Just then Joseph arrived, greeting his brothers happily, all of whom he loved, though he did not like what some of them did, and how they spoke of their father when they thought nobody heard them. Almost all of them resented Jacob for his blatant favoritism of Joseph and his never-ending mourning for Rachel, Joseph’s mother, while Leah, mother of six of Jacob’s twelve sons, and the two concubines, mothers of two sons each, were still around and had to listen to this.

They all thought this so wrong and it deeply embittered them against their father, but the sons of the concubines and Leah’s younger sons hated Joseph for it. Their desire to get rid of him peaked as Joseph approached, clad in the multi-colored coat to come and spy on them.

“Lets kill him – NOW!” they all agreed, getting up from their ‘kumsitz’, except for Reuben and Judah, the firstborn and the fourth son of Jacob by Leah⁴⁰. These two were the noblest and most responsible of the twelve, not hot tempered like some of them nor given to violence like Simeon and Levi⁴¹. They knew the story of how Leah happened to have become Jacob’s wife, and had always felt somewhat beholden toward Rachel who had been defrauded by their mother Leah. This fact had caused them to feel guilty toward Joseph and Benjamin ever since they had been old enough to realize the nastiness of the scam done to Rachel and their father. 

They never managed to feel proud about their mother, to hold her in high esteem; she was blemished in their eyes. And now Rachel had even died at the birth of Benjamin. They could not and would not agree to robbing their father moreover of the beloved son of his beloved Rachel.

Reuben, who had sat aside and not with them around the fire, overheard their plotting. Getting up he said with a lowered voice, “Let us not take his life.” Squatting among them, he continued, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him.” His plan was to rescue Joseph out of their hands and return him unharmed to his father⁴². 

They all got up, meeting Joseph with a broad smile and greetings, only to seize him, strip him of that oh so hated coat, and throw him into the pit, the deepest they could find out of which Joseph could not escape without help⁴³. 

So callous were their hearts toward Joseph and so seared their conscience toward their father Jacob, they sat down to eat a meal, unmoved by their brother’s cries for mercy, by his pleas and weeping⁴⁴. 

Except for Judah, whose heart began to turn at the fear and despair of his young brother. When he saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming down from Gilead, he had an idea how to rescue Joseph out of this pit where he would have perished without food and drink, in the heat of day and the cold of night, or getting killed by one of the wild beasts in the fields.

So he said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood?” All turned toward him. Had Judah changed his mind?

“Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites,” he continued, “and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” The plan appealed to all of them, but Reuben did not hear it as he had gone after some straying sheep⁴⁵.

They threw a rope into the pit to pull Joseph out, whose heart lifted in hope that his brothers heeded his pleas and let him go. He was utterly unprepared for their next move of how to get rid of him, and his voice got stuck in his throat from utter horror when he was being sold to the Ishmaelite slave traders for twenty shekels of silver⁴⁶. 

“Good luck and much success on your bunny-trail, you dreamer!” his brothers called after him, laughing and slapping each other on the shoulder, as though they had accomplished a fantastic deal, while Joseph was dragged on foot behind a camel, his neck and hands fettered.