John Calvin Commentary Genesis 37:6

"And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:" — Genesis 37:6 (ASV)

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.