Jacov settles in Chevron with his twelve sons. His favorite is seventeen-year-old Yosef, whose brothers are jealous of the preferential treatment he receives from his father, such as a precious many-colored coat that Jacob makes for Joseph. Joseph relates to his brothers two dreams of his which foretell that he is destined to rule over them, increasing their envy and hatred towards him.
Shimon and Levi plot to kill him, but Reuven suggests that they throw him into a pit instead, intending to come back later and save him. While Joseph is in the pit, Jehudah has him sold to a band of passing Ishmaelim. The brothers dip Yosef’s special coat in the blood of a goat and show it to their father, leading him to believe that his most beloved son was devoured by a wild beast.
Jehudah marries and has three children. The oldest, Er, dies young and childless, and his wife Tamar is given in levitate marriage to the second son, Onan. Onan sins by spilling his seed and he, too, meets an early death. Jehudah is reluctant to have his third son marry her. Determined to have a child from Jehudah’s family, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute and seduces Jehudah himself. Jehudah hears that his daughter-in-law has become pregnant and orders her executed for harlotry, but when Tamar produces some personal effects he left with her as a pledge for payment, he publicly admits that he is the father. Tamar gives birth to twin sons, Peretz (an ancestor of King David) and Zerach.
Yosef is taken to Egypt and sold to Potifar, the minister in charge of Paroh’s slaughterhouses. G‑d blesses everything he does, and soon he is made overseer of all his master’s property. Potifar’s wife desires the handsome and charismatic lad; when Yosef rejects her advances, she tells her husband that the Hebrew slave tried to force himself on her, and has him thrown in prison. Yosef gains the trust and admiration of his jailers, who appoint him to a position of authority in the prison administration.
In prison, Yosef meets Pharaoh’s chief butler and chief baker, both incarcerated for offending their royal master. Both have disturbing dreams, which Joseph interprets; in three days, he tells them, the butler will be released and the baker hanged. Joseph asks the butler to intercede on his behalf with Paroh. Yosef’s predictions are fulfilled, but the butler forgets all about Yosef and does nothing for him.
