Genesis 37-39
Day 26: Genesis 37-39 Notes & Takeaways
We begin chapter 37 with Jacob’s son, Joseph, the first born of Rachel. The first 10 verses of this chapter are like a flashback, as technically they happened before the death of Rachel, but to keep the story coherent, they kept it with the rest of the chapter.
Joseph was the favorite, and while his brothers tended to the animals, Joseph stayed home with his father, Jacob, unless his father sent him to check on his brothers. His brothers were very jealous of Joseph, especially after Jacob gives him an ornate robe in verse 3. This robe signified, Jacob’s favoritism towards Joseph, the position and favor Joseph had, and the birthright.
According to Boice, the real idea behind the ancient Hebrew phrase for tunic of many colors is that it was a tunic extending all the way down to the wrists and ankles, as opposed to a shorter one. This was not what a workingman wore. It was a garment of privilege and status. The man who wore a tunic of many colorswatched others as they did hard physical labor. (Guzik)
Now, Joseph had two dreams, the first one he was a sheaf rose that stood upright and all the other sheaves bowed down to him. The others signified his siblings. The second dream, both the sun and the moon, along with the stars bowed down to him. This dream signified both his siblings and his parents. The dreams angered them and only increased their jealousy. We read a few weeks ago the story of Job and in that story, Job 33:14-15, to be precise, we see Elihu telling Job how the Lord speaks to mankind. This is how the Lord spoke to Joseph.
Joseph could have used some restraint and kept all this to himself, but instead, his honesty would get him into trouble. We must also note that his dream involved sheaves of grain and his position later would involve grain and food.
In the latter half of chapter 37 we see Jacob send his son Joseph to check on his brothers in Shechem, a place that their family was influenced to commit sin after the rape of Dinah (chapter 34). But, when he arrived he found out they had gone to Dothan, which is about 10-15 miles away. As they see him coming they plan, not just to mess with him, but to kill him. Only a hardened, sinful heart could think such harsh cruelty would be good for a brother. Luke 6:45 tells us that “from the heart, the mouth speaks.” Therefore we can assume that their hearts were full of sin. Unfortunately we cannot change our hearts with just behavioral changes. But, God can! He changes us completely, beginning with our hearts (Deuteronomy 30:6).
Reuben, the oldest, convinces them to throw him into a cistern instead, hoping to come back and get him out later, but whilst he is gone (probably fetching far away cattle) Judah comes up with a plan to sell him off to the Ishmaelites, Arab traders, who descended from their great-uncle Ishmael, son of Abraham. Judah, is to later become the ancestor of the messiah. We will see how much he changes in both heart and character as the story of Joseph continues.
Once Reuben came back and saw that he was no longer there, he panicked, and they had to come up with a plan for his disappearance. They cover up their cruel act with another: pretending their brother was killed by an animal, pouring blood on the robe, and telling their father, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe” (Gen 37:32). Their cruelty is seen clearly in this statement and in their fake comfort. Even whilst seeing their father in mourning and pain, they did not tell him the truth.
Meanwhile, Joseph has now been sold in Egypt to Potiphar, which will bring him one step closer to God’s major plan.
Chapter 38
We see that Judah, who is about 15 or 16 has left his family and has gone down to live with a Canaanite man named Hiram. He is no longer under the home of Jacob, who would be the spiritual leader of the home. He is instead surrounding himself with the customs, traditions, and the lives of the world. It is at such a young age that teenagers can slowly turn away from God and let the world tell them what they should think and how they should be if they are not careful.
“Many have been drawn into marriages scandalous and pernicious to themselves and their families by keeping bad company, and growing familiar with bad people: one wicked league entangles men in another. Let young people be admonished by this to take their good parents for their best friends, and to be advised by them, and not by flatterers, who wheedle them, to make a prey of them.” (Henry)
Judah, like Esau, marries a Canaanite woman.
“Consistently, marriage with Canaanite women had been discouraged among the patriarchs and those connected to them (Genesis 24:3, 28:1, 28:8). The Canaanite neighbors were rapidly corrupting the family of Israel. Their future looked like a combination of corruption and assimilation. God had a plan to bring them out of Canaan.” (Guzik)
We can see that he does not consult his father but instead relies on the leadership of Hiram. Through his new wife, Judah has 3 sons: Er, Onan, and Shelby. Once old enough, Judah gets a wife for Er, who we can assume is also a Canaanite. His wickedness is so great that God himself puts him to death.
Now Judah tells his son Onan to sleep with Er’s wife and fulfill his duty to her. This was a custom that would later be made into a law in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. However he knows it won’t technically be his son so when he’d sleep with her”he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring to his brother.” The LORD saw his wickedness and also put him to death.
