The Story of Joseph, Part 1

Joseph came from a large family. He had eleven brothers and at least one sister. He was the next to the youngest in birth order and his father's favorite. You see, Joseph was the oldest son of his father's (Jacob) favorite wife (Rachel, dead by the time this story comes around). Because he was his father's favorite, Joseph enjoyed certain privileges, including a coat that was dyed several colors. This was a big deal, since dying something like that was an expensive process. This, naturally, made his brothers angry and jealous, since he was not only their half-brother, but also younger than them. They refused to treat him with any respect.

But the coat wasn't the only reason that Joseph's brothers hated him. He also liked to tell them about his dreams. Not just any dreams, however. These were important dreams. In the first, Joseph tells his brothers that they were all tying up sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly, Joseph's sheaf stands upright and all of his brothers' sheaves bow down to Joseph's sheaf. Joseph's brother's respond with anger, asking him if he really thinks that he's going to someday have power over them. This little incident makes them hate him even more.

Joseph doesn't really have the sense to stop there, though. He then has another dream, which he tells to his brothers. In this dream, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars all bow down to him, personally. He tells this dream to his brothers and to his father, who responds in a typically paternal way, "What kind of a dream is that? Are your mother and I and your brothers really going to bow down before you?" Once again, Joseph's brothers get angrier. However, despite what he's said, Joseph's father keeps this incident fresh in his memory.

One day, Joseph's brothers all go out to tend to their father's flocks. They've been sent to Shechem with the flocks. So Joseph's father sends him to his brothers to see how they're doing. Joseph gets to Shechem, and doesn't see his brothers. He wanders around looking for them, until a nice local man asks him what he's looking for. Joseph replies that he's looking for his brothers. The local tells him that he heard Joseph's brothers say that they were going to go to Dothan. Joseph promptly heads off for Dothan.

As Joseph nears where his brothers are, they see him coming. They're all still pretty upset about those dreams, so they hatch a plan to kill him. They decide to kill him and throw him into some hole in the ground. Not only that, but they've got an excuse all planned out for their father: Joseph was eaten by a wild animal. They specifically mention that they're doing this because of those stupid dreams. Now, as the brothers are conspiring, the oldest one (Reuben) speaks up. Reuben tells them that they shouldn't kill Joseph, just throw him into a hole in the ground. Secretly, Reuben was planning on rescuing Joseph and gaining a little bit of power with their father.

So Joseph arrives to the place where his brothers are, and they waste no time stealing his colorful coat and throwing him into a dry pit in the ground. Then, like all good criminals, they immediately sit down for a meal. as they're eating, a merchant caravan approaches. One of the brothers (Judah) suggests that, instead of getting nothing and killing Joseph, they sell him for a profit. That way, Joseph is just as gone, and the brothers all have money to spend. Also, they'll avoid that whole stigma of killing one's own relative. Everyone agrees that this is pretty good idea (Reuben has wandered off somewhere and isn't present for this conversation).

They pull Joseph out of the pit, and sell him for twenty shekels of silver. So Joseph is sold into slavery and taken to Egypt. The brothers have successfully gotten rid of their dream-obsessed little brother. Reuben gets back about this time and goes to check in the pit. Finding it empty, he freaks out. He's lost his chance to gain his father's favor, and he's pretty upset about it, tearing his clothes and yelling at his brothers.

There's only one thing left that the brothers can do: cover up the evidence of their crime. They kill a goat, and  dip Joseph's coat in the blood. When they return home, they tell their father that they found it on their way, and they ask innocently if it might be Joseph's. Their father is distraught with grief; he tears his clothes and mourns the loss of his favorite son. He won't let any of his other sons or daughters comfort him. He goes so far as to claim that he'll mourn his son until he dies.

Meanwhile in Egypt, Joseph has been sold to the captain of Pharaoh's guard.

To Be Continued....