GENESIS 37
Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.2 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. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. – Genesis 37:1-4
GENESIS 37 THE FAVORITE SON
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
Jacob lived in Canaan after leaving Paddan-Aram
Joseph was born in his later years so he was favored
He even made a robe of many colors for his favorite son
This made all his other brothers jealous and angry at Joseph
Joseph also brought a bad report of his brothers to their father
All the more he was hated by all his other brothers.
We witness in this account how favoritism affected each of the members of the family. Since Jacob (also Israel) favored Joseph more than his other sons and gave him special treatment. He even made a special robe for Joseph which made his other sons envious, angry and bitter. It led these brothers to plot to actually kill Joseph as we progress in the story of this chapter in Genesis.
We can be thankful to think that our Almighty Father in heaven does not have favoritism and he treats us all equal. Human beings are a different story, we have partialities and we are sinful in nature. We cannot control our predispositions and preferences at times because we tend to be self-focused and self-serving. We are inclined to follow our selfish nature if we do not walk in the spirit. We do not always think of the consequences of our favoritism which could be very harmful for others just like this preferential treatment that Israel gave his favored son, Joseph.
REFLECTION
- What does the book of James teach us about partiality in chapter 2? Why does he consider it sin? Isn’t favoritism a type of partiality?
