The Sons of Jacob

     Joseph sold into Egypt

     “They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted against him and decided to kill him. 19 They said to one another, "Here comes that dreamer. 20 Come on now, let's kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams." 21 Reuben heard them and tried to save Joseph. "Let's not kill him," he said. 22 "Just throw him into this well in the wilderness, but don't hurt him." He said this, planning to save him from them and send him back to his father. 23 When Joseph came up to his brothers, they ripped off his long robe with full sleeves. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the well, which was dry. 25 While they were eating, they suddenly saw a group of Ishmaelites traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were loaded with spices and resins. 26 Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder? 27 Let's sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we won't have to hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed, 28 and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.”  Gen 37:18-28 (TEV)

     “37:18-20 When Joseph's brothers saw him coming, they devised a plot to kill... the dreamer and end his dreams. Earlier, they had unjustly killed the men of Shechem to avenge their sister (ch 34); in the region of Shechem, they now plotted unjustly to kill their own brother out of envy.”—NLT Study Bible

     “37:28 the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders (literally the Midianite traders): Ishmaelites were descendants of Abraham through Hagar (16:5), while Midianites were descendants of Abraham through Keturah (25:1-2). The term Ishmaelite may have described Bedouin tribes generally. The Midianites might also have been traveling with a separate caravan of Ishmaelite traders (37:27). • Twenty pieces: Hebrew 20 shekels, about 8 ounces or 228 grams in weight. • Kidnapping (see 40:15) was a capital offense (see Exod 21:16).” —NLT Study Bible

     “Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, "I will go down to the world of the dead still mourning for my son." So he continued to mourn for his son Joseph. 36 Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.”  Gen 37:34-36 (TEV)

     “37:34-35 Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap: These were signs of great distress and mourning (see 44:13; Job 1:20; 16:15). Jacob was devastated and refused to be comforted. The treachery thus affected everyone in his family. • go to my grave: Hebrew go down to Sheol.” —NLT Study Bible

     God acts through Judah

     “About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam. 2 There Judah met a young Canaanite woman whose father was named Shua. He married her, 3 and she bore him a son, whom he named Er.”  Gen 38:1-3 (TEV)

     “For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar. 7 Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him.”  Gen 38:6-7 (TEV)

     “After some time Judah's wife died. When he had finished the time of mourning, he and his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared. 13 Someone told Tamar that her father-in-law was going to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 So she changed from the widow's clothes she had been wearing, covered her face with a veil, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, a town on the road to Timnah. As she well knew, Judah's youngest son Shelah was now grown up, and yet she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered.” Gen 38:12-15 (TEV)

     “38:12-13 Without a marriage, the family's future was in jeopardy. • Judah's wife died: This made Judah available to fulfill the responsibility of providing an heir.  Tamar realized that she would have to take matters into her own hands if the family were to have a future. Tamar acted in keeping with the levirate custom (see note on 38:8) out of loyalty to her deceased husband. She had a legal right to an heir by Judah's son or by Judah, so she lured her father-in-law into having sex with her. Jacob's family was deceived again, this time by a Canaanite daughter-in-law.”  —NLT Study Bible

     “When the time came for her to give birth, it was discovered that she was going to have twins. 28 While she was in labor, one of them put out an arm; the midwife caught it, tied a red thread around it, and said, "This one was born first." 29 But he pulled his arm back, and his brother was born first. Then the midwife said, "So this is how you break your way out!" So he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother was born with the red thread on his arm, and he was named Zerah.”

Gen 38:27-30 (TEV)

     “38:26 She is more righteous than I am: Judah acknowledged that he had shirked his responsibility to provide an heir. It was sinful for Judah to go to a prostitute, but Tamar had a legal right to be the mother of Judah's child and had acted on that right. In the book of Ruth, the elders analogously blessed the marriage of Boaz and Ruth, praying that God would make Ruth like Tamar (Ruth 4:12; cp. Matt 1:3, 5).

Judah's line continued because of Tamar. The twins replaced Judah's two slain sons (38:7, 10); their birth was similar to the birth of Jacob and Esau (25:21-26) in that the "red" one was born first, but the other son pushed past him in later life. Jacob's gaining the right to rule over his older brother (27:29) seemed to be relived in Judah's line. The line was carried on through Perez and not through the elder son Shelah, whom he had gone to such lengths to protect (38:11; see 1 Chr 4:21), nor through the elder twin Zerah (see Ruth 4:13-22; Matt 1:3).

