*Genesis 42:1-38
Facing famine, Jacob’s sons travel to Egypt to buy grain, unaware they are dealing with their powerful brother Joseph.
- Jacob Sends His Sons to Egypt:
- During a severe famine affecting Canaan, Jacob learns that there is grain for sale in Egypt and sends ten of his sons (excluding Benjamin) to buy provisions, in order to preserve their family.
- Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt:
- Joseph, now the governor of Egypt and in charge of selling grain, encounters his brothers as they come to buy food. They do not recognize him, but he immediately recognizes them.
- Recalling the dreams he once had about them, Joseph decides to test their characters.
- Joseph’s Accusations and Testing:
- Joseph accuses his brothers of being spies. Despite their protests and explanations of their family situation, he insists on their guilt.
- He proposes a test: one of them must return to Canaan and bring back their youngest brother, Benjamin, to prove their honesty.
- Imprisonment and Reflection:
- Joseph imprisons all brothers for three days. On the third day, he modifies his demand, deciding to keep only one brother in prison while the others take grain back to their starving households, insisting they bring Benjamin back to him.
- During their detention, the brothers express guilt over their treatment of Joseph many years ago, believing their current plight is divine retribution. Unbeknownst to them, Joseph understands their conversation and is moved to tears.
- Simeon Held, Brothers Return:
- Joseph orders Simeon to be bound and kept in Egypt as the hostage. He then instructs his servants to fill the brothers’ sacks with grain and secretly return their payment by placing the silver in their sacks.
- Discovery and Fear:
- Upon stopping for the night, one brother discovers the silver in his sack and fears that they will be accused of theft. This fear intensifies when they return home and find all their sacks contain the returned silver.
- Report to Jacob and Dilemma:
- The brothers recount everything to Jacob, including the demand to bring Benjamin to Egypt.
- Jacob is distraught at the thought of losing Benjamin, especially since he believes Joseph is already dead and Simeon is now held in Egypt. He refuses to let Benjamin go.
- Reuben’s Pledge:
- Reuben tries to reassure Jacob by offering the lives of his own two sons if he does not bring Benjamin back safely. Despite this, Jacob remains resolute, refusing to risk Benjamin’s safety
Genesis 42:1-38 teaches us about forgiveness, responsibility, and how God can use past struggles for good. Joseph’s brothers once betrayed him, but now they faced the consequences of their actions. Meanwhile, Joseph had the chance to get revenge but instead tested their hearts. This reminds us that our choices have lasting effects, but God can bring healing and restoration. It also encourages us to take responsibility for our actions and seek reconciliation when possible. This passage shows that even in difficult situations, God is working behind the scenes for a greater purpose.
Genesis 42:1-38 (WEB)
42:1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.” 3 Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.” 5 The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. 7 Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?”They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. 9 Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”10 They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”12 He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”13 They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.”14 Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ 15 By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” 17 He put them all together into custody for three days.18 Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God. 19 If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. 20 Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.”They did so. 21 They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22 Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.” 23 They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. 24 He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them.26 They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there. 27 As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 28 He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” 29 They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’ ”35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”37 Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”38 He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”