A verse by verse commentary on Genesis chapter 42 dealing with the brothers of Joseph going to Egypt and being confronted by Joseph, and then being found with stolen goods on the way home.

1. GE ESIS 42 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in
Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep
looking at each other?”
BAR ES, "Gen_42:1-5
The aged Jacob is the only man of counsel. “Behold, I have heard there is grain in
Mizraim:” go down and buy. The ten brothers are sent, and Benjamin, the youngest, is
retained, not merely because of his youth, for he was now twenty-four years of age, but
because he was the son of his father’s old age, the only son of Rachel now with him, and
the only full brother of the lost Joseph. “Lest mischief befall him,” and so no child of
Rachel would be left. “Among those that went.” The dearth was widespread in the land of
Kenaan.
CLARKE, "Jacob saw that there was corn - That is, Jacob heard from the report
of others that there was plenty in Egypt. The operations of one sense, in Hebrew, are
often put for those of another. Before agriculture was properly known and practiced,
famines were frequent; Canaan seems to have been peculiarly vexed by them. There was
one in this land in the time of Abraham, Gen_12:10; another in the days of Isaac, Gen_
26:1; and now a third in the time of Jacob. To this St. Stephen alludes, Act_7:11 : there
was great affliction, and our fathers found no sustenance.
GILL, "Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt,.... That is, to be sold
there, or otherwise it being there, unless it could be bought, would have been of no avail
to foreigners; wherefore the Septuagint version is, that there was a sale (w) there, a sale
of corn; the word has the signification of "breaking" (x) in it, because that bread corn is
broke in the mill, or is broken from the heap when sold or distributed, or because when

2. eaten it breaks the fast. Now Jacob had either seen persons passing by with corn, of
whom he inquired from whence they had it, who replied, from Egypt; or he understood
by the report of others that corn was to be bought there; though some of the Jewish
writers would have it, as Jarchi observes, that he saw it by the revelation of the Holy
Spirit:
Jacob said unto, his sons, why do ye look one upon another? like persons in
surprise, distress and despair, at their wits' end, not knowing what to do, what course to
take, and which way to turn themselves, and scarce able to speak to one another, and
consult with each other what was proper to be done; for it seems not so agreeable that
they should be charged as idle persons, careless and unconcerned, indifferent and
inactive; but rather, if the other sense is not acceptable, the meaning may be, "why do ye
look?" (y) here and there, in the land of Canaan, where it is to no purpose to look for
corn; look where it is to be had.
HAWKER, "A gracious GOD in his over-ruling providence, having caused a famine of
bread to prevail in Canaan, compels thereby the sons of Jacob to go down into Egypt to
seek sustenance for themselves and their household. And this brings about the leading
design which the LORD had in view, (as the HOLY GHOST informs the Church, Psa_
105:16-17.) in sending Joseph before his family into Egypt. The contents of this Chapter,
are: the departure of the sons of Jacob from Canaan: their arrival at Egypt: their
appearance before Joseph: their unconsciousness of him: his knowledge of them: their
humbling themselves before him: his treatment of them: he supplies them with corn, but
detains Simeon; their return to Canaan: and the distress of their father in finding that
they had left Simeon behind. Gen_42:1
Reader! recollect that at our last view of Jacob, we left him in a state of the greatest
affliction, on the supposed loss of Joseph Gen_37:35. Here we find him in the midst of
his family, likely to perish for want of bread! Remember what JESUS saith, Joh_16:33.
Then read that sweet scripture, Isa_33:16.
HE RY, "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,
I. The orders he gave them to go and buy corn in Egypt, Gen_42:1, Gen_42:2.
Observe, 1. The famine was grievous in the land of Canaan. It is observable that all the
three patriarches, to whom Canaan was the land of promise, met with famine in that
land, which was not only to try their faith, whether they could trust God though he
should slay them, though he should starve them, but to teach them to seek the better
country, that is, the heavenly, Heb_11:14-16. We have need of something to wean us
from this world, and make us long for a better. 2. Still, when there was famine in
Canaan, there was corn in Egypt. Thus Providence orders it, that one place should be a
succour and supply to another; for we are all brethren. The Egyptians, the seed of
accursed Ham, have plenty, when God's blessed Israel want: Thus God, in dispensing
common favours, often crosses hands. Yet observe, The plenty Egypt now had was
owing, under God, to Joseph's prudence and care: if his brethren had not sold him into
Egypt, but respected him according to his merits, who knows but he might have done the

3. same thing for Jacob's family which now he had done for Pharaoh, and the Egyptians
might then have come to them to buy corn? but those who drive away from among them
wise and good men know not what they do. 3. Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt;
he saw the corn that his neighbours had bought there and brought home. It is a spur to
exertion to see where supplies are to be had, and to see others supplied. Shall others get
food for their souls, and shall we starve while it is to be had? 4. He reproved his sons for
delaying to provide corn for their families. Why do you look one upon another? Note,
When we are in trouble and want, it is folly for us to stand looking upon one another,
that is, to stand desponding and despairing, as if there were no hope, no help, - to stand
disputing either which shall have the honour of going first or which shall have the safety
of coming last, - to stand deliberating and debating what we shall do, and doing nothing,
- to stand dreaming under a spirit of slumber, as if we had nothing to do, and to stand
delaying, as if we had time at command. Let it never be said, “We left that to be done
tomorrow which we could a well have done today.” 5. He quickened them to go to Egypt:
Get you down thither. Masters of families must not only pray for daily bread for their
families, and food convenient, but must lay out themselves with care and industry to
provide it.
JAMISO , "Gen_42:1-38. Journey into Egypt.
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.
K&D 1-6, "With the words “Why do ye look at one another!” viz., in such a helpless
and undecided manner. Jacob exhorted his sons to fetch corn from Egypt, to preserve
his family from starvation. Joseph's ten brothers went, as their aged father would not
allow his youngest son Benjamin to go with them, for fear that some calamity might
befall him (‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ק‬ = ‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫,ק‬ Gen_44:29 as in Gen_42:38 and Gen_49:1); and they came “in the
midst of the comers,” i.e., among others who came from the same necessity, and bowed
down before Joseph with their faces to the earth. For he was “the ruler over the land,”
and had the supreme control of the sale of the corn, so that they were obliged to apply to
him. ‫יט‬ ִ ַ ַ‫ה‬ seems to have been the standing title which the Shemites gave to Joseph as
ruler in Egypt; and from this the later legend of Σάλατις the first king of the Hyksos arose
(Josephus c. Ap. i. 14). The only other passages in which the word occurs in the Old
Testament are in writings of the captivity or a still later date, and there it is taken from
the Chaldee; it belongs, however, not merely to the Aramaean thesaurus, but to the
Arabic also, from which it was introduced into the passage before us.
CALVI , "1. ow when Jacob saw. Moses begins, in this chapter, to treat of the
occasion which drew Jacob with his whole family into Egypt; and thus leaves it to us
to consider by what hidden and unexpected methods God may perform whatever he

4. has decreed. Though, therefore, the providence of God is in itself a labyrinth; yet
when we connect the issue of things with their beginnings, that admirable method of
operation shines clearly in our view, which is not generally acknowledged, only
because it is far removed from our observation. Also our own indolence hinders us
from perceiving God, with the eyes of faith, as holding the government of the world;
because we either imagine fortune to be the mistress of events, or else, adhering to
near and natural causes, we weave them together, and spread them as veils before
our eyes. Whereas, therefore, scarcely any more illustrious representation of Divine
Providence is to be found than this history furnishes; let pious readers carefully
exercise themselves in meditation upon it, in order that they may acknowledge those
things which, in appearance, are fortuitous, to be directed by the hand of God.
Why do ye look one upon another? Why do ye Men are said to look one upon
another, when each is waiting for the other, and, for want of counsel, no one dares to
attempt anything. Jacob, therefore, censures this inactivity of his sons, because none
of them endeavors to provide for the present necessity. Moses also says that they
went into Egypt at the command of their father, and even without Benjamin; by
which he intimates that filial reverence at that time was great; because envy of their
brother did not prevent them from leaving their wives and children, and
undertaking a long journey. He also adds, that they came in the midst of a great
crowd of people; which enhances the fame of Joseph; who, while supplying food for
all Egypt, and dispensing it by measure, till the end of the drought, could also afford
assistance to neighboring nations.
HAWKER, "Verse 1
A gracious GOD in his over-ruling providence, having caused a famine of bread to
prevail in Canaan, compels thereby the sons of Jacob to go down into Egypt to seek
sustenance for themselves and their household. And this brings about the leading
design which the LORD had in view, (as the HOLY GHOST informs the Church,
Psalms 105:16-17.) in sending Joseph before his family into Egypt. The contents of
this Chapter, are: the departure of the sons of Jacob from Canaan: their arrival at
Egypt: their appearance before Joseph: their unconsciousness of him: his knowledge
of them: their humbling themselves before him: his treatment of them: he supplies
them with corn, but detains Simeon; their return to Canaan: and the distress of
their father in finding that they had left Simeon behind. Genesis 42:1
Reader! recollect that at our last view of Jacob, we left him in a state of the greatest
affliction, on the supposed loss of Joseph Genesis 37:35. Here we find him in the

5. midst of his family, likely to perish for want of bread! Remember what JESUS saith,
John 16:33. Then read that sweet scripture, Isaiah 33:16.
BE SO , "Genesis 42:1-2. When Jacob saw — That is, heard, as the word is used,
Exodus 20:18; or saw the corn which his neighbours had bought there and brought
home. Why look ye one upon another? — As careless and helpless persons, each one
expecting relief from the other; but none offering either counsel or help for the
subsistence of all. Go down thither — Masters of families must not only pray for
daily bread for their families, but must, with care and industry, endeavour to
provide it.
COFFMA , "Introduction
This, the sixth episode in the [~toledowth] of Jacob, recounts the onset of the famine
with its impact upon Israel, the ten sons journeying to Egypt to buy grain, Joseph's
recognition of his brothers, and his maneuvering to keep Simeon bound in Egypt
until they should return another day. We may entitle the events of this chapter:
THE JOUR EY I TO EGYPT
The remarkable narrative of the events recorded in this and related chapters is so
vivid, true to life, and charged with emotion, that one may only marvel at the type of
vicious and arrogant unbelief that would attempt to split the sources, contradict its
plainest affirmations, and impose some corrupted substitute for what the Word of
God says. The events of these chapters "are true to life and fit the character of Jacob
(depicted in Genesis 25 and Genesis 26), making it difficult to accept the view of
some scholars that two disparate sources lie behind the present material."[1]
Verse 1-2
" ow Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons, Why
do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain
in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence, that we may live, and
not die."

