The José’s brothers want to kill him when he was seventeen years old, after they saw how his father Jacob had him as a favorite, in such a way that he even gave him a colored tunic representing how special he was to his father.
In this way, its each day increased their resentment towards himsituation that increased when he tells them the prophetic dreams that God revealed to him, where they and their parents bowed before him.
Joseph and the Prophetic Dreams
Joseph had a gift given by God and it was to have prophetic dreams, and there was a moment when had two dreams that they thought it necessary to tell his family, a situation that bothered his siblings and parents a lot, since these dreams spoke of the dominance that he would have over his siblings and their parents.
“And he said to them, Hear now this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were tying bundles in the middle of the field, and behold, my bundle stood upright, and your bundles were around, and bowed down to mine.
His brothers answered him: Will you reign over us, or will you rule over us? And they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words” (Genesis 37: 6-8)
This first dream that José had aroused in his brothers a greater hatredwhich accumulated as a result of the obvious favoritism that Jacob showed towards him, since he had made him a special tunic and they did not see it with good eyes, something that Joseph did not see, because he later told another dream that linked them all again.
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, Behold, I have dreamed another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me. And he told his father and his brothers: and his father rebuked him,
and said to him: What dream is this that you dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers come to bow to the ground before you? And his brothers were envious of him, but his father meditated on it »(Genesis 37: 9-11)
It was evident that these dreams did not please his brothers, since the Anger and envy grew in their hearts and that way began to look for a way to get rid of it.while his father Jacob reflects on those dreams that God revealed to Joseph.
Precisely each of these dreams came from God, who he showed the future to Josésince with the passing of the years after enduring countless situations, he would see his family bow before him, as in both dreams.
José’s brothers want to kill him
Joseph who was Jacob’s favorite sonsince he was the youngest of them, one day he sent him to supervise his brothers, who were north leading the flocks, so Jacob sent Joseph to follow them.
“Then they went to feed their father’s sheep in Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, Your brothers feed the sheep in Shechem: come, and I will send you to them.
And he answered: Here I am. And Israel said to him: Go now, see how your brothers are doing and how the sheep are doing, and bring me the answer. And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem” (Genesis 37: 12-14)
When José arrived at the place where his brothers were did not find themtherefore he continued his way further north looking for them, and thus fulfill the mandate given by Jacob to meet his brothers and know how they were.
“And as he wandered about in the field, a man found him, and the man asked him, saying: What are you looking for? And he answered: I am looking for my brothers; I beg you to inform me where they are grazing the flock.
And the man answered: They have gone from here, for I heard them say: “Let us go to Dothan.” Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan” (Genesis 37: 15-17)
When José arrives at the place where his brothers were, they they saw an opportunity to get rid of himto which they took out all that hatred that their hearts had, and in a Machiavellian way they wanted to kill him and get him out of the way.
“When they saw him from afar, before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. And they said one to another: Behold, the dreamer comes. Now then, come, and let us kill him and throw him into a cistern, and we will say: Some evil beast devoured him; and we will see what will become of his dreams »(Genesis 37: 18-20)
However, despite the fact that all of José’s brothers were determined to kill him, one of them stopped the bloodshed, proposing another option that would not be so painful for his father, placing him in a cistern.
«When Reuben heard this, he freed him from his hands, and said: Let us not kill him. And Reuben said to them: You shall not shed blood; throw it into this cistern that is in the desert, and do not lay hands on it; for thus delivering him out of his hands, to bring him back to his father” (Genesis 37: 21-22)
The plan that Rubén had was to follow his brothers and place José in the cistern, and then free him, and in this way not attempt against his life, and that he could return to his father without any problem, a situation that did not happen as he thought .
«It happened, then, that when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off Joseph his colored tunic that he had on himself; and they took him and threw him into the cistern; but the cistern was empty, there was no water in it” (Genesis 37:23-22)
They sell Joseph to Egypt
After the brothers finished eating, they saw a group of Ishmaelites and decided to sell their brother instead of murdering him, and thus taking advantage of José. (Genesis 37:25-27)
Although Joseph’s brothers had planned to sell him to the Ishmaelites, at that moment a caravan of Midianites passed near the well where Joseph was, to which they took advantage and took him out and sold him to the Ishmaelites taking advantage of the business opportunity.
