†. Gen 37:21-22 . . But when Reuben heard it, he tried to save him
from them. He said: Let us not take his life. And Reuben went on:
Shed no blood! Cast him into that pit out in the wilderness, but do
not touch him yourselves-- intending to save him from them and
restore him to his father.
The suggestion to murder Joseph was apparently discussed in private among
only some of the brothers at first. When they attempted to bring Reuben in
on it, he balked. Reuben, the firstborn, seems to be the one dissenting
opinion in Joseph's case-- so far. Exactly why, is not stated; but even though
he messed up by sleeping with his father's concubine; that doesn't mean
he's okay with murdering his own kid brother.
No doubt Simeon and Levi had no reservations about ending Joseph's life on
the spot; having already displayed malicious tempers and made their bones
while handling their sister's scandal back in chapter 34. Reuben's balk
seems honestly motivated by a sincere concern for his dad's paternal
feelings. Reuben already hurt Jacob's feelings once before by sleeping with
his concubine. I don't think he wanted to do that again.
†. Gen 37:23-24 . .When Joseph came up to his brothers, they
stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ornamented tunic that he was
wearing, and took him and cast him into the pit. The pit was empty;
there was no water in it.
Some of the brothers would have sorely loved to burn that "despicable" coat
to ashes since it fully represented their kid brother's lording it over them.
The Hebrew word for "pit" is bowr (bore); and means a hole (especially one
used as a cistern or a prison).
The "pit" may have been one of two widely-known natural water tanks in
that area. Some commentators believe the word "Dothan" means two wells,
or two natural tanks; like the Terrapin Tanks in the 1948 western movie The
3 Godfathers with John Wayne and Ward Bond. I seriously doubt that
experienced drovers like Jacob's sons would have dropped Joseph in a tank
with water because if he were to die in there; his rotting body would have
polluted it; thus rendering the precious resource unfit for drovers and their
herds. Natural water sources were essential to the safety of both man and
beast in those days.
Ancient Jews assumed the tank was home to some lethal critters.
T. And when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his garment,
the figured garment that was on him, and took and threw him into the pit;
but the pit was empty, no water was therein, but serpents and scorpions
were in it. (Targum Jonathan)
†. Gen 37:25a . .Then they sat down to a meal.
Would you be comfortable sitting down to a meal while listening to
somebody weeping and sobbing in the background? According to Gen 42:21
that's what Joseph's brothers did. He spent some of his time down in that
tank begging for his life; and they just kept right on dining like he wasn't
even there.
I read a story of the torture and mistreatment of captives in Sadaam
Hussein's pre-invasion jails. This one poor Iraqi man was forced down upon
the jagged neck of a broken glass pop bottle; and while the bottle filled with
blood from his torn flesh, Iraqi police played a game of cards.
†. Gen 37:25b . . Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites
coming from Gilead, their camels bearing gum, balm, and ladanum to
be taken to Egypt.
The gum may have been tragacanth, or goats-thorn gum, because it was
supposed to be obtained from that plant.
The balm (or balsam) is an aromatic substance obtained from a plant of the
genus Amyris, which is a native of Gilead. In point of biblical fact, Gilead was
famous for its balm (Jer 8:22, Jer 46:11). Balms were of medical value in
those days.
The ladanum was probably labdanum, (possibly myrrh), a yellowish brown to
reddish brown aromatic gum resin with a bitter, slightly pungent taste
obtained from a tree (esp. Commiphora abyssinica of the family
Burseraceae) of eastern Africa and Arabia.
Gilead was located in the modern-day country of Jordan-- a mountainous
region on the east side of the Jordan River extending from the Sea of Galilee
down to the north end of the Dead Sea. It's about sixty miles long and
twenty miles wide. Its scenery is beautiful; the hills are fertile and crowned
with forests. It was on Gilead's western boundary that Jacob confronted
Laban in chapter 31, and also on Gilead's western boundary where Jacob
grappled with the angel in chapter 32.
