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Bible 101 Lesson 7A

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Bible 101 Lesson 7A

Gen 37:1-3
Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. (Hebrew: ketonet passim)

What is a “tunic (coat) of many colors? According to Dr. Claude Mariottini:

It is doubtful that what distinguished the garment Jacob gave to Joseph was its color. The idea that Joseph’s coat had many colors came from a mistranslation of the Septuagint (LXX).

The English Translation of the Septuagint by Lancelot C. L. Brenton, translates Genesis 37:3 as follows: “And Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was to him the son of old age; and he made for him a coat of many colors” (Genesis 37:3). This translation was adopted by the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. The King James Bible followed the Septuagint in translating the Hebrew words as “coat of many colors.”

The Hebrew word behind the expression “coat of many colors” is "ketonet passīm" a word with an unknown meaning.

Since the ketonet passīm was the kind of garment that daughters of kings wore, the garment probably was associated with people who were royalty, with officials who had high rank in the palace, or with people who had an exalted position in society.
The fact that Jacob gave Joseph a ketonet passīm means that Jacob treated Joseph as a royal person, a person whom he considered to be above all his other sons.

In light of the real meaning of ketonet passīm as “a long robe with sleeves,” a garment worn by royalty, how about Joseph’s coat of many colors? The expression is so ingrained in the minds of Christians everywhere that it will be almost impossible to convince them that Joseph did not have a Technicolor coat.
(Source: https://claudemariottini.com/2014/07/01/josephs-coat-of-many-colors/)

So the next episode of the story is set up by the opening three verses of Genesis 37. Jacob is dwelling in Canaan with his wives and children. He has a favorite son, Joseph. Perhaps Joseph is his favorite because he is the son of his beloved wife Rachel who dies in childbirth. For whatever reason that Joseph was the favored son, the other sons didn’t like it.

They had other reasons to feel hostility toward Joseph beside their fathers obvious favoritism toward him; he was a “tattle-tale.” When he saw his brothers doing anything wrong, he ran to tell papa.

Then, the “last straw, is when Jacob gave Joseph a garment that designates him as being of higher status than his brothers. It is a “royal” robe that would be worn by an overseer or a prince but not a short robe that would be worn by a worker. This was a particularly offensive act in the eyes of the other sons on the part of their father, Jacob.

Then Joseph starts having prophetic dreams and things get worse.

Gen 37:5-7 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: “There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

This would have been a really good dream for Joseph to keep to himself. But, he was a spoiled son who thought he was better than his brothers and he couldn't wait to tell them and “rub their noses” in his superiority and to let them know that he was going to be even more superior in the future.

So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

He had another dream and he tells it to his brothers and his father.

Gen 37:9-11 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”
So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”
And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.


Notice that his brothers "envied" him when they heard the dream. They envied him because they believed the dreams to be prophetic and that they would come to be. Therefore, they envied his future as a ruler while the could only expect their futures to be quite common as herdsmen.

That Jacob “kept the matter in mind” reminds me of when the Magi came to worship the young Jesus and Mary kept the matter in her heart as she did when she and Joseph found the 12-year old Jesus with the teachers in the temple. Jacob kept the dream in memory and wondered about its fulfillment.

----

When Joseph’s brothers went out into the fields to work in tending the sheep, Joseph got to stay at home in comfort with Dad. (His being exempt from the hard work didn’t make his brothers any happier with him. ) Then their father sent Joseph out to check on them and report back to him.
And when they saw him coming they decided to kill him. This reminds me of one of Jesus’ parables.

Mat 21:38 But when the vine dressers saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.”

If they kill Joseph, he will not rule over them and they will divide his share of the inheritance among themselves.

Gen 37:20 “Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

Ruben interceded and prevented them from killing him. His intention was to return Joseph back to their father. But they took his “royal robe”, the symbol of his superiority over them, threw him into a pit where there was no water (so he would die of thirst) and sat down to eat.

When they see some Ishmaelites (sons of Ishmael and distant relatives, cousins) they decided to make a little money and still get rid of their annoying brother. This time, Judah interceded for Joseph not wanting to kill his own brother as Cain had done.

Gen 37:26-27 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.

It was a bit like how Judas would be paid 30 pieces of silver to enable the Priests and scribes and Pharisees to get rid of Jesus. So Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver and they took him to Egypt to sell him in the slave market there.

Then they put goat’s blood on Joseph’s royal robe and brought it back to their father in order to convince him that Joseph had been killed but that they did not find his body. (So maybe a lion took him?) And Jacob was devastated at the loss of his favorite son.

And the stage is set for he next chapter in “The Story of us Jews.”
 
Bible 101 Lesson 7A

Gen 37:1-3 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. (Hebrew: ketonet passim)

What is a “tunic (coat) of many colors? According to Dr. Claude Mariottini:

It is doubtful that what distinguished the garment Jacob gave to Joseph was its color. The idea that Joseph’s coat had many colors came from a mistranslation of the Septuagint (LXX).

