Genesis 37:25-28

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  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, ⁴  for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. ⁵  37:28 So when the Midianite ⁶  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ⁷  him ⁸  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ⁹  then took Joseph to Egypt.

[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.”

[37:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”

[37:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “listened.”

[37:28]  ⁶ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

[37:28]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.