drinking-water was of no concern to them), and wild animals were always a danger (cf. 1 Sa. 17:36). An unexplained death could always be put down to their activity. The ultimate attraction was to thwart Joseph’s dreams of supremacy and to remove this mischief-maker from their midst. Reuben, the eldest, who was ultimately responsible, intervened with a counter-suggestion. If they threw Joseph alive into the cistern they would not be guilty of shedding blood, and the end result would be the same, except