Genesis 37:4

37:4 When Joseph’s ¹  brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, ²  they hated Joseph ³  and were not able to speak to him kindly. ⁴ 

Genesis 37:18

37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers ⁵  saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

Genesis 37:24

37:24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; ⁶  there was no water in it.)

Genesis 37:28

37:28 So when the Midianite ⁷  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ⁸  him ⁹  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ¹⁰  then took Joseph to Egypt.

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¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “of his brothers.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “them.”

³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “speak to him for peace.”

⁵ tn Heb “and they”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that helps the reader or hearer to picture what happened.

⁷ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

⁸ tn Heb “they drew and they lifted up.” The referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity; otherwise the reader might assume the Midianites had pulled Joseph from the cistern (but cf. NAB).

⁹ tn Heb “Joseph” (both here and in the following clause); the proper name has been replaced both times by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.