Why Did Joseph's Brothers Hate Him?
The story of Joseph and his brothers is widely recognized as one of the most moving narratives in the entire Bible. It opens with the following statement:
Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. This is the account of Jacob’s family line. (Genesis 37:1-2)
The most significant point here is that Jacob/Israel’s family has finally begun to root itself in the Promised Land. Isaac lived there as a stranger, "in the land of his father's sojourning" (בְּאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵי אָבִיו), but Jacob’s status was different. He dwelled there as a permanent resident. The Hebrew verb וַיֵּשֶׁב (vayeshev) denotes a settled existence rather than sojourning and deliberately contrasts Jacob with Esau, confirming the covenant line’s presence in the land.
This seemingly small detail is extraordinarily important. God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was beginning to be fulfilled. Yet at the very moment of this blessing, one of the greatest trials in the history of Israel’s emerging family was about to unfold.
Looking back on this story, it almost anticipates what the psalmist would write centuries later:
The righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. (Psalm 34:19)
Israel’s family will indeed be delivered by the Lord. But I am getting ahead of myself. We are only at the beginning of this breathtaking story.
The entire story, which will become one of the longest in the Bible, is built upon the following verses:
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was learning from his half-brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, how to tend the flocks, and he brought their father a bad report (דִּבָּתָם רָעָה, dibatam ra’ah) about them. (Genesis 37:2)
The story begins by describing Joseph as a seventeen-year-old learning from his older half-brothers how to tend the flock. The Hebrew suggests he was learning from them, not simply tending the flock alongside them. Interestingly, unlike in earlier chapters, Bilhah and Zilpah are now called Jacob’s wives rather than his concubines. Perhaps their status had changed through a formal marriage, or perhaps Leah had already died, though the Torah never records her death. In any case, the narrative still hints at the lesser status of these women and, by extension, their sons.
The narrator then introduces the trigger for the drama that follows: Joseph brought a bad report about his half-brothers to his father. The text offers no judgment. Was he telling the truth, exaggerating, or slandering them? We are not told.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he was the son of his old age. (Genesis 37:3)
The phrase “the son of his old age” (כִּי-בֶן-זְקֻנִים הוּא) most likely reflects the long years Jacob waited for Rachel, the love of his life, to bear him a child. By the time Joseph was born, Leah had already given birth to six sons and one daughter(Genesis 29:31–30:24). Others suggest the phrase points to Jacob’s special trust in Joseph as he grew older and more dependent on others.
It is also striking that Joseph is singled out even though Benjamin, Rachel’s other son, had already been born (Genesis 35:16–20). Perhaps Benjamin’s young age and the painful memory of Rachel’s death during childbirth explain why Jacob’s affection centered on Joseph.
And he made an ornate robe (כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים, ketonet passim) for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him (שָׂנֵא, sane) and could not speak a kind word to him. (Genesis 37:3b–4)
Scholars debate the exact meaning of ketonet passim, with some ancient translations describing it as a long-sleeved robe. The most likely sense, however, is a richly ornamented garment. Whatever its precise appearance, the point is clear: Jacob publicly distinguished Joseph from all his other sons.
In Biblical Hebrew, “to hate” does not always carry the modern sense of hostility. It can simply mean loving someone less, much as Jesus says, “Whoever does not hate their father and mother cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26; cf. Matthew 10:37). Here, however, that lesser love gradually develops into the murderous hatred the brothers eventually display toward Joseph.
Viewed in this light, the connection becomes clear. Jacob loved his other sons less, showing open favoritism toward Joseph. In turn, the brothers came to “love Joseph less” until they were willing to sell him into slavery.
Everything begins with the father. His preferential treatment of one son turns the others—who naturally longed for their father’s love and approval—into men consumed by disappointment and resentment.
The situation is further complicated by two dreams, which, as we later discover, were revealed to Joseph by God Himself. At this point in the story, however, that is far from obvious. We read:
Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us (הֲמָלֹךְ תִּמְלֹךְ עָלֵינוּ)? Will you actually rule us?” (מָשׁוֹל תִּמְשֹׁל בָּנוּ) And they hated him all the more (וַיּוֹסִפוּ עוֹד שְׂנֹא אֹתוֹ) because of his dream and what he had said. (Genesis 37:5–8)
The brothers’ reaction is understandable given their father’s favoritism toward Joseph and their own longing for Jacob’s love and approval. Not only had Jacob given Joseph the affection they desired, but Joseph had also, from their perspective, contributed to their father’s negative opinion of them (Genesis 37:2). Now the situation escalates even further. The dream portrays Joseph not only as Jacob’s favored son but also as the future ruler over all his brothers. From their perspective, this was unthinkable. Joseph was one of the youngest sons, placing him far down the line of succession for the family birthright and leadership. The very idea must have seemed absurd.
Then, just to add insult to injury, comes another dream. Joseph reports:
Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” (Genesis 37:9)
It is unclear why Joseph continues sharing these dreams with his brothers. Did he fail to see their reaction? Was he trying to provoke them? Or was he simply too naïve to recognize the depth of their hatred? The text does not say.
Given the makeup of the family (eleven sons besides Joseph), it is clear that the sun and moon represent his parents, Jacob and Rachel. We then read Jacob’s response as though his beloved Rachel were still alive:
When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him (וַיְקַנְאוּ-בוֹ, אֶחָיו), but his father kept the matter in mind (וְאָבִיו שָׁמַר אֶת-הַדָּבָר). (Genesis 37:10–11)
Although Jacob was puzzled by the dream, he was no stranger to divine dreams, visions, and extraordinary events. Even while rebuking Joseph, he did not dismiss the possibility that the dream might one day come true (literally, “his father kept the matter”).
Jacob’s reference to Joseph’s mother may simply reflect Rachel’s enduring place in the family’s memory. Alternatively, if Leah was still alive, she may have been regarded as the family’s matriarch after Rachel’s death.
What begins as a family shattered by favoritism and betrayal becomes the stage for divine sovereignty. Joseph’s descent from beloved son to enslaved brother and his ascent from prisoner to prince reveal an enduring truth: human failure and evil intention cannot override divine purpose.
