Skip to content
X-Dreamers

Joseph’s Coat of Many Colours

What did Joseph's coat of many colours look like? Genesis 37 never says. Here is what the Hebrew means, how the old translations read it, what we know and what remains uncertain.

Uncertainty scale · most to least certain

  1. Textually statedSaid directly in the biblical text.
  2. Strongly supportedA close inference from the text or firm evidence.
  3. PlausibleA reasonable reconstruction among live options.
  4. SpeculativeAn informed guess; the text is silent.
  5. ArtisticA stylistic choice made for the reconstruction.
The phrase

Two words, one puzzle

כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים

kĕtōnet passîm

“a tunic of passim”

Hebrew reads right to left: ketonet first, then passim.

  1. Word 1H3801 · HNcfsc
    כְּתֹנֶתkĕtōnet

    tunic of…

    Noun · common · feminine · singular · construct

    Ketonet is the ordinary word for a tunic. God clothes Adam and Eve in ketonot of skin (Genesis 3:21), and the priests wear a linen ketonet (Exodus 28:4, 39). The word travelled widely: it is related to Akkadian kitû ('linen') and is commonly thought to lie behind Greek chitōn.

    The construct form links it to the next word: 'a tunic of passim'.

    • Strongly supportedKetonet means a tunic, not an outer coat or cloak.
    • PlausibleKetonet is related to Akkadian kitû (linen) and Greek chitōn (tunic).
  2. Word 2H6446 · HNcmpa
    פַּסִּיםpassîm

    pas-es: palms? strips? ornaments?

    Noun · common · masculine · plural · absolute

    Pas occurs in biblical Hebrew only in the phrase ketonet passim (Genesis 37 and 2 Samuel 13). In biblical Aramaic, pas yeda is the 'palm' or back of the hand that writes on Belshazzar's wall (Daniel 5:5, 24), which supports 'extremities' (palms and soles). In post-biblical Hebrew pas means a strip or stripe, which supports 'stripes' or 'pieces'. An Akkadian link to pišannu, ornaments sewn onto fine garments, supports 'decorated'.

    Plural of pas. The doubled s (dagesh) is regular for this kind of noun. The meaning is the whole puzzle.

    • Textually statedIn biblical Hebrew, passim appears only in the phrase ketonet passim, in Genesis 37 and 2 Samuel 13.
    • PlausiblePas means the flat of the hand or foot, so the robe reached to the wrists and ankles.
    • Strongly supportedThe meaning 'strip' or 'stripe' is attested only in later, post-biblical Hebrew.

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain). Morphology: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project (CC BY 4.0).

Explore in the Hebrew Word Explorer →
Where it appears

Five verses, two people

The phrase occurs only for Joseph in Genesis 37 and for Tamar, King David’s daughter, in 2 Samuel 13. Tamar’s story adds the one explanation the Bible gives: this was what the king’s unmarried daughters wore. Note that the KJV, quoted here, follows the “many colours” tradition in its English.

Genesis 37:3–4

Textually stated
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
  • Genesis 37:3כְּתֹ֥נֶת פַּסִּֽיםkĕtōnet passîm

Genesis 37:23

Textually stated
23And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
  • Genesis 37:23כְּתֹ֥נֶת הַפַּסִּ֖יםkĕtōnet ha-passîm

Genesis 37:31–33

Textually stated
31And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. 33And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
  • Genesis 37:32כְּתֹ֣נֶת הַפַּסִּ֗יםkĕtōnet ha-passîm

2 Samuel 13:18–19

Textually stated
18And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her. 19And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colours that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.
  • 2 Samuel 13:18כְּתֹ֣נֶת פַּסִּ֔יםkĕtōnet passîm
  • 2 Samuel 13:19כְתֹ֧נֶת הַפַּסִּ֛יםkĕtōnet ha-passîm

Scripture quotations: King James Version (1769) (KJV), public domain outside the united kingdom.

Evidence

What we know, how we know it, what remains uncertain

What we know

Stated in the text.

  • Textually statedJoseph's robe (ketonet passim)

    Jacob (Israel) made the robe for Joseph because he loved him more than all his sons.

    Stated directly in the text. (Genesis 37:3)

  • Textually statedJoseph's robe (ketonet passim)

    The Hebrew text never states the robe's colours, length or decoration; it only calls it a ketonet passim.

    None of the four mentions in Genesis 37 adds a description. English 'many colours' comes from the Greek and Latin translations, not from a Hebrew colour word. (Genesis 37:3; Genesis 37:23; Genesis 37:32)

  • Textually statedJoseph's robe (ketonet passim)

    The robe marked Joseph out as his father's favourite, and his brothers stripped it from him and used it to deceive Jacob.

    Genesis 37:4 ties the brothers' hatred to Jacob's favouritism; verses 23 and 31–33 tell how the robe was taken, dipped in goat's blood and recognised. (Genesis 37:4; Genesis 37:23; Genesis 37:31–33)

  • Textually statedJoseph

    Joseph was seventeen, working with the flocks, when Jacob gave him the robe.

    Stated directly in the text. (Genesis 37:2; Genesis 37:3)

  • Textually statedJacob

    Jacob recognised the bloodied robe as Joseph's and concluded he had been killed by an animal.

    Stated directly in the text. (Genesis 37:33)

  • Textually statedTamar, daughter of David

    The king's virgin daughters wore the ketonet passim.

