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.
Parallel translations
- 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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 Bilhah (Rachel’s servant): Dan and Naphtali.
- 1 Sam 2:22–24Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they slept with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Cor 11:18For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it.
- Gen 35:22While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
- 1 Cor 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.
- Gen 30:4She gave him Bilhah her servant as wife, and Jacob went in to her.
- Gen 30:9When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her servant, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
- Gen 10:1Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
- John 7:7The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.
- 1 Cor 1:11For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
- Gen 5:1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness.
- Gen 6:9This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God.
- Gen 2:4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens.
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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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