Genesis 37:21
in Genesis 37When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue Joseph from their hands. “Let us not take his life,” he said.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.
KJV
And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 37
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIndeed, Reuben and Judah observed the holy bonds of brotherhood and desired to free Joseph from their hands. Judah receives the preference by his father's blessing, and rightly so, when it is said to him, "The sons of your father shall bow down to you. A lion's whelp is Judah, and he is the expectation of nations."
This site's exposition
he tried to rescue Joseph from their hands
on Genesis 37:21-22
Reuben is the firstborn, and he had already forfeited that standing by lying with his father's concubine at Genesis 35:22. Here he works to get the boy out alive and back to his father, and he does it by steering his brothers toward the pit. The plan fails while he is away. Jacob takes the birthright from him at Genesis 49:4.
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
Joseph was here a type of Christ. Though he was the beloved Son of his Father, and hated by a wicked world; yet the Father sent him out of his bosom to visit us; he came from heaven to earth to seek and save us; yet then malicious plots were laid against him; he came to his own, and his own not only received him not, but consulted, This is the heir, come let us kill him.
And Reuben heard it,....
Reuben's temper seems to have been soft and effeminate, which had betrayed him to the sin of uncleanness; while the temper of the next two brothers, Simeon and Levi, was fierce, which betrayed them to the sin of murder, a sin which Reuben startled at the thought of.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Reuben heard it - Though Reuben appears to have been a transgressor of no ordinary magnitude, if we take Gen 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.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע | vaiyishma' | and he heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| רְאוּבֵ֔ן | reuven | Reuben | H7205 → | 72 times |
| וַיַּצִּלֵ֖הוּ | vaiyatzilehu | and he rescued him | H5337 → | 212 times |
| מִיָּדָ֑ם | miyadam | from hand their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נַכֶּ֖נּוּ | nakenu | let us strike him | H5221 → | 499 times |
| נָֽפֶשׁ׃ | nafesh | life | H5315 → | 754 times |
וַיִּשְׁמַ֣עand he heard
vaiyishma'H8085 →1159 times
רְאוּבֵ֔ןReuben
reuvenH7205 →72 times
וַיַּצִּלֵ֖הוּand he rescued him
vaiyatzilehuH5337 →212 times
מִיָּדָ֑םfrom hand their
miyadamH3027 →1618 times
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נַכֶּ֖נּוּlet us strike him
nakenuH5221 →499 times
נָֽפֶשׁ׃life
nafeshH5315 →754 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
Matthew 10:28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
it leads to
- Luke 12:4–5
I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
- Isaiah 8:12–13
“Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live in dread.
- Revelation 2:10
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful…
- James 4:12
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
- Romans 8:35–39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
- Luke 12:4–5
Through
Genesis 42:22And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”
it leads to
- Psalms 9:12
For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 9:12
Through
Genesis 9:5And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
it leads to
- Exodus 21:28–29
If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible.
- Exodus 21:28–29
Through
Genesis 35:22While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 5:1
These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So…
- 1 Chronicles 5:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; 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.