Joseph and the Technicolor Robe of Sibling Rivalry (Gen 37)

Now that Jacob has finally settled down in the land of Canaan, we move on to his sons. Joseph specifically. You know him. The seventeen year old spoiled tattle-tale.  He was the youngest, and so most loved by Jacob. Fancy robe and everything. Here the main text calls it a “long robe with sleeves” but footnotes also translate it as the more familiar coat of many colors. No matter what his coat looked like, his brothers hated him and his swanky duds. Joseph did incredibly little to ease sibling tensions. He had a few dreams in which his whole family bowed down to him as their ruler, first wheat based then astronomically. Needless to say, his brothers hated him even more for these dreams. I mean, seriously. Wouldn’t you? Jacob, however, knows a thing or two about prophetic type dreams and doesn't dismiss it out of hand.

One day, Jacob tells Joseph to go check on his brothers who were tending the sheep, probably because he knew Joseph would tattle if they were doing anything untoward. As it turns out, his brothers had moved the flock… Not that Joseph gets the chance to say anything about it.  They see him coming, and they start plotting to murder him. Serious sibling rivalry indeed. One brother, Reuben, pauses the bloody train of thought. He persuades the other brothers to just throw Joseph in a pit alive, instead of killing him and then throwing him in the pit. When they agree, he apparently leaves (if only because later in the chapter he comes back).  Joseph comes up, they strip him of his fancy robe with sleeves, throw him in a pit, and sit down for lunch. All that plotting to kill your own brother must stir up an appetite.  While they’re grubbing, a caravan comes along. One brother named Judah was apparently a Ferengi in another life because he starts looking for the profit in the situation.  He convinces the others to sell their brother to the caravan for 20 pieces of silver. Now how to explain all of this to dear old dad who loved the youngest son most of all? Fake Joseph’s death of course. The brothers took the robe, shred it, douse it in goat blood, and allow Jacob to draw his own conclusions.  Meanwhile, Joseph has been sold again to Pharaoh’s captain of the guard.

Okay. So parent-child favoritism is really bad. This is not the first story from Genesis displaying this. It makes me wonder how prevalent an issue this really was…or is. We’ve also got sibling rivalry blown out of proportion yet again.  Now, I’ve got sisters. And as kids we fought. Okay, that may be an understatement. There were occasional mini-world-wars in our household. Did we ever beat on each other and plot to ruin each other’s lives? Sure. Plot to murder? I don’t think so. At least I didn’t. My sisters may tell you a different story, but rest assured ladies, I was never actually going to kill you. Maybe it’s different with brothers? Probably not that different. Eventually everyone grows up, moves out, and you realize that you can actually be friends with the people you have all of these shared experiences with. I know it doesn’t always work out that way, but it’s nice when it does.  Growing up, I never thought I’d be friends with my sisters. Not in a million years. I wouldn’t trade them for anything now.

<3 Agnostic in the Pews