The big picture
Joseph enters the account at seventeen. Favoritism, troubling reports and dreams intensify his brothers' hatred. A journey to find them becomes betrayal, enslavement and a deception that leaves Jacob mourning a son who is still alive.
Central truth
Joseph's brothers turn envy into a sale and a calculated deception of Jacob, while the son presumed dead is carried toward the place where his dreams will confront them again.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Genesis 37:1: “And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.”
Slow down at the turning point
Genesis 37:15: “And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?”
Keep this word trail visible
brethren, Joseph, father, coat, dream, dreamed
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Genesis 37:1-4
A household already divided
Begin with 37:2, "These are the generations of Jacob", and then notice that the account that follows is mostly about Joseph. He is seventeen, working with his half-brothers, and brings an "evil report" of them to his father. Genesis does not say whether the report was fair. Then read 37:3-4 and name the problem: open favouritism, made visible in the coat. Teach this first because the rest of the chapter grows out of it, and say clearly that favouritism explains the brothers' hatred without excusing anything they will do.
Genesis 37:5-11
Dreams that make it worse
Read both dreams aloud: the sheaves bowing in 37:7 and the sun, moon and eleven stars in 37:9. Explain "made obeisance" as bowed down. Do not try to decode every detail; 37:10 shows even Jacob puzzling over the mother in the second dream. The point here is the reaction. The brothers hate him more, Jacob rebukes him but keeps the saying. This step comes before Dothan because it raises the question the brothers ask at the pit, what will become of his dreams, and the rest of Genesis answers it.
Genesis 37:12-24
Sent to his brothers, stripped by them
Follow the journey: Hebron to Shechem, a stranger in the field, and on to Dothan. Joseph is sent by his father to see whether it is "well with thy brethren" (37:14), and they see him coming and plot to kill him. Read 37:19-20 slowly; "this dreamer cometh" is contempt. Then Reuben's intervention, the stripping of the coat, and the empty pit. Explain that the empty pit was a dry cistern, so Joseph would not drown, but neither could he climb out. Keep the attention on what the brothers chose.
Genesis 37:25-28
A meal, a caravan and a price
Pause at "they sat down to eat bread" (37:25) and let the room feel the coldness of it. Then read Judah's proposal in 37:26-27 and the sale in 37:28 for "twenty pieces of silver". Name the act for what it is: the brothers sold a person. Acknowledge that the names Ishmeelites and Midianites in 37:25-28,36 have puzzled readers, and that more than one explanation is offered; do not let that puzzle swallow the scene. The weight belongs on a brother priced and sold.
Genesis 37:29-36
The coat comes home without him
Read Reuben's return and his cry, "The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?" (37:30). Then the goat's blood and the coat taken to Jacob with the words "know now whether it be thy son's coat or no" (37:32). The brothers do not say Joseph is dead; they let their father reach that conclusion. Point back to 27:9-16, where a goat and a garment deceived Isaac, and leave that echo for learners to notice. End on 37:35-36, with Jacob refusing comfort while Joseph is alive and sold in Egypt.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"Joseph brought it on himself by bragging about his dreams."
Genesis records that Joseph told his dreams, and Jacob's rebuke in 37:10 shows it was not wise. But nothing Joseph says or does is offered as a reason for what follows. The brothers plot murder (37:18), strip him (37:23) and sell him (37:28), and much later they say "We are verily guilty concerning our brother" (42:21). Telling a dream is not a crime; selling a brother is. Take care here for anyone who has been told that their own behaviour invited harm.
"Reuben and Judah were the good brothers."
Each prevents something worse and neither does right. Reuben's plan is secret and fails, and his concern at the pit is partly for himself: "whither shall I go?" (37:30). Judah stops a killing by proposing a sale for profit (37:26-27). Both take part in deceiving their father (37:31-32). The chapter shows degrees of wrong, not heroes. Judah's real turn comes in 44:33, and it is worth waiting for.
"God planned it, so the brothers were not really to blame."
Genesis will later say God sent Joseph ahead to preserve life (45:5-8; 50:20). It never says the brothers were innocent. In 50:20 Joseph says "ye thought evil against me" in the same breath as God's good purpose. In this chapter God is not mentioned at all, and the text keeps its eyes on human choices. Teach chapter 37 as a chapter of real guilt and let later chapters bring in God's purpose.
"Jacob got what he deserved for tricking Isaac."
The echo of goat and garment from chapter 27 is real, and readers do notice it. But Genesis does not say Jacob's grief is a punishment, and the brothers who caused it are not God's instruments of justice. Grief over a lost child is to be met with compassion, not a verdict. Treat the echo as a pattern in the family's history, not a sentence passed on a mourning father.
