Legands of the Jews > Volume 2 >
JOSEPH HATED BY HIS BRETHREN
Joseph's talebearing against his brethren made them hate him. Among all of them Gad was particularly wrathful, and for good reason. Gad was a very brave man, and when a beast of prey attacked the herd, over which he kept guard at night, he would seize it by one of its legs, and whirl it around until it was stunned, and then he would fling it away to a distance of two stadia, and kill it thus. Once Jacob sent Joseph to tend the flock, but he remained away only thirty days, for he was a delicate lad and fell sick with the heat, and he hastened back to his father. On his return he told Jacob that the sons of the handmaids were in the habit of slaughtering the choice cattle of the herd and eating it, without obtaining permission from Judah and Reuben. But his report was not accurate. What he had seen was Gad slaughtering one lamb, which he had snatched from the very jaws of a bear, and he killed it because it could not be kept alive after its fright. Joseph's account sounded as though the sons of the handmaids were habitually inconsiderate and careless in wasting their father's substance.[9]
To the resentment of the brethren was added their envy
of Joseph, because their father loved him more than all of
them. Joseph's beauty of person was equal to that of his
mother Rachel, and Jacob had but to look at him to be consoled
for the death of his beloved wife. Reason enough for
distinguishing him among his children.[10] As a token of his
great love for him, Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors,
so light and delicate that it could be crushed and concealed
in the closed palm of one hand. The Hebrew name of the
garment, Passim, conveys the story of the sale of Joseph.
The first letter, Pe, stands for Potiphar, his Egyptian master;
Samek stands for Soharim, the merchantmen that
bought Joseph from the company of Ishmaelites to whom his
brethren had sold him; Yod stands for these same Ishmaelites;
and Mem, for the Midianites that obtained him from
the merchantmen, and then disposed of him to Potiphar.
But Passim. has yet another meaning, "clefts." His brethren
knew that the Red Sea would be cleft in twain in days to
come for Joseph's sake, and they were jealous of the glory
to be conferred upon him. Although they were filled with
hatred of him, it must be said in their favor that they were
not of a sullen, spiteful nature. They did not hide their
feelings,
they proclaimed their enmity openly.
Once Joseph dreamed a dream, and he could not refrain from telling it to his brethren. He spoke, and said: "Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed. Behold, you gathered fruit, and so did I. Your fruit rotted, but mine remained sound. Your seed will set up dumb images of idols, but they will vanish at the appearance of my descendant, the Messiah of Joseph. You will keep the truth as to my fate from the knowledge of my father, but I will stand fast as a reward for the self-denial of my mother, and you will prostrate yourselves five times before me."[11]
The brethren refused at first to listen to the dream, but when Joseph urged them again and again, they gave heed to him, and they said, "Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?"[12] God put an interpretation into their mouths that was to be verified in the posterity of Joseph. Jeroboam and Jehu, two kings, and Joshua and Gideon, two judges, have been among his descendants, corresponding to the double and emphatic expressions used by his brethren in interpreting the dream.[13]
Then Joseph dreamed another dream, how the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down before him, and Jacob, to whom he told it first, was rejoiced over it, for he understood its meaning properly.[14] He knew that he himself was designated by the sun, the name by which God had called him when he lodged overnight on the holy site of the Temple. He had heard God say to the angels at that time, "The sun has come."[15] The moon stood for Joseph's mother, and the stars for his brethren, for the righteous are as the stars.[16] Jacob was so convinced of the truth of the dream that he was encouraged to believe that he would live to see the resurrection of the dead, for Rachel was dead, and her return to earth was clearly indicated by the dream. He went astray there, for not Joseph's own mother was referred to, but his foster-mother Bilhah, who had raised him.
Jacob wrote the dream in a book, recording all the circumstances, the day, the hour, and the place, for the holy spirit cautioned him, "Take heed, these things will surely come to pass."[17] But when Joseph repeated his dream to his brethren, in the presence of his father, Jacob rebuked him, saying, "I and thy brethren, that has some sense, but I and thy mother, that is inconceivable, for thy mother is dead."[18] These words of Jacob called forth a reproof from God. He said, "Thus thy descendants will in time to come seek to hinder Jeremiah in delivering his prophecies."[19] Jacob may be excused, he had spoken in this way only in order to avert the envy and hate of his brethren from Joseph, but they envied and hated him because they knew that the interpretation put upon the dream by Jacob would be realized.[20]
