the Third Week after Easter
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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible
Genesis 37:21
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- CondensedParallel Translations
Re'uven heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, "Let's not take his life."
And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
And Reuben heard it and delivered him from their hand and said, "We must not take his life."
But Reuben heard their plan and saved Joseph, saying, "Let's not kill him.
When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, "Let's not take his life!"
Now Reuben [the eldest] heard this and rescued him from their hands and said, "Let us not take his life."
But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands by saying, "Let's not take his life."
But when Reuben heard that, he deliuered him out of their handes, and saide, Let vs not kill him.
But Reuben heard this and delivered him out of their hands and said, "Let us not strike down his life."
Reuben heard this and tried to protect Joseph from them. "Let's not kill him," he said.
But when Re'uven heard this, he saved him from being destroyed by them. He said, "We shouldn't take his life.
And Reuben heard [it], and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.
But Reuben wanted to save Joseph. He said, "Let's not kill him.
But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."
And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and he said to them, Let us not kill him.
Reuben heard them and tried to save Joseph. "Let's not kill him," he said.
When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.”
And Reuben heard, and he delivered him from their hands, and said, Let us not smite his soul.
When Ruben herde that, he wolde haue delyuered him out of their handes, & sayde: O let vs not sley a soule.
And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.
But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
When Ruben hearde that, he ryd hym out of their handes, and sayde: let vs not kyll hym.
And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand; and said: 'Let us not take his life.'
And Reuben heard it, and he deliuered him out of their hands, and said; Let vs not kill him.
And Ruben having heard it, rescued him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him.
And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand; and said, Let us not take his life.
Sotheli Ruben herde this, and enforside to delyuere hym fro her hondis,
And Reuben heareth, and delivereth him out of their hand, and saith, `Let us not smite the life;'
And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.
And Reuben heard [it], and he delivered him from their hands: and said, Let us not kill him.
Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, "Let's not take his life."
But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let us not kill him."
But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph's rescue. "Let's not kill him," he said.
But Reuben heard this and saved him from their hands, saying, "Let us not kill him."
But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."
And Reuben heard it, and rescued him out of their hand, and said Let us not smite him, so as to take his life!
And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of their hands, and said:
But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."
Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, "We're not going to kill him. No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don't hurt him." Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father.
But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take his life."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Reuben heard: Genesis 35:22, Genesis 42:22
not kill him: Heb. nephesh, Joshua 10:28, Genesis 9:5, Matthew 10:28
Reciprocal: Genesis 29:32 - his name Luke 23:51 - had not Ephesians 4:31 - with
Cross-References
And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
But Reuben replied: "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!"
On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and struck it down with the sword, along with its king. He devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. So he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Reuben heard [it],.... Overheard what they said, not being in the consultation; perhaps knowing his temper and disposition to be more mild and gentle, and being the elder brother, might fear he would overrule matters against them, and therefore Simeon and Levi did not choose to have him in the debate; or he might be at some distance and entirely absent when the consultation was held, and their intention was reported to him by some of them:
and he delivered him out of their hands; from slaying him; that is, he endeavoured to do it by proposing another scheme:
and said, let us not kill him; or let us not smite the soul t; the dear soul, or take away life.
t ×× × ×× × × ×¤×© "ne percutiamus vel occidamus animam", Sam. Ar. Syr.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Joseph Was Sold into Egypt
17. ×ת×× dotayıÌn Dothain, âtwo wells?â (Gesenius)
25. × ××ת neko't âtragacanthâ or goatâs-thorn gum, yielded by the âastragalus gummiferâ, a native of Mount Lebanon. ×¦×¨× tseÌrıÌy âopobalsamum,â the resin of the balsam tree, growing in Gilead, and having healing qualities. ×× lotÌ£, ληÍδον leÌdon, âledum, ladanum,â in the Septuagint ÏÏακÏÎ·Ì stakteÌ. The former is a gum produced from the cistus rose. The latter is a gum resembling liquid myrrh.
