Jacob gets back home – Isaac dies:

 

(Gen 35:27) Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.  {28} Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. {29} So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him."

 

Esau and Jacob buried him.

 

Apparently, a real peace had been made between Jacob and Esau as they come together to bury their father.

 

The death of Rebekah is not told.

 

A great thought of the chapter:

 

Back to Bethel:

 

God’s blessings followed.

 

(Gen 36:1 NKJV)  Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom.

 

Just remember, when you hear of the Edomites, they are the descendants of Esau.

 

(Gen 36:2) Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; {3} and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth. {4} Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel. {5} And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

 

 

(Gen 36:6) Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob.

(Gen 36:7) For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock. {8} So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.

 

 

(Gen 36:9) And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.

 

There is another important function of genealogies.  It makes the Bible more believable because there are archaeological discoveries that validate many of the names that are found in the Bible.

 

This is not true of the Book of Mormon.  It contains numerous names which are very strange sounding.  They have not been found or verified by archaeology.

 

 

Of course, if he is any kin of mine, he is obviously a very distant relative.  Doc came across this in his personal Bible study, and, of course, it was pointed out to me by my father when I very young.

 

Names can be interesting.  They can be very important, but for the moment, we will leave this list and this chapter, and move on to Chapter 37.

 

(Gen 37 NKJV)  Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. {2} This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

 

As things turn out, this report was handled very poorly:  By whom?  Who knows?  In my judgment, Joseph made the report, but Jacob should have personally checked it out so that he was the one responsible for any actions that were taken, not Joseph.

 

(Gen 37:3) Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. {4} But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

What an appropriate conclusion for Father’s Day!

We know the story, so we know what Joseph had to go through because of the mistakes of a father!

 

 

(Gen 37:5) Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.

 

Again, bad judgment!  Did Joseph know his brothers hated him?  My guess is that he did.  Kids are not the best at hiding their feelings.  In this case we are talking about young me, but probably not mature in age, nor in judgment.

 

(Gen 37:6) So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: {7} "There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf."

 

(Gen 37:8) And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

 

It would seem that Joseph should know better than to tell the next dream, but for whatever reason, he told it as well.

 

(Gen 37:9) Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me."

 

 

(Gen 37:10) So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?"

(Gen 37:11) And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. {12} Then his brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. {13} And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." So he said to him, "Here I am." {14} Then he said to him, "Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me." So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

 

 

(Gen 37:15) Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, "What are you seeking?" {16} So he said, "I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks." {17} And the man said, "They have departed from here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

(Gen 37:18) Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. {19} Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming! {20} "Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!"

 

 

(Gen 37:21) But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let us not kill him." {22} And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him"; that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. {23} So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. {24} Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

(Gen 37:25) And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. {26} So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? {27} "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh." And his brothers listened. {28} Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

 

 

(Gen 42:21-22 NKJV)  Then they said to one another, "We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us."

(Gen 42:22) And Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not speak to you, saying, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us."

 

 

{29} Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. {30} And he returned to his brothers and said, "The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?"

 

 

(Gen 37:31) So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. {32} Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, "We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not?"

 

(Gen 37:33) And he recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces." {34} Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. {35} And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him.

 

 

(Gen 37:36) Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

 

Chapter 38 is parenthetical to the story of Joseph.  The story will continue with chapter 39.

 

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