NIV, Faithlife Study Bible | Page 124

74 | Genesis 37:26
26
Ju dah said to his broth ers , “ What will we gain if we kill our broth er and cov er up his blood ?
27
Come , let ’ s sell him to the Ish ma el ites and not lay our hands on him ; af ter all , he is our broth er , our own flesh and blood .” His broth ers agreed .
28
So when the Mid i an ite mer chants came by , his broth ers pulled Jo seph up out of the cis tern and sold him for twen ty shek els a of sil ver to the Ish ma el ites , who took him to Egypt .
29
When Reu ben re turned to the cis tern and saw that Jo seph was not there , he tore his clothes . 30 He went back to his broth ers and said , “ The boy isn ’ t there ! Where can I turn now ?”
31
Then they got Jo seph ’ s robe , slaugh tered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood . 32 They took the or nate robe back to their fa ther and said , “ We found this . Ex am ine it to see wheth er it is your son ’ s robe .”
33
He rec og nized it and said , “ It is my son ’ s robe ! Some fe ro cious an i mal has de voured him . Jo seph has sure ly been torn to piec es .”
34
Then Ja cob tore his clothes , put on sack cloth and mourned for his son many days . 35 All his sons and daugh ters came to com fort him , but he refused to be com fort ed . “ No ,” he said , “ I will contin ue to mourn un til I join my son in the grave .” So his fa ther wept for him .
36
Mean while , the Mid i an ites b sold Jo seph in Egypt to Pot i phar , one of Phar aoh ’ s of fi cials , the cap tain of the guard .
Judah and Tamar
At that time , Ju dah left his broth ers and

38 went down to stay with a man of Adul lam named Hi rah . 2 There Ju dah met the daugh ter of a Ca naan ite man named Shua . He mar ried her and made love to her ; 3 she be came preg nant and gave birth to a son , who was named Er . 4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan . 5 She gave birth to still an oth er son and named him She lah . It was at Ke zib that she gave birth to him .

6
Ju dah got a wife for Er , his first born , and her name was Ta mar . 7 But Er , Ju dah ’ s first born , was wick ed in the Lord ’ s sight ; so the Lord put him to death .
8
Then Ju dah said to Onan , “ Sleep with your broth er ’ s wife and ful fill your duty to her as a broth er-in-law to raise up off spring for your broth er .” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his ; so when ev er he slept with his broth er ’ s wife , he spilled his se men on the ground to keep from pro vid ing off spring for his broth er . 10 What he did was wick ed in the Lord ’ s sight ; so the Lord put him to death also .
11
Ju dah then said to his daugh ter-in-law Ta mar , a
28 That is , about 8 ounces or about 230 grams b
36 Samaritan Pentateuch , Septuagint , Vulgate and Syriac ( see also verse 28 ); Masoretic Text Medanites describes Midianites wearing golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites . It may also be that Ishmaelites was not an ethnic term , but a generic term for nomadic tradesmen . Either way , the narrative is pointing out that Joseph ’ s brothers sold him into slavery to his own kin , but to people outside of the covenant promises of their family — ​the descendants of both Ishmael and Midian ultimately derive from the line of Abraham ( Ge 16:15 ; 25:1 – 2 ). camels See note on 12:16 . 37:26 Judah The fourth oldest of the 12 sons of Jacob and son of Leah ( 29:35 ) 37:29 he tore his clothes A gesture signifying mourning . It seems that Reuben thought Joseph was dead . 37:35 in the grave The Hebrew term used here , she ’ ol , occurs for the first time in the OT here . It refers to the realm of the dead ( or the underworld ), the grave or death itself . See the infographic “ Ancient Hebrew Conception of the Universe ” on p . 5 . 37:36 Potiphar This same name occurs in the Hebrew text of the Joseph narrative later but as two words : poti phera ’ ( 41:45,50 ) in reference to Joseph ’ s father-in-law . While the names probably do not identify the same person , they may share the same derivation . Potiphar means “ he whom Ra has given ” ( pa-di-pa-ra in Egyptian ). The final element in the name ( ra ) is the name of the sun god whose primary center was at On ( Heliopolis ). Joseph ’ s father-in-law ( Potiphera ) is said to have been a priest at this religious center ( 41:45 ). However , this Egyptian name form does not occur in Egyptian sources before the nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt ( ca . thirteenth century BC ) although it reflects an evolution from name forms used in earlier periods , possibly as early as the Middle Kingdom ( ca . twentieth to seventeenth century BC ). Compare note on 41:14 – 57 .
38:1 – 30 Judah ’ s earlier suggestion saved Joseph ’ s life ( 37:26 – 27 ), and Joseph in turn saves the nation of Israel ( 50:20 ). This narrative interrupts the story of Joseph ’ s tragic betrayal and draws attention to Judah , whose lineage produces King David ( see 17:6 ; 35:11 ). Every place name in this narrative is located in the later tribal territory of Judah , and several of the characters connect to later biographical details of the life of David . In addition , Jacob selects Judah to lead the family to Egypt ( 46:28 ). This narrative shows the moral failures of Judah and the desperate situation in which his inaction put Tamar in . See the people diagram “ Judah to David ” on p . 618 .
38:1 At that time This phrase connects the events of ch . 38 with the events of ch . 37 — ​the selling of Joseph into slavery . Adullam A city located in the Judean lowlands . 38:2 Canaanite Marriage with Canaanites was discouraged among the Israelites : Abraham insisted that Isaac not marry a Canaanite ( Ge 24:3 ); Isaac and Rebekah objected to Esau ’ s marriages with foreigners and forbade Jacob to marry outside the clan ( 27:46 — ​28:1 ). The law later forbade intermarriage with Canaanites , because of the risk of foreigners leading the Israelites into idolatry ( Dt 7:1,3 ). Compare note on 12:6 . 38:5 Kezib A reference to Achzib , a city southwest of Adullam . 38:6 Judah got a wife for Er This describes the customary mode for marriage in a patriarchal culture : the father chooses a bride for his son ( see 21:21,24 ). Tamar The only other occurrences of this name in the OT appear with reference to women in David ’ s family ( 2Sa 13:1 ; 14:27 ). 38:7 wicked The Hebrew word used here , ra ’, is a reverse of the consonants used in Hebrew for Er ’ s name ;