Genesis 37:21

Summary

Reuben hears about the plan against Joseph and pulls him out of the hands of his brothers. He then speaks to them, using a first-person plural verb to propose that they not strike Joseph in a way that would take his life.

Key words

• yishma ("he heard", H8085G) — qal narrative form (wayyiqtol), marking the next event in the story sequence: Reuben's hearing triggers his action.
• yatzilehu ("he rescued him", H5337) — hiphil (causative) narrative form with 3rd person masculine suffix "him" (H9033); the hiphil stem indicates Reuben causes Joseph's removal from danger, not merely helps.
• yadam ("their hand", H3027G + H9028) — construct singular noun with plural suffix "their"; the singular yad used collectively for "the hand/power" of the brothers as a group.
• nakennu ("let us strike him", H5221) — hiphil imperfect, 1st person plural, with attached object suffix "him"; imperfect here carries a volitive/cohortative sense ("let us not...") rather than simple future.
• nafesh ("life", H5315H) — feminine singular noun placed directly after the verb without a preposition, functioning adverbially to specify the result of the striking (a fatal blow).

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of three narrative (wayyiqtol) verbs — yishma ("he heard"), yatzilehu ("he rescued him"), yomer ("he said") — each advancing the plot in sequence: hearing leads to rescuing, which leads to speaking. The hiphil form of yatzilehu frames Reuben's action as directly causing Joseph's removal "from their hand" (miyyadam), where yad ("hand") is used in its common sense of "power" or "control," made plural in meaning through the suffix "their."

Reuben's speech itself is introduced by lo' ("not", H3808) followed by the hiphil imperfect nakennu ("let us strike him"). Although the form is grammatically imperfect (marking ongoing or future action), combined with the negation it functions as a prohibition addressed to the group — "let us not strike him." The final word, nafesh ("life"), is placed without a preposition directly after the verb, an adverbial construction that specifies the manner or extent of the proposed striking: not merely to hit him, but to hit him with lethal result.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate text given here breaks off after "et dicebat:" ("and he was saying:"), so the content of Reuben's prohibition is not present in this excerpt. Where the Hebrew uses three sequential narrative verbs implying completed actions, the Vulgate's "nitebatur liberare" ("he was trying to free") uses an imperfect verb suggesting an attempted or ongoing action rather than a completed rescue, differing from the Hebrew yatzilehu, which presents the rescue as accomplished. The LXX's ἐξείλατο ("he rescued him," aorist) aligns with the Hebrew's completed-action sense.