23
¶ And it came to pass, when Joseph was
come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of
many colours that was on him; 24 And
they took him, and cast him into a 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 looked, and, behold, a company of
Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and
myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26
And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our
brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come,
and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for
he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen;
and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the
Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 And Reuben returned unto the pit;
and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said,
The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
Joseph is now cast into a dry pit and they took off his
coat of many colors much like Jesus’ garment was removed in Matthew 27:35 and
John 19:23 although the similarity is limited to the removal only. Notice the
difference in the nastiness of the dungeon Jeremiah will be thrown into in
Jeremiah 38:6. It is then Judah, without Reuben present, who suggests they sell
their brother to the Ishmaelite traders who are traveling to Egypt. This is
done as an act of mercy as Judah says that it would be better to do this than
to kill him. The brothers consent. This passage seems to indicate that the
Midianites were also Ishmaelities; Midianites through Abraham’s wife, Keturah;
Genesis
25:1 ¶ Then again Abraham took a wife,
and her name was Keturah. 2 And she bare
him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
…and Ishmaelites through his concubine, Sarai’s
handmaid, Hagar;
Genesis
16:15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and
Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
So, we see how quickly the genealogies of the Ancient
Near East became muddled.
Joseph’s life was worth twenty pieces of silver to the
traders. Jesus was betrayed for thirty. To Reuben’s dismay, when he returned
from wherever he had gone not knowing about or approving the sale of Joseph,
his brother was gone. Tearing one’s clothing was a sign of grief in the Ancient
Near East as evident in many places throughout the Bible.
What was Reuben going to do now?
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