_Showing that quarreling and envy can bring unhappiness into a
home, and oftentimes a tragedy._
Joseph’s brothers were feeding the sheep at Dothan. They had not
seen their father nor Benjamin nor Joseph for a long time. The
brothers saw Joseph coming across the field. They saw the colors in
his beautiful coat. They remembered how their father loved Joseph
best, and still remembered Joseph’s dreams. Their hearts were full
of hatred towards their young brother. They said to each other:
“Here comes the dreamer, let us kill him.”
There was a deep hole or pit in the field. It had been a well, but
there was no water in it now. When the brothers said: “Let us kill
Joseph,” Reuben, the oldest brother said: “No, let us put him in
this pit,” for Reuben wanted to save Joseph’s life and take him
back to his father.
When Joseph came near, his brothers spoke roughly to him. They
pulled off his beautiful coat, and threw him into the pit. Joseph
cried out to them but they would not answer. They sat down to eat
and left Joseph alone.
By and by the brothers saw a long line of camels coming along the
road near them. There were men with the camels, and each animal was
loaded with spices and perfumes. The men were going to sell these
things down in Egypt. Judah, one of the brothers, said:
“Let us sell Joseph to these men, that will be much better than to
kill him.” Reuben was not there, and the others agreed to do as
Judah said. They drew Joseph up out of the pit and called to the
men: “Here is a boy we will sell you.”
The merchants halted and looked at Joseph. Then they said, “We will
give you twenty pieces of silver for him.” The brothers took the
money and gave Joseph to the men. When Reuben came back and looked
into the pit, he cried:
“The boy is not there! What shall I do?”
In order to deceive Jacob, the brothers killed a kid, dipped
Joseph’s coat in the blood and carried it home to their father.
They said to Jacob: “We found this coat of many colors; is it your
son Joseph’s coat?”
“It is my son’s coat,” the poor father cried. “Some wild animal has
torn Joseph to pieces and devoured him!” How unhappy poor old Jacob
felt! None of his children could comfort him. He mourned for Joseph
for many days, saying:
“I will go down to my grave mourning for my son.”
But we shall see that Joseph fared better in Egypt than his
brothers expected.