Reuben was upset when he "returned to the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes". (Genesis 37:29). There is no record that his brothers felt remorseful over the disappearance of Joseph, possibly a section would see Joseph's disappearance from the well as, good riddance to bad rubbish. Some of them would probably not feel any guilt, seeing as they couldn't be said to have directly laid hands on Joseph to kill him or harm him, besides just trying to teach him a lesson or two (despite the fact that their intention was to have Joseph killed initially), which would allow them some kind of peace of mind to not just face their aged father, Jacob but to live with him despite the agony they were sure to cause him.


To cover their tracks though, "they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood; and they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father, and said, 'This have we found: know now whether it is your son's coat or not' " (v.31-32). Their blunt manner of presenting the sad news to their father, suggests some bitterness borne out of the hatred they nursed for Joseph, and it is likely that they had in equal measure, anger towards Jacob for exceptionally loving Joseph. Sibling rivalry is an agelong issue that remains to this day, even in cases where parents try their best not to favour one child over another, or others, talk more of the very glaring one in this story were Jacob openly deferred to his children by Rachel (the love of his life), than the children by his other wives.


The consequences of Jacob's actions towards his children was far reaching, beyond just the disappearance of Joseph. Once Jacob was presented with the bloodstained coat, "he knew it, and said, it is my son's coat; an evil beast has devoured him, Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces. And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days" (v.33-34). Jacob appeared to have lost all hope, including even to seek YAHWEH's face in prayer, as he was wont to do, as previously recorded concerning him, all because he believed that he's son had been torn apart by a beast. If the plan of the brothers was to have Jacob transfer the love he had for Joseph to the rest of them following the latters' purported demise, then it failed woefully because even the bit of him they had before, they lost.


I've come across some views held by certain people, that there was nothing wrong in envying others, as long as one doesn't move it to the point where lives will be lost, or as in the case of Joseph, the disappearance of the person so envied. But in truth, envy cannot yield anything positive, even if there's any kind of motivation, it is negative, the type that makes the envious achiever never satisfied, as s/he will always use others as standard, and at every point in life, one will still find that other person with an edge, especially those who didn't have to commit so much in terms of time, work, and talent to get where they are.


Like Joseph's brothers, most times we focus on the paths of others, while neglecting ours, forgetting that our lights also dims when we extinguish the lights of others, because some perks that would've accrued to us by virtue of the presence of the light of the other thus extinguished will automatically cease. Jacob was so sad that he said "I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning" (v.35), all the while with his other sons (who knew a few things or two, even if not the totality, about Joseph's whereabouts) and daughters consoling and comforting him. Jacob appeared like he lost faith at this point, and his ability to read things spiritually also failed him. There's no record suggesting that he returned to his former self after this incident, until he met Joseph again. I reiterate that the Jacob of former chapters would've prayed and could've had what happened to Joseph revealed to him in a dream, or the likes, if he'd cared to ask, but he was much too distraught and couldn't care any less, and that kept the family in the dark for that period, because in the days when Jacob was about pursuing self-preservation, those around him also benefited from it.


'kovich


REFERENCE:
– Genesis Chapter 37 Verses 29 – 35, THE SACRED SCRIPTURES (Bethel Edition), An Assemblies of Yahweh ®, Publication, © 1981 (Fourth Printing, 1993).


PICTURE CREDIT:
- http://www.freebibleimages.org

BIBLE STORIES (51): JOSEPH'S BLOODSTAINED COAT https://madukovich./2019/10/19/bible-stories-51-josephs-bloodstained-coat/