Genesis 37:5-8 records a prophetic dream Joseph has. In the dream, Joseph foresees a future in which his brothers bow before him––symbolized through sheaves of wheat. The sheaf which Joseph tied together stood above the others, and those which the brothers tied bowed to Joseph's sheaf. The telling of this dream inspires hatred in the brothers.
In Genesis 37:5-8, Joseph's first dream ignites a fury that hardens into hate. After Jacob gives Joseph the coat of many colors in Genesis 37:2-4, further driving the brothers apart, Genesis 37:5-8 throws yet another stone on the towering envy of Joseph's brothers. Verse 5 says: Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more (v 5).
Joseph's brothers understand that the dream carries a claim to authority, seeing Joseph boasting over them with adream that marked them as subservient to their hated brother. The text's Hebrew construction indicates that their hatred piled layer upon layer, compounding the favoritism already symbolized by the varicolored tunic, or coat of many colors (Genesis 37:3).
This hostility echoes other sibling rivalries in the Bible, such as Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-8), or Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-27), where jealousy leads to strife and separation, often followed by a violent outcome. Much like Joseph, David also was despised by hisbrothers as the youngest (1 Samuel 17:28).
This was all according to the will of God's redemptive plan. Joseph would be placed into a pit (for three days, according to Jewish tradition) and then given to the Gentiles who would eventually accept him as ruler of Egypt (Genesis 41:39-41). Similarly, Jesus, after He was betrayed by Judas, was handed over to the Gentiles, and then would be placed in a grave for three days.
After Jesus came out of the grave by means of the resurrection, He was accepted by Gentiles who through faith in Him would be grafted into the covenant family (Romans 11:24,Ephesians 2:11-13). Additionally, Joseph and Jesus were both sold or betrayed for silver: Joseph for twenty shekels, and Jesus for thirty shekels (Genesis 37:28,Matthew 26:15).
In an ideal situation, Joseph's brothers would rejoice that God is communicating with Joseph in his dreams and even exalting him to authority. They should be worshipping the LORD and giving thanks for how He is working in their family. Because of the evil that conquered their hearts, however, they were blinded to the good work of God. At the very end of Genesis, Joseph speaks both a rebuke to his brothers and a statement of thankfulness to God in saying,
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." (Genesis 50:20)
In Genesis 37:6,Joseph explains the vision with insistence and perhaps much excitement: "Please listen to this dream which I have had" (v 6). His plea is polite but emphatic, revealing the gravity he assigns to the revelation.
Joseph's sharing of the revelation of the Lord to those around him has an inevitable impact of inviting conflict with hisbrothers. It is unclear whether Joseph was naïvely unaware of his brother's envy, or courageously committed to share truth from God. Regardless, he shares the dream with the result that he loses his place and privilege born of rejection and enmity from his brothers.
As Jesus reminds us, the Lord's prophets were killed for sharing what the Lord revealed to them (Matthew 23:30-31). The ostracism of the prophet continued with the murder of John the Baptizer, then with Jesus, and marks the stories of the early church. As Stephen, the first martyr, declared to the Council of priests and rabbis:
"Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become." (Acts 7:52)
We should expect the proclamation of the Lord's word and works to lead to conflict and betrayal, especially when, as with Joseph, the Lord's work upsets the expected social or familial order. Jesus spoke of this, predicting that His advent would cause even more family disruption because of the truth (Matthew 10:35).
The divine preference for Joseph, while bringing honor to the family of Abraham, means the relative loss of honor for Joseph's brothers, a loss which they were unable or unwilling to bear as their part in the Lord's unfolding plan.
Joseph describes the dream saying, "we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf" (v 7).
The setting is significant: harvest labor, shared by all brothers. Yet, Joseph's sheaf suddenly assumes a regal stance while theirs prostrate themselves. A sheaf of wheat or barley is simply a bundle of the plant's stems, including its nutritious head containing the kernels. The grain would have been harvested with a sickle or a similar tool and tied in the middle, likely with one of the stalks of the grain, forming a sheaf. This agricultural imagery could be predicting Joseph's future mastery over grain during Egypt's famine (Genesis 41:49), by storing grain during the seven years of plenty, which provided provision during the seven years of famine.
The brothers' sarcastic response indicates that they are insulted: "Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?" (v 8).
The paired Hebrew verbs, reign and rule ("mālakh" and "māšal") intensify the affront--one denoting kingly dominion, the other day-to-day governance. Bowing was reserved for elders, rulers, or the divine; for a younger sibling to predict such an honor for himself violated the cultural hierarchy. Their hatred therefore swells even more for his dreams and for his words (v 8).
The animosity of the brothers is rooted in two sources. The content of the dream is no doubt angering, but Joseph's receiving the dream marked him as special, without regard to the content of the dream. The brothers likely experienced animosity toward Joseph simply because of the Lord's revelation to him.
The divine preference manifested by the dream is not Joseph's doing, it is the work of God, yet, it marks Joseph for animosity. Further, Genesis 37:5-8 links the brothers' animosity to their understanding of the content of the dream and to Joseph's manner of speech, hinting that Joseph's youthful zeal worsened the relational fracture.
For readers confronting jealousy or skepticism toward God-given callings, Genesis 37:5-8 offers encouragement in the face of the expected (but unfortunate) opposition: opposition to the work of the LORD is guaranteed to fail (John 15:18-19).
God works out all things to good for those who love Him and obey Him (Romans 8:28). Our charge is to steward what God has given us with humility, trusting that apparent setbacks may be the very steps that fulfill God's purposes.
Genesis 37:5-8
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.
