Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Parallel translations
- WEB Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
- KJV And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
- NKJV So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
- NASB And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood?
- NLT Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime.
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
Judah asks what is gained by killing their brother and hiding his blood. He proposes an alternative to murder.
Overview
Judah questions the profit of killing Joseph and concealing the crime, steering the brothers away from bloodshed. His motive mixes some restraint with self-interest, as the next verse shows. Notably, it is Judah, ancestor of David and ultimately of Christ, who speaks here, though his proposal still wrongs Joseph.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Gen 37:20“Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!”
- Gen 4:10“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
- 2 Sam 1:16For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
- Deut 17:8If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.
- Gen 25:32“Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
- Jer 41:8But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others.
- Ps 30:9“What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
- Ezek 24:7For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.
- Matt 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Rom 6:21What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- Job 16:18O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.
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 37:26 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.