Genesis 37:18
Ver. 18. And when they saw him afar off,.... They knew him as soon as they saw him, by his stature, his gesture or manner of walking, and especially by his coat of various colours he now had on, Ge 37:23;even before he came near unto them; the distance he was from them when they first spied him is particularly remarked and repeated, not to show the quickness of their sight, but for the sake of what follows; to observe how soon their passions were raised, how intense and prepense their malice, and which put them upon devising ways and means to destroy him, for it follows:they conspired against him, to slay him; they entered into a consultation, and devised the most crafty methods they could think of to take away his life, and yet conceal the murder. Genesis 37:19Ver. 19. And they said one to another,.... According to the Targum of Jonathan, Simeon and Levi said what follows: nor is it unlikely, since they were hot, passionate, cruel, and bloody minded men, as appears by the affair of Shechem; and perhaps this may be the reason why Joseph afterwards, when governor of Egypt, took Simeon and bound him, Ge 42:24; which was but a just retaliation for his advice to cast him into a pit when slain:behold, this dreamer cometh; or "master of dreams" {r}; not of the interpretation of them, but of dreaming them; that had them at his command when he pleased, as they jeeringly flouted him; as if he was a framer and contriver of them, and only pretended to them when he had none, or else that he was frequently dreaming and telling his dreams; this they said in a sarcastic way, and, perhaps, as pleased, and rejoicing that such an opportunity offered to take their revenge on him: this shows that it was on the account of his dreams chiefly that they bore such a grudge against him, that this was uppermost on their minds, and was revived at first sight of him, and from whence their malice sprung.{r} twmlxh leb "magister somniorum", Tigurine version, Montanus; "dominus somniorum", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius Genesis 37:20Ver. 20. Come now therefore, and let us slay him,.... Agree to do it, and actually do it:and cast him into some pit; or, "one of the pits" {s}, which were near, and were dug for the collection of rainwater, as was usual in those countries where water was scarce:and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him; which would seem plausible, since wild beasts were frequent in those parts, as lions and bears, see 1Ki 13:24;and we shall see what will become of his dreams; who will be the lord then, and reign, and have the dominion, he or we.{s} twrbh dxab "in unam cisternarum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "in unam ex cisternis istis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "in unam fovearum", Schmidt. Genesis 37:21Ver. 21. And Reuben heard [it],.... Overheard what they said, not being in the consultation; perhaps knowing his temper and disposition to be more mild and gentle, and being the elder brother, might fear he would overrule matters against them, and therefore Simeon and Levi did not choose to have him in the debate; or he might be at some distance and entirely absent when the consultation was held, and their intention was reported to him by some of them:and he delivered him out of their hands; from slaying him; that is, he endeavoured to do it by proposing another scheme:and said, let us not kill him; or let us not smite the soul {t}; the dear soul, or take away life.{t} vpn wnkn al "ne percutiamus vel occidamus animam", Sam. Ar. Syr. Genesis 37:22Ver. 22. And Reuben said unto them, shed no blood,.... Innocent blood, as the Targum of Jonathan; the blood of a man, a brother's blood, one that had not done anything wherefore it should be shed, and which would involve in guilt, and bring vengeance on them: he seems to put them in mind of the original law in Ge 9:6;[but] cast him into this pit that [is] in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him: which might seem to answer the same purpose, namely, by depriving him of his life in another way, by starving him; but this was not Reuben's intention, as appears by the next clause, and by his going to the pit afterwards, as it should seem, with a view to take him out of it privately; this advice he gave,that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again; safe and sound, in order, as it is thought by many interpreters, to reconcile his father to him, whose bed he had abused. Genesis 37:23Ver. 23. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren,.... To the very place where they were, and had, in a kind and obliging manner, asked of their welfare, and related their father's concern for them, who had sent him on this errand:that they stripped, Joseph out of [his] coat; his coat of [many] colours, that [was] on him; according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, this was not one and the same coat, but divers, and that the sense is, that with his coat of many colours, and besides that, they stripped him of his lower garment, which was next to his skin, his shirt; so that he was quite naked when they cast him into the pit, and this they did as soon as he came up to them, so cruel and hardhearted were they. Genesis 37:24Ver. 24. And they took him, and cast him into a pit,.... Into the same that Reuben pointed to them, whose counsel they gladly took and readily executed, supposing he meant the same thing they did, starving him to death:and the pit [was] empty, [there was] no water in it; only serpents and scorpions, as the Targum of Jonathan; and Jarchi adds, this remark, that there was no water in it, seems to be made either to furnish out a reason why Reuben directed to it, that he might be the more easily got out of it, and not be in danger of losing his life at once, or of being drowned in it; or else to show the uncomfortable situation he was in, having not so much as a drop of water to refresh him; see Zec 9:11. Dothan is said to remain to this day, and the inhabitants of it show the ancient ditch into which Joseph was cast {u}.