Genesis 37:19-24
New English Translation
19 They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams![a] 20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild[b] animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!”[c]
21 When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph[d] from their hands,[e] saying,[f] “Let’s not take his life!”[g] 22 Reuben continued,[h] “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.”[i] (Reuben said this[j] so he could rescue Joseph[k] from them[l] and take him back to his father.)
23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him[m] of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty;[n] there was no water in it.)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 37:19 tn Heb “Look, this master of dreams is coming.” The brothers’ words have a sarcastic note and indicate that they resent his dreams.
- Genesis 37:20 tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.
- Genesis 37:20 tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”
- Genesis 37:21 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 37:21 sn From their hands. The instigators of this plot may have been the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (see v. 2).
- Genesis 37:21 tn Heb “and he said.”
- Genesis 37:21 tn Heb “we must not strike him down [with respect to] life.”
- Genesis 37:22 tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”
- Genesis 37:22 sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.
- Genesis 37:22 tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 37:22 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 37:22 tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 37:23 tn Heb “Joseph”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 37:24 tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that helps the reader or hearer to picture what happened.
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