Joseph Part 3: A Man in the Field

A Man in the Field

Genesis 37:12–30 CSB

12 His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.” “I’m ready,” Joseph replied. 14 Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem. 15 A man found him there, wandering in the field, and asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph said. “Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?” 17 “They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18 They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert! 20 So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” 21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father. 23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s robe, the long-sleeved robe that he had on. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water. 25 They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and his brothers agreed. 28 When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt. 29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

"Now, his brothers went to go shepherd the flock of their father in Shechem."

and Yisrael said to Yoseph, 'Aren't your brothers shepherding in Shechem? Go, let me send you to them.' And he said to him, that is Yoseph said to his father Yaaqov, 'Look, it's me,' and he, that is Yaaqov, said to him, that is Yoseph, 'Go, please, look after the peace of your brothers and the peace of the flock, and return to me a word.' And he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem."

Does it seem like Yaaqov has any awareness of what's the dynamics among his sons?

In fact, he wants him to go and check up to bring back a word. And what is it that makes the brothers angry?The word.

So an ignorant father unaware of the dynamics with his children, this is classic Yaaqov.

This is in verses 15 to 30, and this has this really cool design where it begins with a brother going to look for a brother, and he can't find them. And he says, "Where are my brothers?" And it's matched by the close of this scene where Reuven will come looking for his brother and cannot find him and says, "Where am I supposed to go?" And inside of that are the two deception scenes, one featuring Reuven, the other featuring, Judah. 

Verse 15, so there was a guy, and that guy found Yoseph, and, look, he was wandering about in a field, and the guy asked, "Hey, what you looking for?" And he said, "Oh, I'm looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where are they shepherding?" And the guy said, "Oh, they've journeyed on from here. In fact, I heard them saying, 'Let's go to Dothan,'" and so Yoseph went after his brothers, and he found them in Dothan.

The Mysterious Man in the Field

Why is this there?

How does he know that he's their brother?

This guy, he knows a lot.

"Whatcha looking for?" "Ah, my brothers. Where are they?" Oh, and he, yeah, he like somehow knows who this guy's brothers are, and where they're ... It's really odd. Everything about this exchange is very odd. 

Notice, the play on words of finding, "a man found him," in other words, Yoseph was lost.

It's not like Yoseph found a man while he was ... He was lost. He would not have found his brothers unless that man had found him. 

The wording is really emphasizing that the only way he would have found his brothers

This scene of Yoseph encountering a random man in the field is not random at all, but a key part of the narrative message at work in the larger story of Yoseph. If it were not for this man, Yoseph would not have found his brothers, and he would not have been kidnapped, sold as a slave, and taken to Egypt. Without going to Egypt, Yoseph would not have been discovered by Pharaoh and elevated as ruler of Egypt able to save his family from the famine.

If Yoseph had not met this man, he and his entire family would have died in the famine.

It cannot be a coincidence, then, that Yoseph encounters a “man” (איש) who directs him toward his brothers’ true location. We are meant to see a similarity here with Abraham’s encounter with the “men” (אנשים) who walk by his tent (Gen. 18:1-5), and with the “man” (איש) who comes to Yaaqov at the Yabbok and picks a fight with him (Gen. 32:23-32). We are surely meant to see this man as yet another disguised divine messenger (that is what the men Abraham encountered are called in Gen. 19:1-3) who guides Yoseph toward his destiny. God intentionally leads the beloved Yoseph into danger as part of his paradoxical plan to exalt him. - Tim Mackie BibleProject Classroom: Joseph (2022).

So this is the biblical narrative's way of exploring moments that we might think of as chance.

I mean, what a random moment in a scene, but yeah, it's this chance encounter that's the pivot. The entire narrative would be completely different if it were not for this moment.

This is a great example of the biblical narrator just giving you very little to work with here, but the narrative so sticks out that it just begs for you to think back through the previous narratives to see what other fill similar slots in the story. 

Genesis 45:7–8 CSB

7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

In Genesis 45, the moment he takes off his disguise, what he says, "Elohim sent me here before you."

Yoseph is likely alluding to this very scene when he speaks with his brothers in Egypt.

Remember, what did the story just say? Now, Yaaqov sent Yoseph, "Come, let me send you." "Elohim sent me here before you to preserve a remnant in the land to keep you alive through a great salvation.

Now, therefore, it was not you all who sent me here. It was Elohim."

These divine humans or these divine spiritual beings who take on a human appearance at key moments to alter the course in the story of the chosen one, to assure that events go in their proper direction, and that's certainly the confession that Yoseph makes here. 

This is a narrative dedicated to focusing on moments in our lives where, in the moment, we cannot see how God could be active in our stories, but it's showing us that there is not a moment of our lives that isn't somehow woven into the plan. 

Now, does that mean that Yahweh is responsible for what the brothers are about to do? And Yoseph himself will go on to clarify what he means and what he does not mean. Near the end of the scroll, in Genesis 50:20

Genesis 50:20 CSB

20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

he says to his brothers, "You, my brothers, you planned evil against me, but God planned good in order to bring about the saving of many lives."

So does that mean God authored the brothers' evil?

