While the brethren of Joseph were deliberating upon his fate, seven
Midianitish merchantmen passed near the pit in which he lay. They
noticed that many birds were circling above it, whence they assumed
that there must be water therein, and, being thirsty, they made a halt
in order to refresh themselves. When they came close, they heard Joseph
screaming and wailing, and they looked down into the pit and saw a
youth of beautiful figure and comely appearance. They called to him,
saying: "Who art thou? Who brought thee hither, and who cast thee into
this pit in the wilderness?" They all joined together and dragged him
up, and took him along with them when they continued on their journey.
They had to pass his brethren, who called out to the Midianites: "Why
have you done such a thing, to steal our slave and carry him away with
you? We threw the lad into the pit, because he was disobedient. Now,
then, return our slave to us." The Midianites replied: "What, this lad,
you say, is your slave, your servant? More likely is it that you all
are slaves unto him, for in beauty of form, in pleasant looks, and fair
appearance, he excelleth you all. Why, then, will you speak lies unto
us? We will not give ear unto your words, nor believe you, for we found
the lad in the wilderness, in a pit, and we took him out, and we will
carry him away with us on our journey." But the sons of Jacob insisted,
"Restore our slave to us, lest you meet death at the edge of the
sword."
Unaffrighted, the Midianites drew their weapons, and, amid war whoops,
they prepared to enter into a combat with the sons of Jacob. Then Simon
rose up, and with bared sword he sprang upon the Midianites, at the
same time uttering a cry that made the earth reverberate. The
Midianites fell down in great consternation, and he said: "I am Simon,
the son of the Hebrew Jacob, who destroyed the city of Shechem alone
and unaided, and together with my brethren I destroyed the cities of
the Amorites. God do so and more also, if it be not true that all the
Midianites, your brethren, united with all the Canaanite kings to fight
with me, cannot hold out against me. Now restore the boy you took from
us, else will I give your flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the
beasts of the field."
The Midianites were greatly afraid of Simon, and, terrified and
abashed, they spake to the sons of Jacob with little courage: "Said ye
not that ye cast this lad into the pit because he was of a rebellious
spirit? What, now, will ye do with an insubordinate slave? Rather sell
him to us, we are ready to pay any price you desire." This speech was
part of the purpose of God. He had put it into the heart of the
Midianites to insist upon possessing Joseph, that he might not remain
with his brethren, and be slain by them.[49] The brethren assented, and
Joseph was sold as a slave while they sat over their meal. God spake,
saying: "Over a meal did ye sell your brother, and thus shall Ahasuerus
sell your descendants to Haman over a meal, and because ye have sold
Joseph to be a slave, therefore shall ye say year after year, Slaves
were we unto Pharaoh in Egypt."[50]
The price paid for Joseph by the Midianites was twenty pieces of
silver, enough for a pair of shoes for each of his brethren. Thus "they
sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes." For
so handsome a youth as Joseph the sum paid was too low by far, but his
appearance had been greatly changed by the horrible anguish he bad
endured in the pit with the snakes and the scorpions. He had lost his
ruddy complexion, and he looked sallow and sickly, and the Midianites
were justified in paying a small sum for him.[51]
The merchantmen had come upon Joseph naked in the pit, for his brethren
had stripped him of all his clothes. That he might not appear before
men in an unseemly condition, God sent Gabriel down to him, and the
angel enlarged the amulet banging from Joseph's neck until it was a
garment that covered him entirely. Joseph's brethren were looking after
him as he departed with the Midianites, and when they saw him with
clothes upon him, they cried after them, "Give us his raiment! We sold
him naked, without clothes." His owners refused to yield to their
demand, but they agreed to reimburse the brethren with four pairs of
shoes, and Joseph kept his garment, the same in which he was arrayed
when he arrived in Egypt and was sold to Potiphar, the same in which he
was locked up in prison and appeared before Pharaoh, and the same he
wore when he was ruler over Egypt.[52]
As an atonement for the twenty pieces of silver taken by his brethren
in exchange for Joseph, God commanded that every first-born son shall
be redeemed by the priest with an equal amount, and, also, every
Israelite must pay annually to the sanctuary as much as fell to each of
the brethren as his share of the price.[53]
The brethren of Joseph bought shoes for the money, for they said: "We
will not eat it, because it is the price for the blood of our brother,
but we will tread upon him, for that he spake, he would have dominion
over us, and we will see what will become of his dreams." And for this
reason the ordinance has been commanded, that he who refuseth to raise
up a name in Israel unto his brother that hath died without having a
son, shall have his shoe loosed from off his foot, and his face shall
be spat upon. Joseph's brethren refused to do aught to preserve his
life, and therefore the Lord loosed their shoes from off their feet,
for, when they went down to Egypt, the slaves of Joseph took their
shoes off their feet as they entered the gates, and they prostrated
themselves before Joseph as before a Pharaoh, and, as they lay
prostrate, they were spat upon, and put to shame before the
Egyptians.[54]
The Midianites pursued their journey to Gilead, but they soon regretted
the purchase they had made. They feared that Joseph had been stolen in
the land of the Hebrews, though sold to them as a slave, and if his
kinsmen should find him with them, death would be inflicted upon them
for the abduction of a free man. The high-handed manner of the sons of
Jacob confirmed their suspicion, that they might be capable of man
theft. Their wicked deed would explain, too, why they had accepted so
small a sum in exchange for Joseph. While discussing these points, they
saw, coming their way, the travelling company of Ishmaelites that had
been observed earlier by the sons of Jacob, and they determined to
dispose of Joseph to them, that they might at least not lose the price
they had paid, and might escape the danger at the same time of being
made captives for the crime of kidnapping a man. And the Ishmaelites
bought Joseph from the Midianites, and they paid the same price as his
former owners had given for him.[55]