6. This record of a family council precipitated by the stern realities of the terrible
famine and the threat of death from starvation emphasizes the authority and
decisiveness of Jacob, whose "energy and resourcefulness (of the father) is (sic) set
in striking contrast to the perplexity of the sons."[2] Such a glimpse underlines the
fact that we are actually dealing with the [~toledowth] of Jacob, not that of Joseph.
Like any good narrative, this one leaves out many things. It is not related how Jacob
learned of the availability of grain in Egypt, nor what proposals (if any) his sons
offered as a remedy for the situation. Whatever discussions and proposals were
discussed and rejected, Jacob resolved them all by the order, "Get you down thither,
and buy for us from thence!"
CO STABLE, "Verses 1-7
Twenty-one years after his brothers sold Joseph into slavery they bowed before him
in fulfillment of his youthful dreams ( Genesis 42:6-7; cf. Genesis 37:5-9). Ronald
Hyman analyzed Joseph"s skillful use of questions to uncover his brothers"
attitudes and intentions as well as the key role of questions in the whole Joseph
narrative-there are30 to40 of them. [ ote: Ronald T. Hyman, "Questions in the
Joseph Story: The Effects and Their Implications for Teaching," Religious
Education (Summer1984):437-55.]
"The time was when Joseph"s brethren were men of high respectability in the land
of Canaan, whilst Joseph himself was a slave or a prisoner in the land of Egypt.
ow, by a signal reverse, Joseph was governor over all the land of Egypt, while they
appeared before him as humble suppliants, almost craving as an alms those supplies
of food for which they were both able and willing to pay the price demanded."
[ ote: Bush, 2:298.]
"The double identification of Joseph as hassallit [administrator] and hammasbir
[dispenser] recall Joseph"s two earlier dreams, the one in which the sun, moon, and
eleven stars bowed before him (his position of authority), and the other in which the
brothers" sheaves bowed before his sheaf (his position of provider)." [ ote:
Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters18-50 , p519. Cf. Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical
arrative, p163.]

7. People who sell their brother into slavery are not trustworthy. Therefore Joseph
retained power over his brothers until he could trust them.
The chiastic structure of Genesis 42:7-24 focuses attention on the brothers"
imprisonment.
"A Joseph knew his brothers and remembered ( Genesis 42:7-9 a).
B Joseph accused them of being spies, but they explained their situation (
Genesis 42:9-13).
C Joseph set out a test whereby they could prove they were honest men (14-16).
D Joseph put them in prison ( Genesis 42:17).
C" Joseph set out a new test for the brothers to prove they were honest ( Genesis
42:18-20).
B" The brothers confessed their guilt concerning their brother, and Reuben
accused them of their fault ( Genesis 42:21-22).
A" Joseph understood and wept ( Genesis 42:23-24)." [ ote: Ross, Creation and
. . ., p649.]
ELLICOTT, "(1) When Jacob saw.—That is, learned, understood, that there was
corn in Egypt. As we have seen (Genesis 37:25), there was a large caravan trade
between Palestine and Egypt, and the report would gradually get abroad that food

8. might be purchased there.
Why do ye look . . . —In the second rainless season not only would the flocks and
herds begin to languish, but the numerous retainers of Jacob and his sons would
also become enfeebled from insufficient nourishment, and begin to die of low fever
and those other diseases which follow in the train of famine. Jacob’s words,
therefore, mean, Why are you irresolute, and uncertain what to do? And then he
encourages them to take this journey as a possible means of providing for the wants
of their households.
PETT, "The First Visit of the Brothers to Egypt to Buy Corn (Genesis 42:1-38).
Genesis 42:1-4
‘ ow Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do
you look one on another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is corn in
Egypt. Get yourselves down there and buy for us from there, that we might live and
not die.” And Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy corn from Egypt, but Jacob
did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he said “In case
mischief befalls him.” ’
At this stage, of course, they did not know that there were years of famine to come.
But things were clearly bad. The rain had not come and their stores of corn were
getting low and there was little prospect of renewing it locally, for everyone was
suffering in the same way. But then came the news that Egypt had a sufficiency of
corn and was willing to sell it to foreigners.
Through the centuries Egypt, with its usually unfailing water source in the ile, was
famed for its agricultural prosperity, and would regularly welcome Canaanites who
would come in times of famine, and they would provide for them in return for
reward. They were regularly welcomed into the areas across the borders, where they
were allowed to stay until the situation improved and they could return to their own
place. On one ancient grave relief ‘Asiatics who did not know from what they would
live’ are depicted as bowing before the general Haremhab (c1330 BC).

9. So he had no hesitation in sending his sons to buy corn there. But he refused to let
Benjamin go because he still remembered what had (in his own mind) happened to
Joseph.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "VISITS OF JOSEPH’S BRETHRE
Genesis 42:1-38; Genesis 43:1-34; Genesis 44:1-34
"Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me;
but God meant it unto good."- Genesis 50:19-20.
THE purpose of God to bring Israel into Egypt was accomplished by the
unconscious agency of Joseph’s natural affection for his kindred. Tenderness
towards home is usually increased by residence in a foreign land; for absence, like a
little death, sheds a halo round those separated from us. But Joseph could not as yet
either revisit his old home or invite his father’s family into Egypt. Even, indeed,
when his brothers first appeared before him, he seems to have had no immediate
intention of inviting them as a family to settle in the country of his adoption, or even
to visit it. If he had cherished any such purpose or desire he might have sent down
wagons at once, as he at last did, to bring his father’s household out of Canaan.
Why, then, did he proceed so cautiously? Whence this mystery, and disguise, and
circuitous compassing of his end? What intervened between the first and last visit of
his brethren to make it seem advisable to disclose himself and invite them?
Manifestly there had intervened enough to give Joseph insight into the state of mind
his brethren were in, enough to satisfy him they were not the men they had been,
and that it was safe to ask them and would be pleasant to have them with him in
Egypt. Fully alive to the elements of disorder and violence that once existed among
them, and having had no opportunity of ascertaining whether they were now
altered, there was no course open but that which he adopted of endeavouring in
some unobserved way to discover whether twenty years had wrought any change in
them.

10. For effecting this object he fell on the expedient of imprisoning them, on pretence of
their being spies. This served the double purpose of detaining them until he should
have made up his mind as to the best means of dealing with them, and of securing
their retention under his eye until some display of character might sufficiently
certify him of their state of mind. Possibly he adopted this expedient also because it
was likely deeply to move them, so that they might be expected to exhibit not such
superficial feelings as might have been elicited had he set them down to a banquet
and entered into conversation with them over their wine, but such as men are
surprised to find in themselves, and know nothing of in their lighter hours. Joseph
was, of course, well aware that in the analysis of character the most potent elements
are only brought into clear view when the test of severe trouble is applied, and when
men are thrown out of all conventional modes of thinking and speaking.
The display of character which Joseph awaited he speedily obtained. For so new an
experience to these free dwellers in tents as imprisonment under grim Egyptian
guards worked wonders in them. Men who have experienced such treatment aver
that nothing more effectually tames and breaks the spirit: it is not the being
confined for a definite time with the certainty of release in the end, but the being
shut up at the caprice of another on a false and absurd accusation; the being cooped
up at the will of a stranger in a foreign country, uncertain and hopeless of release.
To Joseph’s brethren so sudden and great a calamity seemed explicable only on the
theory that it was retribution for the great crime of their life. The uneasy feeling
which each of them had hidden in his own conscience, and which the lapse of twenty
years had not materially alleviated, finds expression: "And they said one to another,
We are verily guilty 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." The similarity of their position to that in which they had placed their brother
stimulates and assists their conscience. Joseph, in the anguish of his soul, had
protested his innocence, but they had not listened; and now their own protestations
are treated as idle wind by this Egyptian. Their own feelings, representing to them
what they had caused Joseph to suffer, stir a keener sense of their guilt than they
seem ever before to have reached. Under this new light they see their sin more
clearly, and are humbled by the distress into which it has brought them.
When Joseph sees this, his heart warms to them. He may not yet be quite sure of
them. A prison-repentance is perhaps scarcely to be trusted. He sees they would for
the moment deal differently with him had they the opportunity, and would welcome

