Evil Report

So in my studying yesterday I stumbled across a verse I had payed little attention to other than for its usefulness in chronology:

"These 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." (Gen 27:2)

I looked for references and footnotes, but I couldn't locate anything to clear it up. A few verses later I found this entry:

"And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words." (Gen 37:8).

It struck me that at this point in the chapter he had only relayed one dream and as far as other words we are given none. From the text and the personality of Joseph, it would seem that if this is connected with verse two's "evil report" then maybe like Nephi in the Book of Mormon, Joseph was trying to bring his wayward brothers into the path of righteousness. This would explain their anger a little more since it would make very little sense for a group of brethren to get to the point of fratricide over a coat and two dreams.

Linking it to the example of Laman and Lemuel, however, points to a more sure reasoning as to their hatred towards him. They hated him for his righteousness. He was making good choices and Jacob was rewarding and praising him for it. Then he shared his feelings with his brothers and like Laman and Lemuel they became upset and misunderstood what was intended.

This helps me a lot more with my comprehension of the man Joseph and what happened to him that day when he was 17 years old.