Bible Strands
Genesis 37:2
This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator shifts focus to Jacob’s household while Joseph, age seventeen, tends the flock with his half-brothers in Canaan.
The words — The phrase אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדוֹת (E.leh to.le.Dot) literally means "these [are] the accounts of," functioning as a formal literary marker that introduces the next genealogical and narrative block.
The thread — Joseph’s brothers are specified as the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, directly referencing the family structure in Genesis 35:25 and the domestic conflict recorded in Genesis 35:22.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to note how the narrative establishes Jacob’s lineage, Joseph’s youth, and the immediate family fault-reporting before any divine intervention or covenantal development occurs.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
Cross-references
- Genesis 35:25 The sons of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.
- Genesis 35:22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
- 1 Samuel 2:22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Corinthians 11:18 First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
- Genesis 10:1 This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who also had sons after the flood.
- Genesis 30:4 So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,
- Genesis 30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
- John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.
- 1 Corinthians 1:11 My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.