{u} Bunting's Travels, p. 80. Genesis 37:25Ver. 25. And they sat down to eat bread,.... Not at all concerned at what they had done, nor in the least grieved for the affliction of Joseph, and without any pity and compassion for him in his distress, but joyful and glad they had got him into their hands, and like to get rid of him for ever:and they lifted up their eyes, and looked, after they had eaten their food, or while they were eating it:and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead; a place of merchandise for spices and balm, and such like things after mentioned. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call them Arabians; and the Targum of Jerusalem, Saracens; these were the posterity of Ishmael, who came out of Arabia to Gilead, where they took up their merchandise, at least part of it, and were travelling to Egypt with it, and their way thither lay by Dothan; these travelled in companies, now called "caravans", partly on the account of robbers, and partly by reason of wild beasts, with both which they were sometimes beset in the deserts through which they travelled:with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh; the first word is general according to our version, and others, and signifies various spices, a collection of them; and so Jarchi takes it; but Aquila translates it "storax"; and Bochart {w}, by various arguments, seems to have proved, that this is particularly intended; though the Targum of Jonathan renders it "wax" {x}; and so other versions: and "balm" is by some taken to be "rosin", since there was no balm or balsam in Gilead, on the other side Jordan, nor indeed any in Judea, until it was brought thither from Arabia Felix, in the times of Solomon; and what we render "myrrh", is in the Hebrew called "lot", and is by some thought to be the same with "laudanum": this their merchandise was carried on camels, very fit for their purpose every way, as they were strong creatures made to carry burdens, and could travel many days without water, which they were sometimes obliged to do in the deserts:going to carry [it] down to Egypt; where these things grew not, and were much in use, at least some of them, both in medicines, and in embalming dead bodies, much practised in Egypt; an Arabic writer {y} makes this merchandise to consist of, nuts, turpentine, and oil.{w} Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 12. col. 532. {x} So in Bereshit Rabba & Targum Jerusalem in R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 20. 2. {y} Patricides, p. 21. apud Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 367, 368. Genesis 37:26Ver. 26. And Judah said unto his brethren,.... In sight of the Ishmaelites, a thought came into his mind to get Joseph sold to them;what profit [is it] if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? it could be no advantage to them even if they could have concealed his blood from men; and if it was discovered, as it would, in all likelihood, by come means or another, then they must be answerable for it; and if not, God would take vengeance on them, from whom they could never conceal it; and therefore it would be most profitable and advantageous to them to sell him, and not destroy him, or take away his life; and to suffer him to lie in the pit and die was the same thing. Genesis 37:27Ver. 27. Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites,.... For a slave, and that will defeat his dream; and as these were going down to Egypt, where they would sell him, he would be far enough from them, and there would be no probability of his ever being lord over them:and let not our hand be upon him; to take away his life, either by stabbing or starving him:for he [is] our brother, [and] our flesh; they had all one father, though different mothers, and therefore, as the relation was so near, some sympathy and compassion should be shown; some degree of tenderness at least, and not savageness and cruelty:and his brethren were content; they agreed to the motion, inasmuch as they supposed it would answer their end as well, which was to prevent his dominion over them. Genesis 37:28Ver. 28. Then there passed by Midianites, merchantmen,.... The same with the Ishmaelites before mentioned, as appears from the latter part of this verse; for as these were near neighbours, so they might join together in merchandise, and travel in company for greater safety, and are sometimes called the one, and sometimes the other, as well as they might mix together in their habitations and marriages; and are hence called Arabians by the Targums, as before observed, and so by Josephus, which signifies a mixed people:and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit: not the Midianites, but his brethren:and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty [pieces] of silver; for twenty shekels, which amounted to twenty five shillings of our money. The Jews {z} say, they each took two shekels apiece, and bought with them a pair of shoes, according to Am 8:6; but there were but nine of them, Reuben was absent:and they brought Joseph into Egypt; some think these Midianites were different from the Ishmaelites, and that Joseph was sold many times, first to the Midianites, and then by them to the Ishmaelites, and by the latter to Potiphar. Justin {a}, an Heathen writer, gives an account of this affair in some agreement with this history;"Joseph (he says) was the youngest of his brethren, whose excellent genius they feared, and took him secretly, and sold him to "foreign merchants", by whom he was carried into Egypt.''