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Genesis 42

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Jacob Sends Sons to Egypt 1–5

1
Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? ​
2
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. ​
3
And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4
But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure harm befall him. ​
5
And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Joseph Encounters His Brothers 6–17

6
And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth. ​
7
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly with them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. ​
8
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. ​
10
And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
11
We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. ​
12
And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
13
And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. ​
14
And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
15
hereby ye shall be proved: by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. ​
16
Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
17
And he put them all together into ward three days. ​

The Test and the Brothers' Guilt 18–28

18
And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: ​
19
if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go ye, carry grain for the famine of your houses:
20
and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
21
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. ​
22
And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required. ​
23
And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. ​
24
And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spake to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. ​
25
Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with grain, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus was it done unto them. ​
26
And they laded their asses with their grain, and departed thence.
27
And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the lodging-place, he espied his money; and, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28
And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, What is this that God hath done unto us? ​

Return to Canaan and Jacob's Grief 29–38

29
And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying,
30
The man, the lord of the land, spake roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country.
31
And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
32
we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33
And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men: leave one of your brethren with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way;
34
and bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land.
35
And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, 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. ​
36
And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. ​
37
And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. ​
38
And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 42

Verse 1

there was corn in Egypt — The famine reached 'all lands', and 'all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn' (Gen 41:57). Stephen tells it from Jacob's side: 'when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first' (Acts 7:12). The ten go down, and the dreams of Gen 37 move toward their fulfilment.

Verse 2

that we may live, and not die — The same words are Judah's when he pleads for Benjamin (Gen 43:8) and the Egyptians' when they ask for bread (Gen 47:19). Joseph names the purpose in Gen 45:5: 'God did send me before you to preserve life'.

Verse 4

Lest peradventure mischief befall him — Ason, harm, a word Jacob uses of Benjamin here, in v.38, and in Gen 44:29. Benjamin is 'Joseph's brother', the other son of Rachel (Gen 35:24), and the only son of that mother still at home. The ten go down without him.

Verse 6

Joseph was the governor — Shallit, one who has power; outside Ecclesiastes this word occurs only here. Joseph also 'sold to all the people of the land'. His brothers 'bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth', as the sheaves and the stars had bowed in his dreams (Gen 37:7, 9–10).

Verse 7

he knew them, but made himself strange — Both verbs are nakar: he recognised them, and made himself unrecognised. It is the verb of Gen 37:32 and 38:25. The brothers do not recognise him: 'Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him' (v.8). His 'rough' speech (qasheh) is hard speech.

Verse 9

Joseph remembered the dreams — He had dreamed of sheaves bowing and of the sun, moon and stars (Gen 37:7, 9), and now sees his brothers bowing. 'Spies' (meraggelim) go about on foot to scout, and 'the nakedness of the land' is where it lies open. The charge returns in vv.11, 14, 16 and 30.

Verse 11

true men — They answer the charge of spying with who they are: 'one man's sons'. The brothers three times call themselves 'thy servants' in vv.10–13, the title that Judah uses again to Joseph in Gen 44:16, 'my lord's servants'.

Verse 13

one is not — They tell Joseph about himself: twelve brothers, 'the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not'. Jacob uses the phrase of Joseph and Simeon in v.36, 'Joseph is not, and Simeon is not'. Jeremiah's Rachel weeps 'for her children… because they were not' (Jer 31:15).

Verse 15

Hereby ye shall be proved — Bachan, to test, a word for assaying metal. Job says, 'when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold' (Job 23:10). Joseph states the test in v.16: 'that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you'. The proof asked is that the youngest brother come.

Verse 17

he put them all together into ward three days — 'Ward' (mishmar) is the word for Joseph's own confinement with Pharaoh's officers (Gen 40:3), and in v.19 'bound' (asar) is his word there too: 'let one of your brethren be bound'. The brothers stand where he stood, and on 'the third day' (v.18) Joseph speaks to them.

Verse 18

for I fear God — He gives the fear of God as the ground of the offer. Abraham had said of Gerar, 'Surely the fear of God is not in this place' (Gen 20:11), and 'the midwives feared God' in Egypt (Ex 1:17). The offer, 'This do, and live', follows in v.19: only one brother is to stay bound.

Verse 21

the anguish of his soul — Genesis 37 does not record that Joseph pleaded; this is where it comes out, years later. 'Anguish' and 'distress' are the same Hebrew word, tsarah: they received the distress they had looked on. 'We are verily guilty' (ashem) is their first admission.

Verse 22

his blood is required — Darash, to seek out. It is the word of the first law after the Flood: 'at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man' (Gen 9:5). Reuben recalls his plea of Gen 37:22, 'Shed no blood', and his words 'Do not sin against the child'.

Verse 23

he spake unto them by an interpreter — The man at the head of Egypt speaks through a go-between, and the brothers do not know 'that Joseph understood them' (literally, heard them). That is how he learns what they say of him in vv.21–22, before he turns away and weeps (v.24).

Verse 24

took from them Simeon, and bound him — Simeon is Leah's second son (Gen 29:33), after Reuben, who had just spoken for Joseph (v.22). Joseph turned away and wept, the first of his tears told in Genesis; they return in Gen 43:30 and Gen 45:2.

Verse 25

restore every man's money into his sack — The grain is sold, and the silver returned with provision for the journey. When the steward explains it, he says, 'Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money' (Gen 43:23).

Verse 28

What is this that God hath done unto us? — The money is found at the inn (v.27). 'Their heart failed them' is literally 'their heart went out', and they trembled (charad). They read it as from God, as they tied their distress in v.21 to what they had done to Joseph. At home they tell the steward the same story (Gen 43:21–22).

Verse 35

every man's bundle of money was in his sack — At the inn one man found his silver (v.27); at home all find theirs, 'our money in full weight' (Gen 43:21). Tseror is a bundle tied up. They and their father are 'afraid', from the same root yare that Joseph used for the fear of God in v.18.

Verse 36

Joseph is not, and Simeon is not — Shakol, bereaved. 'All these things are against me' is Jacob's reading of what has happened. Joseph, whom he counts as gone, is alive, and he will say to his brothers, 'God did send me before you to preserve life' (Gen 45:5).

Verse 37

Slay my two sons — Reuben offers his two sons as a pledge: 'deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again'. Jacob refuses (v.38). When Judah offers himself, 'of my hand shalt thou require him' (Gen 43:9), Jacob accepts (Gen 43:11).

Verse 38

bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave — Sheol again (Gen 37:35), and Judah repeats the words to Joseph in Gen 44:31. Jacob's ground, 'his brother is dead, and he is left alone', Judah gives back as 'his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother' (Gen 44:20).