Bible Strands
Genesis 37:4
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses the reader, describing Joseph’s brothers observing their father’s preferential treatment of Joseph and their immediate hostile reaction. This moment occurs immediately after Jacob gives Joseph a special robe and before Joseph shares his dream.
The words — The Hebrew verb אָהַב ('a.Hav) means "he loved," paired with מִ/כָּל־ (mi./kol) meaning "more than all," which establishes the comparative nature of the father’s affection.
The thread — This pattern of sibling rivalry fueled by parental favoritism runs in Genesis 27:41 with Esau and Jacob, while the New Testament warns against such hatred in 1 John 3:12 and 1 John 4:20.
Why it lands — The text states that observed favoritism directly produces hatred and speechless hostility, requiring readers to recognize how partiality fractures relationships and to reject corrosive resentment.
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 when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Cross-references
- Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
- 1 John 3:12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.
- 1 John 4:20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
- Psalms 69:4 Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs of my head; many are those who would destroy me—my enemies for no reason. Though I did not steal, I must repay.
- 1 John 2:11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
- Genesis 4:5 but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
- Genesis 37:5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
- 1 Samuel 17:28 Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”
- John 15:18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.
- Genesis 37:11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.