Text -- Genesis 37:16-36 (NET)

37:16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are grazing their flocks.” 37:17 The man said, “They left this area, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 37:19 They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams! 37:20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!” 37:21 When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, “Let’s not take his life!” 37:22 Reuben continued, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.) 37:23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore. 37:24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.) 37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. 37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 37:27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. 37:28 So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt. 37:29 Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it! He tore his clothes, 37:30 returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy isn’t there! And I, where can I go?” 37:31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a young goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 37:32 Then they brought the special tunic to their father and said, “We found this. Determine now whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” 37:33 He recognized it and exclaimed, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 37:34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son many days. 37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” So Joseph’s father wept for him. 37:36 Now in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 37:16

¹ tn The imperative in this sentence has more of the nuance of a request than a command.

NET Notes: Gen 37:17

¹ tn Heb “they traveled from this place.”

NET Notes: Gen 37:18

¹ tn Heb “and they”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Gen 37:19

¹ tn Heb “Look, this master of dreams is coming.” The brothers’ words have a sarcastic note and indicate that they resent his dreams.

NET Notes: Gen 37:20

¹ tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.

² tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”

NET Notes: Gen 37:21

¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn From their hands. The instigators of this plot may have been the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (see v. 2).

³ tn Heb “and he said.”

⁴ tn Heb “we must not strike him down [with respect to] life.”

NET Notes: Gen 37:22

¹ tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”

² sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.

³ tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 37:23

¹ tn Heb “Joseph”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 37:24

¹ tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that helps the reader or hearer to picture what happened.

NET Notes: Gen 37:25

¹ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

² tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.

³ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

NET Notes: Gen 37:27

¹ tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”

² tn Heb “listened.”

NET Notes: Gen 37:28

¹ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

² 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).

³ 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.

⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Gen 37:29

¹ tn Heb “and look, Joseph was not in the cistern.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the situation through Reuben’s eyes.

NET Notes: Gen 37:31

¹ 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.

NET Notes: Gen 37:32

¹ 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.

NET Notes: Gen 37:33

¹ 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.

NET Notes: Gen 37:34

¹ tn Heb “and put sackcloth on his loins.”

NET Notes: Gen 37:35

¹ tn Heb “arose, stood”; which here suggests that they stood by him in his time of grief.

² tn Heb “and he said, ‘Indeed I will go down to my son mourning to Sheol.’” Sheol was viewed as the place where departed spirits went after death.

³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Gen 37:36

¹ tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.

² tc The MT spells the name of the merchants as מְדָנִים (mÿdanim, “Medanites”) rather than מִדְיָנִים (midyanim, “Midianites”) as in v. 28. It is likely that the MT is corrupt at this point, with the letter yod (י) being accidentally omitted. The LXX, Vulgate, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac read “Midianites” here. Some prefer to read “Medanites” both here and in v. 28, but Judg 8:24, which identifies the Midianites and Ishmaelites, favors the reading “Midianites.”

³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.