God’s Word Translation
Genesis 37:21
21When Reuben heard this, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. “Let’s not kill him,” he said.
Genesis 37:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
- New International Version (NIV)When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."
- New King James Version (NKJV)But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”
Context of Genesis 37:21
19They said to each other, “Look, here comes that master dreamer! 20Let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and say that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we’ll see what happens to his dreams.” When Reuben heard this, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22“Let’s not have any bloodshed. Put him into that cistern that’s out in the desert, but don’t hurt him.” Reuben wanted to rescue Joseph from them and bring him back to his father. 23So when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his special robe with long sleeves.
Read all of Genesis 37Genesis 37:21 word by word
וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע רְאוּבֵ֔ן וַיַּצִּלֵ֖הוּ מִיָּדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לֹ֥א נַכֶּ֖נּוּ נָֽפֶשׁ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 37:21
- Genesis 35:22While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went to bed with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had 12 sons.
- Genesis 42:22Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must pay for this bloodshed.”
- Joshua 10:28That same day Joshua captured Makkedah, and the Israelites killed its people and king with swords. He claimed them for the Lord by destroying them. There were no survivors. He did the same thing to the king of Makkedah that he had done to the king of Jericho.
- Genesis 9:5In addition, I will demand your blood for your life. I will demand it from any animal or from any person. I will demand the life of any person ⌞who kills⌟ another person.
- Matthew 10:28Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
Commentaries on Genesis 37:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Reuben heard it - Though Reuben appears to have been a transgressor of no ordinary magnitude, if we take Genesis 35:22; according to the letter, yet his bosom was not the habitation of cruelly. He determined, if possible, to save his brother from death, and deliver him safely to his father, with whose fondness for him he was sufficiently acquainted. Josephus, in his usual way, puts a long flourishing speech in the mouth of Reuben on the occasion, spoken…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-36Verses 1-36 - Joseph Was Sold into Egypt 17. דתין dotayı̂n Dothain, “two wells?” (Gesenius) 25. נכאת neko't “tragacanth” or goat‘s-thorn gum, yielded by the “astragalus gummifer”, a native of Mount Lebanon. צרי tsērı̂y “opobalsamum,” the resin of the balsam tree, growing in Gilead, and having healing qualities. לט loṭ ͂ lēdon “ledum, ladanum,” in the Septuagint ́ staktē The former is a gum produced from the cistus rose. The latter is a gum resembling…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-22Verses 12-22 How readily does Joseph wait his father's orders! Those children who are best beloved by their parents, should be the most ready to obey them. See how deliberate Joseph's brethren were against him. They thought to slay him from malice aforethought, and in cold blood. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, 1Jo 3:15. The sons of Jacob hated their brother because their father loved him. New occasions, as his dreams and the like, drew them…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21-24Reuben might have been trying to regain his father's favor (35:22) by acting as the firstborn leader (compare 42:22). Reuben succeeded in saving Joseph's life, but he did not win his father's favor (37:29–30).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5-365. Joseph dreamed a dream--Dreams in ancient times were much attended to, and hence the dream of Joseph, though but a mere boy, engaged the serious consideration of his family. But this dream was evidently symbolical. The meaning was easily discerned, and, from its being repeated under different emblems, the fulfilment was considered certain (compare Ge 41:32), whence it was that "his brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying" [Ge 37:11].Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 37:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 37
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries