Joseph’s “coat of many colors” has become legendary. Yet, the language used may not be an accurate description of the garment. In fact the word “garment” may be a better description. A modern Torah commentary gives alternate translations such as “Ornamental Tunic. [Although] the meaning is not clear. Others translate as ’a coat of many colors,‘ or ’a robe with sleeves.’” (W. Gunther Plaut, Torah: A Modern Commentary, p. 244) Yet, apocryphal sources indicate that the garment was “the garment of Adam” which had been handed down from one patriarch to the next. This, in part, explains the anger of Joseph’s elder brothers when they learned that he would be the recipient of the garment.
“In Alma 46:21-24 we read of a particular ceremony associated with the story of Joseph’s garment. Because Jewish tradition indicates that Joseph’s garment was the high priestly garment of Adam, this passage may have more meaning than previously supposed. In this passage, the desecration of the garment symbolizes being ’ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ.’” (Donald W. Parry, Temples of the Ancient World, p. 695, footnote 50)
“There is no shortage of traditions in the Old World about this garment of Joseph. Ginzberg recounts various stories about appearances of Gabriel to Joseph. One of these appearances was while Joseph was imprisoned in the pit before his brothers sold him into slavery. Here it is said that Gabriel placed upon him a special garment of protection which he wore throughout all his Egyptian experiences (Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews. 7 vols. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1909., 2:17). Ginzberg also records that after Joseph was reunited with his family in Egypt his father gave him two gifts, the first being the city of Shechem and ’the second gift was the garments made by God for Adam and passed from hand to hand, until they came into the possession of Jacob’ (Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews. 7 vols. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1909., 2:139). He also notes that ’according to the view of later authors, Joseph‘s coat was the holy tunic of the priest’ (Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews. 7 vols. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1909., 5:326).” (Millet & McConkie, Gospel Symbolism, p. 140)
Hugh Nibley
"Here the survival of Joseph’s garment guarantees and typifies the survival of Joseph (Alma 46:24).
"In the tenth century of our era the greatest antiquarian of the Moslem world, Muhammad ibn-Ibrahim ath-Tha’labi, collected in Persia a great many old tales and legends about the prophets of Israel…Among other things, Tha’labi tells a number of stories, which we have not found anywhere else, about Jacob and the garment of Joseph. In one, Joseph’s brethren bring his torn garment to their father as proof that he is dead, but Jacob after examining the garment (‘and there were in the garment of Joseph three marks or tokens when they brought it to his father’) declares that the way the cloth is torn shows him that their story is not true: ’Behold, if the bear had eaten him he surely would have rent his garment, and since he would (naturally) have fled towards the gate, verily the garment should have been torn behind.’ But since this is not the case it may be that Joseph still lives…
"Most significant is Tha‘labi’s discussion of the two remnants of Joseph’s garment, from which we quote:
"And when Joseph had made himself known unto them [his brethren] he asked them about his father, saying, ’What did my father after [I left]?’ They answered, ’He lost his eyesight [from weeping].’ Then he gave them his garment [qamis, long outer shirt]. According to ad-Dahak that garment was of the weave [pattern, design] of Paradise, and the breath [spirit, odor] of Paradise was in it, so that it never decayed or in any way deteriorated [and that was] a sign [omen]. And Joseph gave them that garment, and it was the very one that had belonged to Abraham, having already had a long history. And he said to them, ’Go, take this garment of mine and place it upon the face of my father so he may have sight again, and return [to me] with all your families.’ And when they had put Egypt behind them and come to Canaan their father Jacob said, ’Behold, I perceive the spirit [breath, odor] of Joseph, if you will not think me wandering in my mind and weakheaded from age.’ … [for] he knew that upon all the earth there was no spirit [breath, odor] of Paradise save in that garment alone… . And as-Sadi says that Judah said to Joseph, ’It was I who took the garment bedaubed with blood to Jacob, and reported to him that the wolf had eaten Joseph; so give me this day thy garment that I might tell him that thou art living, that I might cause him to rejoice now as greatly as I caused him to sorrow then.’ And Ibn-Abbas says that Judah took the garment and went forth in great haste, panting with exertion and anxiety … and when he brought the garment he laid it upon his face, so that his sight returned to him. And ad-Dahak says that his sight returned after blindness, and his strength after weakness, and youth after age, and joy after sorrow. [Then follows a dialogue between Jacob and the King of Death].
"Note here that there were two remnants of Joseph’s garment, one sent by Joseph to his father as a sign that he was still alive (since the garment had not decayed), and the other, torn and smeared with blood, brought by Judah to his father as a sign that Joseph was dead. Moroni actually quotes Jacob (’Now behold, this was the language of Jacob’ [Alma 46:26]) as saying: ’Now behold, this giveth my soul sorrow; nevertheless, my soul hath joy in my son’ (Alma 46:25)…
“These interesting little details are typical apocryphal variations on a single theme, and the theme is the one Moroni mentions; the rent garment of Joseph is the symbol both of his suffering and his deliverance, misfortune and preservation.” (An Approach to the Book of Mormon, p. 218-20)