BRAGADAYJAH 126

Joseph’s brothers decided to do him harm; but Rueben persuaded them not to shed his blood, but to cast him into a pit. They agreed and watched as Joseph approached them apparently dressed in his coveted coat; the coat his father had given him and which stirred up in their hearts so much jealousy; so much so, that they were prepared to kill him. So as soon as Joseph came to them, as a lamb cometh to his slaughter, his brothers, his own flesh and blood grabbed him, stripped him of his coat, threw him in a pit which mercifully was devoid of water, and having done their wicked deed, they sat down to eat bread. How utterly despicable and wicked their hearts had to be, that they could sit down to eat while their brother languish in a pit. Apparently Rueben after persuading them not to kill him must have found some excuse for separating himself from them, so that after the wicked deed was done, and they were on their way back home, he could back track and retrieve his brother from the pit. It turned out, however, that while they were eating they saw a group of Ismaelites traders traveling with their camels and merchandise on their way from Gilead to Egypt, and thought to turn their wicked scheme to gain by selling their brother to them. So hearkening to their brother Judah, they lifted Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the merchants for twenty pieces of silver. After the merchants had departed for Egypt with Joseph part of their merchandise, Rueben returned to find his brother gone; so he went to his brethren and asked them about Joseph. Whether they told him the truth about Joseph’s whereabouts or not is not clear. It is likely they did; and it is also likely that he was relieved to learn that his brother was at least still alive, even though he would now be a slave forever in Egypt for sure; so they ripped Joseph’s coat, killed a kid and covered it with the blood, and took it to Israel and informed him that the torn and bloodied coat was all that was left of his favorite son Joseph. More