The price paid for Joseph by the Midianites was twenty
pieces of silver, enough for a pair of shoes for each of his
brethren. Thus "they sold the righteous for silver, and the
needy for a pair of shoes." For so handsome a youth as
Joseph the sum paid was too low by far, but his appearance
had been greatly changed by the horrible anguish he bad
endured in the pit with the snakes and the scorpions. He
had lost his ruddy complexion, and he looked sallow and
sickly, and the Midianites were justified in paying a small
sum for him.[51]

The merchantmen had come upon Joseph naked in the
pit, for his brethren had stripped him of all his clothes.
That he might not appear before men in an unseemly condition,
God sent Gabriel down to him, and the angel enlarged