Genesis 37:34-36

37:34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, ¹  and mourned for his son many days. 37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by ²  him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” ³  So Joseph’s ⁴  father wept for him.

37:36 Now ⁵  in Egypt the Midianites ⁶  sold Joseph ⁷  to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. ⁸ 

[37:34]  ¹ tn Heb “and put sackcloth on his loins.”

[37:35]  ² tn Heb “arose, stood”; which here suggests that they stood by him in his time of grief.

[37:35]  ³ 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.

[37:35]  ⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.

[37:36]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁸ sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.