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Genesis 37:21
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19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this1 dreamer is coming!  
20 aCome therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”  
21 But aReuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”  
22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they astripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.  
24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
Commentaries:


No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for Genesis 37:21.

Genesis 37:21-22

So Reuben intervened, hoping to be able to come back and rescue Joseph and restore him to his father. Perhaps he was seeking to make up for the dishonor that he had caused his father by sleeping with concubine Bilhah.

First, he counseled against his murder. He said in verses 21-22, "Let us not kill him. . . shed no blood." Next he planned to go away and come back secretly to rescue Joseph from the pit. The story says that he wanted to take him back to his father, perhaps to atone in part for his wrong against Jacob. But while Reuben was gone, the Midianite merchants came along and Joseph was sold to them. When Reuben returned, all he could do was bewail the situation.

Excerpted from What if You Are Betrayed?

Genesis 37:21-22

I call Reuben "every man"—because I believe that most of us are like him. In verse 21, it says:

What that does is show us that Reuben's motive was good. He wished to save life. And he intended—as soon as he was done with whatever he felt was pressing that he had to do—to return to deliver Joseph safely in the hands of their father.

Excerpted from Joseph: A Saga of Excellence (Part Three)

 
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