    Stated directly in the text. (2 Samuel 13:18)

  • Textually statedTamar, daughter of David

    Tamar tore her ketonet passim, put ashes on her head and went away crying.

    Stated directly in the text. (2 Samuel 13:19)

  • Textually statedpas

    In biblical Hebrew, passim appears only in the phrase ketonet passim, in Genesis 37 and 2 Samuel 13.

    Five verses in the Westminster Leningrad Codex (OSHB lemma 6446): Genesis 37:3, 23, 32 and 2 Samuel 13:18, 19. (Genesis 37:3; Genesis 37:23; Genesis 37:32; 2 Samuel 13:18; 2 Samuel 13:19)

How we know more

Firm inferences and outside evidence.

  • Strongly supportedJoseph

    Garments mark the turning points of Joseph's story: the robe stripped by his brothers, the cloak left with Potiphar's wife, the linen given by Pharaoh.

    A close reading of Genesis 37, 39 and 41; widely noted by commentators. (Genesis 37:23; Genesis 41:42)

  • Strongly supportedketonet

    Ketonet means a tunic, not an outer coat or cloak.

    Consistent usage across the Hebrew Bible for an inner garment worn by laypeople and priests. (Genesis 3:21; Exodus 28:4)

  • Strongly supportedpas

    The meaning 'strip' or 'stripe' is attested only in later, post-biblical Hebrew.

    Lexical evidence; medieval readings such as Radak's 'stripes' draw on later usage.

  • Strongly supportedProcession of the Aamu, tomb of Khnumhotep II

    Semitic visitors to Egypt around 1890 BC were painted wearing multicoloured, patterned garments.

    The painting survives and has been recorded since the 19th century.

  • Strongly supportedAncient Near Eastern dyes

    Red, blue, yellow and purple dyes were all in use in the Levant in the second millennium BC.

    Archaeological textiles, dye-works and texts; the Timna textiles show both plant dyes and true murex purple.

  • Strongly supportedAncient Near Eastern dyes

    Richly dyed wool, especially purple, was a mark of wealth and rank.

    Dye was costly; purple in particular is linked to royalty across the ancient Mediterranean.

What remains uncertain

Live options and guesses.

  • Plausibleketonet

    Ketonet is related to Akkadian kitû (linen) and Greek chitōn (tunic).

    A standard etymology in the lexicons; the direction and route of borrowing are debated.

  • Plausiblepas

    Pas means the flat of the hand or foot, so the robe reached to the wrists and ankles.

    Supported by Aramaic pas yeda (Daniel 5), the Greek of 2 Samuel 13:18 and the Greek versions of Aquila and Symmachus, but the Hebrew word itself is rare. (Daniel 5:5)

  • SpeculativeProcession of the Aamu, tomb of Khnumhotep II

    Joseph's robe looked like the garments in the Beni Hasan painting.

    The painting is roughly contemporary with some datings of the patriarchs and shows people from the same region, but it is not a picture of Joseph and its garments are not called ketonet passim.

Translation differences

Over two thousand years of translation

The oldest translators already disagreed. The Greek and Latin render the same Hebrew one way in Genesis and another in 2 Samuel. Words in quotation marks are public-domain wording; other modern versions are summarised in a few words and cited by name.

How translations render ketonet passim
Septuagint (LXX)3rd–2nd c. BC · GreekGen 37:3chitōn poikilos, 'a varied / many-coloured tunic'2 Sam 13:18chitōn karpōtos, 'a tunic reaching the wrists'ColourLength / sleevesThe same Hebrew is translated two different ways in two books.
Aquilac. AD 130 · GreekGen 37:3chitōn astragaleios, 'a tunic to the ankles'Length / sleevesPreserved in fragments of Origen's Hexapla.
Symmachuslate 2nd c. AD · GreekGen 37:3chitōn cheiridōtos, 'a tunic with sleeves'Length / sleevesPreserved in fragments of Origen's Hexapla.
Targum Onkelosc. 2nd–3rd c. AD · AramaicGen 37:3keeps the word pas untranslatedLeft untranslatedOnkelos leaves the puzzle as it found it.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathanlater Aramaic · AramaicGen 37:3a tunic with figured designsDecoration
Vulgatec. AD 405 · LatinGen 37:3tunica polymita, 'a tunic woven of many threads'2 Sam 13:18tunica talaris, 'an ankle-length tunic'ColourLength / sleevesJerome, like the Septuagint, renders the two books differently.
King James Version1611 · EnglishGen 37:3“a coat of many colours”2 Sam 13:18“a garment of divers colours”ColourThe text quoted on this page. The phrase English readers know.
Young's Literal Translation1862 · EnglishGen 37:3“a long coat”Length / sleeves
RSV · NRSV1952 · 1989 · EnglishGen 37:3long robe with sleevesLength / sleeves
NRSV Updated Edition2021 · EnglishGen 37:3ornamented robeDecoration
New International Version2011 · EnglishGen 37:3ornate robeDecoration
English Standard Version2001 · EnglishGen 37:3robe of many colorsColour
New American Standard Bible2020 · EnglishGen 37:3multicolored tunicColour
Christian Standard Bible2017 · EnglishGen 37:3long-sleeved robeLength / sleeves
New American Bible (Revised)2011 · EnglishGen 37:3long ornamented tunicLength / sleevesDecoration
NET Bible2005 · EnglishGen 37:3special tunicStatus
Interpretations

Five ways to read passim, and one tradition

Each reading below has real support and real problems. They are not all exclusive: a long, sleeved robe could also be coloured and a mark of rank. The last card is different in kind: a later Jewish tradition about where the robe came from, weighed the same way. Mark two or three to compare them.

