Genesis 37:25

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ¹  and saw ²  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ³ 

Genesis 37:28

37:28 So when the Midianite ⁴  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ⁵  him ⁶  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ⁷  then took Joseph to Egypt.

Genesis 37:36

37:36 Now ⁸  in Egypt the Midianites ⁹  sold Joseph ¹⁰  to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. ¹¹ 

[37:25]  ¹ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

[37:25]  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.

[37:25]  ³ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

[37:28]  ⁴ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

[37:28]  ⁵ 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).

[37:28]  ⁶ 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.

[37:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁸ tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.

[37:36]  ⁹ 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.”

[37:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ¹¹ sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.