The Life of Joseph (37:1–50:26): Joseph gives his brothers three reasons to dislike him. First, he “snitches” on them (37:2). Second, their father openly loves Joseph more than any other of his children (37:3–4). Third, he has two dreams that his brothers interpret as arrogant and egotistical (37:5–11). The younger brother will have authority over the older brother, just as Jacob did over Esau. Even Jacob is jolted by Joseph’s second dream. Will he too bow the knee to his son? Jacob’s “will your mother and I . . .” (37:10) must be understood as a posthumous reference to Rachel, for she has already died.

The Bible makes no comment, other than the brothers’ response, about the motivation for Joseph’s telling these dreams. Could he not anticipate that sharing them would inevitably produce anta…