And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead; and their camels bore tragacanth, and balsam, and ladanum -- going to carry [it] down to Egypt.
The brothers throw Joseph into a pit, then sit down to a meal. While they eat, a trading caravan comes into view on the road to Egypt. Commentators see two things here: the human heart at its coldest, and God's hidden plan starting to move.
They ate while their brother lay in the pit. One writer sets that meal beside another meal, eaten by men who had just handed over an innocent victim.
Having cast Joseph into the pit, his brothers "sat down to eat bread." Nor was it otherwise at the cross. The presence of Joseph only reveals the evil of his brothers. In the same way, the cross exposes how deep the corruption of man's heart goes. The leaders of Israel hand the true Passover Lamb over to death, and then calmly sit down to eat the Passover feast. They are an evil and adulterous generation, like the adulterous woman of Proverbs, of whom it is written, "she eats and wipes her mouth and says, 'I have done no wrong.'"
Nothing spoiled their appetite, and nothing troubled their conscience — for the time being. Another writer says a quiet conscience is not the end of the matter. God alone can wake it.
None can teach like God. He alone can give the conscience the true sense of sin. He alone brings the soul down into the deep places of its own condition in His presence. Men run on in their life of guilt, taking notice of nothing, until the arrow of the Almighty pierces their conscience... Joseph's brothers had no idea of all that was to flow to them from what they did to him. "They took him and cast him into a pit … and they sat down to eat bread." "Woe to those … who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph." (Amos 6:6)
The camels carried the ordinary trade goods of the region. Balm came from Gilead, and it stood for more than its price.
The gum of the balsam bush, of great medicinal value. Gilead was noted for producing it. It is used as a proverb to describe the healing God had for His people if they really turned to Him. Jer. 8:22; Jer. 46:11; Jer. 51:8. It was carried by the merchants into Egypt and elsewhere. Gen. 37:25; Ezek. 27:17.
One writer pictures Joseph travelling to Egypt among those same spices.
Meanwhile Joseph had gone "wrapped" with the myrrh and spices of the Ishmaelites to Egypt. Was it his fragrance that attracted Potiphar to buy him?
The sight of the traders changed the plan. Murder became business.
The traders on their way to Egypt at once suggest to Judah a chance of making a profit out of their brother. Why not sell Joseph and make a little money? If they are not going to satisfy their hatred by killing Joseph, why not satisfy their greed by selling Joseph?... "Profit" is the word that governed the actions of Joseph's brothers. Judah asks the question of the greedy heart — not "Is it right?" or "Is it wrong?" but "What profit is it?"
One writer sees more here than family cruelty. Out of the crime he sees a figure of Christ rise.
Yet in the middle of this heartlessness — toward the innocent sufferer, and toward the father who had sent him in love — a foreshadowing rises of Him who was to come. He is infinitely greater than Joseph. He too was the Beloved of His Father, and sent as Son of man in search of the lost. As the Faithful Witness, He drew out man's evil by divine good, and in everything He pleased God the Father.
The caravan the brothers used to get rid of Joseph was the very transport God used to place him where He wanted him.
Notice what Joseph's trial did. God's ordering kept it from anything that would hinder it. It was meant to frustrate God's purpose, and it looked completely against it. Yet that trial, and his righteous suffering in Egypt, only brought about the very thing they seemed to frustrate. It was the Egypt his brothers sold him to, and the prison Potiphar put him in, that brought him to the butler and the baker. That is what made him governor over all the land of Egypt. We cannot put God out of His way. It is better to trust Him.
- The meal. Men can eat calmly beside a brother they have just destroyed. The pit shows what is really in the heart.
- The silence. Their consciences said nothing that day — but God alone gives the true sense of sin, and He gave it to them years later.
- The profit. The passing caravan turned hatred into a transaction; Judah's question was not "Is it right?" but "What profit is it?"
- The picture. Joseph is the beloved son, sent by his father in love and rejected by his brothers. He points to One infinitely greater, sent to seek the lost.
- The road. The traders who carried Joseph away were carrying him toward the throne. The plan meant to defeat God's purpose is the plan that fulfilled it.
And Judah said to his brethren, What profit is it that we kill our brother and secrete his blood?
Joseph is in the pit. A caravan of traders comes into view, and Judah turns the moment into a business proposal.
Judah does not call the murder wrong. He calls it unprofitable.
The company of merchants on their way to Egypt at once suggests to Judah the chance of making a profit out of his brother. Why not sell Joseph and make a little money? If they are not going to satisfy their hatred by killing Joseph, why not satisfy their covetousness by selling Joseph? So they gave their brother up to the Gentiles, and gave themselves up to money-making… "Profit" is the word that governed the actions of Joseph's brothers. Judah asks the question of the covetous heart — not "Is it right?" or "Is it wrong?" but "What profit is it?"
Judah's plan looks merciful. It spares Joseph's life, appeals to blood ties, and spares them the trouble of hiding a body. But it draws one line and refuses the next.
