Genesis 37:18
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near to them, they conspired against him to slay him.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near to them, they conspired against him to slay him.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death;
Webster's Revision
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near to them, they conspired against him to slay him.
World English Bible
They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Barnes's Genesis 37:18 Bible Commentary
His brothers cast him into a pit. "This master of dreams;" an eastern phrase for a dreamer. "Let us slay him." They had a foreboding that his dreams might prove true, and that he would become their arbitrary master. This thought at all events would abate somewhat of the barbarity of their designs. It is implied in the closing sentence of their proposal. Reuben dissuades them from the act of murder, and advises merely to cast him into the pit, to which they consent. He had a more tender heart, and perhaps a more tender conscience than the rest, and intended to send Joseph back safe to his father. He doubtless took care to choose a pit that was without water.
Wesley's Genesis 37:18 Bible Commentary
37:18 And when they saw him afar off they conspired against him - It was not in a heat, or upon a sudden provocation, that they thought to slay him, but from malice propense, and in cold blood.