Genesis 37:9

Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

Ver. 9. Behold, the sun, and the moon.] The father of the family should be as the sun, full of heavenly light, and illightening all about him: The mother, as the moon, shining out in her husband’s absence, and veiling to him, when he is in place. The children, as stars of light, or rather, as a heaven full of stars, as one saith well of Joseph: Fuit Iosephi vita coelum quoddam lucidissimis virtutum stellis exornatum. The people of God are called, "the host of heaven," {Dan 8:10} and are bid to shine as lamps, or rather, [φωστηρες,] as those great lights of heaven. {Php 2:15}

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.

Gen 37:9. Yet another dream — The repetition of the same thing in another shape, might have taught them that it was both certain and very observable. Behold the sun and the moon — His father and mother, here signified by the sun and moon, were not represented in the first dream, because, in the event, his brethren only went at first to Egypt, and there did him obeisance, and it was not till afterward that his father went with them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37:9 The sun, moon, and eleven stars: Astrological symbols often represent rulers. The dream predicted Joseph’s elevation to a position of authority over the whole clan of Israel.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. He dreamed yet another dream] This is as clear as the preceding. But how could Jacob say, Shall I and thy mother, c., when Rachel his mother was dead some time before this? Perhaps Jacob might hint, by this explanation, the impossibility of such a dream being fulfilled, because one of the persons who should be a chief actor in it was already dead. But any one wife or concubine of Jacob was quite sufficient to fulfil this part of the dream. It is possible, some think, that Joseph may have had these dreams before his mother Rachel died but were even this the case, she certainly did not live to fulfil the part which appears to refer to herself.

The sun and the moon and the eleven stars] Why eleven stars? Was it merely to signify that his brothers might be represented by stars? Or does he not rather there allude to the Zodiac, his eleven brethren answering to eleven of the celestial signs, and himself to the twelfth? This is certainly not an unnatural thought, as it is very likely that the heavens were thus measured in the days of Joseph; for the zodiacal constellations have been distinguished among the eastern nations from time immemorial. See Clarke on Ge 49:33.

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

9. And he dreamed yet another dream. The scope of this dream is the same. The only difference is, that God, to inspire greater confidence in the oracle, presents him with a figure from heaven. The brethren of Joseph had despised what was said concerning the sheaves; the Lord now calls upon them to look towards heaven, where his august Majesty shines forth. It may, however, be asked, how it can be reconciled with fact, that his mother, who was now dead, could come and bow down to him. The interpretation of certain Hebrews, who refer it to Bilhah, is frigid, and the sense appears plain without such subterfuges: for the sun and moon designate the head of the family on each side: thus, in this figure, Joseph sees himself reverenced by the whole house of his father.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(9) He dreamed yet another dream.—In Joseph’s history the dreams are always double, though in the case of those of the chief butler and baker, the interpretation was diverse.

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

9. another dream] The repetition (cf. Gen_41:5-32) seems to indicate stronger certainty and greater importance. The first dream had its symbolism on earth, the second in the heavens. The first included the brethren only. The second included the father and the mother in the same act of obeisance with the brethren. Israel, in its widest sense, as a father’s house, is to recognize the predominance of Joseph.

eleven stars] Supposed by some scholars to refer to the signs of the Zodiac (cf. 2Ki_23:5 marg.), the twelfth being either Joseph or obscured by Joseph. But the theory is improbable: it is not “the eleven stars.”

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.

And he told it to his father, and to his brethren,.... After he had told it to his brethren, he told it to his father a second time in their hearing, that he might pass his judgment on it, and give his sense of it before them:

and his father rebuked him; not as being ignorant of the meaning of the dream, for by what follows he had a clear understanding of it, or as if he thought it was an idle dream, and would never have any accomplishment: but he thought fit, in his great wisdom and prudence, to put on such an air, partly to check young Joseph, lest he should grow proud, and haughty, and insolent upon it, and behave in a disagreeable manner to himself and to his brethren; and partly to conciliate the minds of his brethren to him, which he perceived were exasperated by his dreams:

and said unto him, what is this dream that thou hast dreamed? what dost thou take to be the meaning of it? canst thou imagine that it is of God? is it not a mere whim and imagination of thine own wandering brain in thy sleep? why dost thou tell such an idle dream as this, as if there were something divine in it, when it appears the most absurd and irrational?

