Joseph, the whistleblower (Gen 37:2)

"And Joseph brought bad reports"

Joseph can be seen as a tattletale here, trying to curry favor with his father by shaming his brothers . But there is another way to look at this. Perhaps he is a whistleblower, shedding light on his brothers' misdeeds and asking his father to prevent their bad behavior in the future, warning him that if Jacob doesn't do something now his sons may end up murdering someone or selling someone into slavery in a foreign land. Admittedly, I don't know what "bad reports" is in the Hebrew: is it reports of bad behavior or is it misleading, inaccurate reporting? (If the latter, then nevermind :). )

Perhaps Joseph tried approaching his brothers first (as he should have) to suggest that their actions were unkind and inappropriate and was rebuffed. And only then he went to a higher authority. Alas, it doesn't seem that Jacob did anything. Alas, alas, this sounds all too familiar.

Some further thoughts on this verse:

"his father's wives" ... "to their father"

Why is the final word in the verse "their father" when previously Jacob is "his father"? I think it's because, as my rabbi pointed out, we start from Jacob's perspective: Joseph is the only son that truly matters to him. The text could have said "their father's wives ..." and it could have said "to his father". But I think Joseph is telling his father that his (Joseph's) brothers are also Jacob's sons and he needs to be a father to them all.

"Jacob tended the flocks with his brothers"

I think this means all of his older brothers. He was able to see how they interacted with each other.

"as a helper to the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah"

I think he hung out with the less important-status-wise brothers. Maybe they were closer in age (as suggested in my study group). Or he felt a greater kinship with them because not only did the sons of Leah belittled the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, but they also mistreated Joseph because they were jealous of him (even before he got a special coat). Or the sons of Leah were scary and Joseph was afraid of them, or he was just uncomfortable with them.

It's interesting that Bilhah and Zilpah are called Jacob's wives; this implies that the status of their sons is equal to that of Rachel and Leah's sons. I'm suggesting that the the oldest four sons did not treat them accordingly. Perhaps the text is saying that they should have treated them as equals. But, maybe as the sons of Leah they felt that they were the sons of the less favored sister and their attempt to act superior came from the feelings of inferiority.

In any case, Joseph is eventually cast out by his brothers---they all seem to be complicit---and suffers the fate of many whistleblowers throughout history.