1 And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down thither and buy [grain] for us from thence, in order that we may live, and not die.
3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy [grain] out of Egypt.
4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest mischief may befall him.
5 So the sons of Israel came to buy [grain] among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph, he was the governor over the land -- he it was that sold [the corn] to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and bowed down to him, the face to the earth.
7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and knew them; but he made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them, and said to them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.
8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they did not know him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamt of them; and he said to them, Ye are spies: to see the exposed places of the land ye are come.
10 And they said to him, No, my lord; but to buy food are thy servants come.
11 We are all one man's sons; we are honest: thy servants are not spies.
12 And he said to them, No; but to see the exposed places of the land are ye come.
13 And they said, Thy servants were twelve brethren, 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 to them, That is it that I have spoken to you, saying, Ye are spies.
15 By this ye shall be put to the proof: as Pharaoh lives, ye shall not go forth hence, unless your youngest brother come hither!
16 Send one of you, that he may fetch your brother, but ye shall be imprisoned, and your words shall be put to the proof, whether the truth is in you; and if not, as Pharaoh lives, ye are spies.
17 And he put them in custody three days.
18 And Joseph said to them the third day, This do, that ye may live: I fear God.
19 If ye are honest, let one of your brethren remain bound in the house of your prison, but go ye, carry grain for the hunger of your households;
20 and bring your youngest brother to me, in order that your words be verified, and that ye may not die. And they did so.
21 Then they said one to another, We are indeed guilty concerning our brother, whose anguish of soul we saw when he besought us, and we did not hearken; therefore this distress is come upon us.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the lad? But ye did not hearken; and now behold, his blood also is required.
23 And they did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them.
24 And he turned away from them, and wept. And he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 42
Commentary on Genesis 42 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 42
We had, in the foregoing chapter, the fulfilling of the dreams which Joseph had interpreted: in this and the following chapters we have the fulfilling of the dreams which Joseph himself had dreamed, that his father's family should do homage to him. The story is very largely and particularly related of what passed between Joseph and his brethren, not only because it is an entertaining story, and probably was much talked of, both among the Israelites and among the Egyptians, but because it is very instructive, and it gave occasion for the removal of Jacob's family into Egypt, on which so many great events afterwards depended. We have, in this chapter,
Gen 42:1-6
Though Jacob's sons were all married, and had families of their own, yet, it should seem, they were still incorporated in one society, under the conduct and presidency of their father Jacob. We have here,
Gen 42:7-20
We may well wonder that Joseph, during the twenty years that he had now been in Egypt, especially during the last seven years that he had been in power there, never sent to his father to acquaint him with his circumstances; nay, it is strange that he who so often went throughout all the land of Egypt (ch. 41:45, 46) never made an excursion to Canaan, to visit his aged father, when he was in the borders of Egypt, that lay next to Canaan. Perhaps it would not have been above three or four days' journey for him in his chariot. It is a probable conjecture that his whole management of himself in this affair was by special direction from Heaven, that the purpose of God concerning Jacob and his family might be accomplished. When Joseph's brethren came, he knew them by many a satisfactory token, but they knew not him, little thinking to find him there, v. 8. He remembered the dreams (v. 9), but they had forgotten them. The laying up of God's oracles in our hearts will be of excellent use to us in all our conduct. Joseph had an eye to his dreams, which he knew to be divine, in his carriage towards his brethren, and aimed at the accomplishment of them and the bringing of his brethren to repentance for their former sins; and both these points were gained.
Gen 42:21-28
Here is,
Gen 42:29-38
Here is,