The Other Gift 🚪

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I grew up in the grunge era. Our palette was brown and gray, so I never understood why Joseph’s brothers would ever be jealous of a bright multi-colored coat…

But the translation “coat of many colors” has long been debated. Many scholars believe a more accurate translation of the original Hebrew text is a “long-sleeve robe”. Long sleeves were reserved for royalty, not manual laborers. This would suggest that Jacob’s gift to Joseph signified that he would be the main heir and head of the clan…. It provides more context for the extreme jealousy and hatred from his brothers, who worked in the field.

Jacob’s favoritism was a sin (Deuteronomy 21:16). But as usual, God uses evil for good, to carry out His perfect plan.

Genesis 37:3,4

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.