11. no one more heartily than himself, whose coming among them had once so
exasperated them. Himself keen in his affections, he is deeply moved, and his eyes
fill with tears as he witnesses their emotion and grief on his account. Fain would he
relieve them from their remorse and apprehension-why, then, does he forbear? Why
does he not at this juncture disclose himself? It has been satisfactorily proved that
his brethren counted their sale of him the great crime of their life. Their
imprisonment has elicited evidence that that crime had taken in their conscience the
capital place, the place which a man finds some one sin or series of sins will take, to
follow him with its appropriate curse, and hang over his future like a cloud-a sin of
which he thinks when any strange thing happens to him, and to which he traces all
disaster-a sin so iniquitous that it seems capable of producing any results however
grievous, and to which he has so given himself that his life seems to be concentrated
there, and he cannot but connect with it all the greater ills that happen to him. Was
not this, then, security enough that they would never again perpetrate a crime of
like atrocity? Every man who has almost at all observed the history of sin in himself,
will say that most certainly it was quite insufficient security against their ever again
doing the like. Evidence that a man is conscious of his sin, and, while suffering from
its consequences, feels deeply its guilt, is not evidence that his character is altered.
And because we believe men so much more readily than God, and think that they do
not require, for form’s sake, such needless pledges of a changed character as God
seems to demand, it is worth observing that Joseph, moved as he was even to tears,
felt that common prudence. forbade him to commit himself to his brethren without
further evidence of their disposition. They had distinctly acknowledged their guilt,
and in his hearing had admitted that the great calamity that had befallen them was
no more than they deserved; yet Joseph, judging merely as an intelligent man who
had worldly interests depending on his judgment, could not discern enough here to
justify him in supposing that his brethren were changed men. And it might
sometimes serve to expose the insufficiency of our repentance were clear-seeing men
the judges of it, and did they express their opinion of its trustworthiness. We may
think that God is needlessly exacting when He requires evidence not only of a
changed mind about past sin, but also of such a mind being now in us as will
preserve us from future sin; but the truth is, that no man whose common worldly
interests were at stake would commit himself to us on any less evidence. God, then,
meaning to bring the house of Israel into Egypt in order to make progress in the
Divine education He was giving to them, could not introduce them into that land in a
state of mind which would negative all the discipline they were there to receive.

12. These men then had to give evidence that they not only saw, and in some sense
repented of, their sin, but also that they had got rid of the evil passion which had led
to it. This is what God means by repentance. Our sins are in general not so
microscopic that it requires very keen spiritual discernment to perceive them. But to
be quite aware of our sin, and to acknowledge it, is not to repent of it. Everything
falls short of thorough repentance which does not prevent us from committing the
sin anew. We do not so much desire to be accurately informed about our past sins,
and to get right views of our past selves; we wish to be no longer sinners, we wish to
pass through some process by which we may be separated from that in us which has
led us into sin. Such a process there is, for these men passed through it.
The test which revealed the thoroughness of his brothers’ repentance was
unintentionally applied by Joseph. When he hid his cup in Benjamin’s sack, all that
he intended was to furnish a pretext for detaining Benjamin, and so gratifying his
own affection. But, to his astonishment, his trick effected far more than he intended;
for the brothers, recognising now their brotherhood, circled round Benjamin, and,
to a man, resolved to go back with him to Egypt. We cannot argue from this that
Joseph had misapprehended the state of mind in which his brothers were, and in his
judgment of them had been either too timorous or too severe; nor need we suppose
that he was hampered by his relations to Pharaoh, and therefore unwilling to
connect himself too closely with men of whom he might be safer to be rid; because it
was this very peril of Benjamin’s that matured their brotherly affection. They
themselves could not have anticipated that they would make such a sacrifice for
Benjamin. But throughout their dealings with this mysterious Egyptian, they felt
themselves under a spell, and were being gradually, though perhaps unconsciously,
softened, and in order to complete the change passing upon them, they but required
some such incident as this of Benjamin’s arrest. This incident seemed by some
strange fatality to threaten them with a renewed perpetration of the very crime they
had committed against Rachel’s other son. It threatened to force them to become
again the instrument of bereaving their father of his darling child, and bring about
that very calamity which they had pledged themselves should never happen. It was
an incident, therefore, which, more than any other, was likely to call out their family
love.
The scene lives in every one’s memory. They were going gladly back to their own
country with corn enough for their children, proud of their entertainment by the
lord of Egypt; anticipating their father’s exultation when he heard how generously
they had been treated and when he saw Benjamin safely restored, feeling that in

13. bringing him back they almost compensated for having bereaved him of Joseph.
Simeon is revelling in the free air that blew from Canaan and brought with it the
scents of his native land, and breaks into the old songs that the strait confinement of
his prison had so long silenced-all of them together rejoicing in a scarcely hoped-for
success; when suddenly, ere the first elation is spent, they are startled to see the
hasty approach of the Egyptian messenger, and to hear the stern summons that
brought them to a halt, and boded all ill. The few words of the just Egyptian, and
his calm, explicit judgment, "Ye have done evil in so doing," pierce them like a keen
blade-that they should be suspected of robbing one who had dealt so generously
with them; that all Israel should be put to shame in the sight of the stranger! But
they begin to feel relief as one brother after another steps forward with the boldness
of innocence; and as sack after sack is emptied, shaken, and flung aside, they
already eye the steward with the bright air of triumph; when, as the very last sack is
emptied, and as all breathlessly stand round, amid the quick rustle of the corn, the
sharp rattle of metal strikes on their ear, and the gleam of silver dazzles their eyes as
the cup rolls out in the sunshine. This, then, is the brother of whom their father was
so careful that he dared not suffer him out of his sight! This is the precious youth
whose life was of more value than the lives of all the brethren, and to keep whom a
few months longer in his father’s sight Simeon had been left to rot in a dungeon!
This is how he repays the anxiety of the family and their love, and this is how he
repays the extraordinary favour of Joseph! By one rash childish act had this fondled
youth, to all appearance, brought upon the house of Israel irretrievable disgrace, if
not complete extinction. Had these men been of their old temper, their knives had
very speedily proved that their contempt for the deed was as great as the Egyptian’s;
by violence towards Benjamin they might have cleared themselves of all suspicion of
complicity; or, at the best, they might-have considered themselves to be acting in a
fair and even lenient manner if they had surrendered the culprit to the steward, and
once again carried back to their father a tale of blood. But they were under the spell
of their old sin. In all disaster, however innocent they now were, they saw the
retribution of their old iniquity; they seem scarcely to consider whether Benjamin
was innocent or guilty, but as humbled, God-smitten men, "they rent their clothes,
and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city."
Thus Joseph in seeking to gain one brother found eleven-for now there could be no
doubt that they were very different men from those. brethren who had so heartlessly
sold into slavery their father’s favourite-men now with really brotherly feelings, by
penitence and regard for their father so wrought together into one family, that this
calamity, intended to fall only on one of their number, did in falling on him fall on
them all. So far from wishing now to rid themselves of Rachel’s son and their

14. father’s favourite, who had been put by their father in so prominent a place in his
affection, they will not even give him up to suffer what seemed the just punishment
of his theft, do not even reproach him with having brought them all into disgrace
and difficulty, but, as humbled men who knew they had greater sins of their own to
answer for, went quietly back to Egypt, determined to see their younger brother
through his misfortune or to share his bondage with him. Had these men not been
thoroughly changed, thoroughly convinced that at all costs upright dealing and
brotherly love should continue; had they not possessed that first and last of
Christian virtues, love to their brother, then nothing could so certainly have revealed
their want of it as this apparent theft of Benjamin’s. It seemed in itself a very likely
thing that a lad accustomed to plain modes of life, and whose character it was to
"ravin as a wolf," should, when suddenly introduced to the gorgeous Egyptian
banqueting-house with all its sumptuous furnishings, have coveted some choice
specimen of Egyptian art, to carry home to his father as proof that he could not only
bring himself back in safety, but scorned to come back from any expedition empty-
handed. It was not unlikely either that, with his mother’s own superstition, he might
have conceived the bold design of robbing this Egyptian, so mysterious and so
powerful, according to his brothers’ account, and of breaking that spell which he
had thrown over them: he may thus have. conceived the idea of achieving for
himself a reputation in the family, and of once for all redeeming himself from the
somewhat undignified, and to one of his spirit somewhat uncongenial, position of
the youngest of a family. If, as is possible, he had let any such idea ooze out in
talking with his brethren as they went down to Egypt, and only abandoned it on
their indignant and urgent remonstrance, then when the cup, Joseph’s chief treasure
according to his own account, was discovered in Benjamin’s sack, the case must
have looked sadly against him even in the eyes of his brethren. o protestations of
innocence in a particular instance avail much when the character and general habits
of the accused point to guilt. It is quite possible, therefore, that the brethren, though
willing to believe Benjamin, were yet not so thoroughly convinced of his innocence
as they would have desired. The fact that they themselves had found their money
returned in their sacks, made for Benjamin; yet in most cases, especially where
circumstances corroborate it, an accusation even against the innocent takes
immediate hold and cannot be summarily and at once got rid of.
Thus was proof given that the house of Israel was now in truth one family. The men
who, on very slight instigation, had without compunction sold Joseph to a life of
slavery, cannot now find it in their heart to abandon a brother who, to all
appearance, was worthy of no better life than that of a slave, and who had brought
them all into disgrace and danger. Judah had no doubt pledged himself to bring the