“And when the merchant Midianites passed by, they took Joseph out of the cistern, and brought him up, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt” (Genesis 37:28)
In this way, the Midianites went ahead of Joseph’s brothers, who upon reaching the well lamented not finding Joseph, a situation that made them lament and think about what they would tell their father Jacob. (Genesis 37:29-30)
Joseph’s Brothers come to their Father
After this situation, José’s brothers were very concerned about what their father would feel about the loss of his son, because if they told him the truth he would go looking for him, so they decided to invent a story because they did not want to see José anymore. .
“Then they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a kid of the goats, and they dyed the tunic with the blood; and they sent the colored tunic and brought it to his father, and said:
This we have found; Recognize now if it is your son’s tunic or not. And he recognized it, and said: My son’s tunic is; some evil beast devoured him; Joseph has been torn to pieces” (Genesis 37:31-33)
Jacob listened to the story presented by Joseph’s brothers and recognized the bloody tunic they showed him, and he believed that his son had died, falling into a deep sadness and he did not do the same again.
“And Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and said: Surely in mourning I will go down to Sheol because of my son. And his father wept for him” (Genesis 37: 34-35)
Despite seeing the sadness that overwhelmed Jacob, his children preferred to keep the lie told before telling the truth of the facts, and to be able to see Joseph again in his home bringing happiness to his father.
God’s plan in the life of Joseph
Despite the fact that Joseph was separated from his parents and the brothers believed they had gotten rid of him, this caused him to arrive as a slave in Egypt when he was taken by the Midianites to Potiphar.
“Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, captain of the guard” (Genesis 37:36)
While Joseph was in Egypt, he worked in the Egyptian’s house and found grace before them, because God prospered him in everything he did, seen with high esteem by Potiphar. (Genesis 39:2-6)
However, Potiphar’s wife had fallen in love with Josephand that would be a problem for him, since he insisted every day that José sleep with her, to which he removed his body to such an extent that in one day that woman appeared before him and grabbed him, to which that he fled before he sinned before God and his master.
«It happened after this, that his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph, and said: Sleep with me. And he would not, and he said to his lord’s wife: Behold, my lord does not care with me about what is in the house, and he has put in my hand all that he has…
…It happened that he entered the house one day to do his job, and there was no one from the house there. And she seized him by his clothes, saying: Sleep with me. So he left her clothes in her hands, and fled, and went out.
When she saw that he had left her clothes in his hands, and had fled outside, she called the household, and spoke to them, saying: Behold, he has brought us a Hebrew, to make fun of us: he came to me to sleep. with me, and I cried out loud…
…Then she spoke the same words to him, saying: The Hebrew servant that you brought us, came to me to dishonor me; and when I raised my voice and cried, he left his clothes beside me, and fled out of him” (Genesis 39: 7-18)
This event that happened with Potiphar’s wife caused him to take Joseph to jail, where he saw how God prospered him in the same way that he did as his butler, so the head of the jail put him in the care of some things to Joseph, and he could be calm about what was entrusted to the man of God. (Genesis 39:19-23)
After a while, Pharaoh became angry with two of his officials, the chief baker and chief cupbearer, whom I send to jail where José was. After some time, on the same night, both the baker and the cupbearer each had a dream that disturbed them both.
Thus, in the morning, Joseph saw them restless and asked them what was wrong with them, and each one of them told him the dream they had had to which Joseph gave them the meaning of what God had revealed to him.
«I dreamed that I saw a vine in front of me, and in the vine three branches; and it seemed to sprout, and shed its flower, coming to ripen its clusters of grapes: and that Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup in the hand of Pharaoh.
And Joseph said to him, This is their interpretation: the three branches are three days: At the end of three days Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your post: and you will give the cup into Pharaoh’s hand, as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. .
Remember me, then, when you have that good, and I beg you to show mercy to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house; Because I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews; and neither have I done here why they should put me in prison” (Genesis 41:8-15).
When the baker saw that José had answered the butler about the dream he had had, he decided to tell him what he had dreamed, hoping to have a good answer about said dream.
…I also dreamed that I saw three white baskets on my head; Y…