Genesis 37:27-28

37:27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, 1  for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. 2  37:28 So when the Midianite 3  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled 4  him 5  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites 6  then took Joseph to Egypt.

1 tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”

2 tn Heb “listened.”

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

4 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).

5 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.

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