Genesis 37:2
New International Version
This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

New Living Translation
This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.

English Standard Version
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.

Berean Standard Bible
This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

King James Bible
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

New King James Version
This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

New American Standard Bible
These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when he was seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers, while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

NASB 1995
These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

NASB 1977
These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

Legacy Standard Bible
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back an evil report about them to their father.

Amplified Bible
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers [Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher]; the boy was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s [secondary] wives; and Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

Christian Standard Bible
These are the family records of Jacob. At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man was working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought a bad report about them to their father.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
These are the family records of Jacob. At 17 years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man was working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought a bad report about them to their father.

American Standard Version
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought the evil report of them unto their father.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And these are the generations of Yaquuv: Yoseph, son of seventeen years, was shepherding a flock with his brothers, and he was Prince with the sons of Zelpha and with the sons of Balha, wives of his father, and Yoseph brought their evil report to their father.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And these are the generations of Jacob. And Joseph was seventeen years old, feeding the sheep of his father with his brethren, being young; with the sons of Balla, and with the sons of Zelpha, the wives of his father; and Joseph brought to Israel their father their evil reproach.

Contemporary English Version
and this is the story of his family. When Jacob's son Joseph was 17 years old, he took care of the sheep with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. But he was always telling his father all sorts of bad things about his brothers.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And these are his generations: Joseph, when he was sixteen years old, was feeding the dock with his brethren, being but a boy: and he was with the sons of and of Zelpha his father's wives : and he accused his brethren to his father of a most wicked crime.

English Revised Version
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought the evil report of them unto their father.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
This is the account of Jacob and his descendants. Joseph was a seventeen-year-old young man. He took care of the flocks with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph told his father about the bad things his brothers were doing.

Good News Translation
and this is the story of Jacob's family. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, took care of the sheep and goats with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's concubines. He brought bad reports to his father about what his brothers were doing.

International Standard Version
This is a record of Jacob's descendants. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was helping his brothers tend their flocks. He was a young man at that time, as were the children of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. But Joseph would come back and tell his father that his brothers were doing bad things.

JPS Tanakh 1917
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being still a lad even with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil report of them unto their father.

Literal Standard Version
These [are] the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, has been enjoying himself with his brothers among the flock (and he [is] a youth), with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and Joseph brings in an account of their evil to their father.

Majority Standard Bible
This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

New American Bible
This is the story of the family of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flocks with his brothers; he was an assistant to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and Joseph brought their father bad reports about them.

NET Bible
This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, was taking care of the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

New Revised Standard Version
This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.

New Heart English Bible
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, tended the flock with his brothers; he was an assistant to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father�s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report about them to their father.

Webster's Bible Translation
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought to his father their evil report.

World English Bible
This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.

Young's Literal Translation
These are births of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, hath been enjoying himself with his brethren among the flock, (and he is a youth,) with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph bringeth in an account of their evil unto their father.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Joseph's Dreams
1Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan. 2This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 3Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.…

Cross References
Genesis 35:25
The sons of Rachel's maidservant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.

Genesis 35:26
And the sons of Leah's maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

Genesis 41:46
Now Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph left Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.

Genesis 42:8
Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

Genesis 45:6
For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.

Genesis 46:34
you are to say, 'Your servants have raised livestock ever since our youth--both we and our fathers.' Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians."

1 Samuel 2:22
Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.


Treasury of Scripture

These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought to his father their evil report.

the generations.

Genesis 2:4
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

Genesis 5:1
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

Genesis 6:9
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

wives.

Genesis 30:4,9
And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her…

Genesis 35:22,25,26
And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: …

evil report.

1 Samuel 2:22-24
Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation…

John 7:7
The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

1 Corinthians 1:11
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

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Bilhah Boy Evil Father's Feeding Flock Generations History Jacob Joseph Lad Records Report Seventeen Wives Zilpah
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Bilhah Boy Evil Father's Feeding Flock Generations History Jacob Joseph Lad Records Report Seventeen Wives Zilpah
Genesis 37
1. Joseph is loved by Jacob, but hated by his brothers.
5. His dreams and the interpretation.
12. Jacob sends him to his brothers, who counsel to slay him.
21. At Reuben's desire they cast him into a pit;
25. and afterwards sell him to the Ishmaelites;
29. while Ruben grieves at not finding him.
31. His coat, covered with blood, is sent to Jacob, who mourns him inordinately.
36. Joseph is brought to Egypt and sold to Potiphar.














THE T?LD?TH JACOB. JOSEPH IS SOLD BY HIS BRETHREN INTO EGYPT.

(2) The generations of Jacob.--This Toldoth, according to the undeviating rule, is the history of Jacob's descendants, and specially of Joseph. So the Toldoth of the heaven and earth (Genesis 2:4) gives the history of the creation and fall of man. So the Toldoth Adam was the history of the flood; and, not to multiply instances, that of Terah was the history of Abraham. (See Note on Genesis 28:10.) This Toldoth, therefore, extends to the end of Genesis, and is the history of the removal, through Joseph's instrumentality, of the family of Jacob from Canaan into Egypt, as a step preparatory to its growth into a nation.