Side by side (1 of 3)

Long, with sleeves

Evidence
Plausible
Reads passim as
pas = the flat of the hand or foot: a tunic reaching to the palms and the soles.
Strongest for
Aramaic pas yeda means the palm or back of the hand (Daniel 5:5, 24).
Strongest against
Pas never clearly means 'palm' in biblical Hebrew itself.

Swipe sideways for all 6 →

Long, with sleeves

Plausible

A full-length tunic with long sleeves: the dress of someone who did not do manual work.

pas = the flat of the hand or foot: a tunic reaching to the palms and the soles.

Evidence for

  • Aramaic pas yeda means the palm or back of the hand (Daniel 5:5, 24).
  • The Septuagint renders Tamar's robe 'reaching to the wrists'; Aquila and Symmachus give 'to the ankles' and 'with sleeves' for Genesis.
  • Genesis Rabbah, Rashbam and others read it as reaching to the palms and feet; RSV, NRSV and CSB follow.
  • Ordinary work tunics were short and sleeveless; a long one fits a favoured son and a king's daughter.

Evidence against

  • Pas never clearly means 'palm' in biblical Hebrew itself.
  • The oldest translation of Genesis, the Septuagint, chose 'varied' instead.

Why this level · The best-supported reading of the word, with early Greek witnesses, but still resting on a rare term.

Sources · Bible Hub; Rahlfs–Hanhart edition, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft; Kevin Potter, The LXX Scrolls; Sefaria; Balashon: Hebrew Language Detective · Daniel 5:5; 2 Samuel 13:18

Many-coloured

Plausible

The classic 'coat of many colours': a tunic woven or dyed in several colours.

passim = a garment of varied colours (Septuagint poikilos).

Evidence for

  • The Septuagint, the oldest translation, reads 'varied / many-coloured' in Genesis; the KJV, ESV and NASB follow.
  • Semitic travellers at Beni Hasan (c. 1890 BC) wear strikingly coloured wool.
  • Dyed wool was costly, so a colourful robe would mark favour.

Evidence against

  • There is no colour word in the Hebrew.
  • The same translators render the identical phrase in 2 Samuel as 'reaching to the wrists', not 'coloured'.
  • Poikilos can mean 'embroidered' or 'varied' as well as 'many-coloured'.

Why this level · An ancient and influential reading with good cultural background, but not what the Hebrew word itself clearly says.

Sources · Rahlfs–Hanhart edition, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft; Wikimedia Commons (painting c. 1890 BC); Sukenik, Iluz, Amar, Varvak, Shamir & Ben-Yosef, PLOS ONE 16(1): e0245897 (2021); Bible Gateway · Genesis 37:3

Decorated or embroidered

Plausible

A tunic enriched with embroidery or sewn-on ornaments, possibly gold.

passim = ornaments sewn on (Akkadian pišannu) or figured work.

Evidence for

  • Babylonian texts describe a kitû pišannu, a ceremonial robe with ornaments sewn on (Oppenheim; followed by Speiser).
  • Ibn Ezra, Ramban and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan speak of embroidered or figured work.
  • NIV ('ornate'), NRSVue ('ornamented') and NABRE adopt this view.

Evidence against

  • The link between passim and pišannu is disputed on linguistic grounds.
  • The Akkadian garments dressed statues of gods, a long way from a shepherd's family.

Why this level · A serious modern proposal with ancient Jewish support, but it depends on a contested borrowing.

Sources · E. A. Speiser (1964); A. Leo Oppenheim (1949); Balashon: Hebrew Language Detective; Jewish Action (Orthodox Union); Bible Gateway · Genesis 37:3

A garment of rank

Strongly supported

A mark of status, the kind of robe worn by royalty, not by working shepherds.

Whatever passim means, the robe signals privilege: royal dress in 2 Samuel, the favoured heir in Genesis.

Evidence for

  • 2 Samuel 13:18 says the king's virgin daughters wore these robes.
  • In Genesis 37 the robe is the visible sign of Jacob's favour, and it provokes the brothers' hatred.
  • Some commentators (Kli Yakar) see it as marking Joseph as the heir, the firstborn of Rachel.

Evidence against

  • This tells us what the robe meant, not what it looked like.
  • That it marked Joseph as heir is inferred; the text only says it showed love.

Why this level · Both passages point to status. This is the one conclusion that does not depend on the meaning of passim.

Sources · eBible.org; J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research; Jewish Action (Orthodox Union) · 2 Samuel 13:18; Genesis 37:3–4

Made of strips or pieces

Speculative

A tunic pieced together from strips or panels, perhaps in several colours.

pas = a strip or piece: a tunic made of, or banded with, strips of cloth.

Evidence for

  • In later Hebrew pas means 'strip'; Radak explains passim as stripes of different colours.
  • Ralbag and Ibn Janah imagine each handbreadth in a different colour.

Evidence against

  • The 'strip' meaning is post-biblical, so it may read later usage into an old text.
  • No ancient translation takes it this way.

Why this level · An old and attractive reading, but it rests on a sense of the word that appears only centuries later.

Sources · Balashon: Hebrew Language Detective · Genesis 37:3

A garment handed down from Eden?

