and they took him
This phrase indicates the physical act of Joseph's brothers seizing him. It reflects the culmination of their jealousy and animosity towards Joseph, which had been building due to his favored status with their father, Jacob, and his dreams that suggested he would rule over them (Genesis 37:5-11). This act of taking Joseph can be seen as a betrayal, similar to how Jesus was betrayed by Judas (Matthew 26:14-16).

and threw him into the pit
The pit, or cistern, was likely a dry well or storage for water, common in the region. This act of throwing Joseph into the pit symbolizes rejection and abandonment. It foreshadows the suffering and isolation that Joseph would endure, paralleling the suffering of Christ, who was also rejected by His own people (John 1:11). The pit can also be seen as a metaphor for death and resurrection, as Joseph is later "raised" from the pit, akin to Christ's resurrection.

Now the pit was empty,
The emptiness of the pit emphasizes the severity of Joseph's situation. There was no water or sustenance, highlighting his vulnerability and the brothers' callousness. This emptiness can be seen as a symbol of desolation and despair, akin to the spiritual emptiness that humanity faces without God's intervention. It also underscores the miraculous nature of Joseph's eventual deliverance, as there was no natural means of escape.

with no water in it
The detail of the pit having no water is significant, as it indicates that Joseph was not only abandoned but also left without basic necessities for survival. Water is often symbolic of life and sustenance in the Bible (John 4:14), and its absence here underscores the dire nature of Joseph's predicament. This detail also serves to highlight God's providence, as Joseph's survival and eventual rise to power demonstrate God's sovereignty and faithfulness, even in seemingly hopeless situations.

1. Joseph
The favored son of Jacob, who was given a coat of many colors. His brothers were envious of him due to his dreams and their father's favoritism.

2. Joseph's Brothers
The sons of Jacob who were envious of Joseph. They plotted against him and ultimately threw him into a pit.

3. The Pit
A cistern or dry well where Joseph was thrown by his brothers. It symbolizes despair and abandonment.

4. Dothan
The location where Joseph found his brothers and where they plotted against him.

5. Reuben
The eldest brother who initially intended to rescue Joseph later, suggesting they throw him into the pit instead of killing him.The Consequences of Envy
Envy can lead to destructive actions and broken relationships. Joseph's brothers allowed their jealousy to drive them to harm their own kin.

God's Sovereignty in Adversity
Even when Joseph was in the pit, God had a plan for his life. This teaches us to trust in God's sovereignty, even in difficult circumstances.

The Importance of Compassion
Reuben's attempt to save Joseph, though flawed, shows the importance of compassion and standing up for what is right, even when others are against it.

The Symbolism of the Pit
The empty pit represents moments of despair and abandonment in our lives. It reminds us that God can transform our lowest points into stepping stones for His purpose.

Repentance and Forgiveness
The account of Joseph and his brothers ultimately leads to reconciliation, teaching us the power of repentance and forgiveness in healing relationships.1. What is the meaning of Genesis 37:24?

2. How does Genesis 37:24 illustrate the consequences of jealousy among siblings?

3. What can we learn about God's sovereignty from Joseph's situation in the pit?

4. How does Joseph's experience foreshadow Christ's suffering and deliverance?

5. In what ways can we trust God during our own "pit" experiences?

6. How can Genesis 37:24 encourage us to respond to betrayal with faith?

7. Why did Joseph's brothers choose to throw him into a cistern in Genesis 37:24?

8. What does the empty cistern symbolize in Genesis 37:24?

9. How does Genesis 37:24 reflect on sibling rivalry and jealousy?

10. What are the top 10 Lessons from Genesis 37?

11. Psalm 40:2 – How can we reconcile the “pit of destruction” metaphor with a literal historical event or location, given the lack of evidence for David’s confinement in such a pit?

12. What are examples of miracles in the Bible?

13. How realistic is it for Rebekah to singlehandedly draw enough water for ten camels (Genesis 24:14-20), given the demands of daily chores?

14. What are the answers to common Bible questions?They took him

• The brothers move from talking about Joseph to acting against him. Genesis 37:23 has already told us they “stripped Joseph of his robe.” Verse 24 now begins, “they took him”, underscoring deliberate, united intent.

• The pattern of rejection runs through Scripture: Joseph’s own flesh and blood seize him, just as John 1:11 records that Jesus “came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” Acts 7:9 draws the same parallel: “The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt.”

• The literal grasping of Joseph’s person shows sin in motion—jealous thoughts turning into physical oppression (James 1:14-15).

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and threw him into the pit

• The verb “threw” highlights violence; they are not guiding him in—they hurl him down. Jeremiah 38:6 recounts a similar cistern incident with the prophet Jeremiah, revealing how God’s servants are often mishandled by their own people.

• Psalm 88:4-6 echoes the terror of being cast “into the lowest pit,” foreshadowing Christ’s descent into the grave (Matthew 12:40).

• God allows the action yet remains sovereign. What feels like an ending will become the route to Egypt, preservation, and eventual deliverance (Genesis 50:20).

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Now the pit was empty

• Scripture notes the detail to emphasize Joseph’s utter isolation. No debris, no helpful footholds, no hidden provisions—just emptiness.

• Psalm 40:2 celebrates deliverance “out of the slimy pit.” For now, Joseph experiences the first half of that verse without the rescue—yet the same Lord who later lifts David will, in His time, lift Joseph.

