Day 13: Genesis 37-39

(The previous post covered Jacob formally becoming the patriarch, Rachel's death during Benjamin's birth, Isaac's death, and the history of Esau and the Edomites. The last nine chapters covered the 4th Dispensation from Jacob's perspective. While Jacob remained the patriarch for the rest of the Book of Genesis, thirteen of the remaining fourteen chapters in the Book of Genesis were presented from Joseph's perspective.)

Genesis 37
¹ And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.
² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought the evil report of them unto their father.

(Sons of Bilhah - Dan and Naphtali, Sons of Zilpah - Gad and Asher. Bilhah was referred to as Jacob's concubine just after Benjamin was born. Now, Bilhah, along with Zilpah, were referred to as Jacob's wives. Perhaps, Leah invited both of them into her marriage with Jacob sometime after Rachel died.)

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.

(Israel's love for Joseph was apparent to all, the coat of many colors would have signified this. This was also symbolic of a position of favor and princely standing. This would not have been a garment worn by a working man but of privilege and status.)

⁴ And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
⁵ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

(Israel's greater love for Joseph caused his brothers to hate Joseph. Joseph had his first recorded dream/vision.)

⁶ And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
⁷ for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
⁸ And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

(Joseph's brothers hated him more because of his dreams and his words. Notice, Joseph's brothers interpreted this dream.)

⁹ And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream: and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me.
¹⁰ And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
¹¹ And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind.

(This dream was interpreted by Jacob. Joseph's brothers were envious (jealous) of him. It did not say that Jacob was jealous of Joseph but he did consider and remember this second dream. Remember, Jacob had a powerful dream about a ladder to Heaven. Perhaps Jacob realized none of his other sons had dreams, only Joseph. The other reason Jacob may have considered the dream is that Jacob may have been wondering who the "moon" was in the dream since Rachel (Joseph's mother) was dead and wouldn't be able to bow to Joseph. Notice, Jacob rebuked Joseph with questions. Rebuke meant "to confront sharply." The best way to do this is through questions.)

¹² And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
¹³ And Israel said unto Joseph, Are not thy brethren feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
¹⁴ And he said to him, Go now, see whether it is well with thy brethren, and well with the flock; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

(Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers in Shechem. Remember, Shechem raped Dinah, their sister, and Simeon and Levi massacred all the males in the city.)

¹⁵ And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
¹⁶ And he said, I am seeking my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock.
¹⁷ And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
¹⁸ And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

(Joseph ended up going to Dothan. Benjamin was not part of this conspiracy. He was too young.)

¹⁹ And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

(The brothers discuss the plan to kill Joseph.)

²¹ And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.
²² And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him: that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.

(Remember, Reuben (Leah's eldest) laid with Bilhah (Rachel's handmaid). Perhaps, Reuben wanted to make up for what he had done to Jacob.)

²³ And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him;
²⁴ and they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
²⁵ And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

(The other brothers sold Joseph, without Reuben's knowledge, to the Ishmaelites (Arabs). Remember, the Ishmaelites were the result of Abram and Sarai attempting to fulfill God's promise in their own strength.)

²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?
²⁷ Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened unto him.
²⁸ And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.

(It looked like this was Judah's idea. Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver...two pieces per brother?)

²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
³¹ And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood;
³² and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found: know now whether it is thy son's coat or not.

(Reuben did not want to be a part of this plan, to the point that he would not face his father. Perhaps he was even asking his brothers if they would sell him as well. The brothers came up with a plan. They did not lie to Jacob but they did not give all of the information.)

³³ And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat: an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.
³⁴ And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him.

(Daughters - plural?)

(Verse 35 was the first time the word "Sheol" was used in the ASV. This is one of the Hebrew words used as a name for "hell; hades; the underworld.")

³⁶ And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.

(Potiphar was a high ranking officer and chief of the executioners.)




Genesis 38
¹ And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

(The Book of Genesis is the most read book of the Bible. The story of Joseph took up over one quarter of the Book of Genesis (thirteen of the fifty chapters). Within this one story, this chapter was dedicated to an interaction Judah had that concerned the lineage of Christ. Remember, Judah was the fourth born son. The first three had sinned, so the birthright of the patriarch would have fallen to him, and eventually Jesus Christ. This chapter was from the perspective of Judah.)

² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. And he took her, and went in unto her.
³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
⁴ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
⁵ And she yet again bare a son, and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.
⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar.

(Tamar was in the lineage of Christ (Matthew 1:3). This chapter explained how and why it happened.)

⁷ And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of Jehovah. And Jehovah slew him.
⁸ And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
⁹ And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.
¹⁰ And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and he slew him also.

