Genesis 37:26-34
New English Translation
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him,[a] for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.[b] 28 So when the Midianite[c] merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled[d] him[e] out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites[f] then took Joseph to Egypt.
29 Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it![g] He tore his clothes, 30 returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy isn’t there! And I, where can I go?” 31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a young goat,[h] and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they brought the special tunic to their father[i] and said, “We found this. Determine now whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”
33 He recognized it and exclaimed, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has eaten him![j] Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth,[k] and mourned for his son many days.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 37:27 tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”
- Genesis 37:27 tn Heb “listened.”
- Genesis 37:28 sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.
- Genesis 37:28 tn Heb “they drew and they lifted up.” The referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity; otherwise the reader might assume the Midianites had pulled Joseph from the cistern (but cf. NAB).
- Genesis 37:28 tn Heb “Joseph” (both here and in the following clause); the proper name has been replaced both times by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 37:28 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 37:29 tn Heb “and look, Joseph was not in the cistern.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vehinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the situation through Reuben’s eyes.
- Genesis 37:31 sn It was with two young goats that Jacob deceived his father (Gen 27:9); now with a young goat his sons continue the deception that dominates this family.
- Genesis 37:32 tn Heb “and they sent the special tunic and they brought [it] to their father.” The text as it stands is problematic. It sounds as if they sent the tunic on ahead and then came and brought it to their father. Some emend the second verb to a Qal form and read “and they came.” In this case, they sent the tunic on ahead.
- Genesis 37:33 sn A wild animal has eaten him. Jacob draws this conclusion on his own without his sons actually having to lie with their words (see v. 20). Dipping the tunic in the goat’s blood was the only deception needed.
- Genesis 37:34 tn Heb “and put sackcloth on his loins.”
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