Page:The Story of Joseph and His Brethren.djvu/14

Rh no doubt intended to be a token of his love for the son of his old age, and as a sign of the son's superior excellence, his great simplicity and integrity of character.

But if his father loved Joseph best, Joseph seems best to have deserved his father's love. The very first thing mentioned of Joseph, after he had become a young man, shows that he was better than his brethren, or than several of them at least. In Gen. xxxvii. 2, we read that Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, "and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report." Joseph's brethren were, no doubt, guilty of serious misconduct; and this must have been frequent, if not habitual. Judging from Joseph's character, as it is afterwards displayed, there must have been something very wrong in his brothers' conduct before he reported it to his father; and we may suppose he had spoken to them of their evil deeds before declaring them to Jacob.

It may seem to some young people that