The envy of these wicked brothers had grown into such bitter hatred that they now did not stop even at the thought of murder. Because they knew that their brother was better than they were, they were willing to commit the awful crime of murder in order to keep him from the honors which were certain would come to him.
But Reu'ben, who was the oldest of the brothers, and who did not hate Jo'seph as much as the others did, suggested that instead of killing him by their own hands they might throw him into an open well. He said this in the hope of saving Jo'seph, he intended to come back to the pit when the other brothers were gone and rescue him.
Jo'seph had probably brought his brothers some good things to eat from his father's house. He came to them in a friendly spirit, gave them the message from Ja'cob, and began to unpack the food and provisions which he had brought them. At once they seized him, cast him into a pit nearby, and deliberately sat down to eat their dinner while Jo'seph begged to be rescued from the pit.
As they sat about on the grass eating their dinner, there suddenly appeared in the distance a caravan of Ish'ma-el-ites. These people were going from Gil'e-ad to E'gypt with spices, fragrant balms, and myrrh to sell. They also dealt in slaves, and would frequently sell to the E'gyp-tians young men and women to become servants in their homes. An older brother named Ju'dah then suggested that instead of leaving Jo'seph in the pit they might sell him to these slave-traders. In this way they would be rid of him forever, and at the same time might avoid the great sin of murder. No doubt Ju'dah was also thinking of the money that they would receive from the traders, for slaves were worth a great deal of money.
In the meantime Reu'ben had finished his dinner, and had gone away to look after the sheep. So the other nine brothers lifted Jo'seph from the pit and sold him to the Ish'ma-el-ites for twenty pieces of silver, which was the usual price for a slave boy. They also kept the coat of many colors which their father had given Jo'seph. The Ish'ma-el-ites took Jo'seph into E'gypt, where they had sold him to a man named Pot'i-phar as a household servant. What happened to Jo'seph in E'gypt will be told in future stories.
When Reu'ben had finished caring for the sheep, he went to the pit into which Jo'seph had been thrown, and was very much alarmed when he found it empty. He rushed to his brothers greatly excited and said, "The child is gone, and now what am I to do?" The other brothers may have suspected that Reu'ben had intended to rescue Jo'seph, and for this reason had not told him that the younger brother had been sold as a slave. But now that he was gone they must think of some story to tell their father. They took Jo'seph's beautiful coat of many colors, dipped it in the blood of a young goat which they killed for this purpose, and carried the stained coat back to their father.