15. lad back without scathe to his father, but he had done so without contemplating the
possibility of Benjamin becoming amenable to Egyptian law. And no one can read
the speech of Judah-one of the most pathetic on record-in which he replies to
Joseph’s judgment that Benjamin alone should remain in Egypt, without perceiving
that he speaks not as one who merely seeks to redeem a pledge, but as a good son
and a good brother. He speaks, too, as the mouth-piece of the rest, and as he had
taken the lead in Joseph’s sale, so he does not shrink from standing forward and
accepting the heavy responsibility which may now light upon the man who
represents these brethren. His former faults are redeemed by the courage, one may
say heroism, he now shows. And as he spoke, so the rest felt. They could not bring
themselves to inflict a new sorrow on their aged father; neither could they bear to
leave their young brother in the hands of strangers. The passions which had
alienated them from one another, and had threatened to break up the family, are
subdued. There is now discernible a common feeling that binds them together, and a
common object for which they willingly sacrifice themselves. They are, therefore,
now prepared to pass into that higher school to which God called them in Egypt. It
mattered little what strong and equitable laws they found in the land of their
adoption, if they had no taste for upright living; it mattered little what thorough
national organisation they would be brought into contact with in Egypt, if in point
of fact they owned no common brotherhood, and were willing rather to live as units
and every man for himself than for any common interest. But now they were
prepared, open to teaching, and docile.
To complete our apprehension of the state of mind into which the brethren were
brought by Joseph’s treatment of them, we must take into account the assurance he
gave them, when he made himself known to them, that it was not they but God who
had sent him into Egypt. and that God had done this for the purpose of preserving
the whole house of Israel. At first sight this might seem to be an injudicious speech,
calculated to make the brethren think lightly of their guilt, and to remove the just
impressions they now entertained of the unbrotherliness of their conduct to Joseph.
And it might have been an injudicious speech to impenitent men; but no further
view of sin can lighten its heinousness to a really penitent sinner. Prove to him that
his sin has become the means of untold good, and you only humble him the more,
and more deeply convince him that while he was recklessly gratifying himself and
sacrificing others for his own pleasure, God has been mindful of others, and,
pardoning him, has blessed them. God does not need our sins to work out His good
intentions, but we give Him little other material; and the discovery that through our
evil purposes and injurious deeds God has worked out His beneficent will, is
certainly not calculated to make us think more lightly of our sin or more highly of

16. ourselves.
Joseph in thus addressing his brethren did, in fact, but add to their feelings the
tenderness that is in all religious conviction, and that springs out of the
consciousness that in all our sin there has been with us a holy and loving Father,
mindful of His children. This is the final stage of penitence. The knowledge that God
has prevented our sin from doing the harm it might have done does relieve the
bitterness and despair with which we view our life, but at the same time it
strengthens the most effectual bulwark between us and sin-love to a holy, over-
ruling God. This, therefore, may always be safely said to penitents: Out of your
worst sin God can bring good to yourself or to others, and good of an apparently
necessary kind; but good of a permanent kind can result from your sin only when
you have truly repented of it, and sincerely wish you had never done it. Once this
repentance is really wrought in you, then, though your life can never be the same as
it might have been had you not sinned, it may be, in some respects, a more richly
developed life, a life fuller of humility and love. You can never have what you sold
for your sin; but the poverty your sin has brought may excite within you thoughts
and energies more valuable than what you have lost, as these men lost a brother but
found a Saviour. The wickedness that has often made you bow your head and
mourn in secret, and which is in itself unutterable shame and loss, may, in God’s
hand, become food against the day of famine. You cannot ever have the enjoyments
which are possible only to those whose conscience is laden with no evil
remembrances, and whose nature, uncontracted and unwithered by familiarity with
sin, can give itself to enjoyment with the abandonment and fearlessness reserved for
the innocent. o more at all will you have that fineness of feeling which only
ignorance of evil can preserve; no more that high and great conscientiousness which,
once broken, is never repaired; no more that respect from other men which for ever
and instinctively departs from those who have lost self-respect. But you may have a
more intelligent sympathy with other men and a keener pity for them; the
experience you have gathered too late to save yourself may put it in your power to
be of essential service to others. You cannot win your way back to the happy, useful,
evenly-developed life of the comparatively innocent, but the life of the true-hearted
penitent, is yet open to yon. Every beat of your heart now may be as if it throbbed
against a poisoned dagger, every duty may shame you, every day bring weariness
and new humiliation, but let no pain or discouragement avail to defraud you of the
good fruits of true reconciliation to God and submission to His lifelong discipline.
See that you lose not both lives, the life of the comparatively innocent and the life of
the truly penitent.

17. LA GE, "PRELIMI ARY REMAKES
1. It appears uncertain to Knobel which narrator (the Elohist or the Jehovist) tells
the story here. Many expressions, says Hebrews, favor the original Scripture, but
some seem to testify for the Jehovist, e. g, land of Goshen ( Genesis 45:10), thy
servant instead of I ( Genesis 42:10). Very singular examples truly! Yet the language,
it is then said, is rich in peculiarities. This part the Jehovist is said to have made up
from his first record. A very peculiar presentation this, of the ἅπαξ λεγόµενα of
different authors, as obtained by such a combination. The ἅπαξ λεγόµενα (words or
expressions occurring but once) are always forth-coming from behind the scene.
Such is the dead representation of that spiritless book-making, or rather that book-
mangling criticism, now so much in vogue with those who make synopses of the ew
Testament.
2. The history of Joseph’s reconciliation to his brethren extends through four
chapters, from Genesis 41-45 It contains: 1) The history of the chastisement of the
brothers, which, at the same time is a history of Joseph’s struggles; 2) of the
repentance of his brothers, marked by the antithesis Joseph and Simeon ( Genesis
42); 3) the trial of the brothers, in which appears their repentance and Joseph’s
reconciliation, marked by the antithesis of Joseph and Benjamin ( Genesis 43:1;
Genesis 44:17); 4) the story of the reconciliation and recognition, under the
antithesis of Judah and Joseph ( Genesis 44:18; Genesis 45:16); 5) the account of the
glad tidings to Jacob ( Genesis 42:7-28).
1. The contents of the present section: 1) The journey to Egypt ( Genesis 42:1-6); 2)
the rough reception ( Genesis 42:7-17); 3the tasks imposed and the arrangements
made by Joseph ( Genesis 42:18-34); 4) The voluntary release, the return home, the
report, the dark omen ( Genesis 42:25-35); 5) Jacob’s lament ( Genesis 42:36-38).
EXEGETICALA D CRITICAL
3. Genesis 42:1-6. The first journey of Joseph’s brethren to Egypt.—When Jacob
saw.—It is already presupposed that the famine was raging in Canaan. Jacob’s

18. observation was probably based upon the preparations of others for buying corn in
Egypt. The word ‫שבר‬ is translated corn, but more properly means a supply of corn
(frumenti cumulus, Gesen, Thesaur.), or vendible or market corn.—Why do ye look
one upon another?—Their helpless and suspicious looking to each other seems to be
connected with their guilt. The journey to Egypt, and the very thought of Egypt
haunts them on account of Joseph’s sale.—And Joseph’s ten brethren.—They thus
undertake the journey together, because they received corn in proportion to their
number. For though Joseph was humanely selling corn to foreigners, yet preference
for his own countrymen, and a regard to economy, demanded a limitation of the
quantity sold to individuals.—But Benjamin.—Jacob had transferred to Benjamin
his preference of Joseph as the son of Rachel, and of his old age ( Genesis 37:3). He
guarded him, therefore, all the more carefully on account of the self-reproach he
suffered from having once let Joseph take a dangerous journey all alone. Besides,
Benjamin had not yet arrived at full manhood. Finally, although the facts were not
clearly known to him, yet there must be taken into the account the deep suspicion he
must have felt when he called to mind the strange disappearance of Joseph, their
envy of him, and all this the stronger because Benjamin, too, was his favorite—
Rachel’s Song of Solomon, Joseph’s brother.—Among those that came.—The
picture of a caravan. Jacob’s sons seem willing to lose themselves in the multitudes,
as if troubled by an alarming presentiment. Knobel thinks the city to which they
journeyed was Memphis. According to others it was probably Zoar or Tanais (see
umbers 13:23). By the double ‫הוּא‬ the writer denotes the inevitableness of their
appearing before Joseph. Having the general oversight of the sale, he specially
observed the selling to foreigners, and it appears to have been the rule that they
were to present themselves before him. Such a direction, though a proper caution in
itself, might have been connected in the mind of Joseph with a presentiment of their
coming. He himself was the ‫ִיט‬‫לּ‬ ַ‫.שׁ‬ The circumstance that this word appears
otherwise only in later writers may be partly explained from the peculiarity of the
idea itself. See Daniel 5:29. Here Daniel is represented as the third ‫שליט‬ (shalit) of
the kingdom. “It seems to have been the standing title by which the Shemites
designated Joseph, as one having despotic power in Egypt, and from which later
tradition made the word Σάλατις, the name of the first Hyksos king (see Josephus:
Contra Apion. i14).”—Keil—And bowed themselves.—Thus Joseph’s dreams were
fulfilled, as there had been already fulfilled the dreams of Pharaoh.
BI 1-2, "Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt.
The famine in the house of Jacob
I. CONSIDERED IN ITS REARING UPON THE DIVINE PURPOSES CONCERNING
THE CHOSEN PEOPLE.

