seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 37:31 Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”
33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites[c] sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites[c] sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
c. Genesis 37:36 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac (see also verse 28); Masoretic Text Medanites
Bible-commentaries.com picked up on the "almost" lie of the bloody robe. The sons never told Jacob [Israel] that Joseph had been eaten by some ferocious animal. Jacob [Israel] jumped right to that assumption on his own.
Their deception of Jacob is almost as cruel as what they did to Joseph. How they must have hated their father to do such a thing to him. It would have been more merciful had they killed him. We read nowhere in Genesis that Jacob ever found out what actually happened. We do not get the impression that, when Jacob went to Egypt and stayed with Joseph, his son ever told him the secret. From Ch. 50:15-17 we could concluded that Jacob knew. We read: "When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, 'What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?' So they sent word to Joseph, saying, 'Your father left these instructions before he died: ''This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.'' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.' When their message came to him, Joseph wept." It could very well be though that they lied and that the quotation of Jacob's words was their own invention. Had Jacob known, he would no doubt have mentioned the fact in his last words to his sons. How terrible it must have been to have such a skeleton in the family closet!
When the sons bring Joseph's coat to Jacob they are careful not to tell an outright lie. They just show the blood stained robed to Jacob to let him draw his own conclusion. It is Jacob's verdict that Joseph was devoured by a ferocious animal, not theirs. They see their father collapse under the weight of his grief; they stand by and fake sadness and sympathy. But, knowing them, I suppose they were not kept awake at night with feelings of guilt.
When the sons bring Joseph's coat to Jacob they are careful not to tell an outright lie. They just show the blood stained robed to Jacob to let him draw his own conclusion. It is Jacob's verdict that Joseph was devoured by a ferocious animal, not theirs. They see their father collapse under the weight of his grief; they stand by and fake sadness and sympathy. But, knowing them, I suppose they were not kept awake at night with feelings of guilt.
The marshcommentary.com says this.
The brothers "play dumb" and pretend not to recognize Joseph's unique coat.
The "beauty" of this deception is that the brothers did not have to tell a lie. While the brothers did not lie in words, they lied by bringing false evidence. Israel jumped to his own conclusion, and the brothers did not correct his mistaken assumption.Israel was indeed greatly grieved, and would not be comforted. This is probably more than the brothers expected, but they kept their secret.
The "beauty" of this deception is that the brothers did not have to tell a lie. While the brothers did not lie in words, they lied by bringing false evidence. Israel jumped to his own conclusion, and the brothers did not correct his mistaken assumption.Israel was indeed greatly grieved, and would not be comforted. This is probably more than the brothers expected, but they kept their secret.
Man, these are some jealous wicked brothers! This is in the human DNA of Jesus.
