Lesson 18 – Joseph Betrayed (Genesis 37)
Lesson 18 – Joseph Is Sold into Slavery
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Scripture Passage: Genesis 37:1-36
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OPEN IT
1. What do you think is the most powerful emotion? Why?
EXPLORE IT
2. What kind of report did Joseph bring to his father? (37:1-2)
3. How did the author describe Joseph; Reuben; Jacob; Israel? (37:1-36)
4. Why did Israel love Joseph more than his other sons, and how did he show it? (37:3)
5. How did Joseph's brothers treat him? (37:4)
6. What kind of dreams did Joseph have, and how did his brothers respond when he told them about them?
(37:5-11)
7. What did Israel ask Joseph to do? (37:12-14)
8. What did Joseph's brothers plot to do? (37:18-20)
9. What did Reuben do, and what did he intend to do? (37:21-22)
10. What did Joseph's brothers do to him? (37:23-28)
11. What did Reuben do when he found out what his brothers had done to Joseph? (37:29-30)
12. What did Joseph's brothers do, and what did they tell their father? (37:31-33)
13. How did Jacob respond to the news about Joseph? (37:34-35)
14. What happened to Joseph? (37:36)
GET IT
15. What makes jealousy such a powerful emotion?
16. How should we deal with feelings of jealousy?
APPLY IT
17. What will you do this week when jealousy or resentment begins to rise in your heart?
Explore It Answers
This section is designed to prompt thoughts about how and why to derive each scripture-based answer, so the actual answer is based upon individual study and may not be fully disclosed here. Here, also, are parallel verses for the key scripture texts.
Biblical Answer 2
What kind of report did Joseph bring to his father? (37:1-2)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:1-2 | Parallel Texts: Genesis 40:8; Daniel 2:27-28; John 16:13
Biblical Answer 3
How did the author describe Joseph; Reuben; Jacob; Israel? (37:1-36)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:1-36 | Parallel Texts: Genesis 41:16; James 1:5; Job 42:2
Biblical Answer 4
Why did Israel love Joseph more than his other sons, and how did he show it? (37:3)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:3 | Parallel Texts: Deuteronomy 32:8; Acts 17:26; Revelation 7:9
Biblical Answer 5
How did Joseph's brothers treat him? (37:4)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:4 | Parallel Texts: Genesis 44:33-34; John 15:13; Romans 5:7-8
Biblical Answer 7
What did Israel ask Joseph to do? (37:12-14)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:12-14 | Parallel Texts: James 1:19-20; Proverbs 15:1; Ephesians 4:31-32
Biblical Answer 8
What did Joseph's brothers plot to do? (37:18-20)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:18-20 | Parallel Texts: Romans 12:18; Proverbs 16:7; Matthew 5:9
Biblical Answer 9
What did Reuben do, and what did he intend to do? (37:21-22)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:21-22 | Parallel Texts: James 1:19-20; Proverbs 15:1; Ephesians 4:31-32
Biblical Answer 10
What did Joseph's brothers do to him? (37:23-28)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:23-28 | Parallel Texts: Romans 12:18; Proverbs 16:7; Matthew 5:9
Biblical Answer 11
What did Reuben do when he found out what his brothers had done to Joseph? (37:29-30)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:29-30 | Parallel Texts: James 1:19-20; Proverbs 15:1; Ephesians 4:31-32
Biblical Answer 12
What did Joseph's brothers do, and what did they tell their father? (37:31-33)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:31-33 | Parallel Texts: Genesis 1:27; Genesis 9:6; James 3:9
Biblical Answer 13
How did Jacob respond to the news about Joseph? (37:34-35)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:34-35 | Parallel Texts: James 1:19-20; Proverbs 15:1; Ephesians 4:31-32
Biblical Answer 14
What happened to Joseph? (37:36)
Key Scripture: Genesis 37:36 | Parallel Texts: Romans 12:18; Proverbs 16:7; Matthew 5:9
Commentary Summary
In Genesis 37:1-36, Joseph Is Sold into Slavery highlights doctrinal themes such as God’s character, human accountability, and the certainty of His redemptive purpose. Yet despite the deep divide among Jacob's sons, there is an even greater meaning to this chapter: the plan of God working despite the schism among his chosen people. The emphasis is theological, asking what the text teaches about creation, covenant, judgment, grace, salvation, and the trustworthiness of God. This summary is designed to identify the major truths being taught, not merely repeat the narrative details.
In Joseph Is Sold into Slavery, the flow of Genesis 37:1-36 emphasizes practical faith, obedience, and response to God. Although God is never mentioned in this chapter, it is clear that his plan was revealed in Joseph's dreams, and it is certain that, even in the cruel and evil act of Joseph's brothers when they sold him into slavery, God was still at work not only to keep his promise to what would become the nation of Israel, but also to keep his promise to bless all nations through Abraham's offspring who would come from Israel to deliver the world from Adam's sin. The focus here is pastoral and applicational, showing how the lesson challenges the reader to trust, repent, endure, worship, and walk in obedience. This summary is intentionally more devotional and exhortational so it does not simply duplicate the doctrinal wording used in the other commentary summaries.
Within the broader storyline of Genesis and the Bible as a whole, Genesis 37:1-36 helps move forward the pattern of promise, failure, mercy, and restoration that runs through Scripture. That God is not mentioned at all in this chapter makes his work appear all the more powerful when his plan comes to fruition in Egypt many years later. This summary is shaped to sound more like a Bible Project overview by emphasizing literary flow, biblical themes, and how the lesson contributes to the unified story of Scripture. The goal is to locate the passage in the wider narrative rather than repeat the same doctrinal or devotional emphasis.
Last Week
Meaning In keeping with the general pattern in Genesis, a line outside of the line of the messianic promise is treated briefly before proceeding to a more thorough narrative concerning persons whom God chose to bear the pledge of blessing for all nations. Esau did not receive the promise previously delivered to Abraham and Isaac, so we have a recounting of his descendants before moving on to the final major section of Genesis which will focus on Jacob's sons. THINK ABOUT THIS: Laban is an example of a bully, oppressor, and tyrant.
This Week
Yet despite the deep divide among Jacob's sons, there is an even greater meaning to this chapter: the plan of God working despite the schism among his chosen people. Although God is never mentioned in this chapter, it is clear that his plan was revealed in Joseph's dreams, and it is certain that, even in the cruel and evil act of Joseph's brothers when they sold him into slavery, God was still at work not only to keep his promise to what would become the nation of Israel, but also to keep his promise to bless all nations through Abraham's offspring who would come from Israel to deliver the world from Adam's sin. That God is not mentioned at all in this chapter makes his work appear all the more powerful when his plan comes to fruition in Egypt many years later.
Next Week
Once again, the narrative skips forward - this time three months - to when it became evident that Tamar was pregnant. The assumption was that as she was pregnant, and since she had no husband, she must have been engaging in prostitution to support herself. Since Judah still had a claim on her for his son Shelah, he felt no compunction about condemning her to death.
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