Jacob had twelve sons, of whom his favorite was Joseph. To show his love for Joseph. Jacob gave him a coat of many colors. This made the other brothers very jealous of Joseph.Jacob had twelve sons, of whom his favorite was Joseph. To show his love for Joseph. Jacob gave him a coat of many colors. This made the other brothers very jealous of Joseph.
When Joseph was sixteen years old, he had two dreams. In one he saw himself and his brothers binding sheaves of corn in a field. As they worked, his sheaf stood upright while his brothers' sheaves stood around and bowed to it. In another dream he saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bow down before him and honor him.
Jacob wondered when he heard about Joseph's dreams. "What," he cried, "shall you rule over us? Shall I and your mother and brothers bow before you?"
One day Jacob sent Joseph to the fields where his brothers were tending the flocks. When they saw him coming in the distance, they said, "Here comes that dreamer. Let us kill him and throw his body into a pit." And so out of jealousy Joseph's brothers planned to kill him.
But Ruben. the oldest, wished to save Joseph's life. He said, "Let us not kill him. Let us throw him into a deep pit here in the wilderness, but let us not shed his blood."
As soon as Joseph arrived, the brothers took away from him his coat of many colors. They cast him into a deep pit. Then they sat down to eat, all except Ruben, who had gone away.
After a while, some merchants passed by on their way to Egypt. Juda, one of the brothers, said, "What good will it do us to kill our brother? Let us sell him to these merchants instead."
The others agreed. They drew Joseph out of the pit, and sold him for twenty pieces of silver.
The brothers dipped Joseph's coat in some goat's blood, and took it to Jacob. They asked their father, "Is this Joseph's coat?"
At sight of the bloody coat, Jacob cried aloud. "It is my son's coat. A beast has devoured him!"
Joseph sold by his brothers is a figure of Christ, who was sold by Judas, one of his Apostles, for thirty pieces of silver.
- from My Bible History in Pictures, by Bishop Louis LaRavoire Morrow, D.D., 1934; it has the Imprimatur of Archbishop Michael J O'Doherty of Manila, Philippines