What Does Genesis 37:5 Mean in the King James?
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word translated “more” shares the root of Joseph’s name, so the verse makes his name, “he adds”, echo as his brothers add to their hatred.
THE MEANING
When what you see becomes speech, another person’s response can grow in a direction you did not choose; here, Joseph’s brothers’ hatred increases. The verse leaves that hostility plain, without dressing it up as understanding.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that sharing a vision guarantees closeness is undone here: Joseph tells the dream, and his brothers respond with stronger hatred.
THE ROOT
וַיּוֹסִפוּ
vayosefu
GROWS FROM
יסף
yasaf
to add, increase, or continue
Joseph’s name, Yosef, comes from this same root and carries the sense “he adds.” At the verse’s end, “yet the more” echoes that root as his brothers add to their hatred: increase here enlarges hostility.
ALSO GROWS
Yosef: Joseph; a name carrying the sense “he adds”
יֹוסֵף
The root in Joseph’s name returns in the final phrase, binding his identity to the verse’s language of increase.
hosif: to add or increase
הוֹסִיף
This form makes the brothers’ hatred an addition that keeps growing.
וַיַּחֲלֹם
vayachalom
GROWS FROM
חלם
chalam
to dream
Hebrew pairs the verb “dreamed” with the noun “dream,” both from חלם. The repeated root holds the inward vision and the dream itself together in the phrase “dreamed a dream,” before Joseph carries it into speech.
ALSO GROWS
chalom: dream
חֲלוֹם
This noun shares the seed of the verb “dreamed,” making the phrase repeat the root in two forms.
cholem: one who dreams; dreamer
חוֹלֵם
This form names the person experiencing the dream, keeping the dreamer and the dream within one root family.
THE PATTERN
The force of increase is disclosed by what it enlarges: learning, community, or hatred.
And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.THE THREAD
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:The Hebrew verb translated “increase” comes from יסף, the same root behind “yet the more” here and echoed in Joseph’s name, Yosef. In Proverbs, learning grows; here, hatred does, revealing that increase takes its character from what it enlarges.
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