{z} Pirke Eliezer, c. 38. {a} E. Trogo, l. 36. c. 2. Genesis 37:29Ver. 29. And Reuben returned unto the pit,.... It is very probable he had pretended to go somewhere on business, with an intention to take a circuit, and come to the pit and deliver his brother, and go home with him to his father. The Jews say {b} he departed from his brethren, and sat down on a certain mountain, that he might descend in the night and take Joseph out of the pit, and accordingly he came down in the night, and found him not. So Josephus {c} says, it was in the night when Reuben came to the pit, who calling to Joseph, and he not answering, suspected he was killed:and, behold, Joseph [was] not in the pit; for neither by looking down into it could he see him, nor by calling be answered by him, which made it a clear case to him he was not there:and he rent his clothes; as a token of distress and anguish of mind, of sorrow and mourning, as was usual in such cases; Jacob afterwards did the same, Ge 37:34.{b} Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 38.) {c} Antiqu. l. 2. c. 3. sect. 3. Genesis 37:30Ver. 30. And he returned unto his brethren,.... From the pit, and whom he suspected had took him and killed him, as was their first design, not being with them when they proposed to sell him, and did:and said, the child [is] not; not in the pit, nor in the land of the living, but is dead, which is sometimes the meaning of the phrase, Jer 31:15; he calls him a child, though seventeen years of age, because the youngest brother but one, and he himself was the eldest, and also because of his tender concern for him:and I, whither shall I go? to find the child or flee from his father's face, which he could not think of seeing any more; whom he had highly offended already in the case of Bilhah, and now he would be yet more incensed against him for his neglect of Joseph, who, he might have expected, would have taken particular care of him, being the eldest son: he speaks like one in the utmost perplexity, not knowing what to do, what course to steer, being almost distracted and at his wits' end. Genesis 37:31Ver. 31. And they took Joseph's coat,.... After they had told Reuben what they had done with him, who being willing to make the best of things as it was, joined with them in the following scheme: by this it appears, that when they took Joseph out of the pit they did not put his coat on him, but sold him naked, or almost so, to the merchants:and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; that being, as the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi observe, most like to human blood. Genesis 37:32Ver. 32. And they sent the coat of [many] colours,.... Which was what they dipped in the blood of the kid; this they sent to Jacob in such a condition, by the hand of some messenger; the Targum of Jonathan says, the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah; but more probably some of their servants, whom they instructed what to say to their father when they presented it to him; not caring to appear in person at first, lest they be thrown into such commotion and confusion at their father's distress, as might tend to lead on to a discovery of the whole affair:and they brought [it] to their father, and said, this we have found; that is, the messengers carried to the father of Joseph's brethren, who were sent with it, and taught to say, that they found it in some field in this condition, but found no man near it, only that by itself, and suspected it might be the coat of his son Joseph, if he had sent him out in it:know now whether it [be] thy son's coat or no; look upon it, see if any marks can be observed in it, by which it may with any certainty be known whether it his or not. Genesis 37:33Ver. 33. And he knew [it], and said, [it is] my son's coat,.... He took it, and examined it, and was soon convinced, and well assured it was his son's coat; read the words without the supplement "it is", and the pathos will appear the more, "my son's coat!" and think with what a beating heart, with what trembling limbs, with what wringing of hands, with what flowing eyes, and faultering speech, he spoke these words, and what follow:an evil beast hath devoured him; this was natural to conclude from the condition the coat was in, and from the country he was sent into, which abounded with wild beasts, and was the very thing Joseph's brethren contrived to say themselves; and in this view they wished and hoped the affair would be considered, and so their wickedness concealed:Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces; or "in rending is rent" {d}; he is most certainly rent in pieces, there is no question to be made of it; it is plain, and it must be the case.{d} Prj Prj "discerpendo discerptus est"; Drusius, Schmidt. Genesis 37:34Ver. 34. And Jacob rent his clothes,.... As expressive of his grief and mourning for the death of his son, as he supposed:and put sackcloth upon his loins; put off his usual apparel, and put on a coarse garment on his loins next to his flesh, as another token of his great trouble and affliction for the loss of his son; which though afterwards was frequently done in times of public or private mourning, yet this is the first time we read of it; whether Jacob was the first that used it, whom his posterity and others imitated, is not certain; however it appears that this usage, as well as that of rending clothes on sorrowful occasions, were very ancient:and mourned for his son many days: or years, as days sometimes signify; twenty two years, according to Jarchi, even until the time he went down to Egypt and saw him alive. Genesis 37:35Ver. 35. