Chs. 37-50:The story about Jacob's son Joseph, is the longest continuous narrative in Genesis.
The story runs from ch 37 to ch. 50.
It is interrupted by an inserted story about Judah and Tamar in ch. 38, although even this story has thematic connections to the Joseph narrative.
The Joseph story provides a fitting conclusion to the Genesis ancestor stories as the family grows larger to become the people or nation of Israel.
The story also functions as a literary bridge to the events in Egypt in the book of Exodus.
Joseph will be the first of the Israelites to be enslaved in Egypt and then rescued, a fate all Israel will eventually share.
Read Genesis 37.1-14.
Joseph's dream and his brother's schemes.
In verse 2: This is the story of the family of is a formula that literal in Hebrews reads, "These are the generations of."
This formula occurs throughout Genesis as a heading for major new sections; examples include Gen 2.4;6.9; 10.1; 11.27; 25.19.
In verse 3-4: The favoring of one child over another and the conflict that results is an important theme in Genesis (Gen. 4,4-5; 21.10; 25.28).
A long robe with sleeves, since it is impossible to do manual labor while wearing it, suggests a life of leisure for Joseph, who seems prone to sleep and dreams (vv. 5, 9).
In verses 5-11: Dreams will play a role throughout the Joseph story.
Each of the three dream sequences (37.5-11; 40.5-23; 41.1-36) contains two paired dreams.
The story assumes that these dreams allow one to know the future, which is in part of a divine plan.
Jacob had some experience with dreams and divine plans in the episode at Bethel (28.10-22), so he kept the matter in mind (v. 11).
Binding sheaves refers to tying newly cut stalks of grain into bundles; these stand in the field for a time to dry.
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