The English Translation of the Septuagint by Lancelot C. L. Brenton, translates Genesis 37:3 as follows: “And Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was to him the son of old age; and he made for him a coat of many colors” (Genesis 37:3). This translation was adopted by the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. The King James Bible followed the Septuagint in translating the Hebrew words as “coat of many colors.”

The Hebrew word behind the expression “coat of many colors” is "ketonet passīm" a word with an unknown meaning.

Since the ketonet passīm was the kind of garment that daughters of kings wore, the garment probably was associated with people who were royalty, with officials who had high rank in the palace, or with people who had an exalted position in society.
The fact that Jacob gave Joseph a ketonet passīm means that Jacob treated Joseph as a royal person, a person whom he considered to be above all his other sons.


In light of the real meaning of ketonet passīm as “a long robe with sleeves,” a garment worn by royalty, how about Joseph’s coat of many colors? The expression is so ingrained in the minds of Christians everywhere that it will be almost impossible to convince them that Joseph did not have a Technicolor coat.
(Source: https://claudemariottini.com/2014/07/01/josephs-coat-of-many-colors/)

So the next episode of the story is set up by the opening three verses of Genesis 37. Jacob is dwelling in Canaan with his wives and children. He has a favorite son, Joseph. Perhaps Joseph is his favorite because he is the son of his beloved wife Rachel who dies in childbirth. For whatever reason that Joseph was the favored son, the other sons didn’t like it.

They had other reasons to feel hostility toward Joseph beside their fathers obvious favoritism toward him; he was a “tattle-tale.” When he saw his brothers doing anything wrong, he ran to tell papa.

Then, the “last straw, is when Jacob gave Joseph a garment that designates him as being of higher status than his brothers. It is a “royal” robe that would be worn by an overseer or a prince but not a short robe that would be worn by a worker. This was a particularly offensive act in the eyes of the other sons on the part of their father, Jacob.

Then Joseph starts having prophetic dreams and things get worse.

Gen 37:5-7 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: “There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

This would have been a really good dream for Joseph to keep to himself. But, he was a spoiled son who thought he was better than his brothers and he couldn't wait to tell them and “rub their noses” in his superiority and to let them know that he was going to be even more superior in the future.

So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

He had another dream and he tells it to his brothers and his father.

Gen 37:9-11 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”
So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”
And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.


Notice that his brothers "envied" him when they heard the dream. They envied him because they believed the dreams to be prophetic and that they would come to be. Therefore, they envied his future as a ruler while the could only expect their futures to be quite common as herdsmen.

That Jacob “kept the matter in mind” reminds me of when the Magi came to worship the young Jesus and Mary kept the matter in her heart as she did when she and Joseph found the 12-year old Jesus with the teachers in the temple. Jacob kept the dream in memory and wondered about its fulfillment.

----

When Joseph’s brothers went out into the fields to work in tending the sheep, Joseph got to stay at home in comfort with Dad. (His being exempt from the hard work didn’t make his brothers any happier with him. ) Then their father sent Joseph out to check on them and report back to him.
And when they saw him coming they decided to kill him. This reminds me of one of Jesus’ parables.

Mat 21:38 But when the vine dressers saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.”

If they kill Joseph, he will not rule over them and they will divide his share of the inheritance among themselves.

Gen 37:20 “Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

Ruben interceded and prevented them from killing him. His intention was to return Joseph back to their father. But they took his “royal robe”, the symbol of his superiority over them, threw him into a pit where there was no water (so he would die of thirst) and sat down to eat.

When they see some Ishmaelites (sons of Ishmael and distant relatives, cousins) they decided to make a little money and still get rid of their annoying brother. This time, Judah interceded for Joseph not wanting to kill his own brother as Cain had done.

Gen 37:26-27 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.

It was a bit like how Judas would be paid 30 pieces of silver to enable the Priests and scribes and Pharisees to get rid of Jesus. So Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver and they took him to Egypt to sell him in the slave market there.

Then they put goat’s blood on Joseph’s royal robe and brought it back to their father in order to convince him that Joseph had been killed but that they did not find his body. (So maybe a lion took him?) And Jacob was devastated at the loss of his favorite son.

And the stage is set for he next chapter in “The Story of us Jews.”
This is a parshah for jews on chanukah. It ties into that story somehow. And after two years,Genesis 37.mikeits,if you look at Joseph in captivity being the means to preserve isreal you will see it.
 
I like the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. I remember seeing Joseph King of Dreams and really enjoying it. :)
 
The comparison of both Jesus and Joseph being sold is something I haven't thought about. Thanks for that,
Moshiac ben joseph and Moshaic ben david.

ben joseph hath came, david hasnt and its how the Moshiac acts towards the world. the former was gentile an taken captive and murder. the later will be to conquer and to kill His enemies .
 
According to Isiah Gods aura is multicoloured. I believe the colour coat that Jacob made for His son, Joseph has symbolic meaning. I will not say more but it all ties together.
 
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