Discovery BoxGenesis 37:23-28 
Context37:23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him 1 of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore. 37:24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; 2 there was no water in it.)
37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up 3 and saw 4 a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. 5 37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 37:27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, 6 for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. 7 37:28 So when the Midianite 8 merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled 9 him 10 out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites 11 then took Joseph to Egypt.
1 tn Heb “Joseph”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that helps the reader or hearer to picture what happened.
3 tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”
4 tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.
5 tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”
6 tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”
7 tn Heb “listened.”
8 sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.
9 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).
10 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.
11 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
