Genesis 37:23

23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;

Genesis 37:23 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 37:23

And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren,
&c.] To the very place where they were, and had, in a kind and obliging manner, asked of their welfare, and related their father's concern for them, who had sent him on this errand:

that they stripped, Joseph out of [his] coat; his coat of [many]
colours, that [was] on him;
according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, this was not one and the same coat, but divers, and that the sense is, that with his coat of many colours, and besides that, they stripped him of his lower garment, which was next to his skin, his shirt; so that he was quite naked when they cast him into the pit, and this they did as soon as he came up to them, so cruel and hardhearted were they.

Genesis 37:23 In-Context

21 But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take his life."

22 Reuben further said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him"-that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.

23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;

24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "came to"
• [b]. Or "full-length robe"