Book of Genesis Chapter 42 Commentary by Pastor
Ron Beckham
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 42:1-11
Verses 1-2. "Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, 'Wy are you staring at one another?' He said, 'Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.'"
These people didn't have email, the postal service, telephones or any of the electronic and other services we have today, but the people of Jacob's time had surprisingly effective methods of communication. They were able to send letters in a limited fashion, rapid gossip was a favorite tool of just about everyone, and simple word-of-mouth was everywhere. Caravans took the news from town-to-town. The people of Canaan were in need at the moment because of a very bad famine and word had spread with surprising speed that the nation called Egypt had food for sale.
A famine literally could be a death sentence for a family business like the one owned by Jacob and it was not only about the people involved, but they also had at least hundreds of grazing animals to feed. The need was right NOW and Jacob, who had proven to be an effective manager of this large business, was speaking to his sons. He was telling them about the grain available in Egypt and they apparently did not want to go there. But he insisted - "Go down there and buy some" he insisted, and demanded, "Why are you staring at one another." He was right - it was about life or death for them all.
Verses 3-5. "Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, 'I am afraid that harm may befall him.' So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also."
When Jacob's son, Joseph, had apparently been killed some decades before, it broke Jacob's heart. Joseph was the first son of Rachel, the now deceased woman who was the love of Jacob's life. Benjamin was her second son and she died in childbirth while bearing him. Jacob had been deeply touched by Joseph, who gave that son special hand-made gifts like a multi-colored coat, and this relation of father and son had infuriated Joseph's older brothers, who had seen their chance, sold him into slavery and told their father that Joseph was dead.
Benjamin, the younger full-brother of Joseph, was Jacob's last connection to his beloved Rachel and he wasn't about to let the young man go. The other ten brothers reluctantly did what their father ordered and off they went to Egypt to buy grain. Notice in these verses how God operates in our lives. They had to go because their father said so, and because the "the famine was in (their) land of Canaan also," but they also went because God had arranged these circumstances, drawing this family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to Egypt.
Verse 6. "Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground."
We saw in the preceding chapter that Joseph had gone from the lowest of the low to become the supreme governor of all Egypt. The only person he was subordinate to in that land was the Pharaoh himself. Potiphar, Joseph's former Egyptian master, would have had to bow to him. Potiphar's wife, the woman who falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape, also had to bow before him. The money of Egypt was Joseph's to deal with as he wished, and the Egyptian treasury now became wealthy because of the grain he sold.
Among those who appeared before him in the long line of people who needed to buy grain were his older brothers. They "bowed down to him with their faces to the ground," an event that was foreshadowed within Joseph's God-given boyhood dreams as seen in Genesis Chapter 37. These were not some daydreams of Joseph; rather it was the placing of prophetic dreams into Joseph's mind by God Himself. And now, after all the years that led up to that moment, Joseph's brothers did exactly what God had revealed so long ago. We are blind to the future but God is not.
Verses 7-8. "When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, 'Where have you come from?' And they said, 'From the land of Canaan, to buy food.' But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him."
What must have Joseph felt when he clearly recognized his older brothers among those who came to buy from the granaries of Egypt? His emotions would have been, at the least very mixed. These were the men he had trusted as a boy and who had betrayed that trust. They trapped him, stripped him of his outer garments and were going to kill him, except that God arranged for a caravan to pass by at just that moment and instead, his brothers sold him into slavery. Have you been betrayed? and if so, how does it feel? Emotionally he was not ready to be recognized by them and so he "spoke to them harshly."
These brothers did not think that Joseph would be still alive anyway, and since he was completely out of any context they might expect, they did not recognize him at all. Joseph asked them, "Where have you come from?" but he knew exactly where they were from. Joseph had loved his family, felt comfortable as a son of Jacob, and never expected to be anything but that - a son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But here he was, decades away from his family, and he was the governor of all Egypt, with the power to kill everyone who stood before him, including these brothers. He would have trembled as he considered the alternatives available to him.
Verses 9-11. "Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.” Then they said to him, 'No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”
Joseph was astonished to see his brothers bowing before him, just as he had seen in the dreams given to him by God when he was a teenager. Amazing. But there was more. Joseph had personally seen how deceitful his brothers could be. Two of them had betrayed the trust of a whole community and had killed its male inhabitants (Genesis 34). And these were the brothers who had sold him into slavery. It was not only Joseph, but the Egyptians he governed were especially afraid of spies from Palestine because the terrain made Egypt vulnerable to attack from that place.
The denial of his brothers about his accusation against them would have meant little to him at the moment because he knew their ways and indeed they might truly have been spies. They said we have just "come to buy food" which was possible but he knew their character and decisions were bad. "We are all sons of one man," they said, and he knew that was the truth because he was a son of the same man, but when they continued, "We are honest men," he would have snorted with disbelief because he really KNEW them. Be honest with the people around you because your words and actions may confront you unexpectedly in the future.
