Genesis 37:18
in Genesis 37Now Joseph’s brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
KJV
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
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This verse in Genesis 37
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd when they saw him afar off they conspired against him - It was not in a heat, or upon a sudden provocation, that they thought to slay him, but from malice propense, and in cold blood.
This site's exposition
saw him in the distance
on Genesis 37:18-19
The brothers settle the plot while Joseph is still in the distance, before he reaches them and before a word passes. Wesley reads that as malice thought out in cold blood. Their name for him, that dreamer, is in Hebrew master of dreams, and JFB hears a sneer at a man they took for a pretender. Cain killed his brother in a field at Genesis 4:8.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4 · Written before 99.
proposed
Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, "My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked." [Deuteronomy 32:15] Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And when they saw him afar off,....
Malice is a most mischievous thing, and is in danger of making bloody work where it is harboured and indulged. The more there is of a project and contrivance in a sin the worse it is; it is bad to do evil, but worse to devise it.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּרְא֥וּ | vaiyiru | and they saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵרָחֹ֑ק | merachok | from a distance | H7350 → | |
| וּבְטֶ֙רֶם֙ | uveterem | and just before | H2962 → | 56 times |
| יִקְרַ֣ב | yikrav | he drew near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וַיִּֽתְנַכְּל֥וּ | vaiyitnakelu | and they dealt deceptively with | H5230 → | |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לַהֲמִיתֽוֹ׃ | lahamito | to kill him | H4191 → | 839 times |
וַיִּרְא֥וּand they saw
vaiyiruH7200 →1300 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
מֵרָחֹ֑קfrom a distance
merachokH7350 →
וּבְטֶ֙רֶם֙and just before
uveteremH2962 →56 times
יִקְרַ֣בhe drew near
yikravH7126 →280 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֔םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
וַיִּֽתְנַכְּל֥וּand they dealt deceptively with
vaiyitnakeluH5230 →
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
לַהֲמִיתֽוֹ׃to kill him
lahamitoH4191 →839 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 23:12When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
it leads to
- Acts 23:30
When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also instructed his accusers to present their case against him before you.
- Isaiah 8:9–10
Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
- Acts 23:21
Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they…
- Acts 23:14
They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
- Psalms 2:1–3
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Acts 23:30
Through
Mark 14:1Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a covert way to arrest Jesus and kill Him.
it leads to
- Luke 22:1–2
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,
- Exodus 12:6–20
You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
- Luke 22:1–2
Through
Psalms 37:12The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
it leads to
- Psalms 35:16
Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
- Psalms 35:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Genesis
This page draws on Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.