According to Genesis, for how many pieces of silver was Joseph sold?

According to Genesis, Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver.

Joseph’s brothers resented him because of his dreams and their father Jacob’s special favor. When Joseph came to find them, they threw him into a pit. A caravan of Ishmaelites then passed by, and Judah proposed selling Joseph rather than killing him. Genesis 37 says the brothers received twenty pieces of silver, and Joseph was taken to Egypt.

The passage describes the traders as Ishmaelites, while another verse refers to Midianite traders, a detail that has prompted extensive discussion about the narrative’s composition. The core event remains clear: Joseph is carried to Egypt and becomes enslaved.

Joseph’s sale begins the larger story of his rise in Egypt, his interpretation of dreams, and his eventual reconciliation with his family. The amount is also commonly confused with the thirty pieces of silver associated with Judas in the New Testament.