Chapter 2

1 This is what the Lord says: “Because Moab has committed three crimes—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime. 2 So I will set Moab on fire, and it will consume Kerioth’s fortresses. Moab will perish in the heat of battle amid war cries and the blaring of the ram’s horn. 3 I will remove Moab’s leader; I will kill all Moab’s officials with him.” The Lord has spoken! 4 This is what the Lord says: “Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They rejected the Lord’s law; they did not obey his commands. Their false gods, to which their fathers were loyal, led them astray. 5 So I will set Judah on fire, and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.” 6 This is what the Lord says: “Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.⁠ 7 They trample on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; they push the destitute away. A man and his father go to the same girl; in this way they show disrespect for my moral purity.⁠ 8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;⁠ they do so right beside every altar!⁠ They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple of their God!⁠ 9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. They were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks,⁠ but I destroyed the fruit on their branches and their roots in the ground. 10 I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I led you through the wilderness for 40 years so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own. 11 I made some of your sons prophets and some of your young men Nazirites. Is this not true, you Israelites?” The Lord is speaking. 12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine;⁠ you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’ 13 Look! I will press you down, like a cart loaded down with grain presses down. 14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; strong men will have no strength left; warriors will not be able to save their lives. 15 Archers will not hold their ground; fast runners will not save their lives, nor will those who ride horses. 16 Bravehearted warriors will run away naked⁠ in that day.” The Lord is speaking.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 37:28 and Amos 2:6 and Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 37:28

Hebrew Bible · Targum

Summary

Genesis 37 says that Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver but does not say how the money was used. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds a detail from Amos saying it was used to buy shoes, reading Amos as a reference to Joseph's sale.

Passages

Genesis 37:28

Hebrew Bible

27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt. 29 Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it! He tore his clothes,

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Amos 2:6

Hebrew Bible

5 So I will set Judah on fire, and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.” 6 This is what the Lord says: “Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; they push the destitute away. A man and his father go to the same girl; in this way they show disrespect for my moral purity.

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Amos

Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 37:28

Targum

27 Come, let us sell him to the Arabs, and let our hand not be upon him to kill him, for he is our brother, our flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 Now, Midianite men, merchants, passed by, and pulling Joseph they raised him up out of the pit. They sold Joseph to the Arabs for twenty silver meah, and they bought sandals from them. And they brought Joseph to Egypt. 29 Reuben returned to the pit, for he had not been with them to eat when they sold him, since he was sitting and fasting because he had disarranged his father’s couch. And he had gone and sat in the mountains intending to return to the pit to raise him up and restore him to his father, hoping that he might win his favor. But when he returned and looked, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; he rent his clothes.

300–1200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pseudo Jonathan Genesis

References

"... Whatever the precise cause, Joseph's brothers did indeed hate him, and that is why they sold him as a slave to caravanners bound for Egypt. One minor detail is left hanging in this part of the story. The Bible says that Joseph's brothers 'sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver' (Genesis 37:28), but it does not say what the brothers did with the money. A number of texts, however, contain the somewhat strange assertion that they then spent the money on shoes ... The source of this tradition originally had nothing to do with the story of Joseph. Once, in ancient times, the prophet Amos had rebuked the people of Israel in these terms ... in time, this general condemnation came to be understood as a specific reference to the story of Joseph. For Joseph certainly was a 'righteous man' - righteousness was his outstanding characteristic - and the traditional Hebrew text does say that he was sold 'for silver.' Who could Amos have been talking about if not him? ..."

James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 251–252.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Amos9 chapters

Compare Genesis 37:28 and Amos 2:6 and Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 37:28

Summary

Passages

Genesis 37:28

Amos 2:6

Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 37:28

References

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