And Reuben returned unto the pit, &c.— We remarked on Genesis 37:2 that the sons of Jacob fed their flocks separately: this is confirmed by the present verse. For it is unquestionable, that Reuben, after he had saved his brother Joseph's life, left the rest of them, probably to attend his own flock; and determined to return to the pit, and rescue Joseph from it. But when he came, a stranger to what had passed, and found him not there, he was in the greatest agonies of grief, apprehending his destruction. Nor does it appear that his brethren informed him of what they had done: if they did, however, he agreed with them in the story which they related to their afflicted father. Nothing can be imagined more cruel and inhuman, than their conduct throughout all this affair: one cannot in any measure excuse their savage treatment of their aged father!
REFLECTIONS.—Now the envied coat is torn from his back: remorse or pity find no place in the envenomed hearts of his brethren: in vain his prayers, his tears, his anguish; they drag him to the pit, and cast him in, intending a death of famine, more dreadful than the sword: then, hardened and relentless, they sit down to eat bread; and while they satisfy their own hunger, never think on Joseph's affliction. Note; 1. God's Providences appear darkest, when deliverance is nearest. 2. Crying sins often stupefy the conscience to a most amazing degree of insensibility. But now, an unexpected event delivers Joseph from the pit: a caravan of merchants going to AEgypt, passes by; Judah proposes to sell, rather than kill him; he would, they thought, be as effectually sent out of the way; and thus they gratify their covetousness, as well as their revenge. The bargain is made, and Joseph, from the captivity of the pit, is sent as a slave into AEgypt. Learn, (1.) How exactly God makes common events of his Providence become critical, for purposes of his glory. (2.) God overrules wicked men, and makes one sin a bridle to a greater: covetousness saves from bloodshed. Reuben was not of the council; and on his return to the pit, how great his grief to find Joseph gone! Note; The disappointments of our well-meant endeavours are afterwards seen to be in mercy.