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.
Genesis keeps family records, and this verse opens the record of Jacob's line. It turns at once to one son: a seventeen-year-old shepherd who brings home a bad report about his brothers.
Why Jacob's Line Narrows to One Son
One writer starts with what this record leaves out, and names Joseph a type of Christ — a living picture of Him:
L. M. GrantHis generations center simply in Joseph (v. 2): there is no list of names. The answer is simply that the true genealogy of the line of faith centers in the person of the Lord Jesus, of whom Joseph is a type.
Another writer traces the whole story from this one verse:
William KellyGenesis 37:2 gives "the generations of Jacob." Joseph is the special object of interest. He is a plain figure of Him whom His brothers rejected and who was separated from them. God exalted Him to hold the power of the throne over the Gentiles. In due time His brothers are brought to repentance and humbled before His glory, and He makes Himself known to them.
Seventeen, and Feeding the Flock
The first thing we are told about Joseph is his work, not his rank. That work carries weight across Scripture:
Frederick W GrantThe first view that we have of Joseph is at seventeen years, feeding the flock along with his brothers. The ruler God appoints is always a shepherd! We see this with Moses and with David. In Matthew, the Gospel of the kingdom, we hear the scribes quoting Micah to the king: "Out of you shall come a Governor who shall rule My people Israel." The margin has "feed." The word literally means "be a shepherd to" My people Israel. Jacob's prophecy at the close of this book connects this character of Christ's rule with the type of Joseph (49:24).
(He quotes an older translation. The ESV of Matthew 2:6 reads "shepherd my people Israel.")
The Company He Kept
Joseph works with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's servant-wives. The same writer sees meaning in that detail:
Frederick W GrantBut he is with the children of the servant-woman. That is a telling picture of Israel's condition when our Lord came in the flesh — perhaps in politics as well as in spirit. Joseph is separated from them too, far from them in his morals, just as the Lord was. That was the ground of the later separation, and it came from their side, not from his. "The world... hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil."
The Bad Report
Commentators differ over the report, and one writer leaves the question open:
L. M. GrantHe worked with his half-brothers, feeding Jacob's flocks. He brought his father the report of their bad practices. If these things were serious, Joseph may have needed to do it. But Scripture does not say one way or the other. On the other hand, we know that the Lord Jesus was always right to talk with His Father about the evils of His natural brothers.
Another writer sees courage in the boy, and jealousy in his brothers:
William KellyHe was a witness of their evil ways, and his father loved him. Both things made Joseph hateful to the sons of the servant-mothers. The special robe Jacob gave him did not soften their harshness, and neither did his two dreams. "Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?"... Everything on record stamps Joseph as a devout youth. He had moral courage. He was faithful toward those who were going wrong. He had a lowly mind, and wondered at the dreams as much as anyone or more.
A Life Recorded Without a Fault
One writer points to what the record never says about Joseph:
F. B. HoleThe generations of Jacob are mainly about the doings of his sons, who came from him. They are about Joseph most of all. Verse 2 introduces him at the age of seventeen. It has been said that in him we have the most perfect and complete type of the Lord Jesus in all the Scriptures, and we believe that is true. In keeping with this, we shall see that Scripture records no sinful or unworthy action of his. This increases the value of his life as a type, though he was a sinful man like the rest of us.
Summary
- Generations. Jacob's record gives no list of names. It narrows to one son, because the line of faith runs toward one Person.
- Shepherd. Joseph first appears feeding the flock. The ruler God appoints is always a shepherd first: Moses, David, and the Governor in Micah's prophecy.
- Separated. He works among the sons of the servant-women, but stands far from them in his morals. That gap is the seed of the split, and the break comes from their side, not his.
- Report. Scripture does not say whether the boy was right to carry it home, and commentators differ. What he spoke against was real evil.
- Faultless. The record never puts one sinful act of Joseph on show. He was a sinful man like us, but the silence makes his life a fuller picture of Christ.