PART 2 – EXPLORE THE CHARACTERS
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Chapter 9 - Rich Rags and Dangerous Dreams (Joseph episode 4)
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We began our studies of the Joseph story with the rivalry and jealousy between Rachel and Leah, and the power games of Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Through these events we gain an insight into the dysfunctional background of Joseph’s childhood. It is to be expected that these rivalries and jealousies will have an effect on Joseph and his relationships with his brothers.
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As we reach the part of the Joseph story which is well known to so many – the “coat of many colours” and Joseph’s dreams - we encounter a series of events which each build up the level of tension between Joseph and his brothers, until their jealousy and hatred reach crisis point. What is it about these events that causes Joseph’s brothers so much aggravation?
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​Well, many (if not most) conflicts in Old Testament narrative can be categorized as “honour confrontations”, and that is certainly true here. The rivalry between Rachel and Leah revolved around which wife had the position of privilege and honour within their rather fraught marriage relationship. Leah was the older sister, and the first wife, and on both accounts should have had the prime position, and her children should have had higher status than Rachel’s children. However Rachel was the one whom Jacob loved. She was her husband’s favourite wife, and her children (even more so because of the long years of waiting) were her husband’s favourite sons. Leah sought to gain favour with Jacob by producing sons for him, but as we saw in the first episode of the Joseph story, those sons never gained her the love and the position in the family which she deserved.
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This rivalry for privilege and status carried down to Jacob’s children. Reuben’s rape of Bilhah was almost certainly designed to humiliate and dishonour Rachel’s side of the family and impose his own authority and superiority as the eldest son and rightful successor as family head. Compare Absalom’s action after rebelling against his father, King David, and forcing David to flee from Jerusalem. We read in 2 Samuel 16:22 that Absalom’s men:
… set up a tent on the palace roof in full view of the people, and Absalom went in and had sex with his father's concubines.
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This was done following the advice of Ahithophel, in order to humiliate and dishonour his father and cement his own authority with the people of Israel.
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Simeon and Levi’s “rape of Shechem” was not about internal family politics, but in revenge for the rape of their sister Dinah, to restore their family honour. However in both cases, Reuben, and his brothers Simeon and Levi, resorted to what today would be termed a “non-proportional response” and ended up damaging their own reputation and legitimacy.
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As before, if you are studying as a group, have someone read the story below. Focus on listening to the words, hearing the patterns and repetitions in the story, and creating in your mind a visual image of the events as they happen. You may want to check out the story in your own preferred Bible version, but concentrate on absorbing the overall feel and flow of the story first.
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​Rich Rags and Dangerous Dreams (from Genesis 37:1-11)
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​We remember how Jacob fled from his Uncle Laban and set off back to the land of Canaan. Rachel sadly died giving birth to Benjamin and was buried on the road to Bethlehem. Jacob set up a monument over her grave. Then he continued travelling south towards the Negev, and settled there in the land of Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac had lived as foreigners. Time passed, and Jacob’s sons grew into young men. Joseph was seventeen years old when the next part of the story begins.​
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​Looking back now on our childhood arguments and rivalries, I can understand why our father loved Joseph more than us – children of Leah. Joseph was the firstborn of his beloved wife Rachel, born to him in his old age. But the way father favoured Joseph really made us envious and turned us against him. I remember so well the day that Jacob had that special coat made for Joseph-- a beautiful robe, embroidered in so many colours. But it just made us hate him all the more. We could-shouldered him – couldn't say a kind word to him.​
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​Joseph often helped us shepherd our father's flocks, along with Bilhah and Zilpah’s sons. But he would carry word back to his father about all the things we had been getting up to. As you may imagine, this didn’t improve our relationship.​
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​And then there were the dreams…​
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One day Joseph came to find us and told us:
"Listen! I had this dream last night. We were all out in the field, tying up bundles of wheat. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around in a circle, and bowed down low before mine!"
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That made us really angry,
"So you think you will be the big chief, do you? Do you actually think you are going to rule over us?"
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We hated him even more because of his dreams and the way he boasted about them.
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​After this Joseph had another dream, and again he told us about it.
"Listen, I had another dream. This time the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down low before me!"
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Joseph went and told this dream to father as well as us, but father was angry and scolded him.
"What kind of dream is that? Will your mother and I and your brothers come and bow to the ground before you as our lord?"
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As we know now, father kept all these words in his mind and pondered what they might mean. But we just envied and hated him more and more.
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So what is it about the events in this story that challenged the honour and status of Joseph’s brothers, and caused them such intense jealousy and anger?
​“Now Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children…”
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There are many understandable reasons for Jacob’s love for Joseph, and we can hardly fault him for loving his own son. Some of these reasons are mentioned explicitly in the story, others are implicit, but we might include:
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That Joseph was the son of Rachel, Jacob’s favourite and beloved wife
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That Joseph was born after 14 years of longing and waiting for Rachel to bear children
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That Joseph’s birth was almost miraculous, after so many years of barrenness (compare the birth of Isaac to Sarah, Samuel to Hannah, John to Elizabeth and Zechariah)
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That Rachel subsequently died in childbirth, leaving Joseph (and Benjamin) as a permanent reminder of their deceased mother
Think about how you would feel if you were Jacob. Maybe you yourself have been able to have a child after many years of trying, or know a friend who has. How does this affect the parent/child relationship? What might be different, or special, about the way such a child would be valued and treasured?
