New English Translation
Genesis 37:26
26Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Genesis 37:26 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
- New International Version (NIV)Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
- New King James Version (NKJV)So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
Context of Genesis 37:26
24Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.) 25When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. 28So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt.
Read all of Genesis 37Genesis 37:26 word by word
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוּדָ֖ה אֶל־אֶחָ֑יו מַה־בֶּ֗צַע כִּ֤י נַהֲרֹג֙ אֶת־אָחִ֔ינוּ וְכִסִּ֖ינוּ אֶת־דָּמֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 37:26
- Genesis 25:32“Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?”
- Psalms 30:9“What profit is there in taking my life, in my descending into the Pit? Can the dust of the grave praise you? Can it declare your loyalty?
- Jeremiah 41:8But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey we have hidden in a field. So he spared their lives and did not kill them along with the rest.
- Matthew 16:26For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?
- Romans 6:21So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.
- Genesis 37:20Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!”
- Genesis 4:10But the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!
- Deuteronomy 17:8If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, legal claim, or assault – matters of controversy in your villages – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses.
- 2 Samuel 1:16David said to him, “Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth has testified against you, saying ‘I have put the Lord’s anointed to death.’”
- Job 16:18“O earth, do not cover my blood, nor let there be a secret place for my cry.
- Ezekiel 24:7For her blood was in it; she poured it on an exposed rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.
Commentaries on Genesis 37:26
- 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. 23-30Verses 23-30 They threw Joseph into a pit, to perish there with hunger and cold; so cruel were their tender mercies. They slighted him when he was in distress, and were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, see Am 6:6; for when he was pining in the pit, they sat down to eat bread. They felt no remorse of conscience for the sin. But the wrath of man shall praise God, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain, Psa 76:10. Joseph's brethren were…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26Judah began to take a leadership role, which he continued to develop as the story goes on (see 43:8–10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 26-2826-28. Judah said, ... What profit is it if we slay our brother?--The sight of these travelling merchants gave a sudden turn to the views of the conspirators; for having no wish to commit a greater degree of crime than was necessary for the accomplishment of their end, they readily approved of Judah's suggestion to dispose of their obnoxious brother as a slave. The proposal, of course, was founded on their knowledge that the Arabian merchants trafficked…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 37:26
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
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