Joseph, the dreamer

Jacob settled in the land of Canaan. He had 12 sons and one daughter. Their names were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin. His daughter’s name was Dinah.

Jacob’s favourite child was Joseph. He had been born when Jacob was already an old man. This made Joseph’s brothers very angry. Jacob openly showed that he loved Joseph more than his brothers. One of the ways he did this was by making Joseph a beautiful robe. The robe had many different colours. It was nicer than anything that Joseph’s brothers owned. When his brothers saw the beautiful robe, it made them very jealous. They hated Joseph even more. Joseph made matters worse by telling tales about his brothers. They began to hate him so much that they couldn’t speak a kind word to him. When Joseph was about 17 years old, he had a strange dream. Joseph dreamt that he and his brothers were tying up bundles of grain in the field.

Suddenly, Joseph’s bundle of grain stood up straight. Then, all his brothers’ bundles of grain bowed down to Joseph’s bundle of grain. Joseph told his brothers about his dream. “Do you plan to be king over us? Do you plan to rule over us?” they asked. Joseph’s dream made them hate him even more. Soon after that Joseph had another dream. He dreamt that the sun, the moon and 11 stars bowed down to him. He told his father and his brothers about the dream. This time his father was also angry because the dream seemed to say that Joseph’s father and mother would also bow down to him.

Joseph’s brothers had found another reason to hate him. But Jacob remembered these dreams, and he wondered what they meant. Genesis 37:1–11