We see in this episode that sometime after Joseph’s dreams, his brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks, but Joseph didn’t go with them. When Jacob sends Joseph to check on them, they mock him as “this dreamer,” strip off his coat of many colors, throw him into an empty pit, and sell him to a caravan of merchantmen headed to Egypt. The brothers then dip the coat in goat’s blood and deceive their father Jacob into believing a wild beast devoured Joseph. Behind the brothers’ envy-driven treachery moves God’s unseen hand of providence, turning what appears to be a hopeless tragedy into the first step of His sovereign plan for Joseph’s life and ultimate good.