It doesn't necessarily mean that, 'cause he says the brothers planned their evil, but yet their evil, apparently, didn't surprise God, and it certainly didn't thwart God's ultimate purpose. 

And what the Joseph narrative does is it leads us to the precipice of a great mystery of God's providence and human freedom, and the narrative puts both in front of us on page one with God is creator and author of life, but exalting humans as royal partners and giving them real dignity and a degree of limited freedom, limited, but real freedom, and the narrative just doesn't resolve it philosophically. It just explores it narratively. 

And I think this scene right here with the man in the field is such a great riddle.

You're like, "What was that thing about?"

Murderous Brothers and Rescue Plans

Yeah, verse 18.

"So they," which is the brothers, "they saw him from afar, and before he came near to them," so that little before he came near is going to match, finally, verse 23, "and it came about when he arrived or came to his brothers." So everything that's about to happen is kind of bracketed between he was far off, dialogue, all this scheming, and then he arrives.

"Before he came near, they made a deceitful plan to kill him." Killing the brother out in the field, "And they said, each to his brother, 'Look, this master of the dreams, here he comes. Come, let's murder him. Let's throw him into one of the pits, and we'll say, "An animal, a terrible animal ate him," then we'll see what becomes of his dreams.'" Okay, plan number one is kill him.

Reuven comes along with plan number two.

"Reuven heard, and he delivered him from their hand, and he said, 'No, do not strike his life.' And Reuven said to them, 'Don't spill blood. Throw him into the pit that's in the wilderness, but don't send out your hand against him.' This was in order to deliver him from their hand and to return him to their father.

So it came about when Yoseph came to his brothers that they stripped Yoseph of the robe." They stripped him of the father's favor, that robe of many colors that was on him, "and they took him, and they threw him into the pit.

Oh, I should probably tell you the reason he didn't drown is because that was an empty pit, desolate, no water.

But they, up above, in the land of the living, sit down and break bread together."

He dreams of bein raised up, even above the stars but now he is thrown into the pit. This is a cistern used to collect water in the desert, but it was dried out. The same word is used of dungeon or even graves at different parts of the scriptures.

Where is the furthers point you could possibly go from above the heavens? It's to go below the land, down into the pit. So it goes from one end of the cosmos to another

The jealous anger of Yoseph’s brothers recalls a motif that has repeated in every generation of characters. When God elevates his chosen one, the non-chosen people consistently respond with anger and jealousy that leads to violent conflict and deception. Less often, the non-chosen people respond with humility and a recognition of God’s blessing.

These narratives paint an accumulative portrait of a humanity that does not understand, or feels threatened by, God’s purpose to raise up one human family among the many to be the vehicle of divine rule and blessing for all the others.

This is precisely what the brothers resist: the elevation of their youngest brother to the place of rule over the family.

You have animals eating, representing the demise of their brother, and then here they are eating as their brother suffers in the pit.

Reuven and Yehudah as Rivals

But then you got Reuven, the older brother.

What do we know about Reuven? He's only been featured in a couple other stories in Genesis. 

He slept with his Father's concubine.

When Yoseph's mom died, what he did was then sleep with Rachel's slave-wife, which was certainly a power play to take out that, to gain authority over the lineage of the favored brothers, certainly a power play.

And that's gonna earn him a curse by the end of Genesis. 

He's already in bad standing, and so we can only speculate, but it's a sympathetic portrait. The narrative tells us that he's trying to save his brother, but does he succeed? He doesn't, yeah, he doesn't succeed because of that deceiver, Judah.

Notice how the literary design of this paragraph contrasts the unsuccessful plan of Reuven, the firstborn of Leah, with the successful plan of Yehudah, the fourth-born of Leah. This is a key part of the design of the larger Yoseph story to elevate Yehudah as the real leader among the brothers. This scene is matched by the later scene when Reuven and Yehudah propose plans to Yaaqov for returning to Egypt to get more food (in Gen. 43), and Yehudah’s plan succeeds.

The Sons of Abraham Conspire Against the Chosen Son

Verse 25, so here they are enjoying a meal, "and they lift their eyes, and they see a caravan of Yishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels, oh, they were loaded, carrying spice gum and balm and myrrh, and, oh, yeah, they were carrying it down to Egypt," down to Egypt.

"And Yehudah said to his brothers, 'You know, there's no money in murder.'"

"There's no money if we murder our brother and cover up his blood," yeah? 'Cause you gotta cover it up, so it doesn't cry out to God. So see, that's good to see a little echo there, because you don't want the blood to cry out, so cover it up with some dirt. "So come, let's sell him to the Yishmaelites. Don't let our hand be upon him.'" That's what Reuven said. "Don't let your hand be against him." Yehudah's similar plan, "Don't let our... Why should we do the dirty work here? After all, he is our brother, he is our flesh." Slavery in Egypt is better than dead.

The narrative clearly highlights how all the brothers are in the plot to resist Yaaqov’s elevation of Yoseph and to prevent his dreams from coming true.

But there are other, more distant relative brothers who also become entangled in the plot. The presence of the Yishmaelites widens the circle of culpability, so that the entire family of Abraham plays a role in the loss of the beloved son.

