Genesis 37:27-29

Amplified Bible

²⁷Come, let us [instead] sell him to these Ishmaelites [and ^[a]Midianites] and not lay our hands on him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” So his brothers listened to him and agreed.^(A) ²⁸Then as the ^[b]Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt.

²⁹Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow].

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Footnotes

Genesis 37:27 Descendants of Abraham and Keturah, his concubine.
Genesis 37:28 The relationship between the Midianites and the Ishmaelites as they are mentioned here is unclear. It is possible, as some have suggested, that “Ishmaelites” came to be used as a general term for desert tribes, and that the same merchants are called by both names in this verse. This would also explain the reference to the “Midianites” in v 36. Another explanation, which was offered by the rabbis, is that Joseph was sold first to the Ishmaelites, who then sold him to the Midianites. Another possibility is that they were Ishmaelites from the area of Midian.