18 They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him. 19 The brothers were saying, "Here comes that dreamer. 20 Let's kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We'll see what his dreams amount to." 21 Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, "We're not going to kill him. 22 No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don't hurt him." Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father.
23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, 24 grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn't any water in it. 25 Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt. 26 Judah said, "Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence? 27 Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let's not kill him - he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. 28 By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt. 29 Later Reuben came back and went to the cistern - no Joseph! He ripped his clothes in despair. 30 Beside himself, he went to his brothers. "The boy's gone! What am I going to do!"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 37:18-30
Commentary on Genesis 37:12-22
(Read Genesis 37:12-22)
How readily does Joseph wait his father's orders! Those children who are best beloved by their parents, should be the most ready to obey them. See how deliberate Joseph's brethren were against him. They thought to slay him from malice aforethought, and in cold blood. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, 1 John 3:15. The sons of Jacob hated their brother because their father loved him. New occasions, as his dreams and the like, drew them on further; but this laid rankling in their hearts, till they resolved on his death. God has all hearts in his hands. Reuben had most reason to be jealous of Joseph, for he was the first-born; yet he proves his best friend. God overruled all to serve his own purpose, of making Joseph an instrument to save much people alive. Joseph was a type of Christ; for 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 in great humility and love. He came from heaven to earth to seek and save us; yet then malicious plots were laid against him. His own not only received him not, but crucified him. This he submitted to, as a part of his design to redeem and save us.
Commentary on Genesis 37:23-30
(Read Genesis 37:23-30)
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 Psalm 76:10. Joseph's brethren were wonderfully restrained from murdering him, and their selling him as wonderfully turned to God's praise.