Father, not one of us is fully honest, and so we simply open our hearts and surrender our lives to You, for You are honest, just and true. You are the One who can see tomorrow and make even our bad intentions become good. Be merciful to us; we confess our need of You. In Jesus Name. Save us from sin and from ourselves. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 42:12-25
Verses 12-13. "Yet he said to them, 'No, but you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land!' But they said, 'Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.'"
Joseph was watching the words and body language of his brothers very carefully. He undoubtedly prayed, for he simply was that kind of man. For all he knew they really were spies sent to "look at the undefended parts of (the land of Egypt)." He was the Governor, the leader of all who lived in that nation and part of his function would be to protect his adopted people from outsiders like these Canaanites, even though they were unknowingly his brothers. They responded to his suspicion about their motives with the same words as before, essentially stating "We're innocent," except for one thing.
They now inadvertently told Joseph of people he wanted very much to hear about. His brothers had thought he (Joseph) was dead, but of course he was not dead. Now he learned that his little brother, Benjamin, was still alive, and was home in Canaan with his father, Jacob, who was also still alive. His brothers still did not recognize Joseph and he was using their lack of knowledge as a lever to learn more. The last time he had been with them, they had attacked him, and he wasn't going to reveal any unnecessary information to people like these men.
Verses 14-16. "Joseph said to them, 'It is as I said to you, you are spies; by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.'"
Joseph was becoming aware by this time that his brothers were not spies, but his concern had shifted to his other brother, Benjamin. He did not trust them sufficiently to reveal his true identity. He wanted to see his younger brother and felt that if they promised to bring him to Egypt, to Joseph, they would find a way to NOT do it. So he continued his deception, hoping that their need for grain would outweigh any concern they might have had about him or for Benjamin.
His statement in the original language was something like, "As surely as Pharaoh lives, may retribution fall on you if you ever try to leave this place." His memory of these men was that they were deceitful and murderous. He wanted them to be personally so terrified for their own lives that they would reunite him with his brother and father. At the moment he was saying to them that all of them would go to jail, probably into the same prison he had himself been confined in, unless one of them was sent to bring Benjamin to him.
Verses 17-20. "So he put them all together in prison for three days. Now Joseph said to them on the third day, 'Do this and live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.' And they did so."
Joseph now was giving his brothers a taste of what he had experienced as a result of his own imprisonment. "He put them all together in prison for three days." Again, it was probably the same dungeon where he had spent several years as a prisoner himself. They had been the cause of his enslavement which led directly to his time in a federal prison and Joseph felt it was quite appropriate to treat these deceitful men in such a manner, even if it was only for a period of three days.
On the "third day" he ordered their release and then revealed to them that he believed in God just like they ostensibly did. He again questioned their honesty, and if you think about it, you'll recognize that when your honestly is questioned, one of the results is that it forces you to think about who you really are. He now used the youngest brother (Benjamin) in a manner that would cause them to bring him to Egypt. Grain would be sold to them to ease the affects of the famine in Canaan, but until Benjamin was brought to Joseph, one of his other brothers would stay in prison. It would be proof of their honesty, he was saying, and if they brought Benjamin, he would not execute them. And because they knew he had the power to kill them, they set out to do what he wanted.
Verses 21-22. "Then they said to one another, 'Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.' Reuben answered them, saying, 'Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy;' and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood.'"
The brothers did not yet know that it was Joseph who had spoken to them, but his words brought their past treatment of him into conscious thought. They agreed as they spoke about it among themselves: "Truly we are guilty..." And they were! Whatever you or I might think about Joseph's behavior and words at the moment, the fact is that the deceit and murderous actions of these brothers had caused Joseph to become what he was right now, and when they concluded, "therefore this distress has come upon us," they were right.
Reuben used this opportunity to remind his brothers that he was the one who argued to save Joseph's life, as reflected in Genesis 37:21 and its context, and his words were true. But it was also a kind of "I told you so" statement and the minds of his brothers were unlikely to be changed by his words. He agreed with their thinking, however, as he concluded: "Now comes the reckoning for his blood." They were all in trouble and were correctly recognizing that they had brought this trouble on themselves.
Verses 23-25. "They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. He turned away from them and wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them."
These sons of Jacob were discussing their problem among themselves right in front of the throne on which Joseph sat at the moment, and they spoke in Hebrew, not having any idea that this governor, this Egyptian, could even remotely understand what they were saying. But he did understand perfectly for he had been raised in that language. They had been speaking through an interpreter he had summoned with just such a moment as this in his mind.
He understood their words and saw that his brothers had some sorrow about what they had done to him, but he still did not trust them though the situation touched him deeply, for "he turned away from them and wept." But that was only for a moment because he blinked away his tears and then ordered Simeon, Jacob's second son after Reuben (Genesis 29:32-33) to be "bound... before their eyes." He then ordered that the others would have their bags filled with grain, and provisions given them for the trip home, but their money was to be tossed into the sacks with the grain. Once again they would be made to be afraid that they would be accused as thieves and executed by the Egyptians.
Father, You are holy and You are very real, which means that our bad thoughts and actions will bring retribution upon us in the future. We confess our sins to You now and ask for the forgiveness that only God can bring. Thank You for delivering us. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 42:26-38
Verses 26-28. "So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. Then he said to his brothers, 'My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.' And their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, 'What is this that God has done to us?'"