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Genesis 37:5-8 meaning
In Genesis 37:5-8, Joseph's first dream ignites a fury that hardens into hate. After Jacob gives Joseph the coat of many colors in Genesis 37:2-4, further driving the brothers apart, Genesis 37:5-8 throws yet another stone on the towering envy of Joseph's brothers. Verse 5 says: Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more (v 5).
Night visions and dreams were often interpreted as messages from God. The Egyptian Pharaohs, Mesopotamian kings, and commoners alike sought interpretations from skilled experts and wise men throughout the events of the Scripture (Genesis 20:3, Genesis 28:12-13, Genesis 31:11-13, 24, Genesis 40:8, Daniel 2:19, Joel 2:28). The Lord's use of communication through dreams and visions continued after the ascension of Christ (Acts 7:55-56, Acts 10:3, Acts 10:10, Acts 16:9, 2 Corinthians 12:2).
Joseph's brothers understand that the dream carries a claim to authority, seeing Joseph boasting over them with a dream that marked them as subservient to their hated brother. The text's Hebrew construction indicates that their hatred piled layer upon layer, compounding the favoritism already symbolized by the varicolored tunic, or coat of many colors (Genesis 37:3).
This hostility echoes other sibling rivalries in the Bible, such as Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-8), or Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-27), where jealousy leads to strife and separation, often followed by a violent outcome. Much like Joseph, David also was despised by his brothers as the youngest (1 Samuel 17:28).
This was all according to the will of God's redemptive plan. Joseph would be placed into a pit (for three days, according to Jewish tradition) and then given to the Gentiles who would eventually accept him as ruler of Egypt (Genesis 41:39-41). Similarly, Jesus, after He was betrayed by Judas, was handed over to the Gentiles, and then would be placed in a grave for three days.
After Jesus came out of the grave by means of the resurrection, He was accepted by Gentiles who through faith in Him would be grafted into the covenant family (Romans 11:24, Ephesians 2:11-13). Additionally, Joseph and Jesus were both sold or betrayed for silver: Joseph for twenty shekels, and Jesus for thirty shekels (Genesis 37:28, Matthew 26:15).
In an ideal situation, Joseph's brothers would rejoice that God is communicating with Joseph in his dreams and even exalting him to authority. They should be worshipping the LORD and giving thanks for how He is working in their family. Because of the evil that conquered their hearts, however, they were blinded to the good work of God. At the very end of Genesis, Joseph speaks both a rebuke to his brothers and a statement of thankfulness to God in saying,
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."
(Genesis 50:20)
In Genesis 37:6, Joseph explains the vision with insistence and perhaps much excitement: "Please listen to this dream which I have had" (v 6). His plea is polite but emphatic, revealing the gravity he assigns to the revelation.
Joseph's sharing of the revelation of the Lord to those around him has an inevitable impact of inviting conflict with his brothers. It is unclear whether Joseph was naïvely unaware of his brother's envy, or courageously committed to share truth from God. Regardless, he shares the dream with the result that he loses his place and privilege born of rejection and enmity from his brothers.
As Jesus reminds us, the Lord's prophets were killed for sharing what the Lord revealed to them (Matthew 23:30-31). The ostracism of the prophet continued with the murder of John the Baptizer, then with Jesus, and marks the stories of the early church. As Stephen, the first martyr, declared to the Council of priests and rabbis:
"Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become."
(Acts 7:52)
We should expect the proclamation of the Lord's word and works to lead to conflict and betrayal, especially when, as with Joseph, the Lord's work upsets the expected social or familial order. Jesus spoke of this, predicting that His advent would cause even more family disruption because of the truth (Matthew 10:35).
The divine preference for Joseph, while bringing honor to the family of Abraham, means the relative loss of honor for Joseph's brothers, a loss which they were unable or unwilling to bear as their part in the Lord's unfolding plan.
Joseph describes the dream saying, "we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf" (v 7).
The setting is significant: harvest labor, shared by all brothers. Yet, Joseph's sheaf suddenly assumes a regal stance while theirs prostrate themselves. A sheaf of wheat or barley is simply a bundle of the plant's stems, including its nutritious head containing the kernels. The grain would have been harvested with a sickle or a similar tool and tied in the middle, likely with one of the stalks of the grain, forming a sheaf. This agricultural imagery could be predicting Joseph's future mastery over grain during Egypt's famine (Genesis 41:49), by storing grain during the seven years of plenty, which provided provision during the seven years of famine.
The brothers' sarcastic response indicates that they are insulted: "Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?" (v 8).
The paired Hebrew verbs, reign and rule ("mālakh" and "māšal") intensify the affront--one denoting kingly dominion, the other day-to-day governance. Bowing was reserved for elders, rulers, or the divine; for a younger sibling to predict such an honor for himself violated the cultural hierarchy. Their hatred therefore swells even more for his dreams and for his words (v 8).
The animosity of the brothers is rooted in two sources. The content of the dream is no doubt angering, but Joseph's receiving the dream marked him as special, without regard to the content of the dream. The brothers likely experienced animosity toward Joseph simply because of the Lord's revelation to him.
The divine preference manifested by the dream is not Joseph's doing, it is the work of God, yet, it marks Joseph for animosity. Further, Genesis 37:5-8 links the brothers' animosity to their understanding of the content of the dream and to Joseph's manner of speech, hinting that Joseph's youthful zeal worsened the relational fracture.
For readers confronting jealousy or skepticism toward God-given callings, Genesis 37:5-8 offers encouragement in the face of the expected (but unfortunate) opposition: opposition to the work of the LORD is guaranteed to fail (John 15:18-19).
God works out all things to good for those who love Him and obey Him (Romans 8:28). Our charge is to steward what God has given us with humility, trusting that apparent setbacks may be the very steps that fulfill God's purposes.