NOTES for Gen 37:1-36
The story of Joseph is gripping and at the same time instructive. He is marked by God from childhood; otherwise the prophetic dreams cannot be explained. Joseph probably inherited this gift from his father, but one can inherit only mystical sensitivity as a special property of the psyche, not a relationship with God.
Each person establishes a relationship with God for himself and from a blank slate; it cannot be passed on by inheritance. Prophetic dreams by themselves do not yet make a person a prophet, and this is clearly visible precisely in Joseph. The issue is not only that he rather simpleheartedly tells everything to his father and brothers, for whom the dreams shown by God to Joseph were not intended at all. The issue is also that Joseph continues, even after the revelation he has received, to tell on his brothers, apparently sincerely thinking that he is doing a good thing.
It is no surprise that the brothers rather soon wanted to explain to Joseph what they thought about this matter. There was, however, something else too, something more serious. The matter concerned power, no longer in one tribe, but in a whole large clan, the clan of Jacob's descendants. Naturally, after Jacob's death. Usually the eldest inherited power, but here the situation was special. Joseph was Jacob's beloved son, and then there was also this seal of God's election...
In short, a serious rival was taking shape. Such a person has to be gotten rid of, and sooner is better than later, before he grows up and becomes aware of his possibilities. In the wilderness, if people truly want to get rid of someone, a chance to do it will come sooner or later. That is what happened with Joseph. Opinions, however, were divided: one of the brothers took pity on Joseph, and all of them, it seems, were afraid of bloodshed. Bloodshed specifically: they were ready to throw Joseph, bound, into the wilderness to die of thirst, but they feared the shedding of blood. They feared it superstitiously, feared it as one fears defilement, but they feared it. Just then, most conveniently, a caravan of merchants on their way to Egypt came by. They were always ready to buy cheaply a slave who could later be resold in Egypt at a profit. Such business troubled no one; slave trading in those days was an ordinary affair. And the brothers calmed down: they were sure they would never see Joseph again. Now, they said, let us see what his dreams are worth.