Joseph's brothers started their long, slow trip back to the land of Canaan, traveling north and east from Egypt. They were stunned because of the loss of their brother Simeon to a prison in the land they were now departing. They helplessly watched him be bound and taken away at the order of this "governor" they had bowed before just a short time ago. They still had no idea that the man who was introduced to them as Governor "Zathnath-Panneah" (Genesis 41:45) was actually Joseph, the brother they had betrayed so long ago.
And now they were encountering an additional shock. When they stopped to rest for the night, one of the brothers opened his grain sack to feed his donkey and he was amazed to see that his money was in the top of that sack. He told his brothers about it, and they became very afraid because if they were to return to Egypt for more grain, which they had to do in order to rescue their brother, Simeon, they would all be called "thieves" and be arrested on the spot. These men did believe in God according to the words of Verse 28, and they did believe that He intervenes in human affairs, so they wondered, "What is this that God has done to us?"
Verses 29-30. "When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying,
'The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country.'"
The sons of Jacob had now returned from the land of Egypt to their father Jacob's encampment in the land of Canaan, and they began to tell him - everything! They were shocked by the treatment they had received from this "lord of the land" who had interrogated them, accused them of being spies and had arrested Simeon, Jacob's second oldest son. Jacob, their father, who was still embittered because of the supposed death years before of his favorite son, Joseph, listened intently to their every word. He didn't want to lose another son.
Jacob continued to listen about this "lord of the land" who had spoken harshly to his sons. No thoughts of retribution were in his mind because Egypt was a great nation and he was merely the chieftain of a family of sheep herders. The sons continued relating that Egypt's governor had accused them of being spies, and he knew that spying was a common practice then, just as it is now. Outsiders were viewed with suspicion.
Verses 31-32. "But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’"
Jacob's sons continued to tell him what had happened during their time in Egypt when they were attempting to buy grain, and their story was essentially accurate. They had denied the charges which were brought against them, replying, "We are honest men; we are not spies." Some of them must have choked slightly at the words, "We are honest men" because they had been deceiving their father, Jacob, about what had happened to their brother Joseph for many years.
They honestly reported that they were a family of "twelve brothers," and then continued that they were "sons of our father," implying the truth that they were not the sons of just one mother. And when they spoke the lie that "one is no longer alive," the words must have touched Joseph's heart, just as they now touched Jacob, because Joseph was the favorite of his father. The "youngest" of course, was Benjamin, the full brother of Joseph.
Verses 33-35. "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 households, and go.
But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.'
Now it came about as they were emptying 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 dismayed."
Jacob's other sons, Joseph's brothers, spoke of "the lord of the land" who had frightened them while they were in Egypt. He called them "spies" and imprisoned one of them as they left that country, but they did not know it was Joseph who had confronted them. As it is true for so many liars, the trumped-up lie they had told Jacob about Joseph's "death" had become real to them as well. Jacob believed the story and so did they. They could not imagine that Joseph was alive after all those years.
They now concluded the story of their Egyptian adventure to Jacob, their father, continuing the recitation of the words told to them by this "lord of the land." Joseph's test of their honesty was that one of their brothers would remain in custody in Egypt, and that was Simeon, the next to oldest. They had no choice and so they left Simeon, took the grain in their sacks, and returned to ask their father if Benjamin, the youngest, could go with them. Then came the difficult part of the story - "every man's bundle of money was in his sack" with the grain. They showed the bundles of money to their father and everyone was very upset.
Verses 36-38. "Their father Jacob said to them, 'You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.'
Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, 'You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my care, and I will return him to you.'
But Jacob said, 'My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.'"
They hadn't known what to tell Jacob and so they simply told him the truth, not knowing what Jacob's response would be. Their father now pointed a finger at them all, accusing them of taking Joseph from him, which was the truth, and now causing the loss of Simeon, which was at least partly true. Reuben was the oldest of Jacob's twelve sons and he now was courageous enough to speak to their father and make a personal pledge that he would protect Benjamin, the youngest from harm.
Reuben made quite a promise - If anything happened to Benjamin, he was giving permission for Jacob to kill his own two sons if Benjamin did not come back. That Jacob would do so seemed unlikely to all of them because the two boys in question were not only Reuben's sons, but they also were Jacob's grandsons. Jacob now said "no" to Reuben and the rest of his sons. He forbid them from taking Benjamin anywhere. The phrase "his brother is dead" referred to Joseph, and Benjamin was the only remaining son of Jacob's beloved wife, Rachel. Jacob's hair was now gray from age and he told them that if harm came to Benjamin, he would live the rest of his life and go to the place of the dead in sorrow. He would never smile again. Simeon was to be left in an Egyptian prison without possibility of release.
Father, You are very real, and because of You, our lies and our bad actions have a way of returning to us when we least expect them. We place our trust in You, Lord, knowing that only You can make things, can make us right. In Jesus Name. Amen.