A company of Ishmaelite traders appears, travelling towards Egypt. Judah is quick to see an ideal way to get rid of Joseph and make some money at the same time. So he points out to his brothers that killing Joseph and hiding it would gain them nothing. Selling him as a slave to the Ishmaelites would bring a profit — and leave them no dead body to get rid of. He also appeals to their sense of loyalty to their family relationship. Joseph was their brother. He seems to have a conscience against killing his brother, but no conscience against selling him as a slave!
Reuben saves Joseph from the sword; Judah proposes a sale instead of the pit. The differences are real, but they do not split the brothers into innocent and guilty.
There may be different degrees in the shared hatred; but in a deep moral sense they are all one generation. Reuben was Jacob's firstborn, and we may suppose he felt himself more answerable to the aged father for the boy than any of them. He saves Joseph from the sword, and Judah proposes selling him to the merchants instead of the pit. … The Judge of all the earth will surely do right. Sins will get their many stripes and their few stripes. But the world has cast out Jesus, and the world is the world. Here, all alike are the guilty brothers of Joseph.
Joseph's father sent him in love, and his brothers hand him over to strangers. One writer sees a greater Son behind that picture.
How evident that in Jehovah alone can one boast, and that the objects of His choice are in themselves nothing and worse than nothing! Yet heartlessness towards the guiltless sufferer, and towards the father who had sent him in love, is not all we see. In the middle of it rises a foreshadowing of Him who was to come, One infinitely greater than Joseph. He too was the Beloved of His Father, and sent as Son of Man in search of the lost.
The same writer notes which brother made the proposal — and what God later brought out of his line.
We may notice that it was not Reuben or any other of the tribal heads who proposed the sale of Joseph. It was Judah. In his own house he later showed the evil that brought curse after curse. In the end he had to admit that Tamar, whom he had sentenced to die by fire, was more righteous than himself. Yet through this guilty Judah, and through Tamar, came He who cleanses from all sin by His blood. He will reign over the universe to God's glory, far beyond all that Joseph pictured, for He went far lower in humiliation and suffering.
Judah's story does not end with this bargain. Years later he speaks up about another younger brother.
He had taken the lead in selling Joseph to the Midianites going to Egypt, speaking with much hardness of heart. Now he has to speak about Benjamin, and what a change is clear! Instead of hardness, great tenderness of feeling, especially for his old father, Jacob. Then it did not matter how Jacob would feel: now it mattered everything to him. Here we see the working of a repentance not to be repented of.
- Calculation — Judah does not ask whether the deed is right, only what it pays.
- Cover — Calling Joseph "our brother" and keeping their hands clean dressed a crime up as restraint.
- Company — Reuben holds back, Judah sells, the rest agree. The degrees differ; all share the guilt.
- Christ — A father sends his beloved son; the brothers hand him to strangers. Writers see the shadow of a greater rejection — and the Redeemer came through guilty Judah's line.
- Change — The hard man who sold one brother later pleads for another. Commentators call that repentance at work.
Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites; but let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened [to him].
Joseph is in the pit, his brothers are eating nearby, and a trading caravan appears on the road to Egypt. Judah's proposal sounds almost merciful: spare his life, keep our hands clean. Yet it ends with a boy sold for silver. What will a conscience allow when money is on the table?
Killing Joseph would have satisfied their hatred. Selling him satisfies something else:
If they are not going to satisfy their hatred by killing Joseph, why not satisfy their greed by selling him? So they handed their brother over to the Gentiles, and handed themselves over to making money. "Profit" is the word that governed the actions of Joseph's brothers. Judah asks the question of the covetous heart — not "Is it right?" or "Is it wrong?" but "What profit is it?"
Judah gives his brothers two reasons to sell rather than kill. One is money. The other is that Joseph is family:
A company of Ishmaelite traders appear, traveling toward Egypt. Judah is quick to see an ideal way of getting rid of Joseph and gaining some money at the same time… He also appeals to their sense of some loyalty to their family relationship. Joseph was their brother (v. 27). He seems to have a conscience against killing his brother, but no conscience against selling him as a slave!
The words Judah uses are the Bible's set phrase for blood kinship, and Genesis uses it elsewhere too:
The same kindred: "you are my bone and my flesh," Gen. 29:14; "he is our brother, our own flesh." Gen. 37:27.
Reuben holds back from murder. Judah swaps the pit for a sale. The rest agree. One writer puts them all inside a single verdict:
There may be different measures in the common hatred, but in a great moral sense they are all one generation. Reuben saves Joseph from the sword, and Judah proposes selling him to the merchants instead of the pit… The Judge of all the earth will surely do right, and sins will get their many stripes and their few stripes. But the world has cast out Jesus, and the world is the world. Here, all are the guilty brothers of Joseph; and, as the outcome of their plans and their shared hatred, he is sold to the merchants.
Commentators read Joseph's life as a picture of Christ. Even the name of the man who proposes the sale points forward:
Judah sells him for a few pieces of silver, just as Judas sold the One he pictured — the same name, and a descendant of the same man. They kill him ("in a figure"). He passes to the Gentiles, where he is tempted, slandered, and numbered with wrongdoers.
