Genesis 37:22

22. This pit that is in the wilderness By the wilderness here we are to understand the open, unsettled country in which they were pasturing their flocks . “The country abounded, and still abounds, in pits or cisterns dug in the ground, or soft limestone, to preserve water through the dry season, and also to store grain . They were made large at the bottom, with a small mouth at the top, sometimes tapering upwards, like a huge demijohn. (Thomson.) The top was covered with a flat stone, over which sand or earth was often spread for concealment. When dry there was generally mud at the bottom. They were often used as dungeons for criminals. See Jeremiah 38:6. Perhaps they put him into the pit, deliberately intending to leave him there to perish; but it seems more likely that they did this as a temporary imprisonment, without having definitely determined what final disposition to make of Joseph . Reuben succeeds in effecting a stay of the murderous proceedings of his brethren . Judah’s proposition in Genesis 37:26, shows that his fate was under discussion as they ‘sat down to eat bread.’” Newhall.