Speculative

✦ Later Jewish tradition

Midrash says the “garments of skins” God made for Adam (Genesis 3:21) were priestly dress, handed down from firstborn to firstborn until they reached Jacob; one rabbi says Jacob then gave them to Joseph.

Not a reading of passim but a story about the robe: in later Jewish tradition the birthright came with a garment God made for Adam.

Evidence for

  • Genesis Rabbah 20:12 says the firstborn used Adam’s garments. Numbers Rabbah 4:8 and Tanhuma (Buber) Toledot 12 trace them from Adam through Noah, Shem, Abraham and Isaac, worn by the firstborn who offered sacrifice before there were priests.
  • Genesis Rabbah (63:13, 65:16) and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan take the “best garments” of Esau that Rebekah put on Jacob (Genesis 27:15) to be these heirlooms; the Targum calls them garments “which had formerly been Adam’s”.
  • Genesis Rabbah 97:6 links them to Joseph: on Genesis 48:22 Rabbi Judah reads the “one portion” Jacob gives Joseph above his brothers as the birthright and Adam’s garment.
  • The Bible does give Reuben’s birthright to Joseph (1 Chronicles 5:1–2), and Kli Yakar (1602) reads the robe of Genesis 37 as the sign of that birthright, made to look like priestly dress.

Evidence against

  • Genesis 37:3 says Jacob made the robe for Joseph. The Talmud (Shabbat 10b) also treats it as a new gift of fine wool that cost more than his brothers’ clothes.
  • No early source we found says the ketonet passim was Adam’s garment. Genesis Rabbah 97:6 places the gift at Jacob’s deathbed, long after the brothers had torn the robe and dipped it in blood.
  • These are midrash and Targum, compiled roughly between the 5th and 12th centuries AD. They are sermon and interpretation, centuries after Genesis, not a record of what Joseph wore.
  • The traditions disagree with each other: Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 24 has Ham hand Adam’s garments to Nimrod, from whom Esau took them by killing him.

Why this level · The heirloom tradition is real and old, and it draws on the birthright theme in the Bible itself. But it comes from Jewish interpretation of other verses, not from Genesis 37. Saying Joseph’s coat was Adam’s garment joins two separate traditions; we found no early source that does this.

Sources · eBible.org; Numbers Rabbah 4:8; Tanhuma (Buber), Toledot 12; Genesis Rabbah 20:12, 63:13, 65:16 and 97:6; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 27:15 (trans. J. W. Etheridge, 1862); Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 24 (trans. G. Friedlander, 1916); Kli Yakar on Genesis 37:3; Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 10b; Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, vols. 1–2 (1909–1910) · Genesis 3:21; Genesis 27:15; Genesis 37:3; Genesis 48:22; 1 Chronicles 5:1–2

No drawing: this tradition is about where the robe came from, not how it looked.

Reconstruction slider

What might it have looked like?

One drawing for each interpretation, using the same figure so only length, sleeves, colour and pattern change. Every drawing is artistic; the badge beside it shows how well supported the reading behind it is.

Long, with sleeves. Interpretation evidence: plausible. The drawing itself is artistic.
Reconstruction 1 of 5

Long, with sleeves

Interpretation
Plausible
This drawing
Artistic

A figure in an undyed cream wool tunic that reaches the ankles, with sleeves to the wrists and a thin red and blue border at the hem.

Reading: pas = the flat of the hand or foot: a tunic reaching to the palms and the soles.

  • Undyed wool
  • Madder red
  • Woad blue

Artistic reconstruction. Cut, colour and pattern are choices made for this drawing from dyes and garments known in the region; no ancient source shows Joseph’s robe.

Historical parallels

What the ancient world wore

Beni Hasan · c. 1890 BC

Procession of the Aamu, tomb of Khnumhotep II

On the north wall of tomb BH3 at Beni Hasan, painted in year 6 of Senusret II, thirty-seven Aamu ('Asiatics') arrive with their animals and goods. Their garments stand out against the Egyptians' plain white linen: red, blue and white in zigzags, bands and fringes, some wrapped over one shoulder. It does not depict Joseph, but it shows what well-off Semitic people could wear in roughly the patriarchal period.

  • Strongly supportedSemitic visitors to Egypt around 1890 BC were painted wearing multicoloured, patterned garments.
  • SpeculativeJoseph's robe looked like the garments in the Beni Hasan painting.

See the composite image on Wikimedia Commons (public domain) or Norman de Garis Davies’s facsimile at the Met.

Textiles & dyes

Ancient Near Eastern dyes

Wool takes dye well; linen, which Egyptians preferred, does not. Plant dyes such as madder (red) and woad (blue) were widely used, insect kermes gave scarlet, and purple from murex sea snails, prized from the Middle Bronze Age, was the colour of kings. Actual dyed textiles rarely survive; the oldest murex-dyed cloth from the southern Levant, found at Timna, dates to about 1000 BC.

  • Madder Root of Rubia tinctorum: reds.
  • Kermes Scale insects on oak: scarlet.
  • Woad / indigo Isatis tinctoria leaves: blues.
  • Weld & plant yellows Reseda and other plants.
  • Murex purple Sea snails: the colour of kings.
  • Strongly supportedRed, blue, yellow and purple dyes were all in use in the Levant in the second millennium BC.
  • Strongly supportedRichly dyed wool, especially purple, was a mark of wealth and rank.
Status garments

Clothes that say who you are

2 Samuel 13 is the only other place the phrase ketonet passim appears. The narrator explains that the king's virgin daughters wore such robes, and Tamar tears hers in grief after Amnon's assault. This is the strongest clue in the Bible to what kind of garment it was: a mark of rank, worn by a woman as well as a man.

