Bible Strands
Genesis 37:31
Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the robe in its blood.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The brothers carry out a deceptive act immediately after abandoning Joseph in a pit, preparing a blood-stained garment to present to their father Jacob.
The words — וַ/יִּשְׁחֲטוּ (va/i.yish.cha.Tu) records the slaughter of a male goat, and וַ/יִּטְבְּל֥וּ (va/i.yit.be.Lu) describes the physical dipping of the long garment into its blood.
The thread — The stripping of Joseph’s distinctive robe occurs in Genesis 37:23, the delivery of the bloodied garment follows in Genesis 37:32, and Proverbs 28:13 contrasts their concealment with the requirement to confess wrongdoing.
Why it lands — The text documents a deliberate fabrication of evidence to simulate death, demanding the reader confront how manufactured proof replaces observable reality.
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
And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
Cross-references
- Genesis 37:23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the robe of many colors he was wearing—
- Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.
- Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.