What does Genesis 37:5 mean?
Joseph's life will be greatly shaped by prophetic dreams and their interpretations (Genesis 40:8; 41:15–16). In this case, a dream spoke of his own future life and relationships. Years later, his older brothers will, indeed, be at the mercy of Joseph's good will (Genesis 42:6).At this point, Joseph's brothers view him with so much hatred they can't speak politely to him (Genesis 37:2–4). Why he chooses to share this dream is not clear. Perhaps he naively thought describing the dream to his brothers would increase his esteem in their eyes. Instead, they hated him even more. The following verses describe this dream (Genesis 37:6), and another (Genesis 37:9), making it easy to understand why the dreams provoked his jealous brothers to greater anger.
Genesis 37:1–11 describes Jacob's love and favor for one of his sons, Joseph. The most obvious sign of this extreme partiality is an extravagant robe given to Joseph by his father. Jacob seems to have forgotten the damage done by his parents' own favoritism (Genesis 25:27–28). He ignores or fails to recognize the jealous hatred brewing among his other sons. The situation festers until the brothers can't say a kind word to Joseph. After Joseph reports two prophetic dreams which suggest he will one day rule over them all, they become even more jealous and enraged.
Joseph, 17, is deeply loved by his father Jacob and deeply resented by his ten older brothers thanks to Jacob's favoritism. Jacob gives Joseph a princely robe, and Joseph reports dreams that predict his family will one day bow before him. When alone with Joseph in the wilderness, the brothers decide to kill him. Reuben stops them, suggesting they throw him alive into a pit, instead. While Reuben is gone, however, the brothers sell Joseph to slave-traders, later convincing their father Joseph has been killed by a wild animal. Joseph is placed in the home of an Egyptian nobleman.
