Genesis 37:24
ESV
And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
NIV
and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
NASB
and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
CSB
Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water.
NLT
Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
KJV
And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
NKJV
Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
What does Genesis 37:24 mean?
Apparently, Reuben's influence as the oldest carried weight with his brothers. They had planned to kill Joseph outright (Genesis 37:18). Reuben had urged them to simply throw their younger brother, just 17, into a nearby pit without harming him. The idea the other brothers took from that was to leave Joseph in the pit to die in the wilderness. This would have allowed them a perverse—and dishonest—claim that they didn't "kill" their brother, and that his fate was not their responsibility. In reality, Reuben planned to return to get Joseph out and return him safely to Jacob (Genesis 37:21–22).The pit in question was a cistern used for holding water, but it was dry. This made it a perfect place to stash Joseph for as long as they needed to. The same Hebrew term used to describe a pit or cistern is also used to depict a dungeon: Joseph is being tossed into a hole in the ground.
Genesis 37:12–36 describes how Joseph's wildly resentful brothers finally get rid of him. They hate Joseph for being Jacob's favorite (Genesis 37:3) and for his grandiose dreams (Genesis 37:5, 9). When Joseph arrives alone at the camp of his brothers, very far from home, they have an opportunity. Only Reuben's intervention keeps them from killing Joseph outright. Instead, while Reuben is absent, the brothers sell Joseph to passing slave traders and later convince their father he has been killed by a wild animal. Joseph becomes a slave in an Egyptian home. Genesis 39 will return to Joseph's story.
Joseph, 17, is deeply loved by his father Jacob and deeply resented by his ten older brothers thanks to Jacob's favoritism. Jacob gives Joseph a princely robe, and Joseph reports dreams that predict his family will one day bow before him. When alone with Joseph in the wilderness, the brothers decide to kill him. Reuben stops them, suggesting they throw him alive into a pit, instead. While Reuben is gone, however, the brothers sell Joseph to slave-traders, later convincing their father Joseph has been killed by a wild animal. Joseph is placed in the home of an Egyptian nobleman.
