After journeying from Shechem to Hebron to be with their father Isaac, Jacob's sons settled in the valley. The pastures of Shechem were still good, and that’s where they tended their flocks. The Book of Jasher tells us this was the 106th year of Jacob’s life, and the tenth year since his return from Padan-aram. It was also the year his wife, Leah, passed away at the age of fifty-one, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah, the same burial place Abraham had purchased from the children of Heth.
Now, Joseph, along with his younger brother Benjamin, were Rachel’s sons, and still quite young. They hadn’t participated in their brothers' battles against the Amorites. But Joseph, seeing his brothers' strength and greatness, started to… well, let’s just say he developed a bit of an ego. He praised them, yes, but he also began to see himself as superior. And Jacob, well, he wasn't helping things. He loved Joseph more than his other sons, because he was a son of his old age. And out of that love, he made Joseph that infamous ketonet passim – the coat of many colors.
Can you imagine how that went over with the other brothers?
As we read in Jasher, Joseph, emboldened by his father's favor, began to exalt himself even more, and even brought evil reports about his brothers to Jacob. Seeing all this, and knowing their father's preference for Joseph, his brothers hated him. They couldn't even speak to him peacefully.
And then came the dreams. Oh, those dreams!
At seventeen, Joseph dreamt a dream, and he just had to share it. "We were all binding sheaves in the field," he told his brothers, "and my sheaf rose and stood upright, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to it!" You can imagine the reaction. "Do you actually think you'll reign over us?" they scoffed.
But he wasn't done. He told his father, Jacob, about the dream, too. Jacob, though he kissed and blessed Joseph, knew this was a dangerous thing to flaunt.
Then came the second dream, which Joseph shared with everyone: "The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me!" Jacob, hearing this in front of all his sons, rebuked Joseph: "What does this mean? Do you think your mother, I, and your brothers will bow down to you?"
As Jasher points out, despite the rebuke, Jacob "reserved the dreams in his heart," pondering their meaning. But the brothers? They were beyond jealous. Their hatred for Joseph only intensified.
One day, the brothers were delayed in Shechem while feeding their father's flock. Jacob, worried that the people of Shechem had attacked them, sent Joseph to check on them. This is where things take a dark turn.
Joseph searched for his brothers in Shechem but couldn’t find them. An angel of the Lord found him wandering in a field and told him they had gone to Dothan.
When Joseph finally found his brothers in Dothan, they saw him coming from afar and plotted to kill him. "Here comes that dreamer!" Simeon exclaimed. "Let's kill him and throw him into a pit. We'll tell our father a wild animal devoured him."
Reuben, however, had a different idea. He urged them to throw Joseph into a pit, but not to kill him directly, hoping to rescue him later and bring him back to Jacob.
When Joseph arrived, they seized him, tore off his coat of many colors, and threw him into a pit, one that was empty of water but filled with serpents and scorpions. According to the Book of Jasher, Joseph cried out, and the Lord hid the creatures so they wouldn't harm him.
From the depths of the pit, Joseph pleaded with his brothers. "What have I done? Why don't you fear the Lord? Am I not your brother?" He reminded them of their ancestors' compassion for the needy. "How can you withhold pity from your own flesh and blood?"
But his brothers wouldn't listen. They moved away from the pit to avoid hearing his cries.
Joseph, in his despair, lamented, "Oh, that my father knew what you have done to me!"
What a heartbreaking scene. Family, meant to be a source of love and support, turned into a source of betrayal and cruelty. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? How easily can jealousy and resentment poison even the closest relationships? And what responsibility do we have to manage those feelings, both in ourselves and in others, before they lead to such devastating consequences?