Kejadian 37:21-22

37:21 When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph ¹  from their hands, ²  saying, ³  “Let’s not take his life!” ⁴  37:22 Reuben continued, ⁵  “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” ⁶  (Reuben said this ⁷  so he could rescue Joseph ⁸  from them ⁹  and take him back to his father.)

Kejadian 42:21-22

42:21 They said to one other, ¹⁰  “Surely we’re being punished ¹¹  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ¹²  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ¹³  has come on us!” 42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ¹⁴ 

[37:21]  ¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:21]  ² sn From their hands. The instigators of this plot may have been the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (see v. 2).

[37:21]  ³ tn Heb “and he said.”

[37:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “we must not strike him down [with respect to] life.”

[37:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”

[37:22]  ⁶ sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.

[37:22]  ⁷ tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[37:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.

[42:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ¹² tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ¹³ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.

[42:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.