Genesis 37:25 (WEB)
They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Genesis 37:25–28 (KJV)
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 camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come, 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. 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.
Key words
- עֶשְׂרִים כָּסֶףesrim kasef · Hebrew
- 'twenty pieces of silver' (v. 28) — the price of the beloved son.
- יְהוּדָהYehudah · Hebrew
- 'Judah' (v. 26), the brother who proposes selling Joseph. In Greek the name is Ioudas (Ἰούδας) — the same name as Judas, who sells Jesus for silver.
Why it matters
Rachel's firstborn, the beloved son, is betrayed by his own brothers and sold for silver at Judah's suggestion. Pitre reads Joseph as a type of Jesus, the beloved Son betrayed by one of his own and sold for thirty pieces of silver by a man named Judah/Judas. If Jesus is the new Joseph, then his mother stands in the place of Rachel.
Fathers and councils · 1
“On like typical camels the Ishmaelitish merchantmen bring down to the Egyptians perfume and incense and balm (of the kind that grows in Gilead good for the healing of wounds); and so fortunate are they that in the purchase and sale of Joseph they have for their merchandise the Saviour of the world.” — editor's note: Gen. xxxvii. 25.
Read the whole comment
Cross-references · 1
Genesis 37:25 and 1 Maccabees 9:39 share the same wording (10 words).