The priests’ linen ketonet (Exodus 28:4) shows the same word used for sacred dress. And Joseph’s story ends where it began, with a gift of clothing:

And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
Genesis 41:42 · KJV
  • Textually statedThe king's virgin daughters wore the ketonet passim.

Sources & licences 23

  1. King James Version (USFM). eBible.orgPublic domainAll English verse text on this page is quoted verbatim from KJV.
  2. Westminster Leningrad Codex. J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical ResearchPublic domainHebrew text of the five occurrences.
  3. Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb). Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible ProjectCC BY 4.0Lemmas (H3801, H6446) and morphology codes (e.g. HNcfsc, HNcmpa) for each occurrence.
  4. Strong's H6446 pas / H3801 kethoneth (with Brown–Driver–Briggs). Bible HubBDB (1906, public domain) glosses pas as 'flat of the hand or foot' and the phrase as a tunic reaching to palms and soles.
  5. Septuagint: Genesis 37:3 and 2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 13:18. Rahlfs–Hanhart edition, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaftchitōn poikilos (Genesis); chitōn karpōtos (2 Samuel).
  6. A Coat of Many Words (series on the Greek renderings). Kevin Potter, The LXX ScrollsAquila astragaleios ('to the ankles') and Symmachus cheiridōtos ('with sleeves').
  7. Biblia Sacra Vulgata: Genesis 37:3; 2 Samuel 13:18. JeromePublic domaintunicam polymitam; talari tunica.
  8. What's the Truth about… Joseph's 'Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'?. Jewish Action (Orthodox Union)Survey of Targum, rabbinic and medieval readings (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Ramban, Radak, Ralbag, Ibn Janah, Saadia, Kli Yakar) and the Targums' 'figured designs'.
  9. Genesis Rabbah 84 and Rashi on Genesis 37:3. SefariaRashi: fine wool; the midrash reads passim as reaching to the palms.
  10. passim. Balashon: Hebrew Language DetectiveSurvey of readings: Radak (stripes), Ibn Ezra, Rashbam and Genesis Rabbah (to the palms and feet), Josephus, Tur-Sinai on the late meaning 'strip'.
  11. Genesis (Anchor Bible 1), note on 37:3; and 'The Golden Garments of the Gods', JNES 8 (1949). E. A. Speiser (1964); A. Leo Oppenheim (1949)Proposes passim ← Akkadian pišannu, ornaments on a kitû pišannu robe. Cited by name only.
  12. Genesis 37:3 in many English versions. Bible GatewayRenderings of copyrighted versions are cited by name in a few words only.
  13. Procession of the Aamu, Tomb of Khnumhotep II (composite). Wikimedia Commons (painting c. 1890 BC)Public domain
  14. Leaders of the Aamu of Shu (facsimile by Norman de Garis Davies). The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  15. Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel). Sukenik, Iluz, Amar, Varvak, Shamir & Ben-Yosef, PLOS ONE 16(1): e0245897 (2021)CC BY 4.0
  16. Numbers Rabbah 4:8Sefaria. The firstborn offered sacrifice in the garments God made for Adam (Genesis 3:21), passed down Adam, Seth, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob once he had the birthright. No mention of Joseph.
  17. Tanhuma (Buber), Toledot 12Trans. J. T. Townsend, on Sefaria. The garments of skins were high-priestly dress; Isaac passed them to Esau, Esau left them with his mother, and Rebekah put them on Jacob because he had bought the birthright.
  18. Genesis Rabbah 20:12, 63:13, 65:16 and 97:6Sefaria. 20:12: “garments of light” in Rabbi Meir’s Torah; the firstborn used them. 63:13: Nimrod wanted to kill Esau over Adam’s garment. 65:16: Esau’s fine garments were the ones he coveted from Nimrod. 97:6 (on Genesis 48:22): Rabbi Judah, the birthright and Adam’s garment given to Joseph.
  19. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 27:15 (trans. J. W. Etheridge, 1862)Public domainEsau’s “pleasant vestments … which had formerly been Adam’s”.
  20. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 24 (trans. G. Friedlander, 1916)Public domainAdam’s coats go with Noah into the ark, then through Ham to Nimrod; Esau kills Nimrod and takes them.
  21. Kli Yakar on Genesis 37:3Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, 1602. After Reuben lost the birthright it passed to Joseph; Jacob made the robe for him like priestly dress, since the firstborn served as priests.
  22. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 10bRav: never favour one son; for two sela of fine wool that Jacob gave Joseph beyond his brothers, our fathers went down to Egypt.
  23. Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, vols. 1–2 (1909–1910)Public domainRetells the chain from Adam to Esau and Jacob (vol. 1), and Jacob giving Joseph Shechem and Adam’s garments on his deathbed (vol. 2). Its account of the coat of many colours does not connect it to Adam.

What the Bible says, what our model adds to it, where good readers disagree, and where the old copies and the translations differ. We set the views side by side and do not pick a winner.

  • Textually stated6
  • Strongly supported5
  • Plausible2
  • Speculative1

A few of the model's choices

  • Strongly supported

    Ketonet means a tunic, not an outer coat or cloak.

  • Plausible

    Ketonet is related to Akkadian kitû (linen) and Greek chitōn (tunic).