shall I, thy mother, and thy brethren, indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? whereby it plainly shows he understood the meaning of the dream, though he would not seem to countenance it. By the "sun" he understood himself, the principal and head of the family, the active instrument of the generation of it, the light, life, and support of it; and by the "moon" his wife, the passive instrument of generation, who had the lesser share of rule in the family, yet contributed much to its good and welfare; by whom is meant not Rachel, the real mother of Joseph, who was dead, unless this is observed to show the seeming absurdity of it, from whence the whole might appear ridiculous; but rather Leah, who was now Jacob's only true wife, and the stepmother of Joseph; or else Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, who since her death was a mother to Joseph; and by the eleven "stars" he understood the eleven brethren of Joseph, who were as stars that receive their light from the sun; and in allusion to the twelve constellations in the Zodiac, to which Joseph and his eleven brethren answered. This had its fulfilment, in some measure, when Jacob sent presents to Joseph when governor of Egypt, though unknown to him, and when he and his family went thither, when, no doubt, Jacob showed a civil respect according to his dignity, and in regard to the office he bore: and so his wife, if he then had any, that went with him, and if not personally, yet in her posterity paid a deference to him, as it is certain all his brethren did. Grotius observes from the Oneirocritics or interpreters of dreams, particularly Achmes, that according to the doctrine of the Persians and Egyptians, that if anyone should dream that he rules over the stars, he shall rule over all people.

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

The sun. This second dream confirmed the truth of the former. Joseph relates it with simplicity, not suspecting the ill will of his brethren: but his father easily perceives what effect the narration would have, and desires him to be more cautious. He even points out the apparent incoherence of the dream, as Rachel, who seemed intended by the moon, was already dead; unless this dream happened before that event. St. Augustine (q. 123) observes, this was never literally verified in Joseph, but it was in Jesus Christ, whom he prefigured. (Calmet) --- Some think that Bala, the nurse of Joseph, was intended by the moon. (Tirinus)

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).

He dreamed another dream, that the repetition of the same thing in another shape might teach them that the thing was both certain and very observable.

The sun and the moon were not mentioned in the first dream, because in the event his brethren only went at first to Egypt and there worshipped him, as afterwards his father went with them.

Object. His father did not worship him in Egypt.

Answ. 1. He did worship him mediately by his sons, who in their father’s name and stead bowed before him, and by the presents which he sent as testimonies of that respect which he owed to him.

2. It is probable that Jacob did, before the Egyptians, pay that reverence to his son which all the rest did, and which was due to the dignity of his place. As the Roman consul was commended by his father for requiring him to alight from his horse, as the rest did, when he met him upon the way.

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

And he dreamed yet another dream, the doubling of the dream was designed to indicate its certainty (cf. Gen_41:32) and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun (vmVh, the minister, from Chaldee root vmv, the pael of which occurs in Dan_7:10) and the moon jreYh, probably, if the word be not a primitive, the circuit-maker, from the unused root jry jra; to go about (Furst); or the yellow one, from jry qry; to be yellow, j and q being interchanged (Gesenius) and the eleven stars rather, eleven stars, globes, or bails, from bbK to roll up in a ball (vide Gen_1:10) made obeisance to me literally, bowing themselves to me, the participles being employed ut supra, ver. 7. It is apparent that Joseph understood this second dream, even more plainly than the first, to foreshadow, in some way unexplained, his future supremacy over his brethren, who were unmistakably pointed out by the eleven stars of the vision; and this remarkable coincidence between the number of the stars and the number of his brethren would facilitate the inference that his parents were referred to under the other symbols of the sun and moon. In the most ancient symbology, Oriental and Grecian as well as Biblical, (Num_24:17) it was customary to speak of noble personages, princes, &c., under such figures; and the employment of such terminology by a nomadic people like the Hebrew patriarchs, who constantly lived beneath the open sky, may almost be regarded as a watermark attesting the historic credibility of this page at least of the sacred record (vide Havernick, "Introd.," in opposition to Bohlen, who finds in the symbolical character of Joseph s dreams an evidence of their unreality, and De Wette, who explains them as the offspring of his aspiring mind.

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

He dreamed another dream

"Joseph had another dream"

eleven stars

"11 stars" (See: Numbers)

his father rebuked him. He said to him

"Israel scolded him, saying"

What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will your mother ... to the ground to you?

Israel uses questions to correct Joseph. This can be written as statements. AT: "This dream you had is not real. Your mother, brothers, and I will not bow down before you!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

jealous

This means being angry because someone else is successful or more popular.

kept the matter in mind

The means that he kept thinking about the meaning of Joseph's dream. AT: "kept thinking about what the dream might mean" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

dream

bow

rebuke

jealous

mind

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ויחלום, in this dream the meaning is crystal clear. Sun and moon refer to Joseph’s parents, whereas the stars refer to his brothers, seeing there were 11 stars in the dream and Joseph had eleven brothers. All the dreams the content of which the Torah described are to be understood as posing a riddle, a challenge to translate the symbols described in the respective dreams into the matching reality in the “real” world. This is true not only of Joseph’s dreams, but equally of the dreams of the cup-bearer and of the Chief of the bakers whom Joseph met in jail. Also Pharaoh’s dream as related in the Torah, and the dream of Nevuchadnezzar as described in the Book of Daniel follow the same pattern. All of them became reality in accordance with the manner in which they had been interpreted.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.