Genesis 37:23-28

37:23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him ¹  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; ²  there was no water in it.)

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ³  and saw ⁴  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ⁵  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, ⁶  for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. ⁷  37:28 So when the Midianite ⁸  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ⁹  him ¹⁰  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ¹¹  then took Joseph to Egypt.

[37:23]  ¹ tn Heb “Joseph”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[37:24]  ² tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that helps the reader or hearer to picture what happened.

[37:25]  ³ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

[37:25]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

[37:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”

[37:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “listened.”

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

[37:28]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.