1 Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan LOCATION?
2 These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age (junior in high school), was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. WHO?
And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. (He was a tattle tale?)
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age (a miracle?) ; and he made him a varicolored tunic. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
Jealousy was an issue here. The word “dream” in used 62 times in the Bible. “Dreams” is 25 times. “Interpretation” is used 35 times. The two times “interpretations” are used are
Genesis 40:8 - Then they said to him, "We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it." Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please."
Daniel 5:16 - "But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom."
www.emdr.com is how I received Nightmares book by Marine LCDR I use to journal my dreams. It is interesting looking back at them to try to interpret them.
5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
6 He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had;
7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf."
8 Then his brothers said to him, "Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
10 He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?"
11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Joseph was arrogant. I recently went to the national leaders’ conference of the Vineyard USA in Phoenix and one of the speakers, Dianne Leman, had a prophetic message about letting the kids out of the car seats”. In other words, children need to be released to minister. She let hers speak and the Holy Spirit moved in an incredible way. Many people came forward for prayer, and we prayed for one another. That is what I am trying to start in this service. We like to describe ourselves as being in the radical middle of the evangelical and charismatic streams of the Holy Spirit moving around the world.
12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem. WHERE?
13 Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "I will go."
14 Then he said to him, "Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, WHERE? and he came to Shechem.
15 A man (ANGEL?) found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, "What are you looking for?"
16 He said, "I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock."
17 Then the man said, "They have moved from here; for I heard them say, `Let us go to Dothan.' WHERE? " So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18 When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.
19 They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer!
20 "Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, `A wild beast devoured him.' Then let us see what will become of his dreams!"
21 But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take his life."
22 Reuben further said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him"--that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.
Reuben was Jacob’s oldest son. That is why he rescued Joseph.
23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;
24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum (AS A GAG?:) and balm (OF GILEAD?) and myrrh (PRAYER OIL?:) , on their way to bring them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood?
27 "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him.
28 Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.
30 He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?"
The region of Gilead abounded in spices and aromatic gums, which were exported to Egypt and Tyre (Genesis 37:25; Jeremiah 8:22; 46:11; Ezekiel 27:17). The word "balm" is a contracted form of "balsam," a word derived from the Greek Balsamon , Which was adopted as the representative of the Hebrew words Baal shemen , meaning "lord" or "chief of oils." The Hebrew name of this balm was Tsori . The tree yielding this medicinal oil was probably the Balsamodendron opobalsamum of botanists, and the Amyris opobalsamum of Linnaeus. It is an evergreen, rising to the height of about 14 feet. The oil or resin, exuding through an orifice made in its bark in very small quantities, is esteemed of great value for its supposed medicinal qualities. (See BALM .) It may be noted that Coverdale's version reads in Jeremiah 8:22, "There is no triacle in Galaad." The word "triacle" = "treacle" is used in the sense of ointment. (Easton’s Bible Dictionary from www.biblemaster.com) They were greedy. The shekels of silver for which “Joseph was sold (37:28), were probably in the form of rings,” Eastons Bible Dictionary (www.biblemaster.com).
Tearing of garments was a sign of mourning, like in the book of Job.
31 So they took Joseph's tunic, and slaughtered a male goat ? and dipped the tunic in the blood;
32 and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, "We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son's tunic or not."
33 Then he examined it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"
34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
35 Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, the captain of the bodyguard.
(Personal Security Detail? of a company?)
“sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit the underworld Sheol - the OT designation for the abode of the dead place of no return without praise of God wicked sent there for punishment righteous not abandoned to it of the place of exile (fig) of extreme degradation in sin www.biblemaster.com”
