The Meaning of Genesis 37:20 Explained

Genesis 37:20

KJV: Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

YLT: and now, come, and we slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and have said, An evil beast hath devoured him; and we see what his dreams are.'

Darby: And now come and let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast has devoured him; and we will see what becomes of his dreams.

ASV: Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, And evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Come  now therefore, and let us slay  him, and cast  him into some  pit,  and we will say,  Some evil  beast  hath devoured  him: and we shall see  what will become of his dreams. 

What does Genesis 37:20 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 37:12-24 - Joseph's Brothers Plot His Death
Throughout Joseph was a very remarkable type of our Lord. There was, first, this mission of the beloved son to inquire after the well-being of his brethren, which reminds us so vividly of the advent of God's Beloved and Only Begotten Son, who brought us the Father's greeting, and came to see and know by personal inquiry how we fared. Dothan was in the northern portion of the land, and the journey must have taken time and strength; but he persisted until he found them, and came where they were. Their plot against their helpless brother was as the plot of Caiaphas and the rest against our Lord. Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered him into his hands. The pit was one of those rock-hewn cisterns that abound in Palestine, and as there was no water in it Joseph's life was not sacrificed; and there he awaited what was a kind of resurrection. The scene at the pit's mouth was recalled by Joseph in Genesis 42:9; and was never forgotten by the others, Genesis 42:21-22. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 37

1  Joseph is loved by Jacob, but hated by his brothers
5  His dreams and the interpretation
12  Jacob sends him to his brothers, who counsel to slay him
21  At Reuben's desire they cast him into a pit;
25  and afterwards sell him to the Ishmaelites;
29  while Ruben grieves at not finding him
31  His coat, covered with blood, is sent to Jacob, who mourns him inordinately
36  Joseph is brought to Egypt and sold to Potiphar

What do the individual words in Genesis 37:20 mean?

Therefore come and let us kill him and cast him into one of the pits and we shall say a beast wild has devoured him and we shall see what will become of his dreams
וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ לְכ֣וּ וְנַֽהַרְגֵ֗הוּ וְנַשְׁלִכֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד הַבֹּר֔וֹת וְאָמַ֕רְנוּ חַיָּ֥ה רָעָ֖ה אֲכָלָ֑תְהוּ וְנִרְאֶ֕ה מַה־ יִּהְי֖וּ חֲלֹמֹתָֽיו

לְכ֣וּ  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
וְנַֽהַרְגֵ֗הוּ  and  let  us  kill  him 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common plural, third person masculine singular
Root: הָרַג  
Sense: to kill, slay, murder, destroy, murderer, slayer, out of hand.
וְנַשְׁלִכֵ֙הוּ֙  and  cast  him 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common plural, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁלַךְ  
Sense: to throw, cast, hurl, fling.
בְּאַחַ֣ד  into  one 
Parse: Preposition-b, Number, masculine singular construct
Root: אֶחָד  
Sense: one (number).
הַבֹּר֔וֹת  of  the  pits 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: בֹּור 
Sense: pit, well, cistern.
וְאָמַ֕רְנוּ  and  we  shall  say 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
חַיָּ֥ה  a  beast 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
רָעָ֖ה  wild 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
אֲכָלָ֑תְהוּ  has  devoured  him 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
וְנִרְאֶ֕ה  and  we  shall  see 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, first person common plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
יִּהְי֖וּ  will  become 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
חֲלֹמֹתָֽיו  of  his  dreams 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: חֲלֹום  
Sense: dream.