Old Testament Commentary - Genesis 42

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 42 Jacob sends his sons to buy grain in Egypt—They bow before Joseph— He accuses them roughly imprisons Simeon, and sends them back for Benjamin.
1 NOW when Jacob saw that there was ^acorn 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 down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.		1^a TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 2^a Josh. 5:13; TG Angels ^b 3 Ne. 11:19; Ether 6:12; TG Courtesy 3^a JST Gen. 18:3 ...brethren... 4^a TG Washing ^b TG Hospitality 5^a OR sustain... ^b Gen. 19:8
3 ¶ And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy ^acorn in Egypt. 4 But ^aBenjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him^a.	4^a Lest peradventure mischief befall him What 'mischief' was Jacob fearful to befall he sole surviving son of Rachel? Was it only the happenstance of the journey to and from Egypt? Was it perhaps what might occur to Benjamin under the hands of the Egyptians while in Egypt? Or had Jacob been living under some suspicion as to the roll his other sons had played in the fate of his first and beloved son of Rachel, Joseph. Not knowing of the precise circumstance of Joseph's demise other than a tattered and torn remnant of a coat bloodied with blood, Jacob had had not further explanation of the fate of Joseph. What had Jacob noticed at the first telling and every other event of gathering with his sons relative to the matter since? Had Jacob become suspicious of his other ten sons' roll in the fate of Joseph? Tradition states that he had. And not is this a part of the concern of what 'mischief' might befall Benjamin during such a time and journey with Jacob's other sons all the way to Egypt and back?	1^a TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 2^a Josh. 5:13; TG Angels ^b 3 Ne. 11:19; Ether 6:12; TG Courtesy 3^a JST Gen. 18:3 ...brethren... 4^a TG Washing ^b TG Hospitality 5^a OR sustain... ^b Gen. 19:8
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 And Joseph was the ^agovernor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and ^bbowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.		1^a TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 2^a Josh. 5:13; TG Angels ^b 3 Ne. 11:19; Ether 6:12; TG Courtesy 3^a JST Gen. 18:3 ...brethren... 4^a TG Washing ^b TG Hospitality 5^a OR sustain... ^b Gen. 19:8
7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto 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 ^adreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.		1^a TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 2^a Josh. 5:13; TG Angels ^b 3 Ne. 11:19; Ether 6:12; TG Courtesy 3^a JST Gen. 18:3 ...brethren... 4^a TG Washing ^b TG Hospitality 5^a OR sustain... ^b Gen. 19:8
10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. 11 We are all one ^aman'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, 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 ^anot.
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 kept 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. 17 And he put them all together into ward three days^a.	17^a he put them all together into ward three days Joseph had been imprisoned for three years. Perhaps he felt that such an experience of being 'in ward' for three days for his brother was but a mild justice for them to experience as they would contemplate the fate they had sent their brother Joseph to by selling him into slavery in Egypt.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I ^afear God: 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 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 ^aguilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And ^aReuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his ^bblood is required.
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself about from them, and ^awept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
25 ¶ Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's ^amoney into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them. 26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his ^amoney; 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 heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?
29 ¶ And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying, 30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to 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 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 traffick 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 ^aBenjamin away: all these things are against me.
37 And ^aReuben 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 is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with ^asorrow to the grave.