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Genesis 37:25
ESV Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
NIV As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
NASB Then they sat down to eat a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying labdanum resin, balsam, and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt.
CSB They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.
NLT Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.
KJV And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

What does Genesis 37:25 mean?

Joseph's older brothers have just ripped off his multi-colored robe (Genesis 37:3–4), a sign of their father's outrageous favoritism. Their initial plan seems to be to throw him into a dry cistern (Genesis 37:24) and leave him there to die.

After ambushing their younger brother and throwing him into a hole, the men then sit down to a meal. Aside from Reuben (Genesis 37:18–22), Joseph's brothers are portrayed as being intensely cold-hearted toward him. They clearly and truly despise Joseph.

At some point in the meal, they see a caravan approaching from the north. Dothan, where they were camped, is near a common trade route to Egypt. This was a caravan of merchants coming from Gilead and carrying a variety of goods to sell and trade. These traders were carrying various kinds of valuable multi-purpose gums, also referred to as spices, balm, and myrrh, made from plants in the region. Seeing a passing caravan will give Joseph's brothers another idea about how to dispose of him (Genesis 37:26–27).

Later, these travelers will be described as "Midianites." True Ishmaelites were descendants of Abraham by Hagar (Genesis 25:12), while Midianites came from Abraham by his concubine Keturah (Genesis 25:1–2). However, by this time, it seems the word "Ishmaelites" had come to be a general description of any of the nomadic tribes in the region. Thus, at this time, Midianites were spoken of as one of several Ishmaelite peoples.
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