Joseph was the eleventh of Jacob's twelve sons. Of all of his sons, Joseph was the son that Jacob loved the most. Joseph was the first child of Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife, and had been born to Jacob in his old age. Because Jacob loved Joseph the most, the other sons were jealous of Joseph.

Joseph often tended the flocks with his half-brothers. One day, Joseph saw his brothers do many things that were wrong. At once, Joseph went to his father and told him what his brothers had done. This made them dislike Joseph, even more than before.

Since Joseph was his father's favorite son, Jacob gave him a special gift - a beautiful coat of many colors. After Joseph was given this beautiful coat, his brothers despised and hated him even more. They could only speak evil words about him.

One night, when Joseph was seventeen, he had a strange dream. He explained this dream to his brothers. He said, "We were all together in a field tying up bundles of grain. Each of us had tied a bundle. All of a sudden, my bundle stood up. Then, your bundles all gathered around it and bowed down to it."

How angry Joseph's brothers were when they heard these words! "So you are going to be our king and rule over us," they taunted. They hated him even more for his dream and what he had said to them.

A short time later, Joseph had another dream. This dream was as strange as the first. He told his father and brothers about this dream, also. He said, "In my dream I saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars all bowing down before me!"

Jacob said, "Do you really think your mother, your brothers, and I will actually come and bow down before you?" Joseph's brothers seemed to think that his dreams were designed to make him greater, better, and wiser than the rest of the family. However, while his brothers grew angry and even more jealous of Joseph, his father, Israel, wondered what such dreams could really mean.