The Source of Familial Strife: A Note on Genesis 37.2

Abstract

Most translations treat Genesis 37.2 as an assemblage of unrelated elements: Joseph’s shepherding, his status as a נער‎ “youth, servant,” and his unfavorable reporting on his brothers are all atomistic elements that do little to develop the story’s plot. Instead, I suggest that verse 2’s second circumstantial clause, והוא נער את בני בלהה ואת בני זלפה נשׁי אביו‎ “He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives,” is causal. Read this way, Genesis 37.2 describes the emerging familial conflict that defines the Joseph cycle.