The First Book of Moses, called Genesis
Genesis 42
Chapter XLII · Vol. I, pp. 282–286
1 Jacob sendeth his ten sons to buy corn in Egypt. 6 They are imprisoned by Joseph for spies, but set at liberty on condition to bring Benjamin. 21 They have remorse for Joseph. 24 Simeon is kept for a pledge. 25 They return with corn, and their money. 29 Their relation to Jacob. 35 He is afraid, and refuseth to send Benjamin.
1 Now when Jacoba saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; get you bdown thither, and buy for us from thence, that we may clive, and not die.
3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
4 But dBenjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren: for he said, eLest peradventure mischief befall him.
d See ch.35.16-19.
e ch. 3. 22; 11. 4. Ex. 22.22,23.
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was fin the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph was the ggovernor over the land, and he it was8 that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and hbowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
g Ps. 105. 21. ch. 41. 40,41.
8 Next to his piety, Joseph's application to business forms the most remarkable trait in his character. 'He it was that sold to all the people.' He does nothing by proxy. The peculiar form of Egypt, two narrow plains lying on the two sides of a river, a river forming, as it were, the only highway of the kingdom—will sufficiently account for the possibility of his personal superintendence by rotation, at the various places of sale, closing for a time at one, and then proceeding to another.—C.
h ch.37.7,9; 18.2; 19. 1; 44.14.
7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly9 unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
9 Heb. hard things with them.
8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9 And Joseph iremembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, kYe are spies:1 to see the lnakedness of the land ye are come.
i ch. 37.5-9.
1 That Joseph, from his knowledge of his brethren's character, may have believed them capable of becoming spies, is within the limits of possibility. If he did so, and intended to deter them from any dangerous combinations and projects, his course was open and his intentions kind. But as it is said in ver. 7 that he spoke roughly to them, we rather conclude he was feigning; and though his design was good, we may not excuse one word of dissimulation by which it was to be accomplished. Joseph is one of the most lovely and amiable of Scripture characters, but one alone was perfect, who 'knew no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.'—C.
l Weakness, Ex.32. 25.
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;9 we are true men thy servants are no spies.
A.M. 2297. B.C. 1707.
9 No man would expose ten of his sons at once to the dangerous business of spies.
12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness1 of the land ye are come.
1 Distress and weakness, ver. 9.
13 And they said, Thy servants are mtwelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one nis not.
14 And Joseph said unto them, oThat is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
o Job 13.2,4; 19.11. Your account of yourselves is so improbable that it increaseth the suspicion of your being spies.
15 Hereby ye shall be proved: pBy the life of Pharaoh2 ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
p 1 Sa. 20.3; 1.26. Je. 5.2,7, with De. 6.13. ver. 16.
2 By the life of Pharaoh. 'As Pharaoh liveth.' Booth. If an oath, the words would be sinful, and a proof that Joseph had not altogether escaped the infection of the world. But as the charity 'that thinketh no evil' can assign a harmless sense, that of a mere assertion (comp. 2 Sa. 20.3), there can be no good reason for dogmatically accusing Joseph of a sin of which he may be innocent.—C.
16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept3 in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely ye are spies.
3 Heb. bound.
17 And he put4 them all together qinto ward three days.
4 Heb. gathered.
q He. 12.10. Ps. 119.67.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for rI fear God.
r ch. 20.11. Ne. 5.15.
19 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
20 But sbring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.5
s ch. 43.5; 44.23.
5 Promised to do it.
21 And tthey said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; utherefore is this distress come upon us.
t Ho. 5.15. Job 34.31,32. Ac. 19.18. Pr. 28.13. 1 Jn. 1.9.
u Ju. 1.7. Je. 2.17,19; 4.18. Mat. 7.2.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spakex I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is yrequired.
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.6
6 Heb. an interpreter was between them.
24 And he turned himself about from them, and zwept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them aSimeon,7 and bound him before their eyes.
z ch. 43.30. Ro. 12.15.
a ch. 34.25; 49.7. Jude 22,23. Being bold and fierce he perhaps had the chief hand in Joseph's troubles.
7 Simeon and Levi were the two principal actors in the bloody massacre of Shechem, ch. 34.25, and Joseph, from his knowledge of Simeon's character, may have chosen to retain him for fear of his quarrelsome disposition on the way back to his father. See his admonition, ch. 45.24.—C.