Learning objectives
- Identify the stated causes of hostility toward Joseph.
- Compare the two dreams and the family's responses.
- Distinguish Reuben's rescue intention from Judah's sale proposal.
- Trace the coat's changing function through the chapter.
- Separate Jacob's conclusion from what actually happens to Joseph.
- Explain the contrast between Jacob's mourning and Joseph's arrival in Egypt.
Teacher preparation
- Read Genesis 29:30 and 35:24; connect favoritism to the wider household without blaming Joseph for being targeted.
- Trace Hebron, Shechem, Dothan, and Egypt schematically; show how Joseph follows his brothers beyond the initial destination.
- Retain 'coat of many colours' when quoting the KJV. Do not base the lesson on an unprovided reconstruction of its fabric or style.
- Mark the Midianite and Ishmeelite references in 37:25–28,36 and 39:1; prepare to acknowledge the complicated transfer wording.
- Read Genesis 42:21 and 45:4–5; retain the brothers' later acknowledgment and Joseph's identification of those who sold him.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Identify favoritism, hatred, and envy in Genesis 37:3–11, the attack in 37:18–24, and the bloodied-coat deception in 37:31–33.
Scripture-supported
Read Genesis 42:21 and 45:4 alongside 37:26–28; the later passages establish the brothers' responsibility and their refusal to hear Joseph's distress.
Strong inference
Infer deliberate exploitation of Jacob's recognition from Genesis 37:32–33: the brothers present the altered coat and let him identify it and conclude death.
Possible or traditional reading
Present different reconstructions of the Midianite/Ishmeelite transaction in Genesis 37:25–28,36 as interpretive proposals; do not claim each transfer is unambiguously described.
Limit
State that Genesis 37:2 does not disclose the contents or accuracy of Joseph's report, and 37:9–10 does not identify a precise later fulfillment for every dream detail.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What does the coat communicate before it becomes evidence?
What a good answer contains
Before it is torn and bloodied, the coat is a sign of preference. Genesis says "Israel loved Joseph more than all his children" and then "he made him a coat of many colours" (37:3): the love comes first, and the coat makes it visible. The brothers "saw that their father loved him more" and "could not speak peaceably unto him" (37:4). A good answer names Jacob's favouritism plainly. A weak answer uses it to excuse what the brothers later do, which the chapter never does.
Show teacher guidance
Use 37:3–4: Jacob's unequal affection is visible to the brothers. Identify favoritism without making it an excuse for their violence.
2. How do the brothers and Jacob respond differently to the dreams?
What a good answer contains
The brothers hate him "yet the more for his dreams, and for his words" (37:8) and then envy him (37:11). Jacob rebukes Joseph over the second dream (37:10), yet "his father observed the saying" (37:11): he keeps it in mind. A good answer sees two different responses inside one household, hostility on one side and a rebuke mixed with attention on the other. An answer that has the whole family reacting the same way has missed 37:11.
Show teacher guidance
Compare 37:5–11: hostility and envy contrast with Jacob's rebuke and continued attention. Do not assume the entire household responds identically.
3. What does Reuben intend the pit proposal to accomplish?
What a good answer contains
Reuben wants to stop the killing and bring Joseph home: He says "Shed no blood", and Genesis gives his purpose: "that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again" (37:22). A strong answer gives him credit for the intention while noting the plan was secret, partial and failed (37:29-30). A weak answer either makes him a hero or treats his rescue plan as no different from the others' cruelty.
Show teacher guidance
Read 37:21–22: return Joseph to his father. Distinguish his stated rescue intention from the later outcome.
4. What is disturbing about the meal beside the empty-water pit?
What a good answer contains
The order of verses carries it. "And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it" (37:24), and the next words are "And they sat down to eat bread" (37:25). Genesis records no comment; it simply puts the meal beside the pit. A good answer lets that juxtaposition show the hardness of heart. Later, 42:21 adds that Joseph was pleading at the time, which deepens what learners notice here.
Show teacher guidance
Set 37:24–25 together: Joseph is confined while his brothers eat. Let the contrast expose callousness without inventing dialogue.
5. How does Judah use brotherhood in arguing for a sale?
What a good answer contains
Judah argues from kinship: "for he is our brother and our flesh" (37:27). But he uses that argument to propose a sale, and his opening question is about gain: "What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?" (37:26). A good answer holds both: Judah prevents a murder and arranges a trafficking. An answer that calls Judah merciful has kept the first half of his speech and dropped the second.