19. II. CONSIDERED IN ITS EFFECT UPON JACOB’S SONS. “Why do ye look one upon
another?” This sad question reavealed—
1. The utmost distress.
2. Great perplexity.
3. Forebodings of conscience. (T. H. Leale.)
The famine; or, good out of evil
I. THE WIDESPREAD CALAMITY.
II. THE ERRAND TO EGYPT.
III. THE DOUBTFUL RECEPTION. Learn:
1. When distresses and trials come, we should be ready to trust that God means to do
good by them in some way, though we may not know how.
2. When difficulties occur, we should still hope on.
3. When disappointments are our lot, we should remember that they come not
without God’s knowledge and permission.
4. Humility and faith will always lead to renewed hope. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Corn in Egypt
We have here a picture of man’s lost estate, he is in a sore soul-devouring famine. We
discover here man’s hope. His hope lies in that Joseph whom he knows not, who has
gone before him and provided all things necessary, that his “wants may be supplied. And
we have here practical advice, which was pre-eminently wise on the part of Jacob to his
sons in his case, and which, being interpreted, is also the wisest advice to you and to me.
Seeing that there is mercy for sinners, and that Jesus our brother has gone before us to
provide for us an all-sufficient redemption, “Why sit we here and look one upon
another?” There is mercy in the breast of God, there is salvation in Christ; “get you down
thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.”
I. A PITIFUL PLIGHT. These sons of Jacob were overtaken by a famine. They were cast
into a waste, howling wilderness of famine, with but one oasis, and that oasis they did
not hear of till just at the time to which our text refers, when they learned to their joy
that there was corn in Egypt. Permit me now to illustrate the condition of the sinner by
the position of these sons of Jacob.
1. The sons of Jacob had a very great need of bread. But what is this compared with
the sinner’s needs! His necessities are such that only Infinity can supply them; he has
a demand before which the demands of sixty-six mouths are as nothing.
2. Mark, again: what these people wanted was an essential thing. They did not lack
clothes, that were a want, but nothing like the lack of bread; for a man might exist
with but scanty covering. Oh that men should cry for bread—the absolute necessary
for the sustenance of the body! But what is the sinner’s want? Is it not exactly this?
he wants that without which the soul must perish.
3. Yet again: the necessity of the sons of Jacob was a total one. They had no bread;

20. there was none to be procured. Such is the sinner’s case. It is not that he has a little
grace and lacks more; but he has none at all. Of himself he has no grace. It is not that
he has a little goodness, and needs to be made better; but he has no goodness at all,
no merits, no righteousness—nothing to bring to God, nothing to offer for his
acceptance; he is penniless, poverty-stricken; everything is gone whereon his soul
might feed.
4. But yet worse: with the exception of Egypt, the sons of Jacob were convinced that
there was no food anywhere. In speechless silence they resigned themselves to the
woe which threatened to overwhelm them. Such is the sinner’s condition, when first
he begins to feel a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, he looks to others.
“There is no hope for us; we have all been condemned, we have all been guilty, we
can do nothing to appease the Most High”; what a wretched world were ours, if we
were equally convinced of sin, and equally convinced that there was no hope of
mercy! This, then, was the condition of Jacob’s sons temporally, and it is our
condition by nature spiritually.
II. Now we come, in the second place, to the GOOD NEWS. Jacob had faith, and the ears
of faith are always quiet; faith can hear the tread of mercy, though the footfall be as light
as that of the angel among the flowers. Jacob had the ears of faith. He had been at
prayer, I doubt not, asking God to deliver his family in the time of famine; and by and by
he hears, first of his household, that there is corn in Egypt. Jacob heard the good news,
and communicated it as speedily as possible to his descendants. Now, we also have
heard the good news. Good news has been sent to us in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. “There is corn in Egypt.” We need not die. Now, we have better news than even
Jacob had; although the news is similar, understanding it in a spiritual sense.
1. We are told to-day, by sure and certain witnesses, that there is corn in Egypt, there
is mercy in God. Jacob’s messenger might have deceived him—idle tales are told
everywhere, and in days of famine men are very apt totell a falsehood, thinking that
to be true which they wish were so. The hungry man is apt to hope that there may be
corn somewhere; and then he thinks there is; and then he says there is; and then,
what begins with a wish comes to be a rumour and a report. But this day, my friends,
it is no idle talk; no dream, no rumour of a deceiver. There is mercy with God, there
is salvation with Him that He may be feared.
2. There is another thing in which we have the start of Jacob. Jacob knew there was
corn in Egypt, but did not know who had the keeping of it. If he had known that, he
would have said, “My sons, go down at once to Egypt, do not be at all afraid, your
brother is lord of Egypt, and all the corn belongs to him.” Nay, more, I can readily
imagine that he would have gone himself, forthwith. Sinner, the mercies of God are
under no lock and key except those over which Christ has the power. The granaries
of heaven’s mercy have no steward to keep them save Christ. He is exalted on high to
give repentance and remission of sins.
3. There is yet another thing which the sons of Jacob knew nothing of. When they
went to Egypt, they went on hap-hazard: If they knew there was corn, they were not
sure they would get it. But when you and I go to Christ, we are invited guests.
4. But one other remark, and I will have done with this second point. The sons of
Jacob were in one respect better off than you are apparently, for they had money
with which to buy. Jacob was not a poor man in respect of wealth, although he had
now become exceedingly poor from lack of bread. His sons had money to take with
them. Glittering bars of gold they thought must surely attract the notice of the ruler

21. of Egypt. You have no money, nothing to bring to Christ, nothing to offer Him. You
offered Him something once, but He rejected all you offered Him as being spurious
coins, imitations, counterfeits, and good for nothing. And now utterly stripped,
hopeless, penniless, you say you are afraid to go to Christ because you have nothing
of your own. Let me assure you that you are never in so fit a condition to go to Christ
as when you have nowhere else to go to, and have nothing of your own.
III. Thus I have noticed the good news as well as the pitiful plight. I come now to the
third part, which is GOOD ADVICE. Jacob says, “Why do ye look one upon another?”
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.” This is very practical advice. I
wish people would act the same with religion as they do in temporal affairs. Jacob’s sons
did not say: “Well, that is very good news; I believe it,” and then sit still and die. No, they
went straightway to the place of which the good news told them corn was to be had. So
should it be in matters of religion. We should not be content merely to hear the tidings,
but we should never be satisfied until by Divine grace we have availed ourselves of them,
and have found mercy in Christ. Lastly, let me put this question: “Why do ye look one
upon another?” Why do ye sit still? Fly to Christ, and find mercy. Oh, says one, “I cannot
get what I expect to have.” But what do you expect? I believe some of our hearers expect
to feel an electric shock, or something of that kind, before they are saved. The gospel
says simply, “Believe.” That they will not understand. They think there is to be
something so mysterious about it. They can’t make out what it is; but they are going to
wait for it and then believe. Well, you will wait till doomsday; for if you do not believe
this simple gospel, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” God will not work signs and
wonders to please your foolish desires. Your position is this—you are a sinner, lost,
ruined; you cannot help yourself. Scripture says, “Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners.” Your immediate business, your instantaneous duty is to cast yourself on
that simple promise, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that as He came into the
world to save sinners, He has therefore come to save you. What you have to do with, is
that simple command—“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” In
conclusion, I make this last remark: Did you notice the argument Joseph used why the
sons should go to Egypt? It was this—“That we may live, and not die.” Sinner, this is my
argument with thee this morning. My dear hearers, the gospel of Christ is a matter of life
and death with you. It is not a matter of little importance, but of all importance. There is
an alternative before you; you will either be eternally damned, or everlastingly saved.
Despise Christ, and neglect His great salvation, and you will be lost, as sure as you live.
Believe in Christ; put your trust alone in Him, and everlasting life is yours. What
argument can be more potent than this to men that love themselves? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The famine in Canaan
I. FAMINE.
1. A dire calamity. Perhaps none greater. One which human wisdom cannot foresee.
Affects all classes. Animal life depends on vegetable life, vegetable life on seasons,
light, heat, rain, temperature, &c. These under the control of God. The lawmaker
may suspend the operation of natural laws, moderate their influence, or affect their
course.
2. Usually unexpected. In this case there was a warning given, and preparations
made. Men cannot foresee the suspension or deviation of natural laws. Hopes for the

22. future built on productiveness of the past.
3. Often over-ruled for good. In this case conspicuously so. Promotes human
sympathy (thus the Irish famine, 1846-7, besides evoking much individual
benevolence, was responded to by Parliamentary grants of, in the whole,
£10,000,000. Ill. Indian famine, 1861). Provokes scientific inquiry into “supply and
demand.” of food. Leads to emigration and breaking up of new ground.
4. Always possible and near. World at any time only a harvest off starvation.
5. Generally local (Gen_8:22). “All countries” (Gen_41:57), those adjacent to Egypt.
Kindness of Providence in this. Nations in their turn dependent on each other. Each
“offers something for the general use.”
II. PLENTY.
1. Where? In Egypt. A storehouse of plenty for hungry nations. Always food in some
place, and will be while the earth lasts. He who feeds the ravens knows what man has
need of.
2. Why? Does it seem strange that the promised land should suffer, rather than be
the favoured spot?
(1) It was a small country.
(2) Had other nations gone thither they would have conquered it.
(3) Chiefly: it was part of the Divine plan that Israel should go down into Egypt,
and the famine necessitated this.
3. How? By the extraordinary productiveness of seven preceding years, and the
storing of the surplus corn. This effected by the instrumentality of Joseph. His mind
supernaturally illuminated. Favour given him in the sight of the king of Egypt. Him
appointment to office, including the absolute control of the produce of the land.
III. BUYING FOOD.
1. Want in the house of Jacob.
2. The ten sent out to buy corn in Egypt.
3. They arrive in Egypt, and visit the royal granaries.
4. Joseph recognizes them, and they bow before him, and thus fulfil the dream.
5. To disarm suspicion, and to discover the temper of their minds, and the history of
their family, they are charged with being spies, and cast into prison.
6. After three days they are liberated, and a hostage required for their return with
the younger brother of whom they have spoken, and of whose existence Joseph
affects to doubt.
7. Mutual recriminations respecting Joseph.
8. Joseph is affected by what he hears.
9. Simeon bound and left in prison, while they betake themselves away to Canaan.
Learn: However great the dearth of the bread that perisheth, there is always
sufficient of the “bread of life,” and it is always accessible. (J. C. Gray.)

