One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.
- KJV And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet 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.
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 28:12He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
- Gen 42:9Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
- Dan 4:5I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
- John 17:14I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
- Num 12:6He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.
- Gen 37:4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
- Amos 3:7Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
- Joel 2:28“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
- 1 Kgs 3:5In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask for what I should give you.”
- Ps 25:14The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.
- Gen 41:1At the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river.
- Gen 37:8His brothers said to him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
- Gen 49:23The archers have severely grieved him, shot at him, and persecute him:
- Judg 7:13–14When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. He said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”
- Dan 2:1In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.
- Gen 40:5They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.
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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 37:5 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
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