Chapter Forty-Two
Joseph’s Brothers Come to Egypt
42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.
News quickly traveled throughout Canaan that there was grain available to purchase in Egypt. Based on Jacob’s sarcastic remark, his sons must have been dumbfounded as to what to do about the famine and the resultant lack of food, apparently they were not doing anything about this urgent matter. When Jacob heard about the grain in Egypt, he instructed them to go to Egypt and buy some grain. However, Jacob would not let Benjamin go with them for fear that something could happen to him during the long trip. Jacob probably didn’t suspect potential foul-play against Benjamin from his older brothers, but that he simply desired to keep him safe (see verse 38), as he believed that Benjamin is his only living son born of his beloved wife, Rachel.
42:5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
The ten remaining sons of Israel took some donkeys (see verse 26) and went to Egypt. The narrative does not explain how Joseph maintained oversight of the grain distribution, perhaps he personally reviewed all “out of country” requests. Regardless, it was Joseph that the brothers encountered when they arrived. Upon arrival they bowed before him facing the floor. Joseph immediately recognized them but they did not recognize Joseph, as he was now approximately 20-21 years older and was dressed like royalty, plus he spoke to them only through an interpreter (see verse 23). Wanting to find out about his father, and to test their maturity and their current attitude toward their father, he began by treating them as strangers. Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had many years earlier (see Genesis 37:5-11) about this exact scenario. He spoke to them harshly and asked them a series of questions, treating them like they were spies that, “have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.” (Genesis 42:9b, NLT)
42:10 They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.” 12 He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 13 And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”
Joseph’s ploy was working, the more his brothers continue to insist that they simply want to buy food, the more they revealed about themselves. Here they mention that they were once twelve brothers, the sons of one man from the land of Canaan, then they tell him that the youngest is at home with their father and that one is no longer alive.
42:14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17 And he put them all together in custody for three days.
Knowing that they were truthful to a point, Joseph undoubtedly began to wonder about Benjamin, did they resent him too, since his mother was also Rachel? They lied about him (Joseph) being dead, could the part about Benjamin be a lie too? So, he continued to accuse them of being spies and comes up with a test. He tells them that he will release one of them to journey home in order to bring back Benjamin to verify their story, while the others remain confined. By stating, “by the life of Pharaoh,” Joseph is essentially making an oath that they will be tried as spies if they could not verify their story. He then put all of them together in prison for three days.
42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” 23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them.
After three days of confinement, Joseph tells them what they need to do. He explains his reasoning by saying, “for I fear God.” While the Hebrew word “Ělō·hîm” is indeed a plural word,[1] the preceding Hebrew word ‘hā’ is an interrogative particle that seems to be pointing to a superior God, not a plurality of gods (as how the Egyptians believed). While this may have made the brothers wonder what he meant, to them the important part was that Joseph changed his mind, reversing what he said earlier (possibly to reduce any undue stress for their father). He was now only requiring one of them to stay, while the others returned home with the grain. If they came back to Egypt with their younger brother, that would verify their claims, and no one would be put to death for spying.
The brothers began to talk among themselves without knowing that Joseph could understand them. They believed that they were going through this distress (Hebrew word ‘ṣā·rāṯ’,[2] meaning trouble, anguish, or time of extreme discomfort) because of what they did to Joseph many years earlier. Their unanswered pleas for help and mercy must have reminded them of how Joseph pleaded with them 20 years earlier. The guilt still weighed heavily on them. In his own defense, Reuben speaks up in a manner one might say today, “I told you so!” But he agrees that this situation is the direct result of what they all did and that it was now time for their reckoning for taking Joseph’s life.
42:24 Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25 And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them. 26 Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed.
Hearing their confession and repentance of their sin, Joseph was overwhelmed with emotion, requiring him to temporarily leave their presence so they would not see him crying. Once he regained composure, he returned to them and had Simeon removed and bound. After hearing Reuben’s statement, Joseph correctly assumed that Simeon was the chief instigator in his abduction and selling. Joseph then instructed his staff to fill their bags with grain and to replace their money. Apparently, these instructions were given in the Egyptian language as the brothers will be surprised and befuddled when they later find the money. Once the grain was loaded on their donkeys, they headed home.
42:27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 28 He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” 29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’ ” 35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.
The trip home is estimated to be around 250 miles, which would require nearly three weeks to travel. During that journey they discovered that their money (Hebrew word ‘kě’·sěp’, most often referring to silver or the measure of silver),[3] had been returned to them. They were deeply troubled as they could potentially be accused of stealing if they needed to go back to Egypt for more grain. First, they were accused of spying and now possibly face even more charges, they immediately cried out, “What is this that God has done to us?” For they now must tell their father, Jacob, all that had happened. In this case they tell the truth.
42:36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” 38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”
After hearing their story, Jacob accuses them for the loss of two of his sons, Joseph and Simeon. And now, as he hears that he might lose Benjamin as well, he becomes overwhelmed with grief, saying that all of this has come against him. Reuben, without thinking, quickly offers the life of his sons in return if he is unable to bring Benjamin back home. But Jacob wants nothing to do with more death, and he once again refuses to let Benjamin go to Egypt (see verse four). Using words similar to those he used when he first heard about the death of Joseph (see Genesis 37:35), Jacob says that if he ever heard that harm had come on Benjamin, he would die, going down to Sheol (also known as Hades),[4] in great sorrow.
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[1] See Considerations under Genesis 21:18-21.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 6869.
[3] See commentary under Genesis 37:23-28.
[4] See Considerations under Genesis 25:7-11.