Knowing The Word in Genesis 37:25-36, Joseph is Sold

25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead [the area east of the Sea of Galilee], 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? [Judah, from whom the Messiah descends, steps in to stop the killing to avoid blood guilt. He does this when his older brother is away—another case of God using a younger son for his purposes.] 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 [same group of traders also called Ishmaelites; see Judges 8:24] 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. [20 shekels was the typical price of a male slave 5-20 years old. A shepherd would expect to earn 8 shekels a year.] They took Joseph to Egypt. [They think they have disposed of him for good, but God’s plan is being fulfilled that will lead to the Exodus that prefigures the crucifixion and resurrection.]

29 When Reuben [who had wandered off again] returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes [revealing his deep affection for Joseph and his father and prefiguring his father’s grief] 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” [He is alarmed at the prospect of telling his father.] 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 [ahead with a messenger?] and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son's robe or not.” [The irony is that Jacob deceived his own father by killing a goat and dressing in his brother’s clothes.] 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.” [The sins of his youth seem to be visited on himself in old age. Whereas he told his father, Isaac, an outright lie, his sons let him come to his own conclusion, which is exactly what they wanted him to believe. In a sense, Jacob deceives himself. Note that he is not called Israel in this section.] 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. [These are usual signs for grieving for a week—30 days at the death of Moses—but Jacob will not stop publicly grieving for Joseph.] 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.” [Sheol is the place of the dead in the OT, where the spirits of the departed continue in a shadowy and rather unhappy existence.] 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. [Potiphar means “he whom Re (the sun god) has given.” He was in charge of the prison for royal officials.]