What the brothers take for him measures him against the price of any slave:
Twenty pieces of silver is the price they get for him. This was just two-thirds the price of an average adult slave (see Ex. 21:32). Judas asked the chief priests what they would give for Jesus. Thirty pieces of silver is their offer… "Every man has his price" is a common saying of the world, and it is often untrue. But every soul that Satan cheats out of Jesus has its price. Some accept gold, others position or power. With some it is cheap pleasure, or lust, or some favourite secret sin.
The brothers chose the sale to be rid of Joseph. One writer traces where that road led — through prison and the two men he met there:
Notice how Joseph's trial… meant to frustrate God's purpose, and looking completely against it — and his righteous suffering in Egypt — only bring about the very thing they seemed to prevent. It was the Egypt his brothers sold him to, and the prison Potiphar put him in, that led him to the butler and baker, and made him governor over all the land of Egypt. We cannot put God out of His way. It is better to trust Him.
- Profit. Judah asks about gain, not about right and wrong. That is the question a covetous heart asks.
- Price. Twenty pieces of silver was below the price of an average slave. That was their brother's value to them.
- Pretence. The words "our brother, our own flesh" claim kinship in the same breath that sells him. This conscience refuses blood but accepts money.
- Picture. Judah sells Joseph for silver into foreign hands. Commentators see here Christ, sold by Judas and passed to the Gentiles.
- Purpose. The sale meant to defeat God's purpose became the road to Egypt and to rule. God's plan runs straight through man's worst bargain.
And Midianitish men, merchants, passed by; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver-pieces; and they brought Joseph to Egypt.
Joseph's brothers turn their hatred into a business deal. They pull him out of the pit, hand him to a passing caravan, and take the silver. Behind this family crime sits a question the rest of Genesis answers: who was really directing the sale?
Reuben had planned to save Joseph. The sale happened while he was away, and the price his brothers took is set here beside the law's own price for a slave.
Reuben's plan to save him from his brothers fails. True, they do not kill him. They strip him of his coat of many colours and throw him into a pit in the wilderness. And in Reuben's absence, it seems, they sell him to the Ishmaelites. Twenty pieces of silver is the price they get for him. This was just two-thirds the price of an average adult slave (see Ex. 21:32). Judas asked the chief priests what they would give for Jesus. Thirty pieces of silver is their offer. They valued Him at the price of a slave. Yet He was always God's delight. All angels adore Him, demons fear Him, and to the crowds of the redeemed He is the "all" and the "altogether lovely"... The sold and slighted Saviour may well watch it all and say, with what sounds like irony, "What a fine price they set on Me!" (Zech. 11:13).
Judah's proposal in the previous verse shapes what happens here. Notice which question he does not ask.
The group of merchants on their way to Egypt at once gives Judah the idea of making a profit out of their brother. Why not sell Joseph and make a little money? If they will not feed their hatred by killing Joseph, why not feed their greed by selling him? So they gave their brother up to the Gentiles, and gave themselves up to making money... Judah asks the question for the covetous heart — not "Is it right?" or "Is it wrong?" but "What profit is it?"
Commentators see the sale as a picture of a later betrayal. Even the dry pit carries meaning.
In fact they throw him into a pit that holds no water. ("It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," the Jews said to Pilate.) Then they draw him out of it and sell him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. So Israel handed the Lord over to the Gentiles.
The picture is close, but it is not the same. The empty pit that spared Joseph marks the point where the comparison breaks down.
Like Isaac in this picture, Joseph did not die; there was no water in the pit. But our precious Jesus sank in the deep mire... Isaac lay on the altar and was spared. Joseph went into the pit and was spared. But when Jesus hung on the cross, God did not spare His own beloved Son. Joseph's brothers treated him cruelly, yet he was not forsaken. Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"... Joseph suffered against his will. Jesus offered up His own life freely.
The brothers thought they were getting rid of a problem. In fact they were moving their family toward the land God had told Abraham about long before.
The famine was the immediate reason they went down to Egypt. But through the famine, and through the wickedness of Jacob's sons in selling their brother to the Ishmaelites (Gen. 37:28), God was simply carrying out His own purposes. Long before this He had said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions."... So even human anger is harnessed to the chariot wheels of God's decrees.
Twenty years later, in an Egyptian prison, the memory of this day comes back to them.
Conscience connects their present trouble with their past sin. The prison has so far done its work. They not only say, "We are guilty," but "We are guilty concerning our brother." We saw the anguish of his soul, but we hardened our hearts. He begged us, but we shut our ears to all his pleading. "That is why this distress has come upon us."
- Price — Twenty pieces of silver was two-thirds the going rate for a slave. They sold a brother for less than a stranger was worth.
- Profit — Judah's question was not "Is it right?" but "What profit is it?" Selling Joseph fed their greed instead of their hate.
- Pattern — The brothers handed Joseph to outsiders for twenty pieces. Commentators see here a picture of Christ, handed to the Gentiles and sold for thirty.
- Limit — The pit had no water, and Joseph lived. God did not spare Christ, and Christ gave Himself freely. The picture points to Him, but it never reaches Him.
- Purpose — Their crime carried out what God had told Abraham: his family would serve in a foreign land, then come out rich. God harnessed their anger to His plan. Their guilt still found them twenty years later.