Episode 307 - "Joseph is sold into slavery" - Genesis 37:12-36

Gen. 37:12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Gen. 37:18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Gen. 37:25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

Gen. 37:29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Well, after what we read last week about Joseph, the events that unfold here are not too surprising, are they? Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son. Joseph had given a bad report to Jacob about his brother’s activities, which upset them. But then he shared with them dreams he had that everyone interpreted to mean that Joseph would someday rule over all of them. It appears to be this last matter that is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Their plot to kill Joseph appears to stem from their resentment over these dreams. They said, “We will see what will become of his dreams” (v. 20)

This part of the story begins with Joseph leaving home under the auspices of his dad wanting to find out if everything is well with his other sons who were shepherding the flock. It’s interesting that Joseph wasn’t with them. Did they exclude him? Perhaps either Jacob or Joseph did not want Joseph along with his brothers, knowing the animosity they had toward him. Whatever the reason, Jacob believes that they were shepherding near Shechem, about 50 miles north of his home. This seems a reasonable fact because these animals can destroy the grasses in an area if they are left in one place too long. They had to keep moving. In fact, when Joseph got to Shechem, he was informed that they had moved an additional 15 miles further north. I suspect this great distance between Jacob and his sons lends itself to Jacob’s belief that a wild beast had killed Joseph. He had to have been gone at least a few days, covering so much ground.

Two things this story reveals to the readers are, first, character development of some of Joseph’s brothers, and second, the beginning of an explanation of how Israel ends up in a foreign land, an element of what the LORD had revealed to Abraham about the descendants he was going to give Abraham.

When the brothers see Joseph approaching, their hatred is provoked and they conspired to kill him. But Reuben interceded and suggested they only throw Joseph into a cistern and not kill him. The narrator tells the reader that he planned to later rescue Joseph. What motivated Reuben to have this measure of compassion? Was he hoping to earn back favor from his father after having slept with his dad’s concubine? Reuben was the oldest. Perhaps he felt the weight of the responsibility for Joseph’s well-being. He must have gone away after having convinced his brothers not to kill Joseph, because we learn that he is surprised and dismayed when he finds out Joseph is no longer in the pit.

While Reuben was away and Joseph was still in the pit (cistern), the fourth-oldest son, Judah, had the idea of selling Joseph. While he appears to have a little bit of compassion or conscience in suggesting they not kill one of their own family members, his priority is making money by getting rid of this “dreamer.” In Judah’s mind, this was a win-win proposition. The brothers who were there agreed, and Joseph was sold as a slave to Ishmaelite traders who, in turn, sold Joseph to Potiphar, the captain of the guard to Pharaoh in Egypt. All that was left was for the brothers to cover their actions to their father, which they accomplished by taking the coat Jacob had given Joseph and making it look as though a wild animal had attacked Joseph. It worked.

So, what do we make of this story? How does it fit with what we already know? Well, first of all, we have the advantage of knowing that Moses is credited with authoring the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. We’ve read that the LORD promised Abraham that someday his descendants would be in bondage in a foreign land, but that He would deliver them out of that bondage and bring them back to the land the LORD was giving to Abraham and his descendants. We know from the book of Exodus, which follows Genesis, that Moses is God’s prophet who leads the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. Ah! This provides an introduction to how they arrived in Egypt in the first place. Joseph was not killed. So, we’re expecting something to happen to him that will be significant to the story. We also know that Jacob’s brothers have demonstrated themselves to be unworthy to be “the seed” who would crush the serpent's heads. The oldest four, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, have all been scoundrels so far. It seems to me that, despite the evil intentions and actions of these sons of Jacob, the LORD is in control.

Perhaps I’m reading into the text too much on this next point. But doesn’t it seem odd in this story that as Joseph journeyed to find his brothers, “a man found him” and “asked him, ‘What are you seeking?’” (v. 15) When Joseph informs him that he’s looking for his brothers, the man seems to know exactly who he’s looking for. Were Joseph’s brothers the only ones shepherding in that area? I doubt it. Perhaps the conversation was much more extensive, leading to that deduction. However, it seems to me that Moses included this detail to suggest that the LORD was watching over Joseph the whole time, and the reader is to anticipate that the LORD is watching over him in Egypt as well.