(BA) Genesis 37

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The text below has been adapted from the ASV.

1 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a negative report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was a son of his old age; and he made him a long garment with sleeves. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him still more. 6 And he said to them, Hear, please, this dream which I have dreamed. 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and then my sheaf rose up, and also stood upright. And behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.

8 And his brothers, said to him, Are you really to reign over us? Or will you indeed have authority over us? And they hated him still more for his dreams and for his words.

9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, Now I have dreamed another dream, and saw the sun and moon and eleven stars beowing down to me. 10 And he told it to his father and to his brothers, and his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers really come to bow down to you to the ground? 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept what he said in mind.

12 And his brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, Are your brothers not feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.

And he said to him, Here I am.

14 And he said, Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock, and bring me back word. So he sent him out to the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a certain man found him there, wandering in the field, and the man asked him, What are you looking for?

16 And he said, I am looking for my brothers? Please, tell me where they are tending the flock.

17 And the man said, They have left here, because I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.

18 And they saw him far off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him, to kill him. 19 And they said to one another, Here comes this dreamer. 20 Now then, come and let us kill him, and throw him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast has devoured him. And we will see what will become of his dreams.

21 And Reuben heard it, and rescued him from their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.

22 And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him. He wanted to rescue him from their hand and return him to his father. 23 So, when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his garment, the long garment with sleeves that he wore, 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

25 And they sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and saw, and there came a caravan of Ishmaelites from Gilead, with their camels carrying spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, What good is it if we kill our brother and hide his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, because he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers listened to him.

28 And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph from the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.

29 And Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, and he tore his clothes. 30 And he returned to his brothers, and said, The child is not there, and now, where can I go? 31 And they took Joseph's garment, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the garment in the blood, 32 and they sent the garment with the long sleeves and brought it to their father, and said, We found this. See whether or not it is your son's garment.

33 And he recognized it, and said, It is my son's garment. An evil beast has devoured him; Joseph is no doubt torn to pieces. 34 And Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted, and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son in mourning. And his father wept for him. 36 And the Medanites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.

(37:3) "a long garment with sleeves". This expression, in Hebrew ketonet passim, was traditionally in English "a coat of many colors", although that is probably not right. The word ketonet is clear enough, referring to a tunic or similar garment, but the passim is difficult.

(37:25) "spices". ASV marginal note: "Or, gum tragacanth[.] Or, storax".

(37:25) "balm". ASV marginal note: "Or, mastic".

(37:25) "myrrh". ASV marginal note: "Or, ladanum."

(37:36) "Medanites". Following the Hebrew; the ASV reads "Midianites".

(37:36) "captain of the guard". ASV marginal note: Hebrew, chief of the executioners.

Jacob, living in the land of Canaan, favors his son Joseph over the rest of his children, so they hate him. Joseph exacerbates the situation by telling his brothers about a dream in which, through very thinly veiled symbolism, is depicted as superior to his brothers. After some discussion, they toss him in a pit, and sell his to merchants. What kind of merchants?

Here there's a difficulty. They've tossed him in a pit, and "behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels" (37:25).

Judah suggests, "let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren were content. Then there passed by Midianite merchants, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt" (37:27-28). Later, "And the Medanites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, and officer of Pharaoh's, captain of the guard" (37:36).

So we've got Ishmaelites, Midanites, and Medanites. Who is selling Joseph to whom, and in what order? Why do things happen in this convoluted order? For a several-page overview of traditional Jewish and Christian attempts to untie this knot, see the introduction to Joel S. Baden's The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis. Baden also introduces "postcritical" and "anticritical" attempts by more modern scholars to deal with the issue. Baden finds fault with them all, arguing that the name and other features of 37:18-36 are best dealt with in terms of the Documentary Hypothesis.

ASV. The American Standard Version of the Bible, as printed in 1901 by Thomas Nelson and Sons.

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