Look at verse 27 and 28

His brothers, Judah's brothers, listened to him. Verse 28, "Now Midianite men, traders, were passing by, and they drew up and brought Yoseph up from the pit, and they sold Yoseph to the Yishmaelites for 20 silver pieces, and they brought Yoseph to Egypt."

It's a famous little puzzle here.

Who is it?

You've got Yishmaelites and Midianites, and then you have the "they" in verse 28.

So it could be that you have two groups of traders, 'cause if it's a trading route, you have Midianites, Midian.

It says that it... It literally says unclear.

Genesis 37:25 CSB

25 They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.

You have the Yishmaelites in verse 25,

Genesis 37:28 LEB

28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and brought him up from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt.

then you have Midianites, and then it says they, then you have this unclear they (sometimes translated as the brothers), somebody took Joseph up outta the pit and sold him to the Yishmaelites.

Genesis 37:36 NASB95

36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

And then in verse 36, what you're told is the Medanites sold Yoseph to Egypt. 

Genesis 39:1 NASB95

1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.

And then in chapter 39 verse1, you say the Egyptian man purchased him from the Yishmaelites.

So what's going on here? 

So a famous solution to this was the source solution of, well, multiple sources have come together as a good one of like a little splice, where two sources came together in one version. They were called Yishmaelites and, another, Midianites. 

So that's one possible explanation.

The Problem I have with this is This author or at least editor, show a lot of intentionality and careful purpose in the selection of individual words, down to individual words.  So even if it was from multiple sources, is there anything preventing somebody from doing something more intentional? 

If this is a mistake or, like, something being jumbled together,

It's very odd. 

Genesis 25:1–6 CSB

1 Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah, 2 and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 And Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah. 5 Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, and while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East.

Here's something interesting, that both Medan and Midian were also sons of Abraham from his third wife, Keturah, Genesis 25. And they migrated eastward to the land of the east.

What's also interesting is, a paragraph later, you're told about the sons of Yishmael who also go and settle in the east.

Genesis 25:18 CSB

18 And they settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He stayed near all his relatives.

So what's happening here is that all the sons of Abraham, the non-chosen, are going and living in the same area together. And you can call them Yishmaelites, Midianites, or Medanites, and they all become different ways of referring to the non-chosen. 

Now, how do we know we're not just making that up? 

Judges 8:12 CSB

12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.

Judges 8:21–24 CSB

21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and strike us down yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. 22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” 24 Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.

Here's a story in Judges chapter 8, where Gideon is fighting against the Midianites, and in that narrative, they're called Midian, Midian, and then in a little comment, they were actually also called Yishmaelites.

So what this represents is the author of Judges is aware of this little thing going on with the Joseph story that's all about the rivalry of the brothers. 

But think of what's happening here. So you have, how many brothers are in on the conspiracy against the chosen one?

You have the 10, and they're the sons of Jacob, but then who also participates in the conspiracy against the chosen one?

The wider circle of the non-chosen. 

So it's as if the whole family of Abraham is in on the conspiracy. Israel and the nations are rebelling against God's purpose to raise up his chosen one. 

We're building to a crescendo here. It's not just Cain and Abel, the immediate brothers, it's the whole family against the purposes of God, whether they know it or not. 

We can be participating in a family, culture, or group that is at direct odds with the purposes of God and not even know it. - Tim Mackie

Genesis 37 portrays all the sons of Yaaqov as replaying their fathers' failures, an intensified act of betrayal against the beloved son of God’s promise. The appearance of the Yishmaelites and Midianites includes the wider family of Abraham in the betrayal, so that the entire line of Abraham’s blessed lineage is caught up (intentionally or unintentionally) in the betrayal that will fracture the family, only to bring it together in the ultimate reunification under Yoseph’s reign.

Down Into the Pit

Genesis is true. We found Joseph. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTAUsgwMAZ0 Interesting maybe

https://bibleproject.com/videos/torah-genesis-2/ - Watch at end of Joseph

Bibliography

BibleProject. “Joseph.” BibleProject Classroom. Accessed March 17, 2026. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/joseph.

Bible Hub. “What is Joseph’s Robe’s Significance?” Bible Hub. Accessed March 17, 2026. https://biblehub.com/q/What_is_Joseph_s_robe_s_significance.htm.

Moisés Silva and Merrill Chapin Tenney, in The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, A-C (Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 2009), 75.

Jeffries M. Hamilton, “Adullam (Place),” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1:81.

David Mandel, in Who’s Who in the Jewish Bible (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2007).

Shabda History. “Egyptian Seven Cows.” Shabda History. April 15, 2026. https://history.shabda.co/articles/egyptian-seven-cows/.

Thoralf Gilbrant, “שָׁלוֹם,” in The Old Testament Hebrew-English Dictionary (WORDsearch, 1998).

Douglas Mangum, Miles Custis, and Wendy Widder, Genesis 12–50, Logos Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2026).

John M’Clintock and James Strong, “Shaving (1),” in Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1880), 9:623.

Marvin R. Wilson, “Barbers & Beards,” in Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical & Post-Biblical Antiquity (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2014), 1:139.