Old Testament · Law

Genesis 37:24

Joseph Sold

and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it. Genesis 37:24 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Genesis 37:24, in plain English

They throw Joseph into a pit that's completely empty—no water, just darkness—which means he would have faced a slow, agonizing death if left there.

Why it's here

This detail is important. An empty pit in the wilderness isn't a quick way to die; it's a prolonged nightmare. The brothers aren't being merciful by choosing the pit—they're just doing it in a way that lets them avoid directly shedding blood themselves. There's a moral cowardice in it.

Who's speaking

The narrator is describing the scene to us.

Where it sits in the story

Joseph is now completely vulnerable, alone, in the dark, with no idea what will happen next. He's at the absolute bottom of his story so far—and this is where God is about to work in unexpected ways.

A Closer Look

The scholar's commentary

The brothers throw Joseph into an empty, waterless pit—a deadly trap that separates him from rescue and heightens the horror of their act.

Language and setting

The emphasis on the pit being empty (ריק, riq) and without water (מים, mayim) is crucial: this is not a cistern for storage but an instrument of slow death by dehydration and despair. The topographical setting—a wilderness location—places Joseph in the archetypal biblical landscape of testing and trial, removed from civilization and paternal protection. Gunkel and other form-critical scholars recognized this as narrative formula for the 'heroic trial' motif found throughout ancient Near Eastern literature, yet here inflected with unique theological weight.

Voice

The narrator describes the brothers' violence and the specifics of their entrapment of Joseph.

Significance

The pit becomes Joseph's crucible of transformation. Like the three days of Jonah in the whale's belly or the three days Christ spends in the grave, Joseph's descent into the empty pit represents a death-like state from which only divine intervention can rescue him. The narrative thus begins its meditation on suffering as purification and on divine sovereignty operating through human wickedness—themes Augustine explored in his reading of this cycle.

In context

Genesis 37:22–26

22“Do not shed his blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this so that he could rescue Joseph from their hands and return him to his father.

23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the robe of many colors he was wearing—

24and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.

25And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.

26Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

Read all of Genesis 37 — A father's favorite son, a coat of many colors, and brothers consumed by jealousy. What they meant for evil, God will use for something unimaginable.

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