Genesis 37:19

Gen 37:19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

Ver. 19. Behold, this dreamer.] This captain dreamer, or, this architect of dreams. A lewd scoff, and, by it, a cruel calumny. Envy, so it may gall, or kill, cares not how true or false it be, that, it allegeth: it usually aggravates the matter beyond truth, to do mischief, as here. Their hearts were so big, swollen with spite and spleen, that they could not call him by his name, but "this dreamer." So the Pharisees called our Saviour, "this fellow." {Luk 23:2} And "the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?" - εκεινος - {Joh 7:11} They could not find in their hearts to say, Where is Jesus? as Saul asked not for David, but for "the son of Jesse," by way of contempt. Christ tells his disciples that men shall, in hatred of them, cast out their names for evil, for his sake. {Luk 6:22} Their persons should be proscribed, and their names expunged, as unworthy to breathe in the common air. That like as we give names to newly born babes; so when we cannot afford to mention a man’s name, it shows we wish him out of the world: {a} Nomine Christianorum deleto, qui Remp. exercebant. So those bloody tyrants of the primitive times sounded the triumph beforehand, and engraved the victory they never got, upon pillars of marble. Ubicunque invenitur nomen Calvini, deleatur, saith the Index Expurgatorius. After Stephen Brune the martyr’s death, his adversaries commanded it to he cried, that none should make any more mention of him, under pain of heresy. {b} So in Queen Mary’s days, one Tooly, hanged for felony, for defying the Pope, was, after his death, suspended and excommunicated; and strict charge given, that no man should eat or drink with him; or if any met him by the way, he should not bid him good morrow, or call him by his name. {c} It was not for nothing, surely, that our Saviour, in token of hearty reconciliation, requires men to greet their enemies, and to call them friendly by their names. {Mat 5:47}

{a} Sic apud Latinos dicebantur capitis diminutionem pati, qui ex albo a censoribus expungebantur.

{b} Act. and Mon., fol. 820.

{c} Ibidem, fol. 1439.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, master of dreams.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Behold, this dreamer cometh--literally, "master of dreams"--a bitterly ironical sneer. Dreams being considered suggestions from above, to make false pretensions to having received one was detested as a species of blasphemy, and in this light Joseph was regarded by his brethren as an artful pretender. They already began to form a plot for Joseph's assassination, from which he was rescued only by the address of Reuben, who suggested that he should rather be cast into one of the wells, which are, and probably were, completely dried up in summer.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. Behold, this dreamer cometh.] בעל החלמות baal hachalomoth, this master of dreams, this master dreamer. A form of speech which conveys great contempt.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) This dreamer.—Heb., this lord of dreams, a phrase expressive of contempt.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. this dreamer] Heb. master of dreams. This and the following verse are from E. Joseph’s brethren speak derisively of this “master (Heb. baal) of dreams” (cf. Gen_49:23, “archers” = “masters of arrows”; 2Ki_1:8, “a hairy man” = “a master of hair”). They will kill him, and so stop his dreams from coming true.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Come now therefore, and let us slay him,.... Agree to do it, and actually do it:

and cast him into some pit; or, "one of the pits" (s), which were near, and were dug for the collection of rainwater, as was usual in those countries where water was scarce:

and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him; which would seem plausible, since wild beasts were frequent in those parts, as lions and bears, see Kg1 13:24,

and we shall see what will become of his dreams; who will be the lord then, and reign, and have the dominion, he or we.

(s) "in unam cisternarum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "in unam ex cisternis istis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "in unam fovearum", Schmidt.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The dreamer. Hebrew Bahal hachalomoth, "the lord of dreams," or the visionary lord (Calmet); or one who feigns dreams: so the Jews say of our Saviour, this seducer. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Heb.

This master of dreams, this crafty dreamer, that covers his own ambitious designs and desires with pretences or fictions of dreams.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. This dreamer — Heb, this master (or lord) of the dreams. We may suppose Joseph seeing them afar with joy, glad to find them after his long journey and searching. But they see him with malicious envy.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they said one to another (literally, a man to his brother), Behold, this dreamer literally, this lord of dreams. (of Gen_14:13; Exo_24:14) cometh expressive of rancor, contempt, and hatred.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.