23. 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain
in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so
that we may live and not die.”
GILL, "And he said, behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt,.... This
explains what is meant by the phrase he saw, one sense being put for another:
get ye down thither; as fast as you can without delay; Egypt lay lower than Canaan,
and therefore they are bid to go down, as when they went from thence to Canaan they
are said to go up, Gen_45:25,
and buy for us from thence, that we may live, and not die; which shows the
famine was very pressing, since, unless they could buy corn from Egypt they could not
live, but must die.
HAWKER, "It is worthy remark, that Canaan, the land of promise, became a land of
famine to Abraham-Gen_12:10. to Isaac, Gen_26:1, - and here to Jacob. My brother,
none but the heavenly Canaan is exempt from such trials to the faithful. Read that
scripture: Amo_8:11-12. and bless GOD if such be not among your exercises.
3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy
grain from Egypt.

24. GILL, "And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. They
obeyed their father's orders, and immediately set out for Egypt; "ten" of them went down
in a body together, all but Benjamin, so that it is easily reckoned who they were, and they
are called not Jacob's sons, as they were; but Joseph's brethren, whom they had sold
into Egypt, and to whom now they were going, though they knew it not, to buy corn of
him in their necessity, and to whom they would be obliged to yield obeisance, as they
did.
HE RY 3-6, " Their obedience to these orders, Gen_42:3. They went down to buy
corn; they did not send their servants, but very prudently went themselves, to lay out
their own money. Let none think themselves too great nor too good to take pains.
Masters of families should see with their own eyes, and take heed of leaving too much to
servants. Only Benjamin went not with them, for he was his father's darling. To Egypt
they came, among others, and, having a considerable cargo of corn to buy, they were
brought before Joseph himself, who probably expected they would come; and, according
to the laws of courtesy, they bowed down themselves before him, Gen_42:6. Now their
empty sheaves did obeisance to his full one. Compare this with Isa_60:14 and Rev_3:9.
SBC. "I. The story of Joseph is a good example of what is meant by Providence working
for the best in the lives of men. Look at the young foreigner, as he comes to a land not his
own; see how he resists the one great temptation of his age and station; observe how,
through means not of his own seeking, through good report and evil, through much
misunderstanding of others, but by consistent integrity and just dealing on his own part,
he overcomes all the difficulties of his position, and is remembered long afterwards in
his adopted land as the benefactor of his generation and the deliverer of his country.
II. The story of Joseph is, perhaps, of all the stories in the Old Testament, the one which
most carries us back to our childhood, both from the interest we felt in it as children,
and from the true picture of family life which it presents. It brings before us the way in
which the greatest blessings for this life and the next depend on the keeping up of family
love pure and fresh, as when the preservation and fitting education of the chosen people
depended on that touching generosity and brotherly affection which no distance of time,
no new customs, no long sojourn in a strange land, could extinguish in the heart of
Joseph. Home is on earth the best likeness of heaven; and heaven is that last and best
home in which, when the journey of life is over, Joseph and his brethren, Jacob and his
sons, Rachel and her children, shall meet to part no more.
A. P. Stanley, Sermons in the East, p. 17.
COFFMA , "Verse 3-4
"And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Benjamin,
Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure
harm befall him."

25. Benjamin had become Jacob's favorite following what he supposed was the death of
Joseph, and he might have been afraid that the same kind of hatred that had
previously resulted from his partiality to Joseph might possibly have been
transferred to Benjamin. There might even be some evidence here that Jacob in the
intervening years had come to question some of the things his sons had told him. In
any event, he refused to entrust Benjamin to them on this trip to Egypt.
ELLICOTT, "(3) Joseph’s ten brethren.—Either their cattle and households had
been already greatly reduced by the mortality caused by the famine, or each
patriarch must have taken a number of servants with him, if the corn carried home
was to be enough to be of any real use. We learn, however, that they still possessed
flocks and herds when they went down into Egypt (Genesis 47:1), and also
households of servants (Genesis 46:5, where see ote). Joseph, moreover, besides the
wagons and their contents, sends twenty loads of provisions for the use of his father
by the way (Genesis 45:21-23), showing thereby that there were very many mouths
to feed. Probably, therefore, there was some small amount of rain in Palestine,
though not enough for the support of crops of corn. There would be, however,
supplies of milk and flesh, but not much more.
BI 3-20, "Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt
Providence working in men’s lives
I. The story of Joseph is a good example of what is meant by Providence working for the
best in the lives of men. Look at the young foreigner, as he comes to a land not his own;
see how he resists the one great temptation of his age and station; observe how, through
means not of his own seeking, through good report and evil, through much
misunderstanding of others, but by consistent integrity and just dealing on his own part,
he overcomes all the difficulties of his position, and is remembered long afterwards in
his adopted land as the benefactor of his generation and the deliverer of his country.
II. The story of Joseph is, perhaps, of all the stories in the Old Testament, the one which
most carries us back to our childhood, both from the interest we felt in it as children,
and from the true picture of family life which it presents. It brings before us the way in
which the greatest blessings for this life and the next depend on the keeping up of family
love pure and fresh, as when the preservation and fitting education of the chosen people
depended on that touching generosity and brotherly affection which no distance of time,
no new customs, no long sojourn in a strange land, could extinguish in the heart of
Joseph. Home is on earth the best likeness of heaven; and heaven is that last and best
home in which, when the journey of life is over, Joseph and his brethren, Jacob and his
sons, Rachel and her children, shall meet to part no more. (Dean Stanley.)

26. The first journey of Jacob’s brethren into Egypt
I. THEY SHOW EVIDENT SIGNS OF FEAR. Therefore they go together in a company,
ten strong, that by their numbers they might encourage and support one another (Gen_
42:3).
II. THEIR WORST FOREBODINGS ARE FULFILLED. They dreaded Egypt, and events
justified their fears.
1. They are received roughly (Gen_42:7).
2. They are suspected of evil designs (Gen_42:9).
3. They are threatened with the prospect of imprisonment and death.
III. GREAT PRINCIPLES OF GOD’S MORAL GOVERNMENT ARE :ILLUSTRATED IN
THIS HISTORY.
1. That pride is sure to meet with a fall. In Gen_42:6 we are told that “Joseph’s
brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.”
Where were now those lofty looks, and that contemptuous tone with which they said
when Joseph had told them of his dreams—“Shalt thou then indeed reign over us, or
shalt thou have dominion over us?”
2. That nothing can hinder the counsel of God from taking effect.
3. That the crisis will arrive when the wicked must appear before the judgment-seat
of the pious.
4. That retribution, even in kind, follows sin.
5. That throughout the severity of God’s righteous anger against Sin there runs a
purpose of mercy. (T. H. Leale.)
The first journey of Joseph’s brethren into Egypt
I. THE FAMINE IN CANAAN.
II. THE OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE (Gen_42:21). Where sin is voluntary wrong-doing,
the language of the human heart inevitably connects the penalty with the wrong-doing.
In every temptation that comes upon you, think what it will be in the hour of death to be
free from the recollection of it. Refrain, refrain, remember the hereafter.
III. OBSERVE THE SEVERITY IN THE LOVE OF JOSEPH (Gen_42:7). He did not
allow his personal feelings to interfere with what seemed to him his duty. Joseph’s love
to his brethren was a noble love. God’s love to us is still nobler, and severity
accompanies it. It does not shrink from human suffering, for suffering is necessary for
the man’s well being.
IV. Lastly, we remark on THE RETURN HOMEWARDS OF JOSEPH’S BRETHREN.
Jacob expected corn to relieve their necessities; he got the corn, but with it came sorrow
upon sorrow. Bereaved of Joseph, he is now bereaved of Simeon also. In Jacob’s answers
to his sons, in the close of the chapter, we find a depth of querulousness and
despondency. Job was tried with sorrows far more severe, and yet they only served and
contributed to the purifying of his spirit. In order to understand the cause of Jacob’s
despondency we must go far back. Jacob was a selfish man; his very religion was selfish;

27. he would become religious only on condition that God would protect and guide him. To
that selfish origin may be traced all the evils of his after life. Throughout it seems to have
been his principle to receive as much as possible, and to give as little as he could. He who
lives in this world for his own personal enjoyment, without God and His Christ, will by
degrees find, like Jacob, that he has no rock to rest his soul upon, but that he must go
down in sorrow to the grave. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The retributions of Providence
Men troubled by memory of former sins, not because they doubt mercy of God, but
because they doubt themselves. Jacob’s sons better men than formerly, yet the
retribution follows.
I. The vengeance of TIME. The sin of twenty years ago. Time no friend to the sinner.
Time gives the harvest opportunity and room to develop. Years of Joseph’s
imprisonment. Years of torture to brethren.
II. The vengeance of CIRCUMSTANCES. Every link in chain, strong and connected with
next link. “Remarkable series of coincidences,” very. The plots and counterplots of
fiction: of with Scripture.
III. The vengeance of MEMORY. Joseph’s cries wrought into the mental texture of these
men. Hetfy, in “Adam Bede.” The baby’s cry: “ Son, remember.” Memory, a cup of
blessing, or devil’s scourge.
IV. The vengeance of CONSCIENCE. Memory may exaggerate, extenuate, add, subtract,
&c. But conscience is a just judge. Hamlet, “The play’s the thing,” &c. Adonibezak,
conscience-stricken wretch.
V. The vengeance of PUBLICITY. Evildoers clever in blocking up ninety-nine avenues of
discovery. The 100th. The shame. The collapse. Conclusion: Vengeance, not last word in
relation to sin. “We know that He was manifested,” &c. “Better to fall,” &c. “Faithful and
just.” “Though your sins as mountains rise,” &c. (A. P. Watson.)
4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s
brother, with the others, because he was afraid
that harm might come to him.