Show teacher guidance
Read 37:26–27: kinship argues against killing but accompanies a proposal to profit by selling. Name the limited restraint and continuing wrong.
6. What does Jacob believe at the end that the reader knows is false?
What a good answer contains
Jacob believes Joseph is dead: "an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces" (37:33). The reader knows that "the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar" (37:36). A good answer sees that Jacob's grief is real and his conclusion is false, and that the brothers let the coat speak for them instead of lying outright in words. Do not suggest Jacob deserved this sorrow because he once deceived his own father.
Show teacher guidance
Compare 37:33–36: he concludes Joseph was torn apart, while Joseph is sold in Egypt. Explain how genuine grief rests on manufactured evidence.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Ask learners to identify each escalation from comparison to hatred to planned harm, using the brothers' words and actions.
Relationships and community
Evaluate a fictional group's proposal to replace one severe wrong with a profitable lesser wrong; require a genuinely protective alternative.
Evidence can be staged
Compare the coat's authenticity with the false conclusion drawn from its condition. State why a real object does not guarantee an honest account.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Who is loved more
Read 37:1-4. Ask question one and write favouritism, coat and hatred on the board in that order.
Two dreams
Read 37:5-11. Ask question two, then take confusion one, with care for anyone who has been blamed for harm done to them.
At the pit
Read 37:12-28 in one reading. Take questions three, four and five, and then confusion two about the good brothers.
The coat returns
Read 37:29-36. Ask question six. Point back briefly to 27:9-16 and use confusion four to keep the echo from becoming a verdict.
Response and handout
Ask each learner to write one sentence that keeps the brothers' guilt and Joseph's survival together. Read the key verse together and close in prayer.
90 minutes
A family photograph
Ask the group what a family photograph can hide. Then read 37:1-4 and ask question one.
Dreams and reactions
Read 37:5-11. Take question two. Chart each person's response: Joseph, the brothers, Jacob. Then confusion one.
The road to Dothan
Read 37:12-17. Mark the journey on a simple map from Hebron to Shechem to Dothan, and notice that Joseph was sent by his father to check on them.
The pit and the price
Read 37:18-28. Take questions three, four and five. Discuss confusion two about Reuben and Judah. Read 42:21 to add what the brothers later admitted about Joseph's pleading.
The coat as evidence
Read 37:29-35. Ask question six and take confusion four. Do the evidence exercise: the coat is real, the conclusion drawn from it is false.
God's silence and later light
Read 37:36, then Acts 7:9-10 and Psalm 105:17. Take confusion three, keeping human guilt and God's later purpose distinct.
Application
In groups, list each step from comparison to hatred to planned harm in the chapter, and suggest where someone could have stopped it.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse, point to the take-home line, and pray for families where favouritism or envy has done damage.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Use simple cards for a coat, a pit, a camel and a sad father. Tell the account plainly: the brothers were jealous, they hurt Joseph and sold him, and that was wrong. Do not play games about being put in a pit or sold. End with Joseph alive in Egypt and say that God's book is not finished with him.
Youth
Work through the chapter as a study of how a group escalates: comparison, hatred, words, plans, violence, then a cover-up. Let them find each step in the verses. Keep examples fictional and do not ask anyone to name a favoured sibling. Watch for learners who have been bullied, and be clear that the victim is never at fault.
Adults
Give space to the family system: Jacob's favouritism, the rival mothers behind the sons, and the cycles of deception from chapter 27. Discuss the limited interventions of Reuben and Judah and what bystanders owe. Treat Jacob's grief with respect, and resist a theology that turns his loss into deserved punishment.
One to one
Read the chapter together and ask which person the reader finds themselves watching most closely. Follow that thread. If family favouritism, sibling cruelty or being sold out by someone close is part of their life, listen more than you teach, and do not move quickly to how it all worked out for Joseph.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Genesis 37:1-36
The passage in brief
Genesis 37 begins the account of Joseph. Jacob loves him more than his other sons and gives him a special coat, and Joseph's dreams of his family bowing to him make his brothers hate him more. When Jacob sends him to check on them, they throw him into an empty pit and then sell him to traders going to Egypt. They dip his coat in goat's blood and let their father believe a wild animal killed him. Jacob mourns, while Joseph is sold in Egypt.
A verse to keep
And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Genesis 37:4 · King James Version
Questions to take home
List the steps from 37:3 to 37:28 that lead from favouritism to the sale of Joseph.
What did Reuben intend in 37:22, and what did Judah propose in 37:26-27?
What does Jacob believe in 37:33, and what does the reader know in 37:36?
This week
Notice one place this week where envy is growing in you, and name it honestly to God before it grows.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
