May the mumbling commence!
Chase your dreams… just not at the expense of your
relationships. That’s the lesson that Joseph
needed to learn. It would be good for us
to learn it, too. Read from Peterson’s The Message:
Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived,
the land of Canaan.
This
is the story of
Jacob. The story continues with Joseph,
seventeen years old at the time, helping out his
brothers in herding
the flocks.
These were his half-brothers actually, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought his father bad reports on
them.
Israel
loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old
age. And he made him an elaborately
embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him – they wouldn’t even speak to
him.
Joseph
had a dream. When he told it to his
brothers, they hated him even more. He said, “Listen
to this dream I had. We were all out in the field
gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and
your bundles circled
around it and bowed down to mine.”
His
brothers said, “So! You’re going to rule us? You’re going to boss us
around?” And they hated him more
than ever because of
his dreams and
the way he talked.
He
had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: “I
dreamed another dream – the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to me!”
When
he told it to his
father and brothers,
his father reprimanded him: “What’s with all
this dreaming? Am I and
your mother and your brothers all supposed to
bow down to you?” Now his brothers were
really jealous;
but his father brooded over the whole business. (Genesis
37:1-11)
Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:
Jacob lived in the land where his
father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
This is the account of Jacob.
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.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he
had been born to him in his
old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe
for him. When
his brothers saw that
their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a
kind word to him.
Joseph had a dream, and when he
told it to his brothers, they hated him all the
more. He
said to them, "Listen
to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out
in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while
your sheaves
gathered around mine and bowed down to
it."
His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule
us?" And
they hated him all the more because of his
dream and what he had said.
Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers.
"Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and
moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
When he told his father as well as his brothers,
his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream
you had? Will your mother and I and your
brothers actually come and bow down to the ground
before you?" His brothers were
jealous of him, but
his father kept the matter in mind. (Genesis 37:1-11)
Again I come back to the difference between settling
down (Peterson) and living (NIV). Jacob
/ Israel was nomadic in nature. To think
of a nomad settling down is laughable. I
like the NIV translation better.
Another difference that I would like to highlight is the
last phrase. There’s a world of
difference between Jacob keeping the matter in mind (NIV) and Jacob brooding
over it (Peterson). I don’t like the negative
connotations of Peterson’s work. I think
it was a simpler reflective thinking.
I find it fascinating that the name Israel is used when
the story tells of Jacob loving Joseph more than his other sons. I also find it interesting the reason given
for this love. Joseph was a son born to
him in his old age. It was not that
Joseph was the biological son of his favorite wife, Rachel. It’s a revealing snub of Rachel.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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