  • Plausible

    Pas means the flat of the hand or foot, so the robe reached to the wrists and ankles.

Show all 17
What the text says6

Stated in Scripture. Quoted from the King James Version (KJV) and the 1919 Chinese Union Version (和合本).

  • Jacob (Israel) made the robe for Joseph because he loved him more than all his sons.

    Textually stated

    3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

    Genesis 37:3 · KJV
  • Joseph was seventeen, working with the flocks, when Jacob gave him the robe.

    Textually stated

    2These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

    Genesis 37:2 · KJV
  • The robe marked Joseph out as his father's favourite, and his brothers stripped it from him and used it to deceive Jacob.

    Textually stated

    4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

    Genesis 37:4 · KJV
  • Jacob recognised the bloodied robe as Joseph's and concluded he had been killed by an animal.

    Textually stated

    33And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

    Genesis 37:33 · KJV
  • The king's virgin daughters wore the ketonet passim.

    Textually stated

    18And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

    2 Samuel 13:18 · KJV
  • In biblical Hebrew, passim appears only in the phrase ketonet passim, in Genesis 37 and 2 Samuel 13.

    Textually stated

    23And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;

    Genesis 37:23 · KJV
What the model adds8

Choices the reconstruction has to make where the text is silent, each with its evidence level and the reason for it.

Strongly supported5
  • Ketonet means a tunic, not an outer coat or cloak.

    Why: Consistent usage across the Hebrew Bible for an inner garment worn by laypeople and priests.

  • The meaning 'strip' or 'stripe' is attested only in later, post-biblical Hebrew.

    Why: Lexical evidence; medieval readings such as Radak's 'stripes' draw on later usage.

  • Semitic visitors to Egypt around 1890 BC were painted wearing multicoloured, patterned garments.

    Why: The painting survives and has been recorded since the 19th century.

  • Red, blue, yellow and purple dyes were all in use in the Levant in the second millennium BC.

    Why: Archaeological textiles, dye-works and texts; the Timna textiles show both plant dyes and true murex purple.

  • A garment of rank: A mark of status, the kind of robe worn by royalty, not by working shepherds.

    Why: Both passages point to status. This is the one conclusion that does not depend on the meaning of passim.

Plausible2
  • Ketonet is related to Akkadian kitû (linen) and Greek chitōn (tunic).

    Why: A standard etymology in the lexicons; the direction and route of borrowing are debated.

  • Pas means the flat of the hand or foot, so the robe reached to the wrists and ankles.

    Why: Supported by Aramaic pas yeda (Daniel 5), the Greek of 2 Samuel 13:18 and the Greek versions of Aquila and Symmachus, but the Hebrew word itself is rare.

Speculative1
  • Joseph's robe looked like the garments in the Beni Hasan painting.

    Why: The painting is roughly contemporary with some datings of the patriarchs and shows people from the same region, but it is not a picture of Joseph and its garments are not called ketonet passim.

Competing views2

Where careful readers disagree. Each view with who holds it and the evidence for and against it. No verdict.

What was a ketonet passim?

Genesis 37:3; 2 Samuel 13:18

Long, with sleeves

Held by Genesis Rabbah and Rashbam; Aquila and Symmachus; the RSV, NRSV and CSB

For

  • Aramaic pas yeda means the palm or back of the hand (Daniel 5:5, 24).
  • The Septuagint renders Tamar's robe 'reaching to the wrists'; Aquila and Symmachus give 'to the ankles' and 'with sleeves' for Genesis.
  • Genesis Rabbah, Rashbam and others read it as reaching to the palms and feet; RSV, NRSV and CSB follow.
  • Ordinary work tunics were short and sleeveless; a long one fits a favoured son and a king's daughter.

Against

  • Pas never clearly means 'palm' in biblical Hebrew itself.
  • The oldest translation of Genesis, the Septuagint, chose 'varied' instead.

Sources: Strong's H6446 pas / H3801 kethoneth (with Brown–Driver–Briggs); Septuagint: Genesis 37:3 and 2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 13:18; A Coat of Many Words (series on the Greek renderings); Genesis Rabbah 84 and Rashi on Genesis 37:3; passim

Many-coloured

Held by The Septuagint; the KJV, ESV, NASB and the 1919 和合本 (彩衣)

For

  • The Septuagint, the oldest translation, reads 'varied / many-coloured' in Genesis; the KJV, ESV and NASB follow.
  • Semitic travellers at Beni Hasan (c. 1890 BC) wear strikingly coloured wool.
  • Dyed wool was costly, so a colourful robe would mark favour.

Against

  • There is no colour word in the Hebrew.
  • The same translators render the identical phrase in 2 Samuel as 'reaching to the wrists', not 'coloured'.
  • Poikilos can mean 'embroidered' or 'varied' as well as 'many-coloured'.

Sources: Septuagint: Genesis 37:3 and 2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 13:18; Procession of the Aamu, Tomb of Khnumhotep II (composite); Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel); Genesis 37:3 in many English versions

Decorated or embroidered

Held by A. L. Oppenheim and E. A. Speiser; Ibn Ezra, Ramban and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan; the NIV, NRSVue and NABRE

For

  • Babylonian texts describe a kitû pišannu, a ceremonial robe with ornaments sewn on (Oppenheim; followed by Speiser).
  • Ibn Ezra, Ramban and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan speak of embroidered or figured work.
  • NIV ('ornate'), NRSVue ('ornamented') and NABRE adopt this view.

