Bible Strands
Genesis 37:22
“Do not shed his blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this so that he could rescue Joseph from their hands and return him to his father.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Reuben addresses his brothers at the moment they are conspiring to kill Joseph, instructing them to spare his life by throwing him into a pit instead. He speaks these words to prevent their hands from shedding Joseph's blood while secretly planning to rescue him later.
The words — The Hebrew verbs תִּשְׁפְּכוּ (tishpeku, "you shed") and הַשְׁלִיכוּ (hashlikhu, "throw") frame Reuben’s command to avoid direct violence while altering the brothers' immediate plan. The prohibitive particle אַל (al, "may not") strictly bars the act of bloodshed.
The thread — This prohibition against shedding blood echoes the angel’s command to spare Isaac in Genesis 22:12 and resurfaces when Reuben later holds his brothers accountable for ignoring his warning in Genesis 42:22. The restraint described also parallels Exodus 24:11, where God does not lay His hand on Israel’s nobles.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of Reuben’s explicit intervention to halt murder, distinguishing his covert rescue attempt from the brothers’ active conspiracy. It requires the reader to note how a single command to spare life alters the trajectory of the plot without yet resolving the outcome.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
Cross-references
- Genesis 22:12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”
- Genesis 42:22 And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”
- Exodus 24:11 But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.
- Deuteronomy 13:9 Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
- Matthew 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”
- Acts 12:1 About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church.