109 Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers

Genesis 37
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. Genesis 37:28

Joseph was the 11th of Jacob's 12 sons. His older brothers felt that Jacob loved Joseph most, so they were jealous (see Genesis 37:4).

One day Jacob sent Joseph to where his older brothers were tending the flocks, saying, "Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again" (Genesis 37:14). When the brothers saw Joseph coming, one of them said, "Let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him" (Genesis 37:20). The oldest brother, Reuben, did not want to kill Joseph. Instead, he suggested they throw Joseph into a pit and leave him there. Reuben secretly planned to rescue Joseph later and return him to his father. (See Genesis 37:2122.)

When Joseph arrived, his brothers took the "coat of many colours" that his father had given him, and they threw him into a pit (see Genesis 37:2324). Later, some of Joseph's brothers took him out of the pit and sold him to merchants who were going to Egypt. Reuben came to rescue Joseph from the pit and was very upset when he saw that Joseph was gone. (See Genesis 37:2529.)

The brothers dipped Joseph's coat in the blood of a goat and took it to Jacob, their father, who thought that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Jacob mourned Joseph's death for a long time and could not be comforted. Joseph, however, was still alive. The merchants had taken him to Egypt and sold him as a slave to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard. (See Genesis 37:3136.)

Summary

Joseph was the 11th of Jacob's 12 sons. Joseph's older brothers were jealous because they felt that Jacob loved Joseph most. When they saw Joseph coming to find them one day, they took the "coat of many colours" his father had given him and then threw him into a pit. Some of the brothers wanted to kill Joseph, but instead they sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt. To hide what they had done, the brothers dipped Joseph's coat in goat's blood and took it to their father. Jacob believed Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Jacob wept and would not be comforted.

Artist, Ted Henninger

© 2002 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA