Bible Strands
Genesis 37:26
Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Judah addresses his brothers at the moment they observe the passing Ishmaelite caravan, intervening before they carry out their plan to murder Joseph.
The words — The Hebrew term בֶּ֗צַע (be.tza‘) translates literally as “profit,” framing the brothers’ contemplated murder as a calculated transaction rather than a moral act.
The thread — This profit-versus-murder calculation echoes Genesis 25:32 when Esau dismisses his birthright, while the appeal against covering up blood anticipates the blood-crying motif in Genesis 4:10.
Why it lands — The text forces a reader to evaluate whether perceived gain justifies fratricide, demanding a direct assessment of the moral cost behind every proposed “profit.”
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 Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
Cross-references
- Genesis 37:20 “Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!”
- Genesis 4:10 “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
- Genesis 25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
- Deuteronomy 17:8 If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.
- 2 Samuel 1:16 For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
- Job 16:18 O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.
- Psalms 30:9 “What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
- Jeremiah 41:8 But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others.
- Ezekiel 24:7 For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.
- Matthew 16:26 What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?