Genesis 37:21

_AND WHEN THEY SAW HIM AFAR OFF, EVEN BEFORE HE CAME NEAR UNTO THEM, THEY CONSPIRED AGAINST HIM TO SLAY HIM._ When they saw him afar off. On the level grass-field, where they were watching their cattle, they could perceive him approaching in the distance from the side of Shechem, or rather Samaria. BEHOLD, THIS DREAMER COMETH - literally, 'master of dreams;' a bitterly ironical sneer. Dreams being considered suggestions from above, to make false pretensions to having received one, was detested as a species of blasphemy; and in this light Joseph was regarded by his brethren, an artful pretender. They already began to form a plot for his assassination, from which he was rescued only by the address of Reuben, who suggested that he should rather be cast into one of the wells х_ HABOROWT_ (H953), the cisterns or reservoirs for collecting water in the rainy season, with narrow mouth and wide...

21._And Reuben heard it_. It may be well to observe, while others were hastening to shed his blood, by whose care Joseph was preserved. Reuben doubtless, in one affair, was the most wicked of them all, when he defiled his father’s couch; and that unbridled lust, involving other vices, was the sign of a depraved nature: now suddenly, he alone, having a regard to piety, and being mindful of fraternal duty, dissolves the impious conspiracy. It is uncertain whether he was now seeking the means of making some compensation, for the sake of which he might be restored to his father’s favor. Moses declares that it was his intention to restore the boy in safety to his father: whence the conjecture which I have stated is probable, that he thought the life of his brother would be a sufficient price by which he might reconcile his father’s mind to himself. However this may be, yet the humanity which...

12-22 How readily does Joseph wait his father's orders! Those children who are best beloved by their parents, should be the most ready to obey them. See how deliberate Joseph's brethren were against him. They thought to slay him from malice aforethought, and in cold blood. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, 1 John 3:15. The sons of Jacob hated their brother because their father loved him. New occasions, as his dreams and the like, drew them on further; but this laid rankling in their hearts, till they resolved on his death. God has all hearts in his hands. Reuben had most reason to be jealous of Joseph, for he was the first-born; yet he proves his best friend. God overruled all to serve his own purpose, of making Joseph an instrument to save much people alive. Joseph was a type of Christ; for though he was the beloved Son of his Father, and hated by a wicked world, yet the Fath...

Verse Genesis 37:21. _REUBEN HEARD IT_] Though Reuben appears to have been a transgressor of no ordinary magnitude, if we take Genesis 35:22 according to the letter, yet his bosom was not the habitation of _cruelly_. He determined, if possible, to save his brother from death, and deliver him safely to his father, with whose fondness for him he was sufficiently acquainted. _Josephus_, in his usual way, puts a long flourishing speech in the mouth of Reuben on the occasion, spoken in order to dissuade his brethren from their barbarous purpose; but as it is _totally unfounded_, it is worthy of no regard....

- Joseph Was Sold into Egypt 17. דתין _dotayı̂n_ Dothain, “two wells?” (Gesenius) 25. נכאת _n__e__ko't_ “tragacanth” or goat’s-thorn gum, yielded by the “astragalus gummifer”, a native of Mount Lebanon. צרי _tsērı̂y_ “opobalsamum,” the resin of the balsam tree, growing in Gilead, and having healing qualities. לט _loṭ_, λῆδον _lēdon_, “ledum, ladanum,” in the Septuagint στακτή _staktē_. The former is a gum produced from the cistus rose. The latter is a gum resembling liquid myrrh. 36. פוטיפר _pôṭı̂yphar_ Potiphar, “belonging to the

EXPOSITION GENESIS 37:12 AND HIS BRETHREN WENT TO FEED THEIR FATHER'S FLOCK IN SHECHEM—_i.e._ the modern Nablous, in the plain of Muknah, which belonged to Jacob partly by purchase and partly by conquest (_vide _Genesis 33:19; Genesis 34:27). Shechem was at a considerable distance from the vale of Hebron, where the patriarchal family at this time resided. GENESIS 37:13 AND ISRAEL (vide Genesis 32:28;...

AND REUBEN HEARD [IT],.... Overheard what they said, not being in the consultation; perhaps knowing his temper and disposition to be more mild and gentle, and being the elder brother, might fear he would overrule matters against them, and therefore Simeon and Levi did not choose to have him in the debate; or he might be at some distance and entirely absent when the consultation was held, and their intention was reported to him by some of them: AND HE DELIVERED HIM OUT OF THEIR HANDS; from slaying him; that is, he endeavoured to do it by proposing another scheme: AND SAID, LET US NOT KILL HIM; or let us not smite the soul t; the dear soul, or take away life. t לא נכנו נפש "ne percutiamus vel occidamus animam", Sam. Ar. Syr....

XII. THE GENERATIONS OF JACOB CHAPTER 37 The Story of Joseph _ 1. Jacob dwelling in Canaan (Genesis 37:1)_ 2. Joseph's character and feeding the flock (Genesis 37:2) 3. Beloved of his father (Genesis 37:3) 4. Hated by his brethren (Genesis 37:4) 5. The dream of the sheaves (Genesis 37:5) 6. The dream of the sun, moon and stars (Genesis 37:9) 7. Joseph seeks his brethren ...

To J we may assign Genesis 37:18_ b_ (and before, etc.), Genesis 37:21 (substituting Judah for Reuben), Genesis 37:23; Genesis 37:25; Genesis 37:27 (and sold to silver), to E Genesis 37:18_ a_, Genesis 37:19 f., Genesis 37:22;...

(JE). Joseph sold into Egypt 2 b (J). _and he was a lad with_, &c. The English here gives an awkward rendering. The meaning is, "he was keeping sheep, being still a lad, with his brethren, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah," i.e. Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Joseph's home at this time seems to have been at Hebron (cf. Genesis 35:27). The life of Joseph, the elder son of the favourite wife, spent in the field with the sons of the concubines, was not likely to be happy. _the evil report_ What this was, does not appear; cf. 1 Samuel 2:23. But Joseph's action brought upon him the odium of tale-bearing. On the words for "evil report" cf. Numbers 13:32;...