From verse 28, taken by itself, it would seem that not Joseph's brothers but the Midianites drew Joseph from the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites, and this theory is actually maintained by some, who point out that not only would the traditional interpretation require a change of subject in the middle of the verse, which is not otherwise indicated, but it would imply the identification of Ishmaelites and Midianites, which is untenable inasmuch as Midian was a son of Abraham and Keturah and Ishmael the son of Abraham and Hagar. (Genesis 25. 1 and 2.) But this view is also not without its difficulties, and, in my opinion, the traditional interpretation of the verses is to be preferred. For verses 26 to 27 indicate clearly that Judah's plan to sell Joseph met with the approval of his brothers and we should surely expect some expression of disappointment on their part if in the end their plan had miscarried. The change of subject in verse 28 which the traditional interpretation would require need not trouble us as such change of subject is not very unusual in the Bible. (See for instance Genesis 14. 19 to 20, 15. 13, 22. 7.) As for the identification of Midianites with Ishmaelites the fact is that racial names sometimes are extended to include other related races whom history has brought into close contact. The descendants of Hagar and Keturah are thus classed together in Genesis 25.6. Ibn Ezra, in his commentary to our passage, calls attention furthermore to the fact that this same identification of Midianites and Ishmaelites is made in Judges 8.24 where Gideon, after a victory over the Midianites, says, "'I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil.' For they had had golden ear-rings, _because they were Ishmaelites_." The reading Medanites in verse 36 may be a scribal error for Midianites or vice versa, as the only difference is in the omission or insertion of a _ od_. =Aim.= The aim in teaching this lesson should be to create in the child, through his sympathetic understanding of the motives that underly the action of the story, an appreciation of those moral ideals which we have shown to be contained in it.