Genesis 37:36 | 83
Egyptian( at Beni Hasan) wall painting of western Semites such as Abraham and Joseph traveling to Egypt( nineteenth century BC). Note the ornate robes.
Beni-Hasan Necropolis. Tomb of Khnumhotep III. Detail: mural painting depicting an Asiatic caravan. Middle Kingdom / De Agostini Picture Library / G. Sioen / Bridgeman Images
37:21 c Ge 42:22 37:24 d Jer 41:7
37:25 e Ge 43:11 f ver 28
37:26 g ver 20; Ge 4:10
37:27 h Ge 42:21
37:28 i Ge 25:2; Jdg 6:1-3 j Ge 45:4-5;
Ps 105:17; Ac 7:9
37:29 k ver 34; Ge 44:13; Job 1:20
37:30 l ver 22; Ge 42:13, 36
37:31 m ver 3, 23
37:33 n ver 20 o Ge 44:20, 28
37:34 p ver 29 q 2Sa 3:31
r Ge 50:3, 10, 11
37:35 s Ge 42:38; 44:22, 29, 31
37:36 t Ge 39:1
21 When Reu ben heard this, he tried to res cue him from their hands.“ Let’ s not take his life,” he said. c 22“ Don’ t shed any blood. Throw him into this cis tern here in the wil der ness, but don’ t lay a hand on him.” Reu ben said this to res cue him from them and take him back to his fa ther.
23 So when Jo seph came to his broth ers, they stripped him of his robe— the or nate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cis tern. d The cis tern was empty; there was no wa ter in it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a car a van of Ish ma el ites com ing from Gil ead. Their cam els were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, e and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. f
26 Ju dah said to his broth ers,“ What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? g
27 Come, let’ s sell him to the Ish ma el ites and not lay our hands on him; af ter all, he is our brother, h our own flesh and blood.” His broth ers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite i mer chants came by, his broth ers pulled Jo seph up out of the cis tern and sold him for twenty shek els a of sil ver to the Ish ma el ites, who took him to Egypt. j
29 When Reu ben re turned to the cis tern and saw that Jo seph was not there, he tore his clothes. k
30 He went back to his broth ers and said,“ The boy isn’ t there! Where can I turn now?” l
31 Then they got Jo seph’ s robe, m slaugh tered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the or nate robe back to their fa ther and said,“ We found this. Ex am ine it to see whether it is your son’ s robe.”
33 He rec og nized it and said,“ It is my son’ s robe! Some fe ro cious an i mal n has de voured him. Jo seph has surely been torn to pieces.” o
34 Then Ja cob tore his clothes, p put on sack cloth q and mourned for his son many days. r 35 All his sons and daugh ters came to com fort him, but he re fused to be com forted.“ No,” he said,“ I will con tin ue to mourn un til I join my son in the grave. s” So his fa ther wept for him.
36 Mean while, the Mid i an ites b sold Jo seph in Egypt to Pot i phar, one of Phar aoh’ s of ficials, the cap tain of the guard. t
a 28 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams verse 28); Masoretic Text Medanites b 36 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac( see also
37:21 – 22 Reuben’ s intervention is probably motivated by a desire to regain his father’ s favor rather than out of compassion for Joseph. Reuben hopes that Jacob will reinstate him as firstborn son( see 35:22 and note). Subsequent events, however, prevent him from rescuing Joseph( v. 29). 37:25 eat their meal. After throwing Joseph into a dry cistern, the brothers hard-heartedly begin to eat a meal. As they do, they observe a group of traders, whom they take to be Ishmaelites, traveling southward in the direction of Egypt. camels. See note on 12:16. 37:26 – 27 Revealing something of his selfish nature, Judah proposes that they sell Joseph as a slave. He cloaks his greed by suggesting that this will be an act of compassion on the part of the brothers. 37:28 Midianite merchants. When the traders get closer, they are identified more accurately. They may have been a subgroup within the broader category of Ishmaelites( v. 25). twenty shekels of silver. Early second-millennium BC documents indicate that slaves normally sold for 15 – 30 shekels. 37:29 tore his clothes. Reuben’ s response indicates his deep frustration at not being able to return Joseph to Jacob. 37:30 Where can I turn now? Reuben’ s concern is primarily about redeeming himself rather than about Joseph( see note on vv. 21 – 22).
37:31 Joseph’ s robe. There is an element of irony in how Jacob’ s sons deceive Jacob with the robe covered in goat’ s blood. Previously, Jacob deceived his father by wearing Esau’ s clothes and goatskins( 27:15 – 16). 37:34 sackcloth. Attire appropriate to convey grief and personal loss. many days. Because of his special love for Joseph, Jacob mourns for a considerable period of time. 37:35 grave. Hebrew šĕʾōl( see note on Ps 6:5). 37:36 Potiphar, one of Phar aoh’ s officials, the captain of the guard. Although the exact nature of Potiphar’ s post is uncertain, he was probably responsible for overseeing the detention of other important officials when Phar aoh imprisoned them( see 40:1 – 3). This