Joseph's multicolored coat

[LuvinMyFaith]

This is a really basic question but I could not get a good answer at our adult scripture class so am throwing it out to this forum. As children we are all taught the story of Joseph with reference to his “multicolored” coat. Where does this reference come from? The New American Bible references only a “long tunic” in Genesis 37: 3, 23, 31-33. I’m sure the “multicolored” aspect of the story came about at some period in tradition but does anyone know when or why?

 

[dixibehr]

The phrase “coat of many colors” comes from the KJV version of the same passages.

 

[Cat]

In the New American Standard translation (a translation used in Protestant churches), all three of the references that you cite say, “varicolored tunic.”

Same for Douay Rheims, which is a very traditional Catholic translation.

Blue Letter Bible website is helpful. The Hebrew word used in the verses is “pac” which is used in five places in the Old Testament. There is a lot of information in Blue Letter that I don’t understand (since I’m not a language scholar at all), but it sounds like those versions that say “multi-colored” are interpolating this because the word “pac” is used for a nobleman’s robe, which would have been multi-colored, and THAT’S what made Joseph’s brothers jealous–the fact that he was being honored with a nobleman’s tunic. They wouldn’t have been jealous of just a regular ol’ common man’s tunic with no colors.

Here’s the link, if you want to try to puzzle it out: blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6446&t=KJV

 

[The_Prodigal]

In (Clementine Vulgate), Genesis 37:3, its: fecitque ei tunicam polymitam = literally “and he fashioned for him a tunic woven with many threads.” Polymitam means “woven with many threads” or “embroidered.” The word has the appearance of a Greek loan, with the poly- (<polu Gk. ‘many’) prefix, but I can’t find any more information on it at the moment.

Ezechiel 16:13 pairs this word polymitus with multicolor. Et ornata es auro et argento et vestita es bysso et polymito et multicoloribus similam et mel et oleum comedisti et decora facta es vehementer nimis et profecisti in regnum

I can only speculate that this concatenation of the two meanings in Ezechiel was projected by translators back into the Genesis story, where it doesn’t belong. My Douay-Rheims translates tunicam polymitam in Genesis as “coat of divers colours.”

 

[LuvinMyFaith]

Awesome responses and insights. Thanks!