Commentary - Genesis 37:5-11

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Genesis, we are dropped into the middle of a profoundly dysfunctional family. But this is not just any family; this is the covenant family, the line through which the promised Seed of the woman will come. And as is so often the case in the unfolding of redemption, God's sovereign purposes are advanced not just in spite of human sin, but right through the middle of it. The stage is being set for one of the great death and resurrection narratives of the Old Testament. Joseph, the favored son, is given dreams from God that reveal his future exaltation. His subsequent handling of this revelation is, shall we say, less than diplomatic, and the simmering pot of sibling rivalry and envy boils over into outright hatred. This passage is the spark that lights the fuse of the long and winding story that will eventually land Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the Exodus. It is a master class in divine providence, where God uses the raw pride of a seventeen year old boy and the bitter envy of his brothers to move the great chess pieces of His plan into place.

The central conflict here is not merely about a technicolor dream coat or a tattletale younger brother. It is a manifestation of the ancient enmity, the antithesis between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, playing out within the chosen family itself. The brothers' reaction, "Are you really going to reign over us?", reveals the core issue. It is a rejection of God's chosen order, a refusal to submit to the one God has appointed. This is Cain and Abel all over again, and Esau and Jacob in the previous generation. God is orchestrating events to save His people, but He does so through a process that involves rejection, betrayal, and apparent death, all before the glorious resurrection and reconciliation. Joseph's dreams are true prophecies, but their fulfillment will come about in a way no one, least of all Joseph, could have possibly anticipated.

Outline

God's Providential Plot

The story of Joseph is one of the clearest illustrations in all of Scripture of God's absolute sovereignty over the affairs of men. The apostle Paul would later write that God "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11). Here in Genesis 37, we see the raw materials that God will use. We have Joseph's youthful pride, his brothers' murderous envy, and Jacob's paternal angst. Each character acts according to his own nature and desires, and yet, God is the grand author of the entire drama. Joseph will later say to his brothers, "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen. 50:20). This is not to say God simply cleaned up their mess. No, God ordained the mess. He wrote their sinful choices into His perfect script in order to bring about a great deliverance. This is crucial for us to grasp. The hatred of the brothers was not an unforeseen obstacle to God's plan; it was the very vehicle of God's plan. God always delivers His people, but this means He must first get them into a jam. The pit, the prison, and the famine are all necessary plot points in God's death and resurrection story.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

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

The action begins with a direct revelation from God. Joseph is not making this up; God gives him a dream. This is a prophetic dream, a glimpse into the divine script for the future. And what is Joseph's first impulse? He tells his brothers. Now, we can debate the wisdom of a seventeen year old boy doing this. Was it simple naivete, or was there a touch of youthful arrogance in the telling? The text doesn't say, but the result is clear. It's like pouring gasoline on a fire. Their existing hatred, fueled by the coat and their father's favoritism, intensifies. Notice the cause and effect: the dream is told, and the hatred grows. God is sovereignly revealing His plan, and the sinful hearts of men are reacting exactly as you would expect. This hatred is sinful, it is culpable, and it is also part of the plan.

v. 6-7 And he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had: 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.”

Joseph doesn't just summarize; he gives them the play-by-play. "Please listen," he says, with what we might charitably call a lack of social awareness. The imagery is agricultural, something these shepherds would readily understand. They are all working together, binding sheaves. This is a picture of shared labor, of family enterprise. But then the disruption comes. Joseph's sheaf, for no apparent reason, stands up. It doesn't just rise, it "stood upright," a posture of authority and rule. And then, the punchline: their sheaves, all eleven of them, arrange themselves around his and bow down. The symbolism is not subtle. It is a clear picture of submission and homage. In this agrarian society, the one whose sheaf stands is the one who has the grain, the one who provides. This is a prophecy of Joseph's future role as the savior of his family from famine.

v. 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.

His brothers get the point immediately. They are not dull. Their response is dripping with sarcasm and indignation. "Reign over us? Rule over us?" The repetition reveals their utter disgust at the thought. Who are you, the second youngest, the son of Rachel, to imagine such a thing? Their question is a flat rejection of the dream's message. They are not questioning the interpretation; they are questioning the very possibility of the event. This is the heart of rebellion against God. It is not a misunderstanding of His commands, but a refusal to obey them. And notice the reason for their increased hatred: "for his dreams and for his words." They hate the message, and they hate the messenger. This is how the world always responds to God's appointed king. "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14).

v. 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.”

If the first dream wasn't enough, God gives him another. This is the principle of two witnesses; the matter is established by God. This time, the imagery is elevated from the earthly to the celestial. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars are bowing to him. The scope of his authority is cosmic. The first dream showed his rule over his brothers on earth; this one shows his preeminence in the created order of the family. And what does Joseph do? Having seen the results of the first sharing session, he does it again. You almost have to admire the consistency. He recounts this dream as well. The message from God is not to be hidden, even if it causes offense. The truth must be spoken, and the consequences left to God's providence.

v. 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?”

This time, Jacob is included in the audience. And even his doting father has to offer a rebuke. The implications of this dream are staggering. "Shall I and your mother and your brothers really come to bow... to the ground?" Jacob understands the symbolism perfectly. The sun is the patriarch, the moon is the matriarch, and the stars are the sons. Even Jacob, who has wrestled with God and knows something of His strange ways, finds this hard to swallow. The rebuke is a natural paternal reaction to what sounds like outrageous youthful arrogance. But the question hangs in the air. Is it just arrogance? Or is it a true word from God that upends all their natural expectations about family hierarchy and birthright?

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

Here we see the final state of the two parties. The brothers' hatred has now been given a more precise name: jealousy, or envy. They see the favor, they hear the prophecy of his exaltation, and they cannot stand it. Envy is the hatred of the good that another possesses. It is a foundational sin, the one that moved Cain to kill Abel, and the one that would move these brothers to plot Joseph's death. It is the sin that drove the Pharisees to hand over the ultimate Joseph, Jesus Himself, to Pilate. But Jacob's reaction is different. Outwardly, he rebukes his son. Inwardly, he "kept the saying in mind." He pondered it. He remembered the strange providences of his own life, how God had chosen him over Esau. He remembered the promises God had made to him at Bethel. He knew God did not operate according to standard primogeniture. So while the brothers burned with envy, the father stored the word away, waiting to see how God would bring it to pass. He suspected, rightly, that God was up to something.