Joseph being seventeen years old.--He was born about seven years before Jacob left Haran, and as the journey home probably occupied two full years, he would have dwelt in Isaac's neighbourhood for seven or eight years. Isaac's life, as we have seen, was prolonged for about twelve years after the sale of Joseph by his brethren.

And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah.--Heb., And he was lad with the sons of Bilhah, &c. The probable meaning of this is, that as the youngest son it was his duty to wait upon his brothers, just as David had to look after the sheep, while his brothers went to the festival; and was also sent to the camp to attend to them (1Samuel 16:11; 1Samuel 17:17-18). The sons of Jacob were dispersed in detachments over the large extent of country occupied by Jacob's cattle, and Joseph probably after his mother's death, when he was about nine years' old, would be brought up in the tent of Bilhah, his mother's handmaid. He would naturally, therefore, go with her sons, with whom were also the sons of the other handmaid. They do not seem to have taken any special part in Joseph's sale. . . .

Verse 2. - These are the generations of Jacob. The opening of a new section (cf. Genesis 2:4 etc.). Joseph, the son of Rachel, and born in Padan-aram (Genesis 30:24) - being seventeen years old, - literally, a son of seventeen years, thus making Jacob 108 - was feeding the flock with his brethren; - literally, was shepherding; not his brethren (Bush), but with his brethren, in, or among, the flock - and the lad was - literally, and he a lad, aetate, moribus et innocentia (Lyra), non tantum aetate sed et ministerio (Poole), but most probably designed simply as a note of his age. Pererius, following the Vulgate, connects the clause with what precedes; Calvin, Dathius, Lange, Murphy, Kalisch, and others conjoin it with the words that follow; the LXX., Willet, Rosenmüller, Keil, Ainsworth, Bush, etc. regard it as a parenthetical statement - with - not in the capacity of a servant (Vatablus) or of a ward (Kalisch), but of a companion - the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. With these rather than the sons of Leah, as being less supercilious and haughty than the children of the first wife (Lawson), or as being less opposed to him than they (Lange), or more probably as being nearer to his own age than they (Keil), or perhaps as having been brought more into contact with the handmaids' children, and in particular with those of Bilhah, Rachel's maid, who may have been to him as a mother after Rachel's death (Rosenmüller). And Joseph brought unto his (rather, their) father their evil report. Not accusavit fratres suos apud patrem crimine pessimo (Vulgate), or κατὴνεγκαν ψόλον πονηρὸν προς Ισραὴλ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν (LXX.), as if Joseph drew down upon himself their calumnious reports, but carried to his father an evil report concerning them (Kalisch); not informed him of what he himself saw of their evil deeds (Lawson), though this need not be excluded, but repeated the דִּבָּה, or fama, always of a bad character (Rosenmüller), which was circulating in the district respecting them - tunics rumores qui subinde de iis spargebantur (Dathius); - the noun being derived from an onomatopoetic root, דָּבַב, signifying to go slowly, or to creep about.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
This
אֵ֣לֶּה ׀ (’êl·leh)
Pronoun - common plural
Strong's 428: These, those

is the account
תֹּלְד֣וֹת (tō·lə·ḏō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 8435: Descent, family, history

of Jacob.
יַעֲקֹ֗ב (ya·‘ă·qōḇ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3290: Jacob -- a son of Isaac, also his desc

When Joseph
יוֹסֵ֞ף (yō·w·sêp̄)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3130: Joseph -- 'he increases', a son of Jacob, also the name of several Israelites

[was] seventeen
שְׁבַֽע־ (šə·ḇa‘-)
Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 7651: Seven, seven times, a week, an indefinite number

years
שָׁנָה֙ (šā·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8141: A year

old,
בֶּן־ (ben-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

he was
הָיָ֨ה (hā·yāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

tending
רֹעֶ֤ה (rō·‘eh)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 7462: To tend a, flock, pasture it, in, to graze, to rule, to associate with

the flock
בַּצֹּ֔אן (baṣ·ṣōn)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 6629: Small cattle, sheep and goats, flock

with
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Preposition
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

his brothers,
אֶחָיו֙ (’e·ḥāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 251: A brother, )

the sons
בְּנֵ֥י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of Bilhah
בִלְהָ֛ה (ḇil·hāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1090: Bilhah -- a concubine of Jacob

and Zilpah,
זִלְפָּ֖ה (zil·pāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2153: Zilpah -- one of Jacob's wives

his father’s
אָבִ֑יו (’ā·ḇîw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1: Father

wives,
נְשֵׁ֣י (nə·šê)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

and he
יוֹסֵ֛ף (yō·w·sêp̄)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3130: Joseph -- 'he increases', a son of Jacob, also the name of several Israelites

brought
וַיָּבֵ֥א (way·yā·ḇê)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

their father
אֲבִיהֶֽם׃ (’ă·ḇî·hem)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1: Father

a bad
רָעָ֖ה (rā·‘āh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

report
דִּבָּתָ֥ם (dib·bā·ṯām)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1681: Whispering, defamation, evil report

about them.
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to


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OT Law: Genesis 37:2 This is the history of the generations (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 37:1
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