36. פ×××פר poÌṭıÌyphar Potiphar, âbelonging to the sun.â
The sketch of the race of Edom, given in the preceding piece, we have seen, reaches down to the time of Moses. Accordingly, the history of Jacobâs seed, which is brought before us in the present document, reverts to a point of time not only before the close of that piece, but before the final record of what precedes it. The thread of the narrative is here taken up from the return of Jacob to Hebron, which was seventeen years before the death of Isaac.
Genesis 37:1-5
Joseph is the favorite of his father, but not of his brethren. âIn the land of his fatherâs sojournings.â This contrasts Jacob with Esau, who removed to Mount Seir. This notice precedes the phrase, âThese are the generations.â The corresponding sentence in the case of Isaac is placed at the end of the preceding section of the narrative Genesis 25:11. âThe son of seventeen years;â in his seventeenth year Genesis 37:32. âThe sons of Bilhah.â The sons of the handmaids were nearer his own age, and perhaps more tolerant of the favorite than the sons of Leah the free wife. Benjamin at this time was about four years of age. âAn evil report of them.â The unsophisticated child of home is prompt in the disapproval of evil, and frank in the avowal of his feelings. What the evil was we are not informed; but Jacobâs full-grown sons were now far from the paternal eye, and prone, as it seems, to give way to temptation. Many scandals come out to view in the chosen family. âLoved Joseph.â He was the son of his best-loved wife, and of his old age; as Benjamin had not yet come into much notice. âA Coat of many colors.â This was a coat reaching to the hands and feet, worn by persons not much occupied with manual labor, according to the general opinion. It was, we conceive, variegated either by the loom or the needle, and is therefore, well rendered ÏιÏÏÌν ÏοικιÌÎ»Î¿Ï chitoÌn poikilos, a motley coat. âCould not bid peace to him.â The partiality of his father, exhibited in so weak a manner, provokes the anger of his brothers, who cannot bid him good-day, or greet him in the ordinary terms of good-will.
Genesis 37:5-11
Josephâs dreams excite the jealousy of his brothers. His frankness in reciting his dream to his brothers marks a spirit devoid of guile, and only dimly conscious of the import of his nightly visions. The first dream represents by a figure the humble submission of all his brothers to him, as they rightly interpret it. âFor his dreams and for his words.â The meaning of this dream was offensive enough, and his telling of it rendered it even more disagreeable. A second dream is given to express the certainty of the event Genesis 41:32. The former serves to interpret the latter. There the sheaves are connected with the brothers who bound them, and thereby indicate the parties. The eleven stars are not so connected with them. But here Joseph is introduced directly without a figure, and the number eleven, taken along with the eleven sheaves of the former dream, makes the application to the brothers plain. The sun and moon clearly point out the father and mother. The mother is to be taken, we conceive, in the abstract, without nicely inquiring whether it means the departed Rachel, or the probably still living Leah. Not even the latter seems to have lived to see the fulfillment of this prophetic dream Genesis 49:31. The second dream only aggravated the hatred of his brothers; but his father, while rebuking him for his speeches, yet marked the saying. The rebuke seems to imply that the dream, or the telling of it, appears to his father to indicate the lurking of a self-sufficient or ambitious spirit within the breast of the youthful Joseph. The twofold intimation, however, came from a higher source.
Genesis 37:12-17
Joseph is sent to Dothan. Shekem belonged to Jacob; part of it by purchase, and the rest by conquest. Joseph is sent to inquire of their welfare (ש×××× shaÌlom âpeace,â Genesis 37:4). With obedient promptness the youth goes to Shekem, where he learns that they had removed to Dothan, a town about twelve miles due north of Shekem.
