The focus of the narrative now shifts from Israel, formally known as Jacob, to his eleventh son Joseph while the family is living as shepherds and farmers in Hebron.
Joseph is seventeen in this story. His oldest half-brother, Ruben, is about ten years older than Joseph and is one of Leah’s six sons. There were four other sons from Bilhah and Zilpah mixed in between. And finally Benjamin, who is a little kid and Joseph’s full brother from Rachel.
Joseph brings a bad report of his half-brothers to their Dad. This is Bible talk for saying the teen was a tattletale. To make matters worse, Israel gives a robe of many colors to Joseph and the brothers resent their father’s obvious preference for the oldest son of his dead wife.
Joseph has two dreams that he shares with his brothers. In the first, his brother’s bundles of wheat bow before his bundle of wheat. The brothers interpret the dream to mean he will rule over them. In his second dream, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow before him. This time the whole family is below him.
Now it’s his father’s turn to be incredulous. Is Israel’s son actually indicating that he will rule over him too? The brothers are jealous, but Israel remembers it. He had his own dreams and perhaps recognizes a work from God.
The older brothers take the flocks to Shechem, but don’t come back. Worried, Israel sends Joseph out to check up on them. Joseph goes there, but doesn’t find them. The locals tell him they have gone to Dothan, further north.
With his colorful coat, Joseph’s brothers see him coming and say, “Here comes the dreamer,” and plot to kill him. Ruben talks them down. The brothers strip off Joseph’s coat and throw him into a dry well while they discuss his fate over lunch.
While Ruben is away, the brothers see a caravan of Midianite traders, from the tribes of Ishmael, headed south to Egypt. Judah suggests slavery instead of murder, and they all agree. They sell him for twenty shekels of silver.
When Ruben returns to let Joseph out of the hole, he finds him gone. To cover up what they have done, the young men tear up the colorful coat and soak it with goat blood. They give it to Israel along with a tale of wild animals. Their dad puts on mourning clothes, and his whole family comforts him.
Meanwhile, the traders sell Joseph to an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, and captain of the guard. What will happen next?
