And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers: and they hated him yet the more.
All Commentaries on Genesis 37:5 Go To Genesis 37
John Chrysostom
AD 407
See the extraordinary degree of their blindness: they themselves interpreted the dream. In fact, it is not possible to claim that it was in ignorance of the future that they bore him ill will; rather, it was learning the future from the dreams that added to their hatred. O excess of stupidity! They should have shown Joseph greater favor after learning the facts, set aside any grounds for hatred, banished the passion of envy. But they were dulled in their thinking and could not see at a glance that everything they were doing rebounded on themselves, and so they aggravated their hatred of him. O why, poor tormented creatures, do you display such envy, denying your condition as brothers and the fact that the revelation of dreams makes obvious God’s favor for him? After all, surely you do not now believe that the events foretold by God can be thwarted? You see, just as you made an interpretation of the dream, so will it shortly come to pass, no matter how many ruses you intend to devise. I mean, the Lord of all, creative and wise as he is, revealing the abundance of his characteristic power, often allows many obstacles to develop before fulfillment so that he may put into effect his previous decisions and thus demonstrate the extraordinary degree of his power.