The sad part about this is that we know that the Messiah would come from the descendants of Judah, therefore, had Onan not been wicked and put to death, he could have been one of the great descendants of Jesus Christ.
Judah sends his daughter-in-law to stay with her father and promised his youngest son to her once he became a man. He was afraid that if the youngest married her, he would do the same and God would also put him to death, leaving him childless. Sadly, this left Tamar in a very sad position and because there were still brothers left, the blame was left to Judah and his son Shelah.
After Judah’s wife dies and Tamar sees that his son Shelah has grown up and has still not been given to her, she comes up with a scheme to pretend to be a prostitute at the entrance of Enaim, where she knows her father-in-law will pass by. Some people believe that even though Tamar was a Canaanite woman, she strongly believed the promise made to Abraham and his seed, particularly that of the Messiah, who was to descend from Judah, and that she was therefore ready to become a part of. Which, if it is true, she succeeds at because we see her later mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew.
“Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram” (Matthew 1:3, NIV)
“When Judah saw her…” (Gen 38:15) It started with his eyes (2 Peter 2:14). Judah allowed himself to fall into sin because his eyes caused him to lust after her. What he should have done was made a covenant with his eyes the way that Job did in Job 31:1, ““I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.” Job understood that his eyes could cause him to fall into the traps of the enemy, and that a simple glance, could evolve into lust, which evolves into a full fleshly fall into temptation.
He pledges a young goat in exchange for her sleeping with him and entrusts his seal, cord, and staff to her.
“Judah evidently suspended his signet round his neck by a cord; and this custom still exists among the Arabs, of whom some wear signet rings, while others hang them round their necks. Probably each man of distinction had his emblem, and in Genesis 49 Jacob seems to refer to them. Thus Judah's emblem was a lion” (Ellicott)
3 months later Tamar is pregnant and she probably told everyone she prostituted herself as part of her shrewd plan, but here in this plan we see that Judah quickly judges her with death, for doing what he had been guilty of as well. Which reminds us of Matthew 7:5. How many times have we passed judgment on someone for doing something we have done or have thought of doing? We are in the wrong doing so. We must show grace when people sin and ask for forgiveness for we would not be better off if it wasn’t for God’s grace upon our lives.
When she brings the seal, cord, and staff to light Judah realizes that she was more righteous than him. For he never gave Shelah to her to fulfill his obligation as he should have. When the twins came, they named them Perez and Zerah. Perez means breaking out, for he broke out after his brother tried to come out but went back in, so he became the firstborn. Zerah’s name can mean scarlet or brightness.
Chapter 39
We end the reading for today with Joseph being taken down to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, an Egyptian, officer of the Pharoah, and captain of the guard. Throughout Joseph’s story we will see how God constantly watched over Joseph and used all the bad for good (Gen 50:20). Everything Joseph did prospered because the Lord was with him and even Potiphar noticed it. Potiphar left him in charge of his entire household, the only thing unavailable to him, was Potiphar’s wife.
When all the servants are out of the house and only Joseph and Potiphar’s wife are home, she boldly asks him to go to bed and sleep with her. The Douay-Rheims English Catholic Bible (same era as King James) says that Potiphar is one of Pharaoh's eunuchs. As does the Geneva Bible, Young's Literal Translation, and the Latin Vulgate both Clementina and Nova editions (Eunuch is a Latin stem word). Also in the Septuagint, as translated by Brenton, he is a eunuch.
“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Petephres the eunuch of Pharao, the *captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ismaelites,” (Gen 39:1, Brenton Septuagint Translation)
If he was a castrated eunuch, this might help us understand why his wife was looking for sexual activity somewhere else besides her husband. But, Joseph, being a great man of God, did not fall into temptation because he truly did not want to sin against God.
“No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9)
Once he flees, the wife makes up a lie that Joseph tried to come onto her and Potiphar puts him in the prison where the king’s prisoners were held. But God once again grants favor upon Joseph in the eyes of the prison warden, who puts him in charge of all those in the prison. Time and time again we see God’s marvelous plan coming together. No matter where Joseph went God gave him success.
This is where we end day 26’s reading. Tomorrow we will read Genesis chapter 40-42. I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying it all at the same time. I know I am! Make sure to follow RF on Instagram, and join our FB Group to stay up to date for our upcoming weekly zoom sessions!
REFERENCES:
Brenton Septuagint Translation (https://ebible.org/eng-Brenton/)
Ellicott, Charles Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, (Cassell and Company, 1905)
Guzik, David Enduring Word Commentary (enduringword.com, 2023)
Henry, Matthew Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Complete and Unabridged (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991)
All quotes from the Bible are in the NIV translation.
