Joseph in the Cistern

The following is a stained glass window in the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Chiang Mai, Thailand, depicting Joseph in the cistern:

Photo by Jost Zetzsche

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

complete verse (Genesis 37:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 37:24:

  • Kankanaey: “Then they went and dropped him in that well that had no water.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then they threw him into a well that had no water.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and threw (him) into the well where water is stored. But there (was) no water in that well.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then they took him and threw him into the pit/cistern. But the pit/cistern was dry; there was no water in it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 37:24

For cast him into a pit see verses 20, 22.

Pit was empty, there was no water in it: Revised Standard Version retains the repetitions of the Hebrew. It is possible that the narrator wanted to stress that nothing else had been thrown into the pit and that it was dry. Most modern translations keep the double description. Good News Translation uses only “which was dry.” We may also say, for example, “a dry and empty pit.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .