Joseph gets a desk job
I've heard that the real significance of Joseph's coat of many colors was that he would not be doing much manual labor. Freeman (The New Manners and Customs of the Bible, updated by Harold Chadwick) points out that, "For whatever reason, it appears that the coats of Joseph's brothers had not been colored and had probably been left in their natural wool colors, which may have been a common practice with work coats. ... the special appearance of Joseph's coat indicated a favored position in his father's eyes, and that caused jealousy and resentment in his brothers." The New Bible Commentary: Revised suggests that this coat was discerned by his brothers that Jacob intended to honor Joseph with the birthright that Reuben had forfeited by Reuben's incestuous relationship with his father's concubine, Bilhah (Gen 35.22; 1Chron 5.1). At any rate, we see Joseph, the 11th son, being given an office in the executive suite while the rest of the brothers are still out managing the far-flung reaches of the family business.
Created over 2 years ago
