Old Testament · Law

Genesis 37:28

Joseph Sold

So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. Genesis 37:28 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Genesis 37:28, in plain English

As the Midianite traders pass by, the brothers pull Joseph out of the pit and sell him for twenty shekels of silver, and he's taken away to Egypt.

Why it's here

Note that the text calls them Midianites here, though they were called Ishmaelites in verse 25—they may have been from the same trading network or the terms are being used interchangeably. The price, twenty shekels, was the price of a slave. This is the moment Joseph's life as he knew it ends.

Who's speaking

The narrator is telling us the mechanics of what happened.

Where it sits in the story

Joseph is now enslaved and bound for Egypt, completely separated from his family, his home, everything familiar. He has no idea what God is about to do, but his presence in Egypt is going to matter enormously.

A Closer Look

The scholar's commentary

The brothers pull Joseph from the pit and sell him to the Ishmaelite merchants for twenty shekels of silver, completing his transition from favored son to enslaved commodity on his way to Egypt.

Language and setting

The price—עשרים שקל (esrim shekel)—is the standard compensation for an injured slave in ancient Near Eastern law codes (cf. Exodus 21:32), suggesting that the brothers valued Joseph at the legal rate for damaged merchandise. The mention of 'Midianite traders' alongside 'Ishmaelites' in the manuscript tradition has generated considerable textual-critical discussion; scholars like Wellhausen attributed the apparent duplication to separate source strands (J and E), though recent scholarship favors a more nuanced view of narrative layering. The route 'down to Egypt' (מצרים, Mitzrayim) signals both geographical and theological descent—the movement away from the promised land into the house of bondage that prefigures the exodus narrative itself.

Voice

The narrator describes the brothers' completion of Joseph's sale, with particular attention to the economic transaction.

Significance

Joseph's sale represents the nadir of his apparent fortunes yet the apex of providence's hidden work. He moves from the patriarchal household—the locus of covenant promise—into the pagan world, yet this displacement will become the means of his exaltation and ultimately of Israel's survival. The Christological reading, which medieval interpreters like Bernard of Clairvaux developed, sees in Joseph's betrayal for silver pieces a type of Christ's betrayal for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-15).

In context

Genesis 37:26–30

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

27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.

28So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,

30returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

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.

Understand every verse, not just this one

This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.

Get BibleKey

In the App

What's in the app that isn't here.

Seven translations

NIV, NLT, NKJV, KJV and the Berean — plus the Catholic NLT-CE and Douay-Rheims, with the full deuterocanon in the reading order.

Every verse, as you read

Tap any of the 31,102 for what it means, and any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, without leaving the chapter.

Selah

Start recording at church and put your phone away. You get the transcript, the key moments, and every verse referenced.

Prayer Maker

Say what's sitting on your heart and hear it back as a real prayer, in a warm voice. Keep the ones that land.

Every Word

The whole Bible in a year — five chapters a day, five days a week, weekends off. Built to be finished.

Today's Light

A verse each morning with its meaning, how it lands today, something to sit with, and a prayer to close it.

Understand every verse.

Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.

Download on the App Store

Free on iPhone & iPad