Genesis 37:23-30

Amplified Bible

²³Now when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the [distinctive] ^[a]multicolored tunic which he was wearing; ²⁴then they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵Then they sat down to eat their meal. When they looked up, they saw a caravan of ^[b]Ishmaelites coming from Gilead [east of the Jordan], with their camels bearing ladanum resin [for perfume] and balm and ^[c]myrrh, going on their way to carry the cargo down to Egypt. ²⁶Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood (murder)? ²⁷Come, let us [instead] sell him to these Ishmaelites [and ^[d]Midianites] and not lay our hands on him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” So his brothers listened to him and agreed.^(A) ²⁸Then as the ^[e]Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt.

²⁹Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow]. ³⁰He rejoined his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where shall I go [to hide from my father]?”

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Footnotes

Genesis 37:23 See note v 3.
Genesis 37:25 Descendants of Abraham and Hagar (Sarah’s maid, 16:15).
Genesis 37:25 A valuable tree resin.
Genesis 37:27 Descendants of Abraham and Keturah, his concubine.
Genesis 37:28 The relationship between the Midianites and the Ishmaelites as they are mentioned here is unclear. It is possible, as some have suggested, that “Ishmaelites” came to be used as a general term for desert tribes, and that the same merchants are called by both names in this verse. This would also explain the reference to the “Midianites” in v 36. Another explanation, which was offered by the rabbis, is that Joseph was sold first to the Ishmaelites, who then sold him to the Midianites. Another possibility is that they were Ishmaelites from the area of Midian.