Genesis 37:13-3013And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 18And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. 23And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him; 24And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 25And 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. 26And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27Come, 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. 28Then 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. 29And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? (Genesis 37:13‑30)
One day Joseph’s father told him to go and see how the older brothers were getting along with the flocks at Shechem, which was many miles from their home at Hebron. When Joseph reached there he could not find them, and a man told him that they had moved to Dothan. So Joseph kept on, and it must have seemed a long way to go alone.
His brothers saw him coming, and their hatred of him was so very great that they said to each other, “Come, let us kill him, and cast him in sonic pit, and say some evil beast hath devoured him!” But Reuben, the oldest brother, had pity for Joseph and he told them not to kill him, only to put him in the pit. He thought he could later get Joseph out and send him back to his father.
So when Joseph came up, to his brothers, they took hold of him roughly; pulled off his nice coat, and quickly threw him into a pit. It must have been a deep one, hut “there was no water in it.” They said, “We shall see what will become of his dreams!” They cared not for his pleadings to them, and sat down to eat their meal (Chap. 42:21).
Just then they saw a company of men on camels coming along. They knew they were traders who often bought slaves, and Judah said, “Let us sell our brother”, and the others were willing (only Reuben does not seem to have been with them then). So they got Joseph out of the pit, and for twenty pieces of silver sold him to the traders who took Joseph with them to Egypt. And the cruel brothers were well satisfied with their wicked deed, except Reuben, who felt very had when he came back and found Joseph gone.
ML 10/11/1936