The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Pit” it comes from the Hebrew Word “bor” which means “pit, cistern.”
A father’s favorite son, a coat of many colors, and brothers who can’t stand either one. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Genesis 37.
Joseph, seventeen years old, is Jacob’s favorite son, and Jacob gives him a richly ornamented coat, a visible symbol of favoritism that his brothers deeply resent. Joseph makes things worse by sharing two dreams that suggest his brothers, and even his parents, will one day bow down to him. His brothers hate him even more for it, and even his father rebukes him, though Jacob “observed the saying.”
When Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers tending flocks, they see him coming from a distance and plot to kill him. Reuben convinces them instead to throw him into a pit alive, planning secretly to rescue him later. But while Reuben is away, the brothers sell Joseph to a caravan of Ishmaelite traders for twenty pieces of silver.
They dip Joseph’s coat in goat’s blood and bring it to Jacob, letting him assume a wild animal killed his son. Jacob mourns deeply, refusing to be comforted. Meanwhile, Joseph is sold in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s guard.
It is also worth noting Reuben’s private motive in suggesting the pit instead of outright murder. The text specifically says he intended to rescue Joseph later and return him safely to their father. His plan fails only because he happens to be away when the brothers sell Joseph to the traders instead. Even inside this broken family, some flicker of conscience was still present, even if it ultimately came too late.
Joseph’s brothers threw him into a literal pit, meaning to erase him from the family story entirely. But God had already shown Joseph, through those very dreams, that this was not the end. Betrayal can feel like the final word, but it rarely is the last word God intends to speak.
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