Discovery BoxGenesis 34:21 
Context34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough 1 for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. 2
Genesis 36:6
Context36:6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to a land some distance away from 3 Jacob his brother
Genesis 37:2
Context37:2 This is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, 4 was taking care of 5 the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster 6 working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. 7 Joseph brought back a bad report about them 8 to their father.
1 tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.
2 tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “from before.”
4 tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”
5 tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”
6 tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.
7 tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”
8 tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.
sn Some interpreters portray Joseph as a tattletale for bringing back a bad report about them [i.e., his brothers], but the entire Joseph story has some of the characteristics of wisdom literature. Joseph is presented in a good light – not because he was perfect, but because the narrative is showing how wisdom rules. In light of that, this section portrays Joseph as faithful to his father in little things, even though unpopular – and so he will eventually be given authority over greater things.
