8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
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; 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 not.
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.
8 And Joseph H3130 knew H5234 his brethren, H251 but they knew H5234 not him.
9 And Joseph H3130 remembered H2142 the dreams H2472 which he dreamed H2492 of them, and said H559 unto them, Ye are spies; H7270 to see H7200 the nakedness H6172 of the land H776 ye are come. H935
10 And they said H559 unto him, Nay, my lord, H113 but to buy H7666 food H400 are thy servants H5650 come. H935
11 We H5168 are all one H259 man's H376 sons; H1121 we are true H3651 men, thy servants H5650 are no spies. H7270
12 And he said H559 unto them, Nay, but to see H7200 the nakedness H6172 of the land H776 ye are come. H935
13 And they said, H559 Thy servants H5650 are twelve H8147 H6240 brethren, H251 the sons H1121 of one H259 man H376 in the land H776 of Canaan; H3667 and, behold, the youngest H6996 is this day H3117 with our father, H1 and one H259 is not.
14 And Joseph H3130 said H559 unto them, That is it that I spake H1696 unto you, saying, H559 Ye are spies: H7270
15 Hereby H2063 ye shall be proved: H974 By the life H2416 of Pharaoh H6547 ye shall not go forth H3318 hence, except your youngest H6996 brother H251 come H935 hither.
16 Send H7971 one H259 of you, and let him fetch H3947 your brother, H251 and ye shall be kept in prison, H631 that your words H1697 may be proved, H974 whether there be any truth H571 in H854 you: or else H3808 by the life H2416 of Pharaoh H6547 surely ye are spies. H7270
17 And he put them all together H622 into ward H4929 three H7969 days. H3117
8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
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; 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, We 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 not.
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 bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be 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.
8 And Joseph discerneth his brethren, but they have not discerned him,
9 and Joseph remembereth the dreams which he dreamed of them, and saith unto them, `Ye `are' spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye have come.'
10 And they say unto him, `No, my lord, but thy servants have come to buy food;
11 we `are' all of us sons of one man, we `are' right men; thy servants have not been spies;'
12 and he saith unto them, `No, but the nakedness of the land ye have come to see;'
13 and they say, `Thy servants `are' twelve brethren; we `are' sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and lo, the young one `is' with our father to-day, and the one is not.'
14 And Joseph saith unto them, `This `is' that which I have spoken unto you, saying, Ye `are' spies,
15 by this ye are proved: Pharaoh liveth! if ye go out from this -- except by your young brother coming hither;
16 send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and ye, remain ye bound, and let your words be proved, whether truth be with you: and if not -- Pharaoh liveth! surely ye `are' spies;'
17 and he removeth them unto charge three days.
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.
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 this day with our father, and one is no more."
14 Joseph said to them, "It is like I told you, saying, 'You are spies.'
15 Hereby you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh you shall not go forth from here, unless your youngest brother come 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 three days.
8 Now though Joseph saw that these were his brothers, they had no idea who he was.
9 Then the memory of his dreams about them came back to Joseph, and he said to them, You have come secretly to see how poor the land is.
10 And they said to him, Not so, my lord: your servants have come with money to get food.
11 We are all one man's sons, we are true men; we have not come with any secret purpose.
12 And he said to them, No, but you have come to see how poor the land is.
13 Then they said, We your servants are twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan; the youngest of us is now with our father, and one is dead.
14 And Joseph said, It is as I said; you have come with some secret purpose;
15 But in this way will you be put to the test: by the life of Pharaoh, you will not go away from this place till your youngest brother comes here.
16 Send one of your number to get your brother, and the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are true; if not, by the life of Pharaoh, your purpose is certainly secret.
17 So he put them in prison for three days.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 42
Commentary on Genesis 42 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 42
Ge 42:1-38. Journey into Egypt.
1. Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt—learned from common rumor. It is evident from Jacob's language that his own and his sons' families had suffered greatly from the scarcity; and through the increasing severity of the scourge, those men, who had formerly shown both activity and spirit, were sinking into despondency. God would not interpose miraculously when natural means of preservation were within reach.
