Nimrod's coat
Nimrod was a great hunter and not just because he had a
coat that allowed him to
speak with animals (as well as command them). The coat originated with
Adam and somehow worked its way down into the care of Nimrod. It is the same multicolored coat that
Yaacov (aka
Jacob) eventually gave to
Yosef (aka
Joseph). How did Yaacov get it?
According to Midrash, Nimrod was the king of Ur Kasdim when Avram (aka Abraham) was a child. Avram discovered God's existence and Nimrod had him thrown in a fiery furnace for the trouble he had caused in doing so. Miraculously, Avram was unharmed by the fire. Haran, Avram's brother jumped in after him and died immediately. At this point Avram and his father, wife and nephew (Lot), fled from Nimrod. They moved to Charan.
Nimrod (refered to here in the text by another name, Amraphel of Shinar) was also the leader of the army of the four kings who defeated the army of the five kings in Emek HaSidim(translated by me as Valley of the tar pits)(Bereshit/Genesis 14:1) The midrash suggests that Nimrod conquered these territories because it was here that Avram's nephew Lot had chosen to live (Bereshit 13:11). According to the story Lot was the spitting image of Avram. Nimrod, a master of propaganda, figured that he could convince people of the triumph of Polytheism by making it seem that he had conquered Avram, the champion of Monotheism.
Avram then came with his faithful servant Eliezer under cover of night and defeated the army of the four kings (Bereishit 14:14), Nimrod included. It was at this battle that Avram picked up sand and dirt and threw it and in the air it became arrows and spears. Presumably Avram got the coat of many colors at this point and passed it down to Yitzhak(aka Isaac) who passed it down to Eisav (aka Esau) his favorite son.
Eisav didn't trust his wives so he gave this coat into his mother Rivka's (aka Rebecca) keeping when he went out to hunt at the behest of his father on that fateful day. This is the garment that Rivka gave to Yaakov when she dressed him up to pretend he was Eisav. Yaakov gave it to his favorite son, Yosef. And so, Yosef came to possess Nimrod's coat. When Yosef's brothers sold him down to Egypt, it was Nimrod's coat they tore up and poured lamb's blood on and brought to their father Yaakov. (Bereishit 37)
Most of the direct biblical references are cited, all other sources come from the Midrash Rabbah and Rashi on these parashioth, exactly which parasha is hard to say because of the style of the midrash. two additional notes: 1) for a look @ the Torah in its original hebrew http://www.mechon-mamre.org/ 2) Avram's name was changed to Avraham in Genesis 17:5 after the events in which he was associated in this write up took place. That is why I refer to him as Avram instead of Avraham.