and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.
Parallel translations
- WEB and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit 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.
- NASB and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
- NLT Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They throw Joseph into an empty, waterless pit. He is cast down and left helpless by his own brothers.
Overview
The brothers cast Joseph into a dry, empty cistern, leaving him trapped and at their mercy. The detail that there was no water signals both his desperate plight and that he was not drowned but kept alive. This descent into the pit begins Joseph's long path of suffering before exaltation, a pattern echoed in Christ's death and resurrection.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 38:6So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
- Zech 9:11As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
- Ps 130:1–2A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!
- Ps 88:8You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.
- Ps 40:2He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.
- Ps 88:6You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.
- Lam 4:20The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
- Ps 35:7For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
- Lam 3:52–55Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 37:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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