28. GILL, "But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren,....
Benjamin is called Joseph's brother, because he was so both by father and mother's side,
as the rest were not; him Jacob kept with him, being the youngest and his darling, the
only son he had with him of his beloved wife Rachel; and was very probably the more
beloved by him since he had been bereft of Joseph; and it was not only to keep him
company that he retained him at home, but for the reason following:
for he said, lest peradventure mischief befall him; as had to Joseph his brother,
as he imagined; either that the journey would be too much for him, being young, or lest
he should be seized with sickness on the road, or rather with death, as Aben Ezra
interprets it according to the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan.
5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to
buy grain, for there was famine in the land of
Canaan also.
GILL, "And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came,....
Either among the Egyptians that came to buy, or among those who came from different
countries, or rather particularly among the Canaanites, as the Targum of Jonathan; with
these they might join upon the road, and go together in a body where the market for
corn was:
for the famine was in the land of Canaan: which obliged the inhabitants of it as
well as Jacob's family to seek for corn elsewhere, and confirms the sense of the preceding
clause: this, though a very fruitful land, yet when God withheld a blessing from it, it
became barren, as it had been before, Gen_12:10, and was to try the faith of those good
men to whom God had given it, and to wean their hearts from being set upon it, and to
put them upon seeking a better country, as they did.
JAMISO , "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

29. 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.
CALVI , "Verses 5-7
"And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came; for the famine was in the
land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the
people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with
their face to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself
strange unto them, and spake roughly with them; Whence come ye? And they said, From
the land of Canaan to buy food."
"Came to buy among those that came ..." Keil gave the literal meaning of this as, "they
came in the midst of the comers."[3] The narrative indicates that a large number of people
were arriving from many different places. The ready access to Joseph by the brethren has
been made the occasion of some very snide remarks by some scholars. Simpson charged
the narrator here with total ignorance of "the administrative problems in such an office as
Joseph's."[4] All such views are unjustified, because, as we have noted, many of the
details are here omitted. While true enough that Joseph did not personally handle all of
the details of so many sales, any group of strangers who might have been suspected of
being spies would inevitably have been referred to Joseph, and this would appear to have
been exactly what occurred here. Neither should it be overlooked that the hand of God
was moving in all the events of the Bible.
Regarding Genesis 42:7, "according to a truly Semitic style of narrative, is a condensation
of what is more circumstantially related in Genesis 42:8-17."[5] This explains the
repetition of key statements."
PETT, "Verse 5
‘And the sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the
land of Canaan.’
As they travelled to Egypt they found themselves in company with many travelling the
same route, for all had been hit by the famine. They would probably have a number of
servants with them for much corn would be needed. Others would tend what remained of

30. the once abundant flocks and herds. But the fact that they had ‘money’ (silver and gold -
there were no coins in those days) demonstrated that they were not yet poor.
“The sons of Israel.” The narrative switches easily between the two names Jacob and
Israel. While the use of two names for the same person in one narrative was not unusual it
is probable that the writer wants to make sure that we connect these events both with the
patriarchs of the past and with the future Israel. It is a fulfilling of the covenant promises
and a preparation for the future.
6 ow Joseph was the governor of the land, the
person who sold grain to all its people. So when
Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to
him with their faces to the ground.
CLARKE, "Joseph was the governor - ‫שליט‬ shallit, an intendant, a protector,
from ‫שלט‬ skalat, to be over as a protector; hence ‫שלטים‬ shelatim, shields, or arms for
protection and defense, 2Sa_8:7; and ‫שלטון‬ shilton, power and authority, Ecc_8:4, Ecc_
8:8; and hence the Arabic sultan, a lord, prince, or king, from salata, he obtained and
exercised dominion, he ruled. Was it not from this very circumstance, Joseph being
shallit, that all the Mohammedan governors of Egypt, etc., took the title of sultan? Bowed
down themselves before him - Thus fulfilling the prophetic dream, Gen_37:7, Gen_37:8,
which they had taken every precaution to render null and void. But there is neither
might nor counsel against the Lord.
BARNES 6-17, "Gen_42:6-17
The ten brothers meet with a rough reception from the lord of the land. “The

31. governor” - the sultan. This, we see, is a title of great antiquity in Egypt or Arabia.
Joseph presided over the cornmarket of the kingdom. “Bowed down to him with their
faces to the earth.” Well might Joseph think of those never-to-be-forgotten dreams in
which the sheaves and stars bowed down to him. “And knew them.” How could he fail to
remember the ten full-grown men of his early days, when they came before him with all
their peculiarities of feature, attitude, and mother tongue. “And he made himself strange
unto them.” All that we know of Joseph’s character heretofore, and throughout this
whole affair, goes to prove that his object in all his seemingly harsh treatment was to get
at their hearts, to test their affection toward Benjamin, and to bring them to repent of
their unkindness to himself.
“They knew not him.” Twenty years make a great change in a youth of seventeen. And
besides, with his beard and head shaven, his Egyptian attire, his foreign tongue, and his
exalted position, who could have recognized the stripling whom, twenty years ago, they
had sold as a slave? “Spies are ye.” This was to put a color of justice on their detention.
To see the nakedness of the land, not its unfortified frontier, which is a more recent idea,
but its present impoverishment from the famine. “Sons of one man are we.” It was not
likely that ten sons of one man would be sent on the hazardous duty of spies. “And
behold the youngest is with our father this day.” It is intensely interesting to Joseph to
hear that his father and full brother are still living. “And one is not.” Time has assuaged
all their bitter feelings, both of exasperation against Joseph and of remorse for their
unbrotherly conduct. This little sentence, however, cannot be uttered by them, or heard
by Joseph, without emotion. “By the life of Pharaoh.” Joseph speaks in character, and
uses an Egyptian asseveration. “Send one of you.” This proposal is enough to strike
terror into their hearts. The return of one would be a heavy, perhaps a fatal blow to their
father. And how can one brave the perils of the way? They cannot bring themselves to
concur in this plan. Sooner will they all go to prison, as accordingly they do. Joseph is
not without a strong conviction of incumbent duty in all this. He knows he has been put
in the position of lord over his brethren in the foreordination of God, and he feels bound
to make this authority a reality for their moral good.
GILL, "And Joseph was the governor over the land,.... Not the land of Canaan
last mentioned, but the land of Egypt; under Pharaoh, he had the chief and sole
authority, and especially in the affair of the corn, and the disposal of that:
and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: of Egypt, and also to all that
came out of other lands; not that he in person could do all this, but by those that acted
under him:
and Joseph's brethren came; to Joseph to buy corn of him:
and bowed down themselves before him, with their faces to the earth; not
only bowed the knee as the Egyptians did, but prostrated their whole bodies, stretching
out their hands and feet, and touching the ground with their faces, as was the manner of
the eastern countries, at least some of them; and so of Canaan; and thus did they submit
themselves to him in the most humble manner, and thereby, though without their
knowledge, fulfilled his dream of their sheaves making obeisance to his sheaf, Gen_37:7.

32. JAMISO , "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 [Gen_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; Rev_3:9, last clause).
CALVI , "6.And Joseph was the governor (164) over the land. Moses connects the
honor of Joseph with his fidelity and diligence. For although he was possessed of
supreme authority, he nevertheless submitted to every possible laborious service,
just as if he had been a hired servant. From which example we must learn, that as
any one excels in honor, he is bound to be the more fully occupied in business; but
that they who desire to combine leisure with dignity, utterly pervert the sacred order
of God. Let it be, moreover, understood, that the corn was sold by Joseph, not as if
he measured it out with his own hands, or himself received the money for it, seeing
that it was set to sale in many parts of the kingdom, and he could scarcely have
attended to one single storehouse: but that the whole of the stores were under his
power.
WHEDO , "6. The governor — The word ( ‫שׁלישׂ‬ ) thus rendered occurs elsewhere
only in the later Hebrew books — Ezekiel, Daniel, and Ecclesiastes. It seems, says
Keil, “to have been the standing title which the Shemites gave to Joseph as ruler in
Egypt, and from this the later legend of Salatis, the first king of the Hyksos, arose.”
Josephus, Apion, 1:14.
He it was that sold — ot that Joseph personally attended to all the details of the
selling; but he had general oversight and authority; and when, as in the present
instance, a large number of foreigners came to buy, he would be called upon to
receive them in due form, and see that all was proper. He would not allow a general
traffic in Egyptian grain to be carried on among foreign nations in such a time of
famine.

