Vayeishev 37:27 · EXTRA

EXTRA · Parashas Vayeishev · Passuk 37:27 · not a Torah Temimah citation on this passuk

The Complete Passuk

לְכ֞וּ וְנִמְכְּרֶ֣נּוּ לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִ֗ים וְיָדֵ֙נוּ֙ אַל־תְּהִי־ב֔וֹ כִּֽי־אָחִ֥ינוּ בְשָׂרֵ֖נוּ ה֑וּא וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֖וּ אֶחָֽיו׃

Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Classical source (EXTRA side-ring): Bereshis Rabbah 84:17.

Sefaria — Bereshis Rabbah 84:17

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
לְכוּ וְנִמְכְּרֶנּוּ לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִים — אָמַר לָהֶם יְהוּדָה: מַה בֶּצַע כִּי נַהֲרֹג אֶת אָחִינוּ.

English: “Come, let us sell him to the Yishme’eilim” — Yehudah said to them: What profit is there if we kill our brother?

In context: Yehudah diverts them from murder to sale; the midrash preserves his argument in the brothers’ council.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bereshis Rabbah) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The sale is framed as Yehudah’s alternative to bloodshed.

What Is Learned

Yehudah’s intervention saves Yosef from immediate death, even while consenting to the sale.