We're talking about Joseph, remember him? The favorite son with the technicolor dreamcoat? He had a knack for dreaming... and maybe not such a great knack for keeping those dreams to himself. As the verse in Genesis (37:9) tells us, "He dreamed yet another dream, and related it to his brothers, and he said: Behold, I dreamed another dream: and, behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars prostrated themselves to me."
Now, Joseph is basically telling his family that they're all bowing down to him. You can imagine how well that went over, right?
According to Bereshit Rabbah 84, when Joseph recounts this dream, saying "Behold, the sun, the moon," Jacob, his father, has a very specific reaction. He asks, "Who revealed to him that my name is sun?" This refers back to an earlier interpretation, found in Bereshit Rabba 68:10, which connects Jacob to the symbol of the sun.
But it gets even more interesting! Rabbi Yitzḥak brings in a wild card, connecting Joseph's dream to Joshua! He imagines Joshua saying to the sun, "Wayward slave, were you not purchased with the money of my father? Did my father not see you in the dream: 'Behold, the sun, the moon…prostrated themselves to me'? You, too, stand still before me." This is a pretty bold statement, linking Jacob's dream to Joshua's power to command the sun to stand still, as described in Joshua 10:13. It paints a picture of inherited authority and the enduring impact of dreams.
Back to Joseph and his family drama. Genesis 37:10 tells us, "He related it to his father and to his brothers, and his father scolded him and said to him: What is this dream that you dreamed? Will we come, I, your mother, and your brothers, to prostrate ourselves to you to the ground?" Ouch.
Bereshit Rabbah goes further, suggesting that God Himself might have a word or two about scolding prophets. It quotes Jeremiah 29:27, referencing Shemaya the Neḥelamite's question, "Now, why did you not scold Jeremiah of Anatot?" The text implies that Israelites were in the habit of scolding prophets, perhaps seeing Joseph's dream as a similar kind of overreach.
But here’s where it gets really fascinating. Rabbi Levi, in the name of Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina, suggests that Jacob actually believed the dream would come true, including the part about his mother bowing down. How is that possible if Rachel, Joseph’s mother, was already dead?
This leads to a deeper question: Did Jacob believe in the revival of the dead? As the text asks, "Will we come [havo navo] – Will I and your brothers come? That is fine. '[Will we come,] I and your mother' – is your mother not dead; and you say: 'I, your mother, and your brothers?'" It seems like Jacob was pondering the very nature of reality and resurrection!
The text offers a solution, noting that Jacob “kept the matter in mind” (Genesis 37:11). Jacob didn't know that the dream could also refer to Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, who raised Joseph as if she were his own mother. In a way, Bilhah was a mother figure to Joseph, fulfilling the dream in an unexpected way.
So, what do we take away from all this? Joseph's dream wasn't just a childish fantasy. It was a complex, multi-layered prophecy that touched on themes of family, authority, and even the possibility of resurrection. It shows us how even seemingly simple stories can hold deep, profound meanings, waiting to be unlocked through careful interpretation and a little bit of imagination. It makes you wonder, what dreams are you holding onto, and how might they unfold in ways you never expected?