The answer is: Sheaves of wheat bowing down to other sheaves

Gen 37:5-7

Joseph's first recorded dream is one of those moments in scripture that spark the imagination. In this dream, Joseph sees himself alongside his brothers, with sheaves of wheat. Each of his brothers’ sheaves bow down to his. Imagine the scene: a young Joseph relaying this dream to his brothers, stirring a mix of curiosity and resentment. And why wouldn’t they feel threatened? Being the favored son, Joseph was already marked, and claiming that he would hold a higher status put him at odds with his siblings.

This dream isn’t just a plot point; it's a foreshadowing device that sets the stage for the drama to come. The symbolism of wheat can be tied back to ideas of abundance and vitality in agrarian cultures. The fact that one sheaf was superior — standing tall while others bowed — would resonate with any community dependent on harvests and agriculture. Bet you didn’t know that in ancient times, dreams were often seen as messages from the divine, significant enough to influence real-world decisions.

Oddly enough, Joseph isn’t the only one with dreams in the Bible. His great-grandmother Rebekah had a remarkable encounter in Genesis, highlighting a pattern of divinely meaningful dreams in the ancestral history of the Israelites. And as we follow Joseph’s trajectory, we see how this early dream changes not just his personal fate but also sets in motion events leading to the lineage of a great nation. Now, that’s something to chew on!