Genesis 37:4 And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. The happiness of other men is poison to the envious man. The odious passion of envy torments and destroys one's self, while it seeks the ruin of its object. Beware of envy; you know not to what it tends. Beware of all its fruits; you will find them to be deadly, when they have time and opportunity to ripen. Joseph's brethren did not proceed to extremes of cruelty when they were first seized with this baleful passion. They "could not speak peaceably to him," but they entertained no thoughts of killing him, till their envy had by indulgence acquired a greater degree of strength. Their "lust conceived and brought forth sin; and when their sin was finished, it brought forth death" to Joseph in their intentions. They contracted the guilt of his blood, although they did not shed it. They were chargeable with intended murder in the sight of men, when they cast Joseph into the pit; but in the sight of God they were chargeable with this crime as soon as they began to hate Joseph; for "he that hateth his brother in his heart is a murderer." (G. Lawson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. |
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