Genesis 37:25

Sat down to eat. Perhaps with a secret feeling of satisfaction, if not of exultation, and with infinite indifference, the heartless brothers sat down to eat.

A company of Ishmeelites. The word translated “company” in the KJV means a band of travelers, especially of merchants, and may therefore appropriately be translated “caravan.” The Arabs, descending from Ishmael, occupied the desert regions of Arabia east of Egypt and northward in the general direction of Assyria. Biblical and secular records reveal that the Arabs carried on a flourishing trade with Egypt. That some of Ishmael’s descendants had already become a trading people is not surprising, for it was now about 180 years since Ishmael’s birth, and his family had no doubt grown rapidly.

From Gilead. Inasmuch as Dothan lay on a major trade route, it was only natural that caravans should pass by from time to time. The route from Gilead in Transjordan crossed the Jordan in the neighborhood of Beth-shan, at the eastern end of the Esdraelon valley, followed the valley to Jenin, then turned south to cross the Cannel range. Passing through the plain of Dothan, it continued southward by way of Er Ramie and Gaza toward Egypt.

Spicery. The word translated “spicery” is understood by some to be tragacanth gum, which is obtained from bushes of the genus Astragalus. It has also been identified with the dried red blossoms of the naqawa plant, or the resin of the cistus, or rockrose. Whatever the origin of the “spicery,” or gum, it was probably used either as an ingredient of incense or as a cosmetic.

Balm. The Hebrew word translated “balm” probably refers to the gum of the mastic tree and the terebinth.

Myrrh. The meaning of the word thus translated is uncertain. It is usually understood to refer to labdanum, an aromatic gum exuded by the leaves of the cistus, or to what is known today as myrrh. Others think it to be the resinous bark of the mastic tree.