The land of Gilead connected to a major trade route (spice road) from
Turkey and Mesopotamia to Egypt; and all points in between. Quite possibly
the Ishmaelites were following a track that would eventually take them right
down the very road that Hagar had taken towards Shur on her flight from
Sarah back in chapter 16.
The Ishmaelites were a blended people consisting of the families of Ishmael
and Midian, who were Abraham's progeny (Gen 16:15, Gen 25:2). The two
ethnics-- Midianites and Ishmaelites --are interchangeable (e.g. Gen 37:28,
Jdgs 8:24, Jdgs 8:26). Since the Ishmaelites were Abraham's progeny, then
they were blood kin to Jacob's clan; ergo: blood kin not only to Joseph, but
also to all the rest of the people of Israel.
†. Gen 37:26-27 . .Then Judah said to his brothers: What do we gain
by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell
him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves.
After all, he is our brother, our own flesh. His brothers agreed.
Judah's alternative made good sea sense. There was always the risk that
somebody might rescue Joseph out of that tank and he would then high-tail
it for home and tattle on his brothers for what they did to him. With him an
anonymous slave, miles and miles away in Egypt, everything would work out
just the way most of them wanted, and the brothers would get a little
something in return for Joseph's hide.
†. Gen 37:28 . .When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph
up out of the pit. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the
Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt.
The money in this instance isn't by weight as it had been in the purchase of
Sarah's cemetery back in chapter 23. This money is by the piece; of which
the precise nomenclature and value are currently unknown. If the pieces
were the value of Israel's modern shekel, then the price of Joseph's sale was
in the neighborhood of $5.14 US as of Nov 02, 2012. But those silver pieces
could have been any size and worth; depending upon international merchant
agreements in those days. Joseph was sold at a price that Moses' Law later
fixed for juveniles. (Lev 27:5)
Incidentally, Christ himself was sold for thirty pieces of silver (Mtt 26:15)
about which the Bible says was a "lordly" price. (Zech 11:12-13)
Cont.
/
from them. He said: Let us not take his life. And Reuben went on:
Shed no blood! Cast him into that pit out in the wilderness, but do
not touch him yourselves-- intending to save him from them and
restore him to his father.
The suggestion to murder Joseph was apparently discussed in private among
only some of the brothers at first. When they attempted to bring Reuben in
on it, he balked. Reuben, the firstborn, seems to be the one dissenting
opinion in Joseph's case-- so far. Exactly why, is not stated; but even though
he messed up by sleeping with his father's concubine; that doesn't mean
he's okay with murdering his own kid brother.
No doubt Simeon and Levi had no reservations about ending Joseph's life on
the spot; having already displayed malicious tempers and made their bones
while handling their sister's scandal back in chapter 34. Reuben's balk
seems honestly motivated by a sincere concern for his dad's paternal
feelings. Reuben already hurt Jacob's feelings once before by sleeping with
his concubine. I don't think he wanted to do that again.
†. Gen 37:23-24 . .When Joseph came up to his brothers, they
stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ornamented tunic that he was
wearing, and took him and cast him into the pit. The pit was empty;
there was no water in it.
Some of the brothers would have sorely loved to burn that "despicable" coat
to ashes since it fully represented their kid brother's lording it over them.
The Hebrew word for "pit" is bowr (bore); and means a hole (especially one
used as a cistern or a prison).
The "pit" may have been one of two widely-known natural water tanks in
that area. Some commentators believe the word "Dothan" means two wells,
or two natural tanks; like the Terrapin Tanks in the 1948 western movie The
3 Godfathers with John Wayne and Ward Bond. I seriously doubt that
experienced drovers like Jacob's sons would have dropped Joseph in a tank
with water because if he were to die in there; his rotting body would have
polluted it; thus rendering the precious resource unfit for drovers and their
herds. Natural water sources were essential to the safety of both man and
beast in those days.
Ancient Jews assumed the tank was home to some lethal critters.