38:29-30 Perez means "breaking out." He pushed past his brother.” —NLT Study Bible

     “Judah will hold the royal scepter, And his descendants will always rule. Nations will bring him tribute And bow in obedience before him.”  Gen 49:10 (TEV)

     “This verse anticipates the kingship in Judah (cp. 17:6, 16; 35:11). Although the birthright blessing went to Joseph, Judah would provide Israel's rulers (see 1 Chr 5:1-2). A long line of kings from Judah would retain the scepter, the symbol of rule; the last king would be the one to whom it belongs, the promised Messiah (see 2 Sam 7:4-16; Pss 2, 45, 60; Isa 11; Ezek 21:26-27; Zech 9:9; Rev 5:5). • from his descendants: Literally from between his feet, taking between his feet as a poetic euphemism for reproductive organs. • until the coming of the one to whom it belongs (Or until tribute is brought to him and the peoples obey; traditionally rendered until Shiloh comes): These differences arise from ambiguities in the Hebrew text. Rule of Israel belongs to Judah's descendant through David's line (2 Sam 7:8-16), and he will eventually rule all nations, as signified by the bringing of tribute (see Ps 68:29; 72:8-11; Isa 2:2-4; Eph 4:8-10).” —NLT Study Bible

     Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

     “Now the Ishmaelites had taken Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace guard. 2 The Lord was with Joseph and made him successful. He lived in the house of his Egyptian master, 3 who saw that the Lord was with Joseph and had made him successful in everything he did. 4 Potiphar was pleased with him and made him his personal servant; so he put him in charge of his house and everything he owned.”

Gen 39:1-4 (TEV)

     “She kept his robe with her until Joseph's master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: "That Hebrew slave that you brought here came into my room and insulted me. 18 But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his robe beside me." 19 Joseph's master was furious 20 and had Joseph arrested and put in the prison where the king's prisoners were kept, and there he stayed. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and blessed him, so that the jailer was pleased with him. 22 He put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and made him responsible for everything that was done in the prison. 23 The jailer did not have to look after anything for which Joseph was responsible, because the Lord was with Joseph and made him succeed in everything he did.”  Gen 39:16-23 (TEV)

     “39:21-23 Joseph thrived in prison because God was with him. Each time Joseph prospered, he was put in charge of something.”  —NLT Study Bible

     Joseph Interprets the Prisoners' Dreams

     “Some time later the king of Egypt's wine steward and his chief baker offended the king. 2 He was angry with these two officials 3 and put them in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same place where Joseph was being kept. 4 They spent a long time in prison, and the captain assigned Joseph as their servant. 5 One night there in prison the wine steward and the chief baker each had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were upset. 7 He asked them, "Why do you look so worried today?" 8 They answered, "Each of us had a dream, and there is no one here to explain what the dreams mean." "It is God who gives the ability to interpret dreams," Joseph said. "Tell me your dreams."  Gen 40:1-8 (TEV)

     “40:1-23 Joseph did not lose faith in God's promises, as evidenced by his readiness to interpret the dreams of two prisoners. He was still convinced that God's revelation in his own two dreams (37:5-11) was true, and he had not abandoned hope that they would be fulfilled. When the fellow prisoners' dreams were fulfilled exactly as Joseph said, this confirmed that his previous dreams were from God.” —NLT Study Bible

     41:1-46 God had used two dreams to identify Joseph as a leader among his brothers (37:5-11). He used two dreams to test Joseph's faith in prison (40:5-14). Now he would use two dreams to elevate Joseph from prison to preeminence. Joseph had repeatedly proven faithful in small matters; now he would be put in charge of great things.” —NLT Study Bible

     Joseph Interprets the King's Dreams

     “After two years had passed, the king of Egypt dreamed that he was standing by the Nile River, 2 when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began to feed on the grass. 3 Then seven other cows came up; they were thin and bony. They came and stood by the other cows on the riverbank, 4 and the thin cows ate up the fat cows. Then the king woke up. 5 He fell asleep again and had another dream. Seven heads of grain, full and ripe, were growing on one stalk. 6 Then seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind, 7 and the thin heads of grain swallowed the full ones. The king woke up and realized that he had been dreaming. 8 In the morning he was worried, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. He told them his dreams, but no one could explain them to him.” Gen 41:1-8 (TEV)

     “41:25-32 Both dreams predicted that seven years of abundant crops would be followed by seven years of severe famine.  The two similar dreams confirmed that the message was decreed by God and would soon... happen, just as the dreams of the two prisoners were quickly fulfilled (40:5-23). Joseph's own two dreams (37:5-11) were about to come true as well (41:37-46; 42:6-9).   God's revelation demanded a response—it was not given just to satisfy curiosity about the future. Joseph's advice about planning and preparing showed that he was the kind of intelligent and wise man that Pharaoh needed (41:37-40). • Joseph instituted central planning and control with a supervisor, local managers, a 20 percent tax on grain, and a rationing system. Later wisdom literature (see note on 37:2-50:26) teaches the principle of planning ahead rather than living just for the moment (see Prov 6:6-8; 27:12).

41:37-40 Pharaoh recognized that Joseph was the man for the job; he had the spirit of God and was intelligent and wise. God showed his sovereign rule in Egypt; Israelites who later read the account could be confident that God would save them as he had promised.” —NLT Study Bible

     “The king said to Joseph, "God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else. 40 I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine. 41 I now appoint you governor over all Egypt." Gen 41:39-41 (TEV)

     “41:43-44 Pharaoh made Joseph second-in-command; all the people had to submit to him. Cp. Ps 105:16-22.  As token of Joseph's new status, Pharaoh gave him an Egyptian name and a wife from a high-ranking family. • Zaphenath-paneah probably means "God speaks and lives." • On: Greek version reads Heliopolis; also in 41:50. On (Ohn) was a center for sun worship that came to be known as Heliopolis ("Sun City").”—NLT Study Bible