<P> Joseph's father Jacob (also called Israel) favored him and gave Joseph the coat as a gift; as a result, he was envied by his brothers, who saw the special coat as an indication that Joseph would assume family leadership . His brothers' suspicion grew when Joseph told them of his two dreams (Genesis 37: 11) in which all the brothers bowed down to him . The narrative tells that his brothers plotted against him when he was 17, and would have killed him had not the eldest brother Reuben interposed . He persuaded them instead to throw Joseph into a pit and secretly planned to rescue him later . However, while Reuben was absent, the others planned to sell him to a company of Ishmaelite merchants . When the passing Midianites arrived, the brothers dragged Joseph up and sold him to the merchants for 20 pieces of silver . The brothers then dipped Joseph's coat in goat blood and showed it to their father, saying that Joseph had been torn apart by wild beasts . </P> <P> Recent scholarship, especially among literary critics, has noted how the exhortation to "identify" and the theme of recognition in Genesis 37: 32 - 33 also appears in 38: 25 - 26, in the story of Judah and Tamar . This serves to connect the chapters and unify the narrative . Victor Hamilton calls these "intentional literary parallels," while Robert Alter suggests that the verb "identify" plays "a crucial thematic role in the dénouement of the Joseph story when he confronts his brothers in Egypt, he recognizing them, they failing to recognize him ." </P> <P> The envy of his brothers may also have stemmed from the fact that Joseph was the son of Rachel, Jacob's first love . However, Joseph's brothers were the sons of Rachel's older sister Leah and the sons of the handmaidens, who were given to Jacob during a time when Rachel could not conceive . There was a battle between Leah and Rachel to compete for Jacob's attention . Jacob had told Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, to go check on his brothers . Joseph would report back to his father of their evil deeds . In addition to this he shares his dreams of them bowing down to him . Their anger towards him only increased . </P> <Ul> <Li> The coat is featured in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat . </Li> <Li> In 1971, Dolly Parton referred to the coat in the song "Coat of Many Colors", a story about an incident in her childhood . The 2015 TV - movie Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors tells the story depicted in the song . </Li> <Li> In 1997, Anita Diamant's novel The Red Tent, Dinah mentions that Rachel is making a colorful garment for her son Joseph; she also mentions that it will make him the target of his brothers' taunting . </Li> <Li> In the video game Castlevania Symphony Of The Night for PS1, a cloak called "Joseph's cloak" can be found in the American localization of the game . It also features adjustable colors in the equip screen of the game as further reference from the Bible </Li> <Li> Joseph's coat is in the Dreamworks' film Joseph: King of Dreams . </Li> </Ul>

The story of joseph and the coat of many colors