New International Version
Genesis 37:25
25As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
Genesis 37:25 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.
Context of Genesis 37:25
23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. 26Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
Read all of Genesis 37Genesis 37:25 word by word
וַיֵּשְׁבוּ֮ לֶֽאֱכָל־לֶחֶם֒ וַיִּשְׂא֤וּ עֵֽינֵיהֶם֙ וַיִּרְא֔וּ וְהִנֵּה֙ אֹרְחַ֣ת יִשְׁמְעֵאלִ֔ים בָּאָ֖ה מִגִּלְעָ֑ד וּגְמַלֵּיהֶ֣ם נֹֽשְׂאִ֗ים נְכֹאת֙ וּצְרִ֣י וָלֹ֔ט הוֹלְכִ֖ים לְהוֹרִ֥יד מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And they sat downיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- to eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · foodH3899
- and they lifted upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: lookH5375
- their eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
- and lookedרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- and, behold, a companyאֹרְחָה'ôrchâh · caravanH736
- of Ishmeelitesיִשְׁמְעֵאלִיyishmâ‛ê'lîy · IshmaeliteH3459
- cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- from Gileadגִּלְעָדgil‛âd · GileadH1568
- with their camelsגָּמָלgâmâl · camelH1581
- bearingנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375
- spiceryנְכֹאתnek'ôth · tragacanth gumH5219
- and balmצֳרִיtserîy tsŏrîy · balsamH6875
- and myrrhלֹטlôţ · myrrhH3910
- goingהָלַךְhâlak · to go: journeyH1980
- downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
- to Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
Cross-references for Genesis 37:25
- Esther 3:15The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.
- Psalms 14:4Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the Lord.
- Proverbs 30:20“This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’
- Amos 6:6You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
- Genesis 37:28So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
- Genesis 16:11The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.
- Genesis 25:1Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah.
- Genesis 31:23Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
- Psalms 83:6the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,
- Genesis 31:21So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.
- Genesis 43:11Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.
- Jeremiah 8:22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?
Commentaries on Genesis 37:25
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25They sat down to eat bread - Every act is perfectly in character, and describes forcibly the brutish and diabolic nature of their ruthless souls. A company of Ishmaelites - We may naturally suppose that this was a caravan, composed of different tribes that, for their greater safety, were traveling together, and of which Ishmaelites and Midianites made the chief. In the Chaldee they are called Arabians, which, from ערב arab, to mingle, was in all…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. 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. 25-28The Ishmaelite traders were descendants of the slave child who was cast out for mocking Isaac. Now they would enslave Joseph. When he was sold for 20 pieces of silver and carried to Egypt, he was at least preserved alive.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2525. they sat down to eat bread--What a view does this exhibit of those hardened profligates! Their common share in this conspiracy is not the only dismal feature in the story. The rapidity, the almost instantaneous manner in which the proposal was followed by their joint resolution, and the cool indifference, or rather the fiendish satisfaction, with which they sat down to regale themselves, is astonishing. It is impossible that mere envy at his dreams…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 37:25
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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