37
[VAYESHEV]
1 And Ya'akov dwelt in the eretz megurei Aviv (in the land wherein his father was a ger) in Eretz Kena'an.
2 These are the toldot Ya'akov. Yosef, being seventeen years old, was ro'eh with his achim to the tzon; now the na'ar was with the bnei Bilhah, and with the bnei Zilpah, the ne'shei Aviv (the wives of his father); and Yosef brought unto Avihem (their father) dibbatam ra'ah (a bad, evil report of them).
3 Now Yisroel loved Yosef more than all his children, because he was the ben zekunim (the son of his old age); and he made him a kesones passim (ketonet [tunic] reaching to palms and soles).* 4 And when his achim saw that Avihem loved him more than all his achim, they hated him, and could not speak with shalom unto him.
5 And Yosef dreamed a chalom (dream),† and he told it to his achim; and they hated him yet the more. 6 And he said unto them, Hear, now, this chalom which I have dreamed: 7 For, hinei, we were binding alummim (sheaves of wheat) out in the sadeh, and, hinei, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, hinei, your alummot (sheaves of wheat) gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.
8 And his achim said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his chalomot (dreams), and for his devarim.
9 And he dreamed yet another chalom, and told it his achim, and said, Hinei, I have dreamed a chalom more; and, hinei, the shemesh and the yarei'ach and the eleven kokhavim bowed down to me.
10 And he told it to Aviv, and to his achim: and Aviv rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this chalom that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and Immecha and Achecha indeed come to bow down ourselves to the ground before thee?
11 And his achim had kina (jealousy, envy) toward him; but Aviv was shomer over the saying.
12 And his achim went for the purpose to be ro'eh tzon Avihem in the vicinity of Shechem. 13 And Yisroel said unto Yosef, Do not thy achim ro'im in Shechem? Come and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Hineni. 14 And he said to him, Go, now, see about the shalom achecha, and the shalom hatzon; and bring me devar. So he sent him out of the Emek Chevron, and he went to Shechem. 15 And a certain ish found him, and, hinei, he was wandering in the sadeh; and the ish asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16 And he said, I seek my achim; tell me, now, where they ro'im (feed their flocks). 17 And the ish said, They are departed from here; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dotan. And Yosef went after his achim, and found them in Dotan.
18 And when they saw him merachok (afar off, in the distance), even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 And they said one to another, Hinei, this ba'al hachalomot cometh. 20 Come now therefore, and let us kill him, and throw him into one of the borot (pits), and we will say, Some chayyah ra'ah (evil wild beast) hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his chalomot.
21 And Reuven heard it, and he saved him out of their yadayim; and said, Let us not take his nefesh. 22 And Reuven said unto them, Do no shefach dahm (shedding of blood), but throw him into this bor that is in the midbar, and lay no yad upon him; that he might rescue him out of their yadayim, to take him back to Aviv.
23 And it came to pass, when Yosef was come unto his achim, that they stripped Yosef of his kesones,‡ his kesones hapassim that was on him; 24 And they took him, and threw him into the borah (pit); and the bor was empty, there was no mayim in it.
25 And they sat down to eat lechem; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, hinei, a caravan of Yishm'elim was coming from Gil'ad with their gemalim bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Mitzrayim. 26 And Yehudah said unto his achim, What betza (profit, gain) is it if we kill achinu (our brother), and conceal his dahm? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Yishm'elim, and let not yadeinu (our hands) be upon him; for he is achinu (our brother) and besareinu (our flesh). And his achim agreed. 28 Then there passed by anashim Midyanim socharim (men of Midyan, traders); and they drew and lifted up Yosef out of the bor, and sold Yosef to the Yishm'elim for esrim kesef; and they took Yosef to Mitzrayim.
29 And Reuven returned unto the bor; and, hinei, Yosef was not in the bor; and he made the keriah of his clothes.§ 30 And he returned unto his achim, and said, The yeled is not; and I, where shall I turn?
31 And they took the kesones Yosef, and did shachat the se'ir izzim (slaughtered the kid of the goats), and dipped the kesones in the dahm; 32 And they sent the kesones hapassim, and they brought it to Avihem; and said, This have we found; examine for identification purposes now whether it be the kesones Binecha or no. 33 And he recognized it, and said, It is the kesones beni; a chayyah ra'ah hath devoured him; Yosef is without doubt torn in pieces. 34 And Ya'akov made the keriah of his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for beno yamim rabbim. 35 And all his banim and all his banot rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to beni mourning to Sheol. Thus Aviv wept for him.
36 And the Midyanim sold him into Mitzrayim unto Potiphar, a seris Pharaoh (courtier of Pharaoh), a sar hatabbachim (a captain of the slaughterers, executioners, i.e., captain of the guard).
* 37:3 See Messianic significance Yn 19:23 † 37:5 See Mt 2:22 ‡ 37:23 See Yn 19:23 § 37:29 compare Mk 14:63