Genesis 37:30

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 37:30 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
Genesis 37:30 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 37

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
30And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And he returned unto his brethren, etc.] From the pit, and whom he suspected had took him and killed him, as was their first design, not being with them when they proposed to sell him, and did: and said, the child [is] not; not in the pit, nor in the land of the living, but is dead, which is sometimes the meaning of the phrase, (<243115>Jeremiah 31:15); he calls him a child, though seventeen years of age, because the youngest brother but one, and he himself was the eldest, and also because of his tender concern for him: and I, whither shall I go? to find the child or flee from his father’s face, which he could not think of seeing any more; whom he had highly offended already in the case of…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- Joseph Was Sold into Egypt 17. דתין dotayı̂n Dothain, “two wells?” (Gesenius) 25. נכאת neko't “tragacanth” or goat’s-thorn gum, yielded by the “astragalus gummifer”, a native of Mount Lebanon. צרי tsērı̂y “opobalsamum,” the resin of the balsam tree, growing in Gilead, and having healing qualities. לט loṭ, λῆδον lēdon, “ledum, ladanum,” in the Septuagint στακτή staktē. The former is a gum produced from the cistus rose. The latter is a gum resembling liquid myrrh. 36. פוטיפר pôṭı̂yphar Potiphar, “belonging to the sun.” The sketch of the race of Edom, given in the preceding piece, we have seen, reaches down to the time of Moses. Accordingly, the history of Jacob’s seed, which is…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification