Genesis 37:27

לְכ֞וּ וְנִמְכְּרֶ֣נּוּ לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִ֗ים וְיָדֵ֙נוּ֙ אַל־תְּהִי־ב֔וֹ כִּֽי־אָחִ֥ינוּ בְשָׂרֵ֖נוּ ה֑וּא וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֖וּ אֶחָֽיו׃

Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. 

Joseph’s brothers harbored a deep hatred toward him. Joseph belittled his brothers, he would bring back damning reports of their conduct to their father, and to add insult to injury their father showered him with gifts, most notably a coat of many colors. When Joseph approached his brothers in a secluded field, they conspired to kill him and threw him in a pit to die. Seeing this, Judah came up with an alternative plan. Instead of killing him, they should sell him. His brothers agreed and sold him as a slave.

While this plan is terrible, let’s give Judah the benefit of the doubt and assume his primary concern was saving Joseph’s life. His brothers, however, were set on killing him. What could he do? If he suggested simply leaving him alone, they might not have listened at all and Joseph would have been killed anyway. Wisely, Judah devised a way to save Joseph’s life in a way his brothers would go along with. For Judah to achieve his goal of saving Joseph’s life, he had to compromise on Joseph’s freedom – a difficult trade-off, but still Joseph was spared. 

We may have the best intentions, the most righteous and laudable goals, but the real world is messy. As Judah learned the hard way, there are those to whom we are beholden who may see things differently, and whose thoughts and feelings must be taken into account. Wisdom is knowing when and how to compromise. Judah’s plan seems horrible. But he did save Joseph’s life, he kept his brothers from becoming murderers, and though he didn’t know it at the time, his compromise began the process that would see Joseph rise in stature and authority in Egypt and save an entire region from famine.