The Spoiled Brat

The Story of Joseph, Part 1

Genesis 37, 39

Joseph was the firstborn of Rachel, Jacob's first wife.  He was his father's favorite, especially after Rachel died, giving birth to Benjamin, the youngest of Israel's brood.  Not only did Joseph's favored position irritate his brothers, but his penchant for sharing his dreams bothered them even more.  It wasn't so much that he was a dreamer,. but that his dreams concerned them, and his parents.  While Rachel was still alive, Joseph had a dream about sheaves of wheat, then the moon and the stars, bowed down to him.  Though the dream was ultimately fulfilled, at the time it seemed little more than youthful boasting.

The final insult for the brothers was the special coat Jacob had made for Joseph.  Most outer garments were a plain brown color, or perhaps white, but this one was dyed many different colors, and served to highlight the division between the young man and his older brothers.  Joseph was wearing that very coat when his father sent him out one day to check on his brothers.  While Joseph lived comfortably at home, they were out tending the flocks and herds in the wilderness.  When he found him, they recognized him a long way off by his coat.  One of them suggested killing him, throwing him into a hole, and blaming his death on wild animals.  All of them thought that was a great idea except Reuben, the oldest, who convinced them that they should not murder their own brother.  Instead, he suggested abandoning him in a pit, and leaving him there to die, though he planned secretly to come along later to rescue him.

They agreed to this, and threw him into a deep hole as agreed, but after Reuben left they had a change of heart again.  They same some merchants, Ishmaelites, passing by on their way to Egypt, and decided it would be better to sell Joseph into slavery.  That way, they reasoned, they wouldn't have to live with the guilt of having left their brother to die.  They followed this plan, which greatly disturbed Reuben when he returned later.  He thought he was already too late.

Joseph was placed in the household of a powerful Egyptian, Potiphar, who was captain of the Pharaoh's guard.  He was so impressed by Joseph's intelligence and wisdom that he placed him in charge of his entire household.  Thing were going very well until Potiphar's wife make a determined effort to seduce the young Hebrew.  When he consistently refused her advances, she tried to force the issue one day.  as he made his escape from her clutches, she grabbed his cloak, and he left it behind to get away from her.  She then accused him of trying to rape her.  Enraged, and not inclined to accept a slave's word over his wife's, Potiphar had Joseph thrown into prison.