March 17 / Genesis 37

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Genesis 37

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we begin the story of Joseph, a story that will carry us all the way to the end of Genesis. The authors of Search the Scriptures have so much regard for this entire story that they have set aside a separate day twelve days from now for Jospeh’s complete story – on March 29 our reading is “Genesis 37-50”, no new material. So, we begin Joseph…

Many of us know this story – Joseph’s many-colored tunic (a Sunday School favorite), his being sold into slavery, Reuben and Judah intervening on his behalf to save him from death, the brothers’ deception, Jacob’s mourning for the loss of his son. Except for bits and pieces here and there, it’s difficult to find anything new, to see any major item that we don’t already know.

In this Joseph story we will see Joseph as a “type” of Jesus. Already we have two items that relate forward to Jesus. First, we have Joseph being sold for twenty shekels of silver (Genesis 37:28); Jesus was later betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). Second, we see a lamb slaughtered instead of Joseph (Genesis 37:31); Jesus is the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29, 36; see also Genesis 22:8; Isaiah 53:7; I Corinthians 5:7; I Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:12, 12:11, 13:8).

Many of you also have memories of this story. What do you recall? What stuck out for you?

Blessings!

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4 Comments

  1. Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. (Genesis 37:34) Just one of many biblical references where people tear their clothes upon receiving news of some type of calamity. How did this tearing of clothes start, and does tearing of clothes have any biblical significance?

    1. Here’s an answer from people who know much more about this topic than I:

      The tearing of one’s clothes is an ancient tradition among the Jews, and it is associated with mourning, grief, and loss. The first mention of someone tearing his garments is in Genesis. “When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes” (Genesis 37:29). A short time later, “Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days” (Genesis 37:34) when he thought that Joseph had been killed.

      Other biblical examples of men who tore their clothes to express pain and sorrow include David, when Saul and Jonathan were killed (2 Samuel 1:11–12); Elisha, when Elijah was taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2:11–12); Job, when he was bereft of all he possessed (Job 1:20); Jephthah, when he learned the result of his rash vow (Judges 11:34–35); Mordecai, when he learned of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews (Esther 4:1); Ahab, when Elijah pronounced a judgment against him (1 Kings 21:27); and Paul and Barnabas, when the people of Lystra began to worship them (Acts 14:14).

      Sometimes, the tearing of one’s clothes was accompanied by other signs of humility and grief, such as shaving one’s head (Job 1:20), throwing dust on oneself (Job 2:12), and wearing sackcloth (2 Samuel 3:31).

      https://www.gotquestions.org/tear-clothes-Bible.html

      Clearly your question comes at the very beginning of clothes-tearing, Genesis 37:29, 34. Well done!

    1. Thanks, John. Yes, reading the full post is good. In fact, reading the rest of that post gives a good response to Jim’s second question, “…does tearing of clothes have any biblical significance?”

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