50: The dreamer (37:1-11)

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V. Yosef

····/ RESIDED

The dreamer

37

1 YAKOV resided in the land where his fathers had stayed in the land of Canaan, 2 and this is Yakov's story.

When Yosef was seventeen years old, he looked after the flock with his older brothers. He helped their father's wives Bilha and Zilpa's sons. Yosef used to tell his father what they did wrong.

3 Israel loved Yosef most

out of all his children

because he was born when he was an old man

so he gave him a striped tunic

4 his older brothers saw that he

was their father's favourite

they detested him and couldn't

say a good word about him

5 he had a dream and told them

and they detested him more

6 he told them: listen

this is what I dreamt

7 we were harvesting in the field

my corn stalk stood upright

your corn stalks were doubled over

kneeling before my corn plant

8 his older brothers said: what are you telling us?

you're going to be our boss and give us orders?

and they detested him more than ever

on account of his dreams and his talk

9 he also had another dream

and again he told his older brothers:

I dreamt that the sun and the moon

and eleven stars were kneeling to me

10 he told his father and his brothers

and even his father scolded him, and said:

What's this that you dreamt? You think I

and your mother and your brothers

we're all going to come to you

and kneel down in front of you?

11 his older brothers were envious

and his father wondered about it