Common misinterpretations of this verse include viewing Reuben as complicit in Joseph's sale despite his absence and rescue plan, portraying his grief as hypocritical since he had earlier agreed to throw Joseph in the pit, or allegorizing the empty pit and torn clothes as symbols of spiritual abandonment or divine judgment without regard to the narrative's familial conflict and Reuben's sibling loyalty.
Genesis 37:29
King James Version (1769)
29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
In Genesis 37:29, Reuben returns to the pit expecting to rescue Joseph as he had secretly planned, only to find it empty after his brothers sold Joseph into slavery; his rending of clothes expresses profound grief, shock, and remorse, underscoring his protective intentions toward his younger brother amid the family's escalating jealousy and betrayal.