Against

  • The link between passim and pišannu is disputed on linguistic grounds.
  • The Akkadian garments dressed statues of gods, a long way from a shepherd's family.

Sources: Genesis (Anchor Bible 1), note on 37:3; and 'The Golden Garments of the Gods', JNES 8 (1949); passim; What's the Truth about… Joseph's 'Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'?; Genesis 37:3 in many English versions

Made of strips or pieces

Held by Radak, Ralbag and Ibn Janah

For

  • In later Hebrew pas means 'strip'; Radak explains passim as stripes of different colours.
  • Ralbag and Ibn Janah imagine each handbreadth in a different colour.

Against

  • The 'strip' meaning is post-biblical, so it may read later usage into an old text.
  • No ancient translation takes it this way.

Sources: passim

What the lab shows (a drawing choice, not a ruling): The lab draws one picture for each reading, each labelled with its reading and level, and compares up to three side by side. The one conclusion that does not depend on the word, that it was a garment of rank, is marked Strongly supported.

Was the robe new, or handed down from Adam?

Genesis 37:3; Genesis 3:21; Genesis 27:15; Genesis 48:22; 1 Chronicles 5:1–2

A new robe Jacob made

Held by Genesis 37:3 as written; the Talmud (Shabbat 10b); most commentators and translations

For

  • Genesis 37:3 says Jacob made it for Joseph.
  • Shabbat 10b treats it as a costly new gift of fine wool, more than his brothers received.

Against

  • The verse does not say why Jacob chose this garment; the birthright passing to Joseph (1 Chronicles 5:1–2) invites readers to look for more.

Sources: King James Version (KJV); Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 10b

A garment handed down from Eden?

Held by Midrash (Genesis Rabbah, Numbers Rabbah, Tanhuma) and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan for the chain from Adam to Jacob; Rabbi Judah in Genesis Rabbah 97:6 for the gift to Joseph; popular retellings that make it the coat itself

For

  • Genesis Rabbah 20:12 says the firstborn used Adam’s garments. Numbers Rabbah 4:8 and Tanhuma (Buber) Toledot 12 trace them from Adam through Noah, Shem, Abraham and Isaac, worn by the firstborn who offered sacrifice before there were priests.
  • Genesis Rabbah (63:13, 65:16) and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan take the “best garments” of Esau that Rebekah put on Jacob (Genesis 27:15) to be these heirlooms; the Targum calls them garments “which had formerly been Adam’s”.
  • Genesis Rabbah 97:6 links them to Joseph: on Genesis 48:22 Rabbi Judah reads the “one portion” Jacob gives Joseph above his brothers as the birthright and Adam’s garment.
  • The Bible does give Reuben’s birthright to Joseph (1 Chronicles 5:1–2), and Kli Yakar (1602) reads the robe of Genesis 37 as the sign of that birthright, made to look like priestly dress.

Against

  • Genesis 37:3 says Jacob made the robe for Joseph. The Talmud (Shabbat 10b) also treats it as a new gift of fine wool that cost more than his brothers’ clothes.
  • No early source we found says the ketonet passim was Adam’s garment. Genesis Rabbah 97:6 places the gift at Jacob’s deathbed, long after the brothers had torn the robe and dipped it in blood.
  • These are midrash and Targum, compiled roughly between the 5th and 12th centuries AD. They are sermon and interpretation, centuries after Genesis, not a record of what Joseph wore.
  • The traditions disagree with each other: Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 24 has Ham hand Adam’s garments to Nimrod, from whom Esau took them by killing him.

Sources: King James Version (KJV); Numbers Rabbah 4:8; Tanhuma (Buber), Toledot 12; Genesis Rabbah 20:12, 63:13, 65:16 and 97:6; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 27:15 (trans. J. W. Etheridge, 1862); Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 24 (trans. G. Friedlander, 1916); Kli Yakar on Genesis 37:3; Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 10b; Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, vols. 1–2 (1909–1910)

What the lab shows (a drawing choice, not a ruling): The lab shows the tradition as a card labelled Later Jewish tradition and Speculative, with its sources; it has no drawing, because it is about where the robe came from, not how it looked.

Textual notes1

Places where manuscripts, ancient versions or translations differ in numbers or wording. KJV and 和合本 are quoted as they stand.

"A coat of many colours" / 「彩衣」: a translation, not a Hebrew colour word

Translations

3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

Genesis 37:3 · KJV

3以色列原來愛約瑟過於愛他的衆子、因爲約瑟是他年老生的、他給約瑟作了一件彩衣。

創世記 37:3 · 和合本 (CUV 1919)

18And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

2 Samuel 13:18 · KJV

18那時他瑪穿着彩衣.因爲沒有出嫁的公主都是這樣穿.暗嫩的僕人就把他趕出去、關門上閂。

撒母耳記下 13:18 · 和合本 (CUV 1919)
Other witnesses
Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)ketonet passim, in both places
Greek Septuaginta varied ("many-coloured") tunic in Genesis 37:3; a tunic "reaching to the wrists" in 2 Samuel 13:18

KJV reads "a coat of many colours" for Joseph and "a garment of divers colours" for Tamar; the 和合本 reads 彩衣 in both. Both follow the Greek and Latin tradition of colour. The Hebrew phrase is the same in both passages and has no colour word, and the Greek translators themselves rendered it two different ways.

Sources: Septuagint: Genesis 37:3 and 2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 13:18; Westminster Leningrad Codex; Genesis 37:3 in many English versions

Frequently asked questions

What did Joseph's coat of many colors look like?