33. BE SO , "Genesis 42:6. Joseph’s brethren came and bowed themselves before him
— Some have inferred from this that the names of all the strangers that came to buy
corn in Egypt were brought to Joseph and registered; and such persons or families
as were any way remarkable, were brought before him. Thus his brethren would of
course be introduced to him: but, in general, he undoubtedly sold the corn by
deputies. With their faces to the earth — The common method of salutation in the
eastern nations. Thus Joseph’s first dream was already fulfilled; their sheaves
bowed to his sheaf.
COKE, "Genesis 42:6. Joseph was the governor— ‫שׁליט‬ shalit, one who is appointed
ruler, or governor: the Arabic word sultan comes from it.
And Joseph's brethren came— Hence, it seems very probable, that the names of all
those strangers who came to AEgypt were brought to Joseph, either that such of
them as he thought fit might be introduced to him, or that by such means he might
be informed of his father's family. Accordingly, as soon as his brethren arrived in
the land, they were introduced to him, and unknowingly fulfilled his first dream,
and that part of the second which related to themselves, and which must have
strongly recurred to Joseph's remembrance (see Genesis 42:9.) when he saw them
bowing down themselves before him, with their faces to the earth; which was the
common method of salutation towards superiors in the eastern nations.
REFLECTIO S.—The famine now began to be sensibly felt in Canaan. That land
of promise had hitherto in many instances proved a land of dearth to every
succeeding patriarch. ote; It is good to have the creature embittered, that we may
be led to look to a better country; that is, a heavenly. Jacob, understanding there
was corn in AEgypt, reproves his sons for their delay and despondence, and hastens
them on their journey. ote; When difficulties overtake us, we must not lie down
and despond, nor waste the time in useless debate, but exert our most vigorous
efforts for relief. At his command, all, except Benjamin, immediately set off, and,
arriving safely, are introduced to the governor, before whom they bow with
profound obeisance. And now the dreams begin to be accomplished. ote; God's
counsels will take effect in their own time.
ELLICOTT, "(6) Joseph’s brethren came and bowed down themselves before
him.—Throughout the land of Egypt Joseph would sell by deputy, and only give

34. general directions; but the arrival of so large a party as Joseph’s ten brethren, each
probably with several attendants, would be reported to the governor in person, as
certainly was the case with Abraham when he went into Egypt (Genesis 12:14-15).
Such visits would happen only occasionally, and the arrival of foreigners was always
a matter looked upon with suspicion, especially upon the Arabian frontier.
PETT, "Verse 6
‘And Joseph was the governor over the land, he it was who sold to all the people of
the land, and Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves to him with their faces
to the earth.’
It is probable that Joseph had arranged things in such a way that all Canaanites
coming to buy food had to approach him. He would not of course be actually selling
the food but would be on a seat of honour and approached by those who came, who
would abase themselves to him before passing on to those who actually handled the
transactions.
7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he
recognized them, but he pretended to be a
stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do
you come from?” he asked.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy
food.”

35. GILL, "And Joseph saw his brethren,.... Among those that came to buy corn, and
when they prostrated themselves before him:
and he knew them; some of them being at man's estate, and their beards grown when
they sold him, and their habits and dress now being much the same it was then, and by
them he knew the younger:
but made himself strange unto them; took no notice of them as his relations, but
carried himself to them as he did to other foreigners, and yet more strangely:
and spake roughly unto them; or hard (z) things or words; put on a stern
countenance, and spoke with a high tone and in a rough surly manner to them:
and he said unto them, whence come ye? who are ye? of what country are ye? what
is your business here?
and they said, from the land of Canaan to buy food; which they could not get in
Canaan, the famine being there so great.
HAWKER, "Reader! I charge you not to overlook the precious things contained in this
verse. How little doth the sinner think, in his first approaches to JESUS, while the HOLY
GHOST is leading him, and his necessities, like Jacob’s sons, compel him to the mercy
seat, that He is a brother, as well as a governor, to whom he is come. How unconscious is
he, when JESUS seems to make himself strange and speak roughly to him, that grace is
at the bottom. My Christian Reader! never forget this one precious truth, however
outward things vary, the heart; of our JESUS is the same. While we fear his power let us
not lose sight of his love. Heb_4:14-16.
HE RY 7-9, "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 (Gen_41:45, Gen_41:46)
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, Gen_42:8. He remembered the dreams (Gen_42:9), 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

36. bringing of his brethren to repentance for their former sins; and both these points were
gained.
I. He showed himself very rigorous and harsh with them. The very manner of his
speaking, considering the post he was in, was enough to frighten them; for he spoke
roughly to them, Gen_42:7. He charged them with bad designs against the government
(Gen_42:9), treated them as dangerous persons, saying, You are spies, and protesting
by the life of Pharaoh that they were so, Gen_42:16. Some make this an oath, others
make it no more than a vehement asseveration, like that, as thy soul liveth; however it
was more than yea, yea, and nay, nay, and therefore came of evil. Note, Bad words are
soon learned by converse with those that use them, but not so soon unlearned. Joseph,
by being much at court, got the courtier's oath, By the life of Pharaoh, perhaps designing
hereby to confirm his brethren in their belief that he was an Egyptian, and not an
Israelite. They knew this was not the language of a son of Abraham. When Peter would
prove himself no disciple of Christ, he cursed and swore. Now why was Joseph thus hard
upon his brethren? We may be sure it was not from a spirit of revenge, that he might
now trample upon those who had formerly trampled upon him; he was not a man of that
temper. But, 1. It was to enrich his own dreams, and complete the accomplishment of
them. 2. It was to bring them to repentance. 3. It was to get out of them an account of
the state of their family, which he longed to know: they would have discovered him if he
had asked as a friend, therefore he asks as a judge. Not seeing his brother Benjamin with
them, perhaps he began to suspect that they had made away with him too, and therefore
gives them occasion to speak of their father and brother. Note, God in his providence
sometimes seems harsh with those he loves, and speaks roughly to those for whom yet
he has great mercy in store.
JAMISO , "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.
K&D, "Joseph recognised his brothers at once; but they could not recognise a brother
who had not been seen for 20 years, and who, moreover, had not only become
thoroughly Egyptianized, but had risen to be a great lord. And he acted as a foreigner
(‫ר‬ ֵⅴַ‫נ‬ ְ‫ת‬ִ‫)י‬ towards them, speaking harshly, and asking them whence they had come. In
Gen_42:7, according to a truly Semitic style of narrative, we have a condensation of what
is more circumstantially related in Gen_42:8-17.

37. CALVI , "7.He made himself strange unto them. It may be asked for what purpose
Joseph thus tormented his brethren with threats and with terror. For if he was
actuated by a sense of the injury received from them, he cannot be acquitted of the
desire of revenge. It is, however, probable, that he was impelled neither by anger nor
a thirst of vengeance, but that he was induced by two just causes to act as he did.
For he both desired to regain his brother Benjamin, and wished to ascertain, — as if
by putting them to the torture, — what was in their mind, whether they repented or
not; and, in short, what had been their course of life since he had seen them last.
For, had he made himself known at the first interview, it was to be feared lest they,
keeping their father out of sight, and wishing to cast a vail over the detestable
wickedness which they had committed, should only increase it by a new crime.
There lurked, also, a not unreasonable suspicion concerning his brother Benjamin,
lest they should attempt something perfidious and cruel against him. It was
therefore important that they should be more thoroughly sifted; so that Joseph,
being fully informed of the state of his father’s house, might take his measures
according to circumstances; and also, that previous to pardon, some punishment
might be inflicted which would lead them more carefully to reflect upon the atrocity
of their crime. For whereas he afterwards showed himself to be placable and
humane; this did not arise from the fact, that his anger being assuaged, he became,
by degrees, inclined to compassion; but rather, as Moses elsewhere subjoins, that he
sought retirement, because he could no longer refrain himself; herein intimating at
the same time, that Joseph had forcibly repressed his tears so long as he retained a
severe aspect; and, therefore, that he had felt throughout the same affection of pity
towards them. And it appears that a special impulse moved him to this whole course
of action. For it was no common thing, that Joseph, beholding so many authors of
his calamities, was neither angry nor changed in his manner, nor broke out into
reproaches; but was composed both in his countenance and his speech, as if he had
long meditated at leisure, respecting the course he would pursue. But it may be
inquired again, whether his dissimulation, which was joined with a falsehood, is not
to be blamed; for we know how pleasing integrity is to God, and how strictly he
prohibits his own people from deceit and falsehoods. Whether God governed his
servant by some special movement, to depart without fault, from the common rule of
action, I know not; seeing that the faithful may sometimes piously do things which
cannot lawfully be drawn into a precedent. Of this, however, in considering the acts
of the holy fathers, we must always beware; lest they should lead us away from that
law which the Lord prescribes to all in common. By the general command of God,
we must all cultivate sincerity. That Joseph feigned something different from the
truth, affords no pretext to excuse us if we attempt anything of the same kind. For,
though a liberty granted by privilege would be pardoned, yet if any one, relying on a
private example, does not scruple to subvert the law of God, so as to give himself
license to do what is therein forbidden, he shall justly suffer the punishment of his

38. audacity. And yet I do not think that we ought to be very anxious to excuse Joseph,
because it is probable that he suffered something from human infirmity, which God
forgave him; for by Divine mercy alone could that dissimulation, which in itself was
not without fault, escape condemnation.
BENSON, "Genesis 42:7. We may well wonder that Joseph, during the twenty years he
had 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 oft went through all the land of Egypt, never made a step 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 good token,
but they knew not him, little thinking to find him there.
HAWKER, "Verse 7
Reader! I charge you not to overlook the precious things contained in this verse. How
little doth the sinner think, in his first approaches to JESUS, while the HOLY GHOST is
leading him, and his necessities, like Jacob's sons, compel him to the mercy seat, that He
is a brother, as well as a governor, to whom he is come. How unconscious is he, when
JESUS seems to make himself strange and speak roughly to him, that grace is at the
bottom. My Christian Reader! never forget this one precious truth, however outward
things vary, the heart; of our JESUS is the same. While we fear his power let us not lose
sight of his love. Hebrews 4:14-16.
WHEDON, "7. Made himself strange — ‫,יתנכר‬ acted like a foreigner, speaking to them
through an interpreter. Genesis 42:23 . He dissembled, and spoke harsh things to them.
Perhaps he had anticipated their coming, and had, therefore, arranged to have all
foreigners presented to him personally; but in that moment of interest and excitement,
noticing that Benjamin was not among them, he must find out the reason, and deems it
best to treat them with severity.