T. And when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his garment,
the figured garment that was on him, and took and threw him into the pit;
but the pit was empty, no water was therein, but serpents and scorpions
were in it. (Targum Jonathan)
†. Gen 37:25a . .Then they sat down to a meal.
Would you be comfortable sitting down to a meal while listening to
somebody weeping and sobbing in the background? According to Gen 42:21
that's what Joseph's brothers did. He spent some of his time down in that
tank begging for his life; and they just kept right on dining like he wasn't
even there.
I read a story of the torture and mistreatment of captives in Sadaam
Hussein's pre-invasion jails. This one poor Iraqi man was forced down upon
the jagged neck of a broken glass pop bottle; and while the bottle filled with
blood from his torn flesh, Iraqi police played a game of cards.
†. Gen 37:25b . . Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites
coming from Gilead, their camels bearing gum, balm, and ladanum to
be taken to Egypt.
The gum may have been tragacanth, or goats-thorn gum, because it was
supposed to be obtained from that plant.
The balm (or balsam) is an aromatic substance obtained from a plant of the
genus Amyris, which is a native of Gilead. In point of biblical fact, Gilead was
famous for its balm (Jer 8:22, Jer 46:11). Balms were of medical value in
those days.
The ladanum was probably labdanum, (possibly myrrh), a yellowish brown to
reddish brown aromatic gum resin with a bitter, slightly pungent taste
obtained from a tree (esp. Commiphora abyssinica of the family
Burseraceae) of eastern Africa and Arabia.
Gilead was located in the modern-day country of Jordan-- a mountainous
region on the east side of the Jordan River extending from the Sea of Galilee
down to the north end of the Dead Sea. It's about sixty miles long and
twenty miles wide. Its scenery is beautiful; the hills are fertile and crowned
with forests. It was on Gilead's western boundary that Jacob confronted
Laban in chapter 31, and also on Gilead's western boundary where Jacob
grappled with the angel in chapter 32.
The land of Gilead connected to a major trade route (spice road) from
Turkey and Mesopotamia to Egypt; and all points in between. Quite possibly
the Ishmaelites were following a track that would eventually take them right
down the very road that Hagar had taken towards Shur on her flight from
Sarah back in chapter 16.
The Ishmaelites were a blended people consisting of the families of Ishmael
and Midian, who were Abraham's progeny (Gen 16:15, Gen 25:2). The two
ethnics-- Midianites and Ishmaelites --are interchangeable (e.g. Gen 37:28,
Jdgs 8:24, Jdgs 8:26). Since the Ishmaelites were Abraham's progeny, then
they were blood kin to Jacob's clan; ergo: blood kin not only to Joseph, but
also to all the rest of the people of Israel.
†. Gen 37:26-27 . .Then Judah said to his brothers: What do we gain
by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell
him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves.
After all, he is our brother, our own flesh. His brothers agreed.
Judah's alternative made good sea sense. There was always the risk that
somebody might rescue Joseph out of that tank and he would then high-tail
it for home and tattle on his brothers for what they did to him. With him an
anonymous slave, miles and miles away in Egypt, everything would work out
just the way most of them wanted, and the brothers would get a little
something in return for Joseph's hide.
†. Gen 37:28 . .When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph
up out of the pit. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the
Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt.
The money in this instance isn't by weight as it had been in the purchase of
Sarah's cemetery back in chapter 23. This money is by the piece; of which
the precise nomenclature and value are currently unknown. If the pieces
were the value of Israel's modern shekel, then the price of Joseph's sale was
in the neighborhood of $5.14 US as of Nov 02, 2012. But those silver pieces
could have been any size and worth; depending upon international merchant
agreements in those days. Joseph was sold at a price that Moses' Law later
fixed for juveniles. (Lev 27:5)
Incidentally, Christ himself was sold for thirty pieces of silver (Mtt 26:15)
about which the Bible says was a "lordly" price. (Zech 11:12-13)
Cont.
/
