قالَ قائِلٌ مِنهُم لا تَقتُلوا يوسُفَ وَأَلقوهُ في غَيابَتِ الجُبِّ يَلتَقِطهُ بَعضُ السَّيّارَةِ إِن كُنتُم فاعِلينَ
One of them said: ‘Do not kill Joseph, but throw him into the recess of the well so that some caravan may pick him up, if you are to do [anything].’
EXEGESIS
Ghayābah (recess) comes from ghāba, meaning to hide from sight.[1] Ghayābah is a place where one is no longer seen and is hidden. Anything that cannot be detected with the senses is called ghayābah.[2] The interior of a well can be called a ghayābah because it is dark and cannot be seen.[3] Others have said that some desert wells would have a small niche where a person could go down to in order to fill their bucket with water without getting themselves wet.[4]
Jubb (well) literally means a piece of something that has been cut off from the original.[5] A well is called a jubb because it has had its land cut out until it reaches water.[6] The difference between a biʾr and a jubb is that the latter has not had its interior lined with stones or bricks. If the interior of a well is lined in such a fashion it is called a biʾr.[7]
Yaltaqiṭ (pick) is from laqṭ, which means to take something from the ground.[8] More specifically, its meaning entails to find that thing unexpectedly.[9] Here it means being picked up from the well by travelling caravans.
Sayyārah (caravan) is the plural of sayyār,[10] which comes from the root sayr meaning to travel or traverse in the land. A group of travellers is called a sayyārah because they traverse (yasīrūn) the land.[11]
EXPOSITION
One of them said: ‘Do not kill Joseph’: one of the brothers, who was against the vicious plan of his brothers, but did not want to oppose them,[12] dissuaded them and advised that they should not commit the crime of killing Prophet Joseph (a), and neither was the idea of leaving him somewhere to die a very good plan. If they left him to die, it would be the same as killing him. So, he said, but throw him into the recess of the well, a well deep enough that he could not climb out, but with shallow enough water that he would not drown in it.[13]
This must have been a specific well, as they refer to it in the definitive, the well (al-jubb, as opposed to simply jubb). This understanding is supported by the fact that they planned for a caravan to pick him up.[14] In other words, they had in mind a specific well to which travellers going on long journeys would frequent, and the idea was that such a caravan may pick him up and carry him off to another land from which he would not be able to return.[15]
If you are to do [anything]: meaning, ‘if you wish to take some action, then what I have suggested is the best course of action and the most effective and optimal’. In this way they would not be killing their own brother, but neither would he be able to return from the well on his own. Dropping him in a well that is frequented by caravans would ensure that he is found before he dies and the caravan would then take him with them, allowing the brothers to be rid of him for good without having to deal with the guilt of the sin of fratricide.
As the later verses clarify, this suggestion was the one that the brothers accepted and then carried out.[16]
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Some exegetes have suggested that the brother who proposed this solution was trying to do good and prevent the other brothers from carrying out their plot of killing Prophet Joseph (a).[17] Some have even portrayed him as a hero, who by prohibiting evil resulted in much good, such as Prophet Joseph (a) going to Egypt and then eventually saving that nation and others from famine.[18] Others have contended that at best we can say he was less evil than the rest.[19]
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not kill him.’ Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood, but throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him,’ so that he might rescue him out of their hands and deliver him to his father again.[20]
Note: Reuben is not named in the Quran, and while his initial statement is similar, the motivations are portrayed differently. In the Bible, Reuben wishes to save Joseph (a) later and bring him back to his father, whereas the Quran clarifies that his plan was for some passing caravan to find him and take him with them. Some exegetes have also mentioned Reuben as the one who suggested not killing Joseph (a), but throwing him in the pit; but they have also suggested many different names as well and none of these seem to be based on any reliable information. In any case, such details are not very important and that is why the Quran glosses over such matters.
[1] Raghib, p. 616, gh-y-b.
[2] Tibyan, 6/102-103; Tantawi, 7/325.
[3] Mizan, 11/96.
[4] Nemuneh, 9/325.
[5] Raghib, p. 182, j-b-b.
[6] Tabrisi, 5/322.
[7] Raghib, p. 182, j-b-b; Mizan, 11/96; Nemuneh, 9/324-325; Tantawi, 7/325.
[8] Lisan, 7/392.
[9] Tabrisi, 5/323.
[10] Muhit, 6/244.
[11] Tibyan, 6/103.
[12] See Razi, 18/425; Nemuneh, 9/325.
[13] See Tibyan, 6/103.
[14] See Tabrisi, 5/331
[15] Tabrisi, 5/325; Thalabi, 5/200.
[16] Mizan, 11/97.
[17] See for example Munyah, 14/152; Nemuneh, 9/324; Tantawi, 7/325.
[18] For example Qaraati, 4/165.
[19] Alusi, 6/384.
[20] Genesis 37:21-22.