Genesis 37:22

Genesis 37:22, in plain English

Reuben proposes an alternative: throw Joseph into a pit alive rather than kill him outright. His real plan, you find out, is to come back later and pull Joseph out to send him home to their father.

Why it's here

Reuben has a hidden agenda here—he wants to be the hero who saves Joseph and restores him to Jacob. As the firstborn, Reuben's reputation with his father matters deeply to him, especially after his own moral failure with Bilhah. Saving Joseph would be a way to prove himself.

Who's speaking

Reuben is speaking to his brothers, though the narrator also reveals his private motivation.

Where it sits in the story

God is working through Reuben's self-interest and conscience to protect Joseph's life. The pit becomes a temporary grave that will eventually lead to Egypt, where Joseph will fulfill his calling. What looks like a compromise solution is actually part of God's larger plan.

The scholarly reading

Reuben elaborates his proposal: throw Joseph into a cistern instead of killing him, intending secretly to retrieve him and return him to Jacob.

Language and setting

The Hebrew term בור (bor) denotes a pit or cistern—not a temporary holding cell, but a dangerous, desolate place where exposure and thirst were genuine threats. Reuben's scheme reveals both his attempt to preserve life and his naïveté about his brothers' true intentions. As the eldest, he may have assumed his moral authority would hold sway, yet the narrative will show his brothers acting while he is absent. The Rabbinic tradition (reflected in texts like the Mekhilta) reads Reuben's plan as evidence of his genuine repentance for his earlier sin, a reading supported by his protective concern here.

Voice

The narrator describing Reuben's interior motive and his proposal to the brothers.

Significance

Reuben becomes an unwitting instrument of God's plan—his attempt to save Joseph through delay actually enables the Ishmaelite traders to arrive and create the pathway to Egypt where Joseph will rise to power and eventually deliver his family from famine.

20“Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!”

21When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue Joseph from their hands. “Let us not take his life,” he said.

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.

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.