Limitless Word
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Genesis 37:5 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.
  • BSB Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
  • NKJV Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.
  • NASB Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
  • NLT One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.

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

Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers, who hated him even more. His dreams intensified the family conflict.

Overview

Joseph's first dream, which he shared openly, only inflamed his brothers' hatred. These dreams were not mere fancy but God-given revelations of His future plan to exalt Joseph. The brothers' rage against the dream and the dreamer mirrors humanity's resistance to God's purposes, which He nonetheless brings to pass.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Gen 28:12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
  • Gen 42:9And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
  • Dan 4:5I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
  • John 17:14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
  • Num 12:6And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
  • Gen 37:4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
  • Amos 3:7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
  • Joel 2:28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
  • 1 Kgs 3:5In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
  • Ps 25:14The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
  • Gen 41:1And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.
  • Gen 37:8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
  • Gen 49:23The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
  • Judg 7:13–14And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
  • Dan 2:1And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
  • Gen 40:5And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 37:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 37:5 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.