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him,.... His sons must act a most hypocritical part in this affair; and as for his daughters, it is not easy to say who they were, since he had but one daughter that we read of, whose name was Dinah: the Targum of Jonathan calls them his sons wives; but it is a question whether any of his sons were as yet married, since the eldest of them was not more than twenty four years of age; and much less can their daughters be supposed to be meant, as they are by some. It is the opinion of the Jews, that Jacob had a twin daughter born to him with each of his sons; these his sons and daughters came together, or singly, to condole his loss, to sympathize with him, and speak a word of comfort to him, and entreat him not to give way to excessive grief and sorrow:but he refused to be comforted; to attend to anything that might serve to alleviate his mind, and to abstain from outward mourning, and the tokens of it; he chose not to be interrupted in it:and he said, for I will go down into the grave unto my son, mourning; the meaning is, not that he would by any means hasten his own death, or go down to his son in the grave, strictly and literally taken; since, according to his apprehension of his son's death he could have no grave, being torn to pieces by a wild beast; but either that he should go into the state of the dead, where his son was, mourning all along till he carne thither; or rather that he would go mourning all his days "for [his] son" {e}, as some render it, till he came to the grave; nor would he, nor should he receive any comfort more in this world:thus his father wept for him; in this manner, with such circumstances as before related, and he only; for as for his brethren they hated him, and were glad they had got rid of him; or, "and his father", &c. {f}; his father Isaac, as the Targum of Jonathan, he wept for his son Jacob on account of his trouble and distress; as well as for his grandson Joseph; and so many Jewish writers {g} interpret it; and indeed Isaac was alive at this time, and lived twelve years after; but the former sense seems best.{e} ynb la "propter filium suum", Grotius, Quistorpius; so Jarchi and Abendana. {f} Kbyw "et flevit", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. {g} Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Abendana, in loc. Genesis 37:36Ver. 36. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt,.... Or Medanites, who sprung from Medan, a brother of Midian, and son of Keturah, Ge 24:2; and were distinct from the Midianites, though they dwelt near them, and were now in company with them, and with the Ishmaelites, and were all concerned in the buying and selling of Joseph, and therefore this is sometimes ascribed to the one, and sometimes to the other:unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh; the word is sometimes used for an eunuch, but cannot design one here, since Potiphar had a wife, and some say a child; but he either was a chamberlain, or however some officer at court, besides what follows:[and] captain of the guard; of Pharoah's guard, his bodyguard; some render it, "of the slaughterers" {h}; meaning either cooks or butchers, of whom he was the chief; or rather executioners, he having the charge of prisoners, and the care of executing them, like our sheriffs. Joseph was a most eminent type of Christ, and there are so many things in this chapter which show an agreement between them that cannot be passed over. Joseph was the son of his father's old age, Christ the son of the Ancient of days; Joseph was in a peculiar manner beloved by his father, Christ is the dear son of his Father's love; Jacob made for Joseph a coat of many colours, God prepared a body in human nature for Christ, filled and adorned with the various gifts and graces of the Spirit without measure. Joseph was hated by his brethren, and they could not endure to think he should have the dominion over them. The Jews, of whom Christ was according to the flesh, hated him, and would not have him to reign over them; Joseph was sent by his father a long journey to visit his brethren, and know the welfare of them and their flocks, Christ was sent from heaven to earth to seek and save the lost sheep of the house of Israel; Joseph's brethren, when they saw him come to them, conspired to take away his life, the Jews, who were Christ's own, when he came to them, received him not, but said, this is the heir, let us kill him, and they consulted to take away his life; Joseph was stripped of his clothes, and sold for twenty pieces of silver at the motion of Judah, and Christ, by one of the same name, was sold for thirty pieces of silver, and was stripped of his clothes by the Roman soldiers; Joseph was delivered into the hands of foreigners, and Christ into the hands of the Gentiles; Joseph being reckoned as dead by his father, and yet alive, may be herein an emblem of Christ's death, and his resurrection from the dead.{h} Myxbjx rv arcimageirw Sept. "principi coquorum", Cartwright; so Josephus, "principi lanionum", Pagninus, Montanus, "capitalium rerum praefecto", Tigurine version.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.