Genesis 37:28 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 37:28
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.
silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
brought
וַיָּבִ֥יאוּvai.ya.Vi.'u
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Joseph
יוֹסֵ֖ףyo.Sef
H3130
Joseph · proper noun, a man's name
Egypt
מִצְרָֽיְמָהmitz.Ra.ye.mah
H4714
Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name + directional suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 7:9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
Psalms 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Genesis 25:2 And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
Genesis 45:4-5 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into…
Genesis 37:25 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…
Genesis 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.
Judges 6:1-3 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
Matthew 26:15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 37:23-30
We have here the execution of their plot against Joseph. 1. They stripped him, each striving to seize the envied coat of many colours, Gen 37:23. Thus, in imagination, they degraded him from the birthright, of which perhaps this was the badge, grieving him, affronting their father, and making themselves sport, while they insulted over him. "Now, Joseph, where is the fine coat?" Thus our Lord Jesus was stripped of his seamless coat, and thus his suffering saints have first been industriously divested of their privileges and honours, and then made the off-scouring of all things. 2. They went about to starve him, throwing him into a dry pit, to perish there with hunger and cold, so cruel were t…
Judah said, . . . What profit is it if we slay our brother?--The sight of these travelling merchants gave a sudden turn to the views of the conspirators; for having no wish to commit a greater degree of crime than was necessary for the accomplishment of their end, they readily approved of Judah's suggestion to dispose of their obnoxious brother as a slave. The proposal, of course, was founded on their knowledge that the Arabian merchants trafficked in slaves; and there is the clearest evidence furnished by the monuments of Egypt that the traders who were in the habit of bringing slaves from the countries through which they passed, found a ready market in the cities of the Nile.
they . . .…
For twenty pieces of silver - In the Anglo-Saxon it is thirty pence. This, I think, is the first instance on record of selling a man for a slave; but the practice certainly did not commence now, it had doubtless been in use long before. Instead of pieces, which our translators supply, the Persian has miskal, which was probably intended to signify a shekel; and if shekels be intended, taking them at three shillings each, Joseph was sold for about three pounds sterling. I have known a whole cargo of slaves, amounting to eight hundred and thirteen, bought by a slave captain in Bonny river, in Africa, on an average, for six pounds each; and this payment was made in guns, gunpowder, and trinkets!…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 28) And the Ishmaelites sold Joseph for twenty silver coins. In Hebrew, silver coins are used instead of gold coins. For the Lord should not be sold for a lesser metal than Joseph.
THE MIDIANITES NAMED ISHMAELITES. — It is known that Ishmael was the son of Abraham through Hagar, while the Midianites were through Keturah. Should one think perhaps that they formed a single people, since Scripture had said that Abraham had given gifts to the children of his concubines, i.e. Hagar and Keturah, and had dismissed them with his son Isaac, sending them to the eastern region (Cf. Gen. 25:6)? [
Upon seeing Joseph, his brothers discussed his death; just as when the Jews saw the true Joseph, Christ the Lord, they all resolved with one plan to crucify him. His brothers robbed Joseph of his outside coat that was of divers colors; the Jews stripped Christ of his bodily tunic at his death on the cross. When Joseph was deprived of his tunic he was thrown into a cistern, that is, into a pit; after Christ was despoiled of human flesh, he descended into hell. Afterward Joseph is lifted up out of the cistern and is sold to the Ishmaelites, that is, to the Gentiles; when Christ returns from hell, he is bought by all nations at the price of faith. Upon the advice of Judah, Joseph is sold for thirty pieces of silver; Christ is sold for the same amount upon the counsel of Judas Iscariot. Now in different translations Joseph is not written as sold at the same price, for some say it was twenty pieces of silver and others thirty. This spiritually signifies that Christ was not to be believed and loved equally by all people. In fact, even in the church some love him more, others less, for Christ means more to the soul that loves him with greater charity. Joseph went down to Egypt; Christ went into the world. Joseph saves Egypt from want of grain; Christ frees the world from a famine of the Word of God.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ishmael — God hears. (1.) Abraham’s eldest son, by Hagar the concubine (Gen. 16:15; 17:23). He was born at Mamre, when Abraham was eighty-six years of age, eleven years after his arrival in Canaan (16:3;…
Ishmeelite — (1 Chronicles 2:17) and Ish’me-elites (descendants of Ishmael), (Genesis 37:25,27,28; 39:1) the form in which the descendants of Ishmael are given in a few places in the Authorized Version.
Ishmeelites — (Gen. 37:28; 39:1, A.V.) should be “Ishmaelites,” as in the Revised Version.
