Genesis 37:30

30 He returned to his brothers, and said, "The child is no more; and I, where will I go?"

Genesis 37:30 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 37:30

And he returned unto his brethren
From the pit, and whom he suspected had took him and killed him, as was their first design, not being with them when they proposed to sell him, and did:

and said, the child [is] not;
not in the pit, nor in the land of the living, but is dead, which is sometimes the meaning of the phrase, ( Jeremiah 31:15 ) ; he calls him a child, though seventeen years of age, because the youngest brother but one, and he himself was the eldest, and also because of his tender concern for him:

and I, whither shall I go?
to find the child or flee from his father's face, which he could not think of seeing any more; whom he had highly offended already in the case of Bilhah, and now he would be yet more incensed against him for his neglect of Joseph, who, he might have expected, would have taken particular care of him, being the eldest son: he speaks like one in the utmost perplexity, not knowing what to do, what course to steer, being almost distracted and at his wits' end.

Genesis 37:30 In-Context

28 Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
30 He returned to his brothers, and said, "The child is no more; and I, where will I go?"
31 They took Joseph's coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.
32 They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, "We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son's coat or not."
The World English Bible is in the public domain.