The second youngest of Jacob’s 12 sons, and the patriarch’s favorite, Joseph is celebrated in Genesis as a dreamer. Through keeping faith with the messages of his divinely inspired dreams, Joseph rises to become chief adviser to the Egyptian Pharaoh and brings his family, destined to found the 12 tribes of Israel, into Egypt.

Joseph’s story is a continuation of the history of the Israelites’ ancestry, with divine calls and promises, but God is less obviously present than in earlier stories. Here, the emphasis is on the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation.

The meaning of dreams

From a young age, Joseph believes that his dreams contain messages about future events. However, his brothers see Joseph’s narration of his dreams as boastful. In his first dream, Joseph sees himself and his brothers binding sheaves of wheat in the fields. While his sheaf stands upright, the sheaves of his brothers bow down before his sheaf. The unwelcome message of Joseph’s dream—at least to his brothers—is that Joseph is destined to rule over them. Their unease is reinforced when Joseph dreams that the sun and moon, representing his father and mother, and 11 stars (his brothers) pay homage to him. Even Jacob is bemused by this and scolds Joseph: “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” (Genesis 37:10).

A composite illustration from a 13th-century illuminated manuscript shows Joseph being lowered into a cistern, being traded for 20 shekels of silver, and traveling to Egypt.

Plot against Joseph

In Genesis 37:13, when Joseph’s older brothers are out grazing their flocks, Jacob sends Joseph to check on them. The brothers decide to take advantage of Joseph’s visit to the remote location to murder him and thus prevent his dreams from coming true. However, Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, opposes this proposal and argues against killing Joseph outright. He recommends that they strip Joseph of his ornate coat, which is a gift from their father, and throw him into a cistern to die naturally. (Reuben secretly plans to rescue Joseph when his brothers’ backs are turned.) However, another brother, Judah, also troubled by the idea of killing their own flesh and blood, suggests selling Joseph to a passing group of Midianite traders for 20 silver shekels. The brothers follow Judah’s plan and also dip Joseph’s robe in goat’s blood to pretend to their father that their brother has been killed by a wild animal.

Joseph’s dream An upright sheaf of wheat is surrounded by 11 others, which bow down before it. (Genesis 37:7)

The cupbearer’s dream A hand squeezes one of three bunches of grapes into a goblet. (40:9–11)

The baker’s dream The baker has three baskets of bread on his head. Birds eat from the top one. (40:16–17)

Pharaoh’s dream Seven skinny cows devour seven sleek, fat cows on the banks of the Nile. (41:4)

Fortunes in Egypt

The Midianites sell Joseph on to Ishmaelites traveling to Egypt, who, in turn, sell him into slavery in the house of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard. Joseph serves his master well and is soon in charge of the entire household. However, when Potpihar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph of seducing her, Potiphar throws him in prison. As Joseph stays true to his faith by resisting sexual temptation, God does not desert him in his suffering. He is put in charge of the other prisoners, and interprets the dreams of two of them—Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and head baker. He tells them that in three days the baker will be put to death, while the cupbearer will be pardoned. When his predictions come true, Joseph asks the cupbearer to put in a good word for him with Pharaoh, which he promises to do.

However, the cupbearer, unlike God, is fallible and forgets his promise until two years later, when Pharaoh begins to have strange dreams. In the first dream, seven sickly cows devour seven healthy ones as they graze beside the Nile. In the second, seven sickly ears of grain swallow seven fat ones. At this point, the cupbearer remembers Joseph. Hearing the cupbearer’s story, Pharaoh has Joseph brought before him.

Joseph is quick to explain the meaning of Pharaoh’s dream, while also being careful to stress that he is simply an instrument of God and that the dreams are a sign of God’s purpose. He tells Pharaoh that his dreams signify seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. He advises Pharaoh to store supplies of grain during the years of plenty in order to use them later. Pharaoh takes Joseph’s advice and appoints him as his chief adviser.

Jacob is shown examining Joseph’s blood-stained coat in a 19th-century engraving. Refusing to be comforted, Jacob says: “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave” (37:35).

The legacy of Joseph

Joseph’s tale does not end here. Eventually, he is reconciled with his brothers, who, during the years of famine, are sent to Egypt by Jacob to buy grain. Joseph forgives his brothers, believing it is thanks to their earlier wrongdoings that he is able to feed them in their time of need. “God sent me before you to preserve life,” he pronounces in Genesis 45:5. Pharaoh allows Joseph to bring Jacob and his people to Egypt, where they prosper. They remain there until, generations later, a new pharaoh, “to whom Joseph meant nothing” (Exodus 1:8), comes to the throne.

Joseph devotes his life to serving others. He always credits God for his achievements and remains faithful to Him. His story, which is also chronicled in the Qur’an, which regards him as a prophet, illustrates the power of forgiveness. Crucially for the next book in the Bible, the story also explains how the Israelites came to be in Egypt.

Joseph’s success at interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, shown in this 1894 painting by British artist Reginald Arthur, leads to his appointment as Pharaoh’s chief adviser.

See also: Covenants • Esau and Jacob • Jacob Wrestles with God • The Wisdom of Solomon • Daniel in Babylon