John Calvin Commentary Genesis 37

And Jacob dwelt. Moses confirms what he had before declared, that, by the departure of Esau, the land was left to holy Jacob as its sole possessor. Although in appearance he did not obtain a single clod; yet, contented with the bare sight of the land, he exercised his faith; and Moses expressly compares him with his father, who had been a stranger in that land all his life. Therefore, though by the removal of his brother to another abode, Jacob was no little gainer; yet it was the Lord’s will that this advantage should be hidden from his eyes, in order that he might depend entirely upon the promise.

These are the generations of Jacob. By the word תולדות toledoth, we are not so much to understand a genealogy as a record of events, which appears more clearly from the context. For Moses, having begun in this way, does not enumerate sons and grandsons but explains the cause of the envy of Joseph’s brothers, who formed a wicked conspiracy against him and sold him as a slave. It is as if he had said, “Having briefly summed up the genealogy of Esau, I now return to the series of my history, concerning what happened to the family of Jacob.”

Moreover, Moses, being about to speak of the abominable wickedness of Jacob’s sons, begins with the statement that Joseph was dearer than the rest to his father because he had him in his old age. As a token of tender love, his father had clothed him with a coat woven of many colors.

But it was not surprising that the boy should be a great favorite with his aged father, for this usually happens; and no just ground is here given for envy, since sons of a more mature age, by natural inclination, might well concede such a point.

Moses, however, states this as the cause of hatred, that his father's affection was more inclined to him than to the others. The brothers develop hatred for the boy, whom they see is more tenderly loved by their father, as he was born in his old age. If they did not choose to join in this love for their brother, why did they not excuse it in their father?

Therefore, we perceive their malignant and perverse disposition. But that a coat of many colors and similar trivial things inflamed them to devise a murderous plot is a proof of their detestable cruelty. Moses also says that their hatred increased because Joseph reported the evil talk of his brothers to their father.

Some interpret the word 'evil' as meaning some intolerable crime; but others more correctly suppose that it was a complaint from the boy that his brothers tormented him with their reproaches. For what follows in Moses, I take to have been added as an explanation, so that we may know the reason he had been treated so badly and with such hostility.

It may be asked, why Moses here accuses only the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, when, afterwards, he does not exempt the sons of Leah from the same charge? Indeed, one of her sons, Reuben, was milder than any of the others; next to him was Judah, his brother by the same mother.

But what is to be said of Simon? What of Levi? Certainly, since they were older, it is probable that they were leaders in this matter. However, the suspicion may arise that because these were the sons of concubines and not of true wives, their minds would be more quickly moved by envy, as if their servile origin on their mother’s side subjected them to contempt.

And Joseph dreamed a dream. Moses, having stated what the first seeds of this enmity were, now ascends higher and shows that Joseph had been chosen, by the wonderful purpose of God, for great things; that this had been declared to him in a dream; and that, therefore, the hatred of his brothers broke forth into madness.

God, however, revealed in dreams what He would do, so that afterwards it might be known that nothing had happened by chance, but that what had been fixed by a heavenly decree was, at last, in its proper time, carried forward through indirect paths to its completion.

It had been predicted to Abraham that his descendants would be wanderers from the land of Canaan.

Therefore, so that Jacob might pass over into Egypt, this method was divinely appointed: namely, that Joseph, being ruler over Egypt in a time of famine, might bring his father there with his whole family and supply them with food. Now, from the facts first related, no one could have guessed such an outcome.

The sons of Jacob conspire to put to death the very person without whom they cannot be preserved; yes, he who was ordained to be the minister of salvation to them is thrown into a well and with difficulty rescued from the jaws of death. Driven about by various misfortunes, he seems to be an outcast from his father’s house.

Afterwards, he is thrown into prison, as into another tomb, where he languishes for a long time. Therefore, nothing was less probable than that the family of Jacob would be preserved by his means, when he was cut off from it, carried far away, and not even counted among the living.

