest son, Er (38:6)! The bible doesn’t say what Er did, but “was wicked in YHWH’s sight; so YHWH put him to death.” (38:7)

Here things get complicated. In later Jewish law – which was apparently common law at the time – if a man dies and leaves a childless widow, his brother is required to marry the widow, and the first child produced is considered the child of the dead brother (Deut 25:5-10). Judah’s 2nd son Onan doesn’t want to produce a child that is not considered his – and who will presumably receive the firstborn’s share of his father’s inheritance – so he contrives not to get Tamar pregnant. But the bible says “what he did was wicked in YHWH’s sight; so he put him to death” (38:9-10).

Poor Judah is now down to just one son – and he concludes Tamar is the reason his two older boys are dead (38:11). He sends Tamar to “live as a widow in (her) father’s house”; and although he pays lip service to having her wait until his youngest son Shelah is of marriageable age, he intends to leave her there permanently (38:11, 14). To compound the tragedy, Judah’s wife also dies – so it’s just him and his youngest son.

After a period of mourning for his wife, Judah goes to see the men who are shearing his sheep. Sheep shearing is festival time – and apparently in these times agricultural festivals were a time of great sexual activity, because it was believed this would bring fruitfulness in flocks and fields.

Tamar has figured out what’s going on: she’s betrothed to Shelah, but Judah’s not going to let the marriage be consummated. It’s not good – socially or financially – to be a childless widow in this culture. We don’t know what goes through Tmar’s mind – but presumably she rationalizes: if Judah’s not going to let me sleep with my husband Shelah, I’ll sleep with Judah. Hittite law permits marriage of a father-in-law to his widowed daughter-in-law; so although it seems adultery, it’s easy to see how she might justify this to herself, since Judah’s not going to let her really be married to Shelah.

In any case, Tamar dresses like a prostitute, covering her face – how times have changed – and she sits by the road where Judah will pass (38:14). She knows what she’s doing; nothing in the bible implies Judah is lecherous – but it’s festival time, and although his wife is dead, the people believe having sex now will bring prosperity in the coming year . . . perhaps that’s the purpose of cult prostitutes. The bible says Judah approaches Tamar (38:16) – but my bet is that Judah responded to subtle advances that only Middle Eastern women can make – and that she ignored offers from other passers-by. Judah and Tamar agree on a price: “A young goat from (Judah’s) flock,” to be secured by Judah’s seal and its cord, and (Judah’s) staff” until he brings her the goat. “So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him” (38:17-18).

Immediately thereafter, Tamar puts on her respectable widow’s clothes again and goes home; and when Judah sends a young goat to retrieve his security deposit, the “cult prostitute” is nowhere to be found – nor do the locals know anything about such a prostitute (38:19-22). So Judah says “Oh, well” and goes about his business.

When Tamar is later found to be pregnant, Judah demands she be “burned to death” as an adulteress – but when she produces Judah’s security deposit, he proclaims with refreshing honesty: “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah” (38:24-26).

Tamar is carrying twin boys . . . and the birth story reminds the reader of the birth of Jacob and Esau: “One of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, ‘This one came out first.’ But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, ‘So this is how you have broken out!’ And he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out and he was given the name Zerah” (38:28-30).

What happens to Tamar? The bible says Judah never had sex with her again (38:26), but I expect she lived out her days as Judah’s wife . . . and (presumably) his widow.

Now that we’ve gone through this little story exposing a less-than-desirable side of the members of God’s chosen family, we might ask why God inspired Moses to include this story at all. The likely reason is that since Judah and Perez become heirs to God’s offspring promise – and since the genealogy of the Messiah is so important to the Jews – this story had to be included.

Furthermore, to 21st century Gentiles claiming to be heir to God’s promises as “spiritual children of Abraham,” it’s interesting to notice how quickly God incorporates His promise that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through (Abraham)” (12:3) by introducing Canaanite blood into the line of the Messiah. Later on, more Canaanite blood and Moabite blood are introduced through the great grandmother and great great grandmother of King David (Ruth 4:21-22, Matt 1:5).

To Christians this story shows the power of forgiveness, because Perez is an ancestor of Jesus (Matt 1:3, Luke 3:33), conceived through an adulterous affair between Tamar and her father-in-law Judah (even though the act might be justified as “extenuating circumstances”). And this is not the only story in the Old Testament showing that the human ancestors of the Messiah were far from perfect. Transmission of the “seed” of the Messiah does not imply perfection; it only implies God is providing an identifiable kingly family line: a line from which God’s prophets will predict the Messiah will come, and a line into which God Himself will miraculously intervene to produce the one and only perfect human: Jesus the Messiah.

In next week’s lesson, Joseph shows the same attributes in slavery he has shown already: great organizational talent, but the ability to shoot himself in the foot. Yet he develops a new talent that will ultimately prove his salvation: the ability to interpret dreams.