(Er was evil and God killed him. Onan was evil for not performing the duty of a husband's brother, so God killed him.)

¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown up; for he said, Lest he also die, like his brethren. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

(Judah made a deal with Tamar and his last son, Shelah.)

¹² And in process of time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep.
¹⁴ And she put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given unto him to wife.

(Judah was a widower. Tamar dressed as a harlot because Shelah was old enough and still was not given to her.)

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; for she had covered her face.
¹⁶ And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee: for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

(Judah initiated the deal for sex not knowing the harlot was his daughter-in-law. He knew she was a prostitute because her face was covered.)

¹⁷ And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?
¹⁸ And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thy hand. And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

(This sexual intercourse limited sharing: a price was set. This was not covenantal. Apparently, prostitutes in the Bible kept their face covered before, during, and after sex.)

¹⁹ And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
²⁰ And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.
²¹ Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There hath been no prostitute here.

(Judah's men openly asked about the harlot/prostitute with whom Judah had sexual intercourse.)

²² And he returned to Judah, and said, I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, There hath been no prostitute here.
²³ And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be put to shame: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

(Judah did not want to be put to shame. Not for being with a prostitute but for not paying for a prostitute.)

²⁴ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

(Judah said Tamar was guilty because she was pregnant and not married.)

²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and the cords, and the staff.
²⁶ And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She is more righteous than I; forasmuch as I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

(Judah said Tamar was more righteous than him. He recognized that the reason for this was because he had not kept his part of their agreement: to give to Tamar his son Shelah. This was the fourth son to be mentioned specifically as having done something wrong. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah were Leah's first four sons.)

²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

(Tamar had twins. The Bible did not mention Judah taking another wife, or having any more children. Did this situation cause Judah to give up on women?)

²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
²⁹ And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, Wherefore hast thou made a breach for thyself? Therefore his name was called Perez.

(Perez is in the line of Christ. Perez meant "breach." Remember Perez in regards to King David: The Book of Ruth ended with the lineage from Perez to David. Perez was the ancestor of two families of Judah: the Hezronites and Hamulites. From the Hezronites came the royal line of David and Christ.)

(Notice, Judah having sexual intercourse would have been a violation of God's Law in the next dispensation according to Leviticus 18:15 and was punishable by death according to Leviticus 20:12. However, this was not sin in this case and the result of a man having sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law continued the lineage of Christ. This was another proof that sin is not the action (the what), sin is the how/why. The sin (how/why) results in the action.)

³⁰ And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zerah.

(Zerah meant "rising." Zerah was the ancestor of the Zarhites, Ezrahites, and Izrahites. The rest of the Book of Genesis was from Joseph's perspective.)




Genesis 39
¹ And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down thither.

(Joseph now belonged to Potiphar.)

² And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
³ And his master saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

(Joseph's master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that Joseph did to prosper. Prosper meant "to be profitable.")

⁴ And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he ministered unto him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
⁵ And it came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of Jehovah was upon all that he had, in the house and in the field.

(God blessed Potiphar because of Joseph. In Genesis 30:27, we saw that Laban recognized he was being blessed because of Jacob (Joseph's father) shortly after Joseph was born.)

⁶ And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not aught that was with him, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was comely, and well-favored.
⁷ And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

(Potiphar's wife was attracted to Joseph.)

⁸ But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath put all that he hath into my hand:
⁹ he is not greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
¹⁰ And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

(Joseph refused her advance. This seems to have caused her to increase her resolve. Potiphar's wife seduced Joseph "day by day.")

¹¹ And it came to pass about this time, that he went into the house to do his work; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
¹² And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

(Joseph continued to be a man of integrity.)

¹³ And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
¹⁴ that she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us: he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
¹⁵ and it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled, and got him out.

(Potiphar's wife must have felt embarrassed so she devised a plan to destroy Joseph.)

¹⁶ And she laid up his garment by her, until his master came home.
¹⁷ And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
¹⁸ and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled out.
¹⁹ And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

(Potiphar was angry after hearing the words of his wife. He did not hear Joseph's side of the story.)

²⁰ And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

(Joseph was sent to prison.)

²¹ But Jehovah was with Joseph, and showed kindness unto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

(Joseph was put in charge of the prison.)

²³ The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and that which he did, Jehovah made it prosper.

(God made what Joseph did prosper to the point that the keeper of the prison did not even look into what he did. It seemed no matter where Joseph was or what his responsibilities were, God caused him to be profitable. The keeper of the prison had great trust in Joseph, just like Potiphar had with Joseph, just like Laban had with Jacob.)

(This post began the presentation of the story of Joseph. Within this post was one chapter covering Judah and Tamar because the events continued the lineage of Christ. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up in Pharaoh's prison.)

Day 14