• Emptiness also heightens contrast: Pharaoh’s storehouses will one day overflow because Joseph is faithful through this vacancy (Genesis 41:49).

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with no water in it

• Cisterns normally collect rainwater; this one is bone-dry, removing any hope of self-sustenance. Lamentations 4:4 pictures tongues “parched with thirst,” a physical misery reflecting spiritual need.

• Exodus 17:3 shows Israel grumbling, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Joseph, years earlier, feels that same threat firsthand.

• The brothers intend harm, yet God is crafting empathy in Joseph’s heart. Decades later he will store and distribute water-rich grain during famine, understanding deprivation from personal experience (Genesis 41:56-57).

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summary

Genesis 37:24 records four sober realities: Joseph is seized, hurled into a cistern, left in hollow emptiness, and denied the simplest drink. Each phrase reveals the brothers’ sin and God’s hidden purpose. The verse declares literal history while pointing forward to greater redemption: the rejected servant will rise to save the very ones who cast him down, just as Christ, the ultimate Suffering Servant, rescues those who once rejected Him.

Verses 24, 25. - And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. Cisterns when empty, or only covered with mud at the bottom, were sometimes used as temporary prisons (Jeremiah 38:6; Jeremiah 40:15). And - leaving him, as they must have calculated, to perish by a painful death through starvation, with exquisite cold-bloodedness, paying no heed to his piteous outcries and appeals (Genesis 41:21) - they sat down (the callous composure of the act indicates deplorable brutality on the part of Joseph's brethren) to eat bread (perhaps with a secret feeling of satisfaction, if not also exultation, that they had effectually disposed of the young man and his dreams): and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, Behold, a company - or-chath, from arach, to walk; a band of travelers, especially of merchantmen; a caravan; συνοδία ὁδοιπόροι (LXX.; cf. Job 6:19) - of Ishmaelites - Arabs descended from Ishmael, who occupied the district lying between Egypt and Assyria (Genesis 25:18), and, as appears from the record, carried on a trade with the former country. That Ishmael's descendants should already have developed into a trading nation will not be surprising (Bohlen) if one reflects that Ishmael may have married in his eighteenth or twentieth year, i.e. about 162 years before the date of the present occurrence, that four generations may have been born in the interval, and that, if Ishmael's sons had only five sons each, his posterity in the fifth generation (not reckoning females) may have amounted to 15,000 persons (Murphy). But in point of fact the Ishmaelites spoken of are not described as nations - simply as a company of merchants, without saying how numerous it was (Havernick, 'Introd.,'§ 21) - came (literally, coming) from Oilcad (vide Genesis 31:21) with (literally, and) their camels bearing spicery - נְכאת, either an infinitive from נָכָא, to break, to grind (?), and signifying a pounding, breaking in pieces, hence aromatic powder (Gesenius); or a contraction from נְכָאות (Ewald), meaning that which is powdered or pulverized. Rendered θυμιαμάτα (LXX.), aromata (Vulgate), στύραξ (Aquila), it was probably the gum tragacanth, many kinds of which appear in Syria (Furst, Gesenius, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, Lange, Murphy), or storax, the resinous exudation of the styrax officinale, which abounds in Palestine and the East (Aquila, Bochart, Bush, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Inglis) - and balm - ךצרִי (in pause צרי, after van of union צְרִי), mentioned as one of the most precious fruits of Palestine (Genesis 43:11), rendered ῤητίνη (LXX.) and refina (Vulgate), and derived from צָוָה, to flow, to run (hence, literally, an outflowing, or out-dropping). was unquestionably a balsam, but of what tree cannot now be ascertained, distilling from a tree or fruit growing in Gilead, and highly prized for its healing properties (Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11). Vide Lexicons (Gesenius and Furst) sub voce; Michaelis, 'Suppl.' p. 2142; Kalisch in loco - and myrrh, - לֹט, στακτή (LXX.), stacte (Vulgate), pistacia (Chaldee, Syriac, Michaelis, 'Suppl.,' p. 1424), was more probably ladanum (Gesenius, Furst, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, et alii), an odoriferous gum formed upon the leaves of the cactus-rose, a shrub growing in Arabia, Syria, and Palestine (vide-Herod., 3:112; Pliny, 'N. H., 12:37; Celsius, 'Hierob.,' L 280-288) - going - the caravan route from Gilead crossed the Jordan in the neighborhood of Bersan, and, sweeping through Jenin and the plain of Dothan, joined another track leading southwards from Damascus by way of Ramleh and Gaza (vide Robinson, 3:27, and cf. Tristram, 'Land of Israel,' p. 132) - to carry it down to Egypt. At that time the land of the Pharaohs was the chief emporium for the world's merchandise.

CHAPTER 37:26-36

Parallel Commentaries ...

and they took
וַיִּ֨קָּחֻ֔הוּ (way·yiq·qā·ḥu·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

him and threw
וַיַּשְׁלִ֥כוּ (way·yaš·li·ḵū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7993: To throw out, down, away

him into the pit.
הַבֹּ֑רָה (hab·bō·rāh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 953: A pit, cistern, well

Now the pit
וְהַבּ֣וֹר (wə·hab·bō·wr)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 953: A pit, cistern, well

was empty,
רֵ֔ק (rêq)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7386: Empty, worthless

with no
אֵ֥ין (’ên)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

water
מָֽיִם׃ (mā·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

in it.
בּ֖וֹ (bōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew


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OT Law: Genesis 37:24 And they took him and threw him (Gen. Ge Gn)