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The problem is not in the extent of Jacob’s love, which is perfectly understandable, but in his obvious show of favouritism and preferential treatment that sets Joseph apart from his brothers and caused them to feel rejected and unloved (as Leah had felt rejected and unloved before them).
​The “coat of many colours”
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So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph-- a beautiful robe, embroidered in many colours.
Actually this well-known “coat of many colours” may be a misnomer; modern scholars suggest an alternative translation of the Hebrew text as “a coat with long sleeves”. But either way, the implication is that this special coat visibly confirmed Joseph’s favourite position and set him apart from the others.
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More than this, a specially embroidered coat – or a coat with long sleeves – was obviously not designed for working in! While the other brothers were getting their clothes soiled and their hands dirty shepherding the flock or taking care of other family chores, Joseph was swanking around in rich, fancy rags, exempted (with full authorization of his father) from joining in the hard work.
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How would you feel if you were one of Joseph’s brothers?
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Do you think his brothers were justified in being put out by his behaviour?
​The father’s go-between
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Joseph often helped to shepherd his father's flocks, along with his half-brothers. But he would carry word back to his father about the things his brothers had been getting up to.
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Well, maybe it’s unfair to say that Joseph never did any hard work! He did help his brothers with shepherding responsibilities, at least some of the time. But here we see another aspect of Joseph’s relationship with his brothers which sets him apart. Joseph acted as Jacob’s eyes and ears, going back and forth between his father and his brothers, taking food and supplies to them (as we see later in the story) but also keeping a check on them and reporting back to his father on their conversations and activities.
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We might see the act of “telling tales” on them as the reason for the brothers’ hatred, but there is more than that at stake here. One of the functions of the elder brother in Hebrew culture (as in many other cultures around the world) was to act as mediator between his father and his younger brothers, to keep the younger siblings in order and ensure nothing was done to imperil the family honour. When father was absent from the family, or when the children were travelling away from home, the eldest son would act as proxy for his father and assume authority and responsibility for the younger siblings’ honourable behavior.
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​So actually it should have been Reuben, as the eldest son, who acted as the mediator between his father and his younger siblings, keeping them in check and acting as his father’s eyes and ears. Jacob is setting Joseph in Reuben’s place as his mediator and thus usurping Reuben’s position as the firstborn son.
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​Let it be said that Joseph was (in all probability) not intentionally pushing himself forward and taking over the position of authority and honour within the family pecking order. Jacob was the one who raised Joseph to the position of favourite son, and encouraged him to act as his go-between, and Joseph was young and naïve enough not to realize the implications of what was happening. But is it any wonder that his brothers resented him and “couldn’t say a kind word to him”?
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It used to be the custom in British society that the elder son was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, to inherit the family farm, or take over the family business. And of course daughters normally didn’t figure in the order of priority!
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In what ways has this changed in today’s society?
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Do you think there are circumstances that still cause jealousy between older and younger siblings?
​Joseph’s dreams
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​If we understand the story so far as an honour confrontation between Joseph and his brothers, with Joseph being pushed by his father into a position of privilege and honour above his brothers, and the rest feeling rejected, with their honour and status threatened, then it is apparent that Joseph’s dreams push the honour confrontation to a higher level.
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The symbolism of the dreams is very transparent...​
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In the first dream the image is one of the reapers gathering up the harvest. As the brothers gather up the wheat and tie them into bundles, Joseph’s bundle stands straight and proud in the centre, while the other 11 bundles gather around and bow down to Joseph’s bundle, rendering honour and submission. It’s a picture of one who is in a position of high authority as king or ruler, accepting honour and praise from his loyal subjects. This is not just a case of Joseph claiming the position of firstborn son – it goes much farther than that. Joseph’s brothers are incensed, outraged at the very idea!
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​The second dream has a similar theme, but pushes the symbolism even further. Here it is not just 11 stars (his 11 brothers) bowing down before him, but also the sun and moon, representing his father and mother, kneeling before his majesty and authority.
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Because Joseph recognizes the significance of the symbolism, this time he not only tells the dream to his brothers, but also to his father. Even Jacob is angered by the presumption that Joseph will somehow gain honour and prestige that outweighs the authority of his own father.
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Can we blame Joseph for boasting about his dreams and raising the stakes in the honour confrontation with his brothers? We could argue, as we did before, that Joseph was young and naïve, and would not necessarily have foreseen the outcome. But also remember that Joseph was born and raised within a family atmosphere where honour confrontations were ongoing and pervasive. Promoting one’s own position and status was just normal family behaviour. Joseph would not have known any other way – at least not yet…
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But in any case, God has a special plan in store for Joseph, and the anger and jealousy between Joseph and his brothers will play an essential role in bringing God's plan to fulfilment. How else would Joseph have ended up in Egypt?
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Some questions for thought or discussion
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There are always two sides to any argument. Actually, here there are three sides – Jacob, Joseph, Joseph’s brothers.
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What actions in this episode caused the confrontation between Joseph and his brothers to escalate?
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What could any of the participants have done differently to stop the situation getting worse?
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You might specifically think about Reuben’s role. Reuben was still in fact the eldest son. He should have been the most mature and responsible among them. Could he have taken steps to exercise his authority and step into the situation? Why do think he failed to take any action to defuse the ticking time bomb?
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