Who sold Joseph to the Egyptian?

Who sold Joseph to the Egyptian?

Thomas Allen

Did the Midianites sell Joseph to the Egyptians (Genesis 37:36: “And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard”), or did the Ishmaelites sell him (Genesis 39:1: “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down thither”)? Moreover, did Joseph’s brothers sell him to the Ishmaelites as Genesis 37:25–27 implies? Or, did the Midianites steal Joseph from the pit where his brothers had thrown him and sell him to the Ishmaelites as stated in Genesis 37:28.
According to some modern critics, the writer or editor of Genesis has combined two stories taken from two different sources: the Jehovistic or Yahwistic and the Elohistic. (The Jehovistic source uses the divine name of Jehovah, Yahweh, whereas the Elohistic source uses the divine name of Elohim.) These two stories explain Joseph’s arrival in Egypt differently.
According to the Jehovistic story, Judah saved Joseph by selling him to the Ishmaelites, who later sold him to the Egyptians. As stated in the Elohistic story, Reuben saved Joseph by persuading the other brothers to cast Joseph into a pit from which the Midianites later stole him. They do so without any of the brothers witnessing the kidnaping. Then, the Midianites sold him to the Ishmaelites according to Genesis 38:28 or directly to the Egyptian according to Genesis 38:36. (Genesis 40:15 [“for indeed I {Joseph} was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews . . .”] supports the Midianites kidnaping Joseph.) Apparently, the author attempted to make the stories agree by having the Midianites selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites, but for some reason left in the sentence about the Midianites directly selling Joseph to the Egyptian.
Some commentators skirt the apparent conflict by claiming that Midianite merchants were accompanying the Ishmaelites caravan. The Midianites kidnaped Joseph and sold him to the Ishmaelites. Then, the Midianites continued journeying to Egypt with the Ishmaelites, and the two tribes arrived in Egypt together. From here the Ishmaelites and Midianites get confounded with one story identifying the Midianites as selling Joseph to the Egyptian and the other identifying the Ishmaelites as the seller. Nevertheless, this explanation fails to identify who really sold Joseph to the Egyptian: the Midianites or the Ishmaelites.
Others claim that the Midianites and Ishmaelites were the same people. (A major problem with this explanation is that the Ishmaelites stole Joseph and sold him to themselves.) Many commentators avoid the apparent conflict of the two stories by not mentioning it.
A possible resolution of the conflicting stories follows. Judah and his brothers discussed selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites whom they see approaching, but they did not sell him. Instead, they left him it the pit where Reuben had persuaded them to put him while they departed to eat lunch — perhaps continuing their discussion of selling him. While his brothers were eating, Reuben returned to the pit to rescue Joseph. However, before he returned, the Midianites discovered Joseph in the pit, took him out, and sold him to the Ishmaelites. Unfortunately, this explanation does not eliminate the problem of Genesis 37:36, which states that the Midianites, not the Ishmaelites, sold Joseph to the Egyptian.
Why did the author keep Genesis 37:36? Only God knows. Without this sentence, the two stories can be made to harmonize. However, this sentence creates a conflict that cannot be easily explained away, if it can be explained away at all. So, the question remains: Who sold Joseph to the Egyptian? The weight of the evidence supports the Ishmaelites selling Joseph to the Egyptian. However, Genesis 37:36 makes this conclusion uncertain as it clearly states the Midianites sold Joseph to the Egyptian, although Genesis 37:28 clearly states that the Midianites sold him to the Ishmaelites. The solution to this dilemma may never be known. Thus, lacking a satisfactory answer are these two questions: (1) To whom the Midianites sell Joseph: — the Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:28) or the Egyptian (Genesis 37:36), and (2) who sold Joseph to the Egyptian — the Midianites (Genesis 37:36) or the Ishmaelites (Genesis 39:1)?

Appendix
The Ishmaelites were descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar, a Mizraim (Egyptian). They inhabited the desert of northern Arabia between Havilah, Egypt, and the Euphrates. Also, allied desert nomads who inhabited the region inhabited by true Ishmaelites were often included among the Ishmaelites.
The Midianites were the descendants of Midian, Abraham’s son by Keturah. Like the Ishmaelites, they were desert people. Their habitat was the northwest Arabian desert, east of the Gulf of Aqaba, and south of Moab. Moses’s wife was a Midianite.

References
Davis, John D. A Dictionary of the Bible. 4th rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Michigan: Baker Book House: 1957.

Eiselen, Frederick Carl, Edwin Lewis, and David G. Downey, editors. The Abingdon Bible Commentary. New York, New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1929.

Miller, Madeleine S. and J. Lane Miller. Harper’s Bible Dictionary. 6th ed. New York, New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1959.

Peake, Arthur S., ed., A Commentary on the Bible. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, n.d.

Laymon, Charles M., Editor. The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1971.

Copyright © 2019 by Thomas Coley Allen.

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