25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and bthus did he unto them.
27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.
28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their 9heart cfailed1 them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?
9 We can account for this failure of their heart on no ground but their consciousness of guilt in the case of Joseph—the wicked flee when no man pursueth, Pr. 28.1.—C.
c Ca. 5.6. 1 Ki. 10.5. ch. 27.33; ver. 36. Le. 26.36. Ps. 61.2.
1 Heb. went forth.
29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them,2 saying,
2 As soon as they returned home they acquainted their father with all these adventures; they told him the treatment they had received from the viceroy, and how he suspected them of being spies, of which they had no way of clearing themselves but by leaving Simeon bound in prison as a pledge till they should bring Benjamin, to show that what they told him of their family was true. These were sad tidings indeed; and what made their poor afflicted father break out into this melancholy complaint: 'That one way or other, him they had deprived of his children; that Joseph was dead, Simeon was left in Egypt, and now they were going to take Benjamin from him likewise, which were things too heavy for him to bear.'—Stackhouse.
30 Thed man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us,3 and took us for spies of the country.
d ver. 7-20.
3 Heb. with us hard things.
31 And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies.
32 We be 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 country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men: leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone;
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 both they and their father saw the 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 eare against me.
37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my ftwo sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
f Two of them, ch. 40.9.
38 And he said, 4My son shall not go down with you; for ghis brother is dead, and he is left alone:5 if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs hwith sorrow to the grave.
4 Let us beware in relation to temporal things of forming and pronouncing resolutions as to what we will or will not do. We know not what a day may bring forth. Even Jacob will not long keep this stern resolve. In things where the Spirit of God reveals a duty, we may, and should by the grace of God, resolve upon it; but in things where we know not the purposes of God, let us patiently wait on his providence.—C.
g ch. 37.33,35; 44.20,28,29.
5 Of Rachel's children.
A.M. 2297. B.C. 1707.
Notes
Ver. 7. Joseph dealt thus harshly with them, (1) That he might hereby procure a full account of the present state of his father's family: (2) That they might be the more thoroughly convinced of, and humbled for, their former sins, particularly their hatred, intended murder, and actual selling of himself: (3) To enhance their joy when he should discover himself: (4) To render the fulfilment of his own dreams the more conspicuous.
Reflections.—What a mercy it is to be assured that in the Canaan above there is no scarcity, no want! And here on earth one country can ordinarily supply the wants of another. But is it not strange that the accursed descendants of Ham should have plenty, when God's faithful people, the seed of Abraham, are in want! Yet even this is evidently to bring about his purposes for his people, and to show us that all the mysteries of his providence shall display his power and wisdom, and in the issue bring greater benefits to his redeemed; and, in God's time, the most malignant opposers of his designs are made willingly to submit thereto, and accomplish the same. But while trusting in the Lord, parents and masters ought to provide, with great care, for the external subsistence, and how much more for the religious edification, of their families. What harsh measures are sometimes necessary to awaken, and thoroughly convince, such consciences as have been long asleep and hardened in sin! but the fear of God, prevalent in the heart, effectually determines men to equity and benevolence, and restrains from tyrannical cruelty and injustice. Trying providences often recall sin to men's remembrance, and render that bitter which was formerly sweet. And it is indeed a needful stroke that awakens the conscience to a serious remembrance of former sins. When we share with others in their calamity, it is no small comfort to know ourselves clear of their guilt. How often God writes men's sins on their troubles! These Hebrews had sold their brother for money, and now his money fills them with dread; guilty consciences being subject to perpetual alarms. There is need of constant preparation for trials, as we often meet with them when and where they were least expected. But mournful is the case of families when mutual trust in one another is weakened. Surely there is great need of a holy disengagement from all creatures; for in proportion to our love to them, will be our fears of losing them, and our distress in parting from them. Very often the best of saints distress themselves with needless fears that all things are against them, when they are really, nay remarkably, working for their good. And no wonder, when the very children from whom distinguished comforts are justly expected, so often, by their wickedness, bring their aged parents with sorrow to the grave. But now, my soul, when Jesus deals roughly with me, to convince and humble my proud spirit, or to try my love to himself and his Father, and to my fellow-saints, let me always acknowledge my offences with brokenness of heart; and let me bless him who hath so planned, and so executes his schemes of redemption, that I am always obliged to return to himself, as my great supplier, in time of need.