Genesis 37:2

◄This is/I will now tell you► what happened to Jacob’s family. When his son Joseph was 17 years old, he was taking care of the flocks of sheep and goats with some of his older brothers. They were sons of his father’s ◄concubines/female slaves that he had taken to be his secondary wives►. Joseph sometimes told his father about bad things that his brothers were doing.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

In Context

1Jacob continued to live in the Canaan region where his father had lived previously.

3Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved any of his other children, because Joseph had been born when Jacob was an old man. Jacob made for Joseph a long pretty robe that had long sleeves.

Read all of Genesis 37

Cross References

Genesis 2:4That is how God created the heavens and the earth. God, whose name is Yahweh, made the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 6:9This is why: Noah was a man who always acted in a righteous way. No one who lived at that time could criticize him about anything. Noah lived in close fellowship with God.

Genesis 30:4So she gave him her slave, Bilhah, to be another wife for him, and Jacob had sex [EUP] with her.

Genesis 35:22While they were living in that area, Jacob’s son Reuben had sex [EUP] with Bilhah, one of his father’s ◄concubines/female slaves whom he had taken as a secondary wife►. Someone told Jacob about it, and it made him very angry. ◄I will now give you/Here is► a list of Jacob’s twelve sons.

Genesis 42:8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

John 7:7The people [MTY] who ◄ do not believe in me/do not belong to God► cannot hate you, but they hate me because I tell them that what they are doing is evil.

Matthew Henry on Genesis 37:2-5

The History of Joseph. ( b. c. 1729.) 1 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Genesis 37:2