Verses 18-24
The extreme measures Joseph’s brothers considered to silence him have led some commentators to conclude that it was not just personal hatred springing from jealousy that motivated them (cf. Cain, Genesis 4:9). They may have wanted to alter the will of God as revealed in Joseph’s dreams as well.
"The brothers’ hate is therefore a rebellion against the matter contained in the dreams, against the divine power itself, standing behind them, who had given the dreams. The expression usually translated by ’the dreamer’ [Genesis 37:19] means much more than our English word, namely, the one empowered to prophetic dreams." [Note: von Rad, p. 353.]
Reuben, as the first-born, looked after his father’s interests and, knowing what sorrow Joseph’s death would bring to Jacob, sought to spare Joseph’s life and release him from the pit later. Perhaps Reuben wanted to get back in the good graces of his father (cf. Genesis 35:22). Joseph’s place of confinement was evidently a dry well or cistern.
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