Judah — Praise, the fourth son of Jacob by Leah. The name originated in Leah’s words of praise to the Lord on account of his birth: “Now will I praise [Heb. odeh] Jehovah, and she called his name Yehudah”…
Merchant — The Hebrew word so rendered is from a root meaning “to travel about,” “to migrate,” and hence “a traveller.” In the East, in ancient times, merchants travelled about with their merchandise from place…
Midianite — An Arabian tribe descended from Midian. They inhabited principally the desert north of the peninsula of Arabia. The peninsula of Sinai was the pasture-ground for their flocks. They were virtually the…
Money — Of uncoined money the first notice we have is in the history of Abraham (Gen. 13:2; 20:16; 24:35). Next, this word is used in connection with the purchase of the cave of Machpelah (23:16), and again…
Piece Of Silver — I. In the Old Testament the word “pieces” is used in the Authorized Version for a word understood in the Hebrew (if we except) (Psalms 68:30) The phrase is always “a thousand,” or the like, “of…
Pieces — (1) of silver. In Ps. 68:30 denotes “fragments,” and not properly money. In 1 Sam. 2:36 (Heb. agorah), properly a “small sum” as wages, weighed rather than coined. Josh. 24:32 (Heb. kesitah, q.v.),…
Reuben — Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:32). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22, brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4). He showed kindness to Joseph,…
Then there passed by Midianites, merchantmen,.... The same with the Ishmaelites before mentioned, as appears from the latter part of this verse; for as these were near neighbours, so they might join together in merchandise, and travel in company for greater safety, and are sometimes called the one, and sometimes the other, as well as they might mix together in their habitations and marriages; and are hence called Arabians by the Targums, as before observed, and so by Josephus, which signifies a mixed people:
and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit: not the Midianites, but his brethren:
and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver; for twenty shekels, which amoun…
Then there passed by Midianites. Some think that Joseph was twice sold in the same place. For it is certain, since Median was the son of Abraham and Keturah, that his sons were distinct from the sons of Ishmael: and Moses has not thoughtlessly put down these different names. [135] But I thus interpret the passage: that Joseph was exposed for sale to any one who chose, and seeing the purchase of him was declined by the Midianites, he was sold to the Ishmaelites. Moreover, though they might justly suspect the sellers of having stolen him, yet the desire of gain prevents them from making inquiry. We may also add, what is probable, that, on the journey, they inquired who Joseph was. But they did…
Reuben had saved Joseph's life indeed by his proposal; but his intention to send him back to his father was frustrated. For as soon as the brethren sat down to eat, after the deed was performed, they saw a company of Ishmaelites from Gilead coming along the road which leads from Beisan past Jenin (Rob. Pal. iii. 155) and through the plain of Dothan to the great caravan road that runs from Damascus by Lejun (Legio, Megiddo), Ramleh, and Gaza to Egypt (Rob. iii. 27, 178). The caravan drew near, laden with spices: viz., נכאת, gum-tragacanth; צרי, balsam, for which Gilead was celebrated (Gen 43:11; Jer 8:22; Jer 46:11); and לט, ladanum, the fragrant resin of the cistus-rose. Judah seized the opp…
the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders (literally the Midianite traders): Ishmaelites were descendants of Abraham through Hagar (16:5), while Midianites were descendants of Abraham through Keturah (25:1-2). The term Ishmaelite may have described bedouin tribes generally. The Midianites might also have been traveling with a separate caravan of Ishmaelite traders (37:27). • Kidnapping (see 40:15) would become a capital offense (see Exod 21:16) in Jewish law.
Rashi on Genesis 37:28
ויעברו אנשים מדינים AND THERE PASSED BY MIDIANITES — This was another caravan: Scripture indicates that he was sold several times.
וימשכו AND THEY DREW UP — the sons of Jacob drew up את יוסף מן הבור JOSEPH FROM THE PIT, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites, and the Ishmaelites to the Midianites and the Midianites into Egypt (Midrash Tanchuma 1:9:13).
Egypt · History of Israel in: Joseph sold into — History of Israel in: Joseph sold into
Ishmaelites · Merchants of, buy Joseph — Merchants of, buy Joseph
Jealousy · .Joseph’s brothers, of Joseph — .Joseph’s brothers, of Joseph
Joseph · .His father’s partiality for, excites the jealousy of his brethren — .His father’s partiality for, excites the jealousy of his brethren
Merchant · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Midianites · General references — General references
Money · Silver used as — Silver used as
Reuben · Adroitly seeks to save Joseph from the conspiracy of his brothers — Adroitly seeks to save Joseph from the conspiracy of his brothers
Servant · .Bought and — .Bought and
Silver · Used as money from the earliest times — Used as money from the earliest times
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
