Genesis 37:31Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Once their wishes had been granted and they had fulfilled their desire by casting their despised brother into a distant land, they started to plot various ways to mislead their father and hide their unlawful scheme from him. They reportedly killed ‘a goat’ and smeared Joseph’s coat with its blood. Then they presented it to their father, saying, “We have found this; please determine whether this coat belongs to your son or not.”

The brothers, rather than bringing news of Joseph, delivered to their father his robe soaked in blood. In their scheme, after selling Joseph, they slaughtered a goat and swiftly stained his robe with its blood. They then sent it to their father the same hour, saying, "We discovered this robe abandoned in the mountains, and we immediately recognized it as our brother’s garment. We are all grieving for him; having not found our brother, we have sent you, father, this colorful robe of Joseph. Please determine for yourself if this belongs to your son; we all agree it is indeed Joseph's."

The act of the brothers staining Joseph's coat with goat's blood suggests that the persecuted Jews, through false witnesses, accused the One who grants forgiveness to all humanity (cf. Matt. 26:59-61). We possess the Lamb, while they offer a goat. For us, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29), faces death; for them, the goat, whose transgressions he took upon himself and whose iniquities he bore (Lev. 16:21-22). Thus, the Lord declared, But complete the measure of your fathers (Matt. 23:32).

What benefit was there for the brothers in slaying the goat and deceiving their father? Look, Joseph has been made ruler in Egypt. Why do you tarnish your colorful robe with the blood of the goat, misleading and misrepresenting the events that have unfolded due to your actions? The father believed your story about the son's robe and was barely able to endure the grief of what had transpired (Genesis 37:33-34). Subsequently, the foreign Ishmaelites purchased him, so that he would be taken to Egypt where he would be imprisoned, interpret dreams, be interrogated by Pharaoh, and ultimately be elevated to the position of king of Egypt.

As Jacob's sons contemplated how to conceal their actions regarding Joseph from their father, they killed a goat and used its blood to tarnish their richly adorned garments.