5. the famine was in the land of Canaan—The tropical rains, which annually falling swell the Nile, are those of Palestine also; and their failure would produce the same disastrous effects in Canaan as in Egypt. Numerous caravans of its people, therefore, poured over the sandy desert of Suez, with their beasts of burden, for the purchase of corn; and among others, "the sons of Israel" were compelled to undertake a journey from which painful associations made them strongly averse.
6. Joseph was the governor—in the zenith of his power and influence.
he it was that sold—that is, directed the sales; for it is impossible that he could give attendance in every place. It is probable, however, that he may have personally superintended the storehouses near the border of Canaan, both because that was the most exposed part of the country and because he must have anticipated the arrival of some messengers from his father's house.
Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him—His prophetic dreams [Ge 37:5-11] were in the course of being fulfilled, and the atrocious barbarity of his brethren had been the means of bringing about the very issue they had planned to prevent (Isa 60:14; Re 3:9, last clause).
7, 8. Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, … but they knew not him—This is not strange. They were full-grown men—he was but a lad at parting. They were in their usual garb—he was in his official robes. They never dreamt of him as governor of Egypt, while he had been expecting them. They had but one face; he had ten persons to judge by.
made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly—It would be an injustice to Joseph's character to suppose that this stern manner was prompted by any vindictive feelings—he never indulged any resentment against others who had injured him. But he spoke in the authoritative tone of the governor in order to elicit some much-longed-for information respecting the state of his father's family, as well as to bring his brethren, by their own humiliation and distress, to a sense of the evils they had done to him.
9-14. Ye are spies—This is a suspicion entertained regarding strangers in all Eastern countries down to the present day. Joseph, however, who was well aware that his brethren were not spies, has been charged with cruel dissimulation, with a deliberate violation of what he knew to be the truth, in imputing to them such a character. But it must be remembered that he was sustaining the part of a ruler; and, in fact, acting on the very principle sanctioned by many of the sacred writers, and our Lord Himself, who spoke parables (fictitious stories) to promote a good end.
15. By the life of Pharaoh—It is a very common practice in Western Asia to swear by the life of the king. Joseph spoke in the style of an Egyptian and perhaps did not think there was any evil in it. But we are taught to regard all such expressions in the light of an oath (Mt 5:34; Jas 5:12).
17-24. put them … into ward three days—Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience [Ge 42:21, 22].
24. took … Simeon, and bound him—He had probably been the chief instigator—the most violent actor in the outrage upon Joseph; and if so, his selection to be the imprisoned and fettered hostage for their return would, in the present course of their reflections, have a painful significance.
25-28. Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money—This private generosity was not an infringement of his duty—a defrauding of the revenue. He would have a discretionary power—he was daily enriching the king's exchequer—and he might have paid the sum from his own purse.
27. inn—a mere station for baiting beasts of burden.
he espied his money—The discovery threw them into greater perplexity than ever. If they had been congratulating themselves on escaping from the ruthless governor, they perceived that now he would have a handle against them; and it is observable that they looked upon this as a judgment of heaven. Thus one leading design of Joseph was gained in their consciences being roused to a sense of guilt.
35. as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's … money was in his sack—It appears that they had been silent about the money discovery at the resting-place, as their father might have blamed them for not instantly returning. However innocent they knew themselves to be, it was universally felt to be an unhappy circumstance, which might bring them into new and greater perils.
36. Me have ye bereaved—This exclamation indicates a painfully excited state of feeling, and it shows how difficult it is for even a good man to yield implicit submission to the course of Providence. The language does not imply that his missing sons had got foul play from the hands of the rest, but he looks upon Simeon as lost, as well as Joseph, and he insinuates it was by some imprudent statements of theirs that he was exposed to the risk of losing Benjamin also.
37. Reuben spake, … Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee—This was a thoughtless and unwarrantable condition—one that he never seriously expected his father would accept. It was designed only to give assurance of the greatest care being taken of Benjamin. But unforeseen circumstances might arise to render it impossible for all of them to preserve that young lad (Jas 4:13), and Jacob was much pained by the prospect. Little did he know that God was dealing with him severely, but in kindness (Heb 12:7, 8), and that all those things he thought against Him were working together for his good.