Nor did any hope of his liberation remain, especially from the time he was neglected by the chief butler; but, being condemned to perpetual imprisonment, he was left there to rot.

God, however, by such complicated methods, accomplishes what He had purposed. Therefore, in this history, we not only have a most beautiful example of Divine Providence, but also two other points are added that are especially worthy of notice:

1. That the Lord performs His work by wonderful and unusual methods;
2. That He brings forth the salvation of His Church, not from magnificent splendor, but from death and the grave.

Besides, in the person of Joseph, a vivid image of Christ is presented, as will more fully appear from the context. But since these subjects will be often repeated, let us follow the thread of Moses’ discourse.

God, of His mere grace, conferred peculiar honor on the boy, who was the second to last among twelve, by giving him priority among his brothers.

For by what merit or virtue can we say that he attained lordship over his brothers? Afterwards, he seemed, indeed, to acquire this by his own great beneficence; but from the dream we learn that it was the free gift of God, which in no way depended upon Joseph’s beneficence.

Rather, he was ordained to be chief by the mere good pleasure of God, so that he might show kindness to his brothers. Now, since the Lord was, at that time, accustomed to reveal His secrets by two methods—by visions and by dreams—one of these kinds is noted here.

For, no doubt, Joseph had often dreamed in the common manner; but Moses shows that a dream was now divinely sent to him, which would have the force and weight of an oracle.

We know that dreams are often produced by our daily thoughts; sometimes they are indications of an unhealthy state of the body. But whenever God intends to make known His counsel by dreams, He engraves on them certain marks that distinguish them from passing and frivolous imaginations, so that their credibility and authority may stand firm.

Thus Joseph, being certainly persuaded that he had not been deluded by an empty specter, fearlessly announced his dream as a heavenly oracle. Now, although dominion is promised to him under a rural symbol, it is one that does not seem suitable for instruction to the sons of Jacob, for we know that they were herdsmen, not plowmen.

Since they had no harvest that they could gather in, it seems hardly fitting that homage should be paid to his sheaf. But perhaps God deliberately chose this similitude to show that this prophecy was not founded upon the present fortunes of Joseph, and that the substance of his dominion would not consist in those things that were at hand, but that it would be a future benefit, the cause of which was to be sought elsewhere than at home.

Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Here it is plainly shown to us that the paternal favor of God towards the elect is like a fan to excite against them the enmity of the world. When the sons of Jacob heard that they were fighting in vain against God, their unjust hatred should, by such means, have been corrected.

For it was as if God, setting Himself in their midst, would repress their fury by these words: “Your impious conspiring will be fruitless; for although you boast, I have appointed as your chief the man whose ruin your wicked envy drives you to seek.” Perhaps, also, by this consolatory dream, He intended to alleviate the trouble of the holy youth.

Yet their obstinacy only increased it further. Let us then learn not to be grieved if, at any time, the shining of God’s grace upon us should cause us to be envied.

The sons of Jacob, however, were all too perceptive interpreters of the dream, yet they derided it as a fable because it was repugnant to their wishes.

Thus it often happens that those who are ill-disposed quickly perceive what the will of God is. But, because they feel no reverence, they despise it. To this stubborn disobedience, however, a stupor follows which destroys their former sharp perception.

And he dreamed yet another dream. The scope of this dream is the same. The only difference is that God, to inspire greater confidence in the oracle, presents him with a figure from heaven. Joseph's brothers had despised what was said concerning the sheaves; the Lord now calls upon them to look towards heaven, where his august Majesty shines forth.

However, it may be asked how it can be reconciled with the fact that his mother, who was now dead, could come and bow down to him. The interpretation of certain Hebrews, who refer it to Bilhah, is unconvincing, and the meaning appears plain without such contrivances: for the sun and moon designate the head of the family on each side. Thus, in this figure, Joseph sees himself reverenced by the whole house of his father.