And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
Parallel translations
- WEB His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
- BSB And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
- NKJV And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
- NASB And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
- NLT But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The brothers envied Joseph, but Jacob pondered the matter. Jealousy grew while Jacob quietly weighed the dream's meaning.
Overview
The brothers' reaction was envy, the dangerous resentment that would soon drive them to violence. Jacob, by contrast, kept the saying in mind, sensing that God might be at work. His thoughtful pondering recalls and anticipates Mary, who 'kept all these things, pondering them in her heart' (Luke 2:19), as God's purposes unfolded.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Acts 7:9And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
- Luke 2:19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
- Luke 2:51And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
- Dan 7:28Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
- Jas 4:5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
- Matt 27:18For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
- Isa 11:13The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
- Acts 13:45But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
- Eccl 4:4Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Ps 106:16They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.
- Gen 26:14–16For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
- Jas 3:14–16But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
- Gal 5:21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Isa 26:11LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
- Titus 3:3For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- Mark 15:10For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
- Gen 24:31And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 37:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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