The Hebrew text never states its colours, length or decoration; it only calls it a ketonet passim. Three readings are plausible: a long tunic with sleeves, a many-coloured tunic, or a decorated one. That it was a garment of rank, marking Joseph as his father's favourite, is strongly supported.

What does ketonet passim mean?

Ketonet means a tunic, the basic shirt-like garment worn next to the body. Passim is the puzzle: in biblical Hebrew it appears only in this phrase, in Genesis 37 and 2 Samuel 13. It may mean the flat of the hand or foot, a robe reaching to the wrists and ankles; the sense 'stripes' is attested only in later Hebrew.

Why is it called a coat of many colours?

The Greek Septuagint translated it chitōn poikilos, a varied or many-coloured tunic, and the Latin Vulgate tunica polymita. The King James Version followed with 'a coat of many colours' in 1611. Other ancient translators read it as a tunic reaching the ankles or with sleeves.

Why did Jacob give Joseph the coat?

Genesis 37:3 says Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and made him the robe. It marked Joseph out as the favourite, and his brothers hated him for it, later stripping it from him and using it, dipped in blood, to deceive their father.

Who else wore a ketonet passim?

Tamar, King David's daughter. 2 Samuel 13:18 says the king's virgin daughters wore this garment, which supports reading it as dress of high status. Tamar tore it in grief after Amnon wronged her.

Was Joseph's coat a garment handed down from Adam?

Genesis does not say so: Genesis 37:3 says Jacob made it. The idea comes from later Jewish midrash, compiled roughly between the 5th and 12th centuries AD. It says the garments God made for Adam (Genesis 3:21) were priestly robes worn by the firstborn and handed down until they reached Jacob, through the 'best garments' of Esau (Genesis 27:15; Numbers Rabbah 4:8; Tanhuma). Genesis Rabbah 97:6 adds that Jacob gave Adam's garment to Joseph with the birthright, on his deathbed (Genesis 48:22). No early source we found says the coat of many colours was that garment, so the lab shows it as a later tradition, graded speculative.

What colour was Joseph's coat?

Genesis names no colours. “Many colours” comes from the Greek Septuagint's poikilos, “varied” or “many-coloured”, which the Latin and the King James Version followed; the Hebrew may instead mean a robe reaching the wrists and ankles. Colour was certainly possible: in the Beni Hasan tomb painting in Egypt (about 1890 BC), Semitic visitors from the Levant wear garments woven in bands of red, blue, yellow and white with zigzags, beside the Egyptians' plain white linen. It does not show Joseph, and the colours on the lab's robe are a reconstruction choice.

Where is the story of Joseph's coat in the Bible?

Genesis 37. Jacob makes the robe for Joseph (37:3), his brothers strip it off him before selling him to traders bound for Egypt (37:23–28), then dip it in a goat's blood and bring it to their father, who takes it as proof that a wild animal has killed Joseph (37:31–33). The robe is not mentioned again, though Joseph's story runs on to Genesis 50.

Sources & limits

Limits of this lab 4

  • Passim occurs in only five verses of the Hebrew Bible, all in one phrase; no ancient picture or garment can be tied to Joseph.
  • The pictures are reconstructions of each reading, not of the robe itself; colours and patterns are artistic.
  • The Beni Hasan painting shows people of the region about 1890 BC; it is background, not a portrait of Joseph's family.
  • Lexicons and later Jewish readers are cited for their arguments; the lab does not choose between the readings beyond their levels.

Sources 25

  1. King James Version (KJV) (Public domain outside the United Kingdom)
  2. 官話和合譯本 (Chinese Union Version, 1919), zh.wikisource (Public domain)
  3. King James Version (USFM) (Public domain)
  4. Westminster Leningrad Codex (Public domain)
  5. Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb) (CC BY 4.0)
  6. Strong's H6446 pas / H3801 kethoneth (with Brown–Driver–Briggs)
  7. Septuagint: Genesis 37:3 and 2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 13:18
  8. A Coat of Many Words (series on the Greek renderings)
  9. Biblia Sacra Vulgata: Genesis 37:3; 2 Samuel 13:18 (Public domain)
  10. What's the Truth about… Joseph's 'Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'?
  11. Genesis Rabbah 84 and Rashi on Genesis 37:3
  12. passim
  13. Genesis (Anchor Bible 1), note on 37:3; and 'The Golden Garments of the Gods', JNES 8 (1949)
  14. Genesis 37:3 in many English versions
  15. Procession of the Aamu, Tomb of Khnumhotep II (composite) (Public domain)
  16. Leaders of the Aamu of Shu (facsimile by Norman de Garis Davies)
  17. Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel) (CC BY 4.0)
  18. Numbers Rabbah 4:8
  19. Tanhuma (Buber), Toledot 12
  20. Genesis Rabbah 20:12, 63:13, 65:16 and 97:6
  21. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 27:15 (trans. J. W. Etheridge, 1862) (Public domain)
  22. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 24 (trans. G. Friedlander, 1916) (Public domain)
  23. Kli Yakar on Genesis 37:3
  24. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 10b
  25. Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, vols. 1–2 (1909–1910) (Public domain)

Scripture is quoted only from KJV and the 1919 和合本. Other works are cited for facts and arguments, not quoted at length.

How we build the Labs →Found a mistake? Report it →

What’s new · v1.2.1Version 1.2.1: English Scripture is now quoted from the King James Version (1769).