Genesis 37:18-24
His brothers cast him into a pit. âThis master of dreams;â an eastern phrase for a dreamer. âLet us slay him.â They had a foreboding that his dreams might prove true, and that he would become their arbitrary master. This thought at all events would abate somewhat of the barbarity of their designs. It is implied in the closing sentence of their proposal. Reuben dissuades them from the act of murder, and advises merely to cast him into the pit, to which they consent. He had a more tender heart, and perhaps a more tender conscience than the rest, and intended to send Joseph back safe to his father. He doubtless took care to choose a pit that was without water.
Genesis 37:25-30
Reuben rips his clothes when he finds Joseph gone. âTo eat bread.â This shows the cold and heartless cruelty of their deed. âA caravanâ - a company of travelling merchants. âIshmaelites.â Ishmael left his fatherâs house when about fourteen or fifteen years of age. His mother took him a wife probably when he was eighteen, or twenty at the furthest. He had arrived at the latter age about one hundred and sixty-two years before the date of the present occurrence. He had twelve sons Genesis 25:13-15, and if we allow only four other generations and a fivefold increase, there will be about fifteen thousand in the fifth generation. âCame from Gilead;â celebrated for its balm Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11. The caravan road from Damascus to Egypt touches upon the land of Gilead, goes through Beth-shean, and passes by Dothan. âSpicery.â This gum is called tragacanth, or goats-thorn gum, because it was supposed to be obtained from this plant. âBalm,â or balsam; an aromatic substance obtained from a plant of the genus Amyris, a native of Gilead. âMyrrhâ is the name of a gum exuding from the balsamodendron myrrha, growing in Arabia Felix. âLot,â however, is supposed to be the resinous juice of the cistus or rock rose, a plant growing in Crete and Syria. Judah, relenting, and revolting perhaps from the crime of fratricide, proposes to sell Joseph to the merchants.
Midianites and Medanites Genesis 37:36 are mere variations apparently of the same name. They seem to have been the actual purchasers, though the caravan takes its name from the Ishmaelites, who formed by far the larger portion of it. Midian and Medan were both sons of Abraham, and during one hundred and twenty-five years must have increased to a small clan. Thus, Joseph is sold to the descendants of Abraham. âTwenty silver pieces;â probably shekels. This is the rate at which Moses estimates a male from five to twenty years old Leviticus 27:5. A man-servant was valued by him at thirty shekels Exodus 21:32. Reuben finding Joseph gone, rends his clothes, in token of anguish of mind for the loss of his brother and the grief of his father.
Genesis 37:31-36
The brothers contrive to conceal their crime; and Joseph is sold into Egypt. âTorn, torn in pieces is Joseph.â The sight of the bloody coat convinces Jacob at once that Joseph has been devoured by a wild beast. âAll his daughters.â Only one daughter of Jacob is mentioned by name. These are probably his daughters-in-law. âTo the grave.â Sheol is the place to which the soul departs at death. It is so called from its ever craving, or being empty. âMinister.â This word originally means eunuch, and then, generally, any officer about the court or person of the sovereign. âCaptain of the guards.â The guards are the executioners of the sentences passed by the sovereign on culprits, which were often arbitrary, summary, and extremely severe. It is manifest, from this dark chapter, that the power of sin has not been extinguished in the family of Jacob. The name of God does not appear, and his hand is at present only dimly seen among the wicked designs, deeds, and devices of these unnatural brothers. Nevertheless, his counsel of mercy standeth sure, and fixed is his purpose to bring salvation to the whole race of man, by means of his special covenant with Abraham.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 37:21. Reuben heard it — Though Reuben appears to have been a transgressor of no ordinary magnitude, if we take Genesis 35:22 according to the letter, yet his bosom was not the habitation of cruelly. He determined, if possible, to save his brother from death, and deliver him safely to his father, with whose fondness for him he was sufficiently acquainted. Josephus, in his usual way, puts a long flourishing speech in the mouth of Reuben on the occasion, spoken in order to dissuade his brethren from their barbarous purpose; but as it is totally unfounded, it is worthy of no regard.
