Genesis 37:20
in Genesis 37“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!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
KJV
Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
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This verse in Genesis 37
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd in Genesis they also said, "And we shall see what will become of his dreams." This is written in regard to Joseph, but it is fulfilled in regard to Christ, when the Jews said in the course of his passion, "If he is the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusts in God; let him deliver him now, if he wants him." But were those brothers so unholy as to kill their brother?
This site's exposition
what becomes of his dreams
The brothers set out to end the dreams by killing the dreamer. Ambrose of Milan and Cyril of Alexandria both read Joseph as a figure of Christ, a brother sold by his own family whose going down saves them. Joseph says as much at Genesis 45:7, that God sent him ahead to preserve their lives. The pit is where the dreams begin to come true.
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 Awakening3 voices
This shows what it was that fretted and enraged them. They could not endure to think of doing homage to him; this was what they were plotting to prevent by the murder of him. Note, Men that fret and rage at God's counsels are impiously aiming to defeat them; but they imagine a vain thing, Ps. ii.
Come now therefore, and let us slay him,....
Note, The old enmity hunts for the precious life. It is the blood-thirsty that hate the upright ( Prov. xxix. 10 ), and it is the blood of the saints that the harlot is drunk with.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Come now and let us slay him - What unprincipled savages these must have been to talk thus coolly about imbruing their hands in an innocent brother’s blood! How necessary is a Divine revelation, to show man what God hates and what he loves! Ferocious cruelty is the principal characteristic of the nations and tribes who receive not the law at his mouth.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֣ה׀ | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| לְכ֣וּ | lekhu | come | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְנַֽהַרְגֵ֗הוּ | venahargehu | and let us kill him | H2026 → | 167 times |
| וְנַשְׁלִכֵ֙הוּ֙ | venashlikhehu | and let us throw him | H7993 → | 125 times |
| בְּאַחַ֣ד | beachad | in one of | H259 → | 971 times |
| הַבֹּר֔וֹת | haborot | the pits | H953 → | 66 times |
| וְאָמַ֕רְנוּ | veamarnu | and we will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| חַיָּ֥ה | chaiyah | an animal | H2416 → | 498 times |
| רָעָ֖ה | raah | wild | H7451 → | 662 times |
| אֲכָלָ֑תְהוּ | ʾakhalatehu | it has eaten him | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְנִרְאֶ֕ה | venireh | and we may see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יִּהְי֖וּ | yihyu | will <they> be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| חֲלֹמֹתָֽיו׃ | chalomotav | dreams his | H2472 → | 65 times |
וְעַתָּ֣ה׀and now
veatahH6258 →433 times
לְכ֣וּcome
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
וְנַֽהַרְגֵ֗הוּand let us kill him
venahargehuH2026 →167 times
וְנַשְׁלִכֵ֙הוּ֙and let us throw him
venashlikhehuH7993 →125 times
בְּאַחַ֣דin one of
beachadH259 →971 times
הַבֹּר֔וֹתthe pits
haborotH953 →66 times
וְאָמַ֕רְנוּand we will say
veamarnuH559 →5305 times
חַיָּ֥הan animal
chaiyahH2416 →498 times
רָעָ֖הwild
raahH7451 →662 times
אֲכָלָ֑תְהוּit has eaten him
ʾakhalatehuH398 →810 times
וְנִרְאֶ֕הand we may see
venirehH7200 →1300 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
יִּהְי֖וּwill <they> be
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
חֲלֹמֹתָֽיו׃dreams his
chalomotavH2472 →65 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
Titus 3:3For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
it leads to
- Ephesians 2:1–3
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Colossians 1:21
Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.
- Romans 6:17
But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.
- Colossians 3:7
When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–11
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…
- Ephesians 2:1–3
Through
Proverbs 27:4Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?
it leads to
- Proverbs 6:34
For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
- Proverbs 14:30
A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
- Proverbs 6:34
Through
2 Kings 2:24Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the…
it leads to
- Acts 13:9–11
Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas
- Acts 13:9–11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Joseph the Patriarch; Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4; Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.