This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
Parallel translations
- WEB This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.
- KJV These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
- NKJV This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
- NASB These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when he was seventeen years of age, 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. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
- NLT This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.
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
This introduces Joseph at seventeen, tending flocks with his brothers and bringing a bad report of them to Jacob. It begins the account of Joseph and the tensions in the family.
Overview
This verse opens 'the history of the generations of Jacob,' which centers on Joseph. As a young shepherd, Joseph brought his father an honest but unwelcome report of his brothers' conduct, deepening their resentment. The seeds of conflict sown here will lead through suffering to God's saving purposes, as Joseph's story foreshadows Christ, the beloved Son rejected by His own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Gen 35:25–26The sons of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.
- 1 Sam 2:22–24Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Cor 11:18First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
- Gen 35:22While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
- 1 Cor 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
- Gen 30:4So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,
- Gen 30:9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
- Gen 10:1This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who also had sons after the flood.
- John 7:7The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.
- 1 Cor 1:11My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
- Gen 5:1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.
- Gen 6:9This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
- Gen 2:4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.
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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 37:2 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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