And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
They sat down to eat bread. What a view does this exhibit of those hardened profligates! Their common share in this conspiracy is not the only dismal feature in the story. The rapidity, the almost instantaneous manner in which the proposal was followed by their joint resolution, and the cool indifference, or rather the fiendish satisfaction, with which they sat down to regale themselves, is astonishing; it is impossible that mere envy at his dreams, his gaudy dress, or the doting partiality of their common father, could have goaded them on to such a pitch of frenzied resentment, or confirmed them in such 'consummate wickedness. Their hatred to Joseph must have had a far deeper seat-must have been produced by dislike to his piety and other excellencies, which made his character and conduct a constant censure upon theirs, and on account of which they found that they could never be at ease until they had rid themselves of his hated presence. This was the true solution of the mystery, just as it was in the case of Cain (1 John 3:12).
They lifted up their eyes ... and behold ... Ishmaelites. They are called Midianites (Genesis 37:28); and х ha-Midyaaniym (H4084)], the Medanites (Genesis 37:36), being a traveling caravan composed of a mixed association of Arabians. Medan and Midian, sons of Keturah (Genesis 25:2), became heads of tribes, whose settlement was on the east of the Dead Sea.
The Medanites lay south of 'their brethren, extending along the eastern boundary of Edom toward Sinai. Those tribes of Northern Arabia had already addicted themselves to commerce, and long did they enjoy a monopoly, the carrying trade being entirely in their hands, because the Egyptians themselves did not engage in foreign commerce. Being in the time of Jacob small tribes, they united for the purposes of trade, and thus the Midianites, the Medanites, and a party of Ishmaelites, who inhabited the same country, were all concerned in the transaction which involved the sale of Joseph. Either the name of the one people or the other might be used in describing this traveling caravan, as they were all in co-partnery (cf. Judges 8:22; Judges 8:24; Judges 8:26).
Their approach could easily be seen; because as their road, after crossing the ford from the transjordanic district, led along the south side of the mountains of Gilboa, a party seated on the plain of Dothan could trace them and their string of camels in the distance, as they proceeded through the broad and gently-sloping valley that intervenes.
Trading in the produce of Arabia and India, they were, in the regular course of traffic, on their way to Egypt; and the chief articles of commerce in which trading caravans dealt were х nªko't (H5219)] (Genesis 43:11), a strong fragrant perfume called storax, and hence, applied generally to spicery and all kinds of aromatic substances, from India and Ceylon [Septuagint, thumiamatoon (G2368)] - sweet odours, incense х uwtsªriy (H6875)] and opobalsamum, balsam, or balm, distilling from a shrub in Gilead, famous for its medicinal properties, and frequently mentioned in Scripture (Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11; Ezekiel 27:17) х waaloT (H3910)]; and myrrh, the resinous gum of a small odoriferous tree, Cistus creticus, growing in Arabia-Felix and North Africa, celebrated as a perfume and stimulating medicine, and often given as a present, on account of its value and rarity. For these articles there must have been an enormous demand in Egypt, as they were constantly used in the process of embalmment.