Genesis 42:3

Gen 42:3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

Ver. 3. And Joseph’s ten brethren went.] Forty or fifty miles an end: Austin saith three hundred. Should we think much to go a few steps, say it be miles, to get food for our souls? Beware of that famine. {Amo 8:11-12} The seven churches of Asia, Bohemia, the Palatinate, and many other parts of Germany, are under it already. So is the large region of Nubia in Africa, which had from the apostles’ time, as it is thought, professed the Christian faith, but now embraced Mohammedanism through lack of ministers. For, as Alvarez {a} hath recorded, at his being in the king of Habasaia’s court, there were ambassadors out of Nubia to entreat him for a supply of ministers, to instruct their nation, and repair Christianity, gone to ruin among them; but were rejected. Oh, fearful!

{a} Alvar., Hist. Aethiopic., cap. 137.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen_42:3-20

Josephs ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt

Providence working in mens 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.)

The first journey of Jacobs 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 GODS 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 Josephs 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 Gods righteous anger against Sin there runs a purpose of mercy. (T. H. Leale.)

The first journey of Josephs 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. Josephs love to his brethren was a noble love. Gods love to us is still nobler, and severity accompanies it. It does not shrink from human suffering, for suffering is necessary for the mans well being.

IV. Lastly, we remark on THE RETURN HOMEWARDS OF JOSEPHS 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 Jacobs 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 Jacobs despondency we must go far back. Jacob was a selfish man; his very religion was selfish; 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. Jacobs 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 Josephs 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. Josephs cries wrought into the mental texture of these men. Hetfy, in Adam Bede. The babys cry: Son, remember. Memory, a cup of blessing, or devils scourge.

IV. The vengeance of CONSCIENCE. Memory may exaggerate, extenuate, add, subtract, &c. But conscience is a just judge. Hamlet, The plays 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.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Gen_42:6. Governor.] “The word rendered governor, Shalit, is, except here, said to be only found in the books contemporary with and following the Captivity. Salatis is given by Josephus as the title of the first shepherd-king.”—(Alford.)—

Gen_42:9. Spies.] “This dynasty, we are told by Manetho, was ever in fear of invasion from the then powerful Assyrians, and Josephus says that on that account they fortified the eastern side of Egypt. Hence men arriving from Asia, and especially Jacob’s sons, who from their Chaldaic origin were more like the eastern Semitic peoples than Canaanites, might well arouse suspicion as to their being Assyrian spies.”—(Alford).—The nakedness of the land. Its unfortified cities, unprotected boundaries—exposed as a man unarmed, having fewer strong places than any other countries.—

Gen_42:15. By the life of Pharaoh.] The Egyptians swore by the life of their kings. There are similar instanced among the Hebrews themselves. (1Sa_17:55; 2Sa_11:11.) A similar form is found in the address of Abigail to David. (1Sa_25:36.)—

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_42:3-20

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 forbodings are fulfilled. They dreaded Egypt, and events justified their fears.

1. They are received roughly. (Gen_42:7.) Joseph acted the part of a foreigner, and treats them with a heartless and haughty indifference. With their peculiarities of feature, attitude, and mother tongue, he knew them. But they did not know him; for twenty years had made a great change in a youth of seventeen. Besides, his beard was shaven, he had on Egyptian attire, and spoke in a foreign tongue, and above all was found in such an exalted position. Therefore they failed to recognise him. This rough reception had dark suggestions for them. Their conscience read it as the beginning of sorrows.

2. They are suspected of evil designs. “Ye are spies,” said Joseph, “to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.” (Gen_42:9.) The suspicion which Joseph expressed was unfounded, and he knew it to be so. But he was acting a part for the purpose of bringing their guilt home to them. He disguised, for the time, under a hard aspect a loving design. Yet his suspicion (even though it be regarded as expressing no real conviction on his part), expresses a righteous judgment—a stern moral fact, that guilty men who conceal a crime demanding open atonement, must ever encounter suspicion as a reflex of their evil secret. They felt that, though not in form, yet in reality that suspicion was justified.

3. They are threatened with the prospect of imprisonment and death. (Gen_42:15; Gen_42:20.) They must remain in ward until their words be proved. And if unable to verify them, their lives were to be forfeited.

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 one of his dreams—“Shalt thou then indeed reign over us, or shalt thou have dominion over us?” They now bow themselves with the most abject humility before that very man of whom they said, on another occasion, “Come, let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”

2. That nothing can hinder the counsel of the Lord from taking effect. Joseph’s brethren tried their utmost to prevent the fulfilment of his dreams; but all the while they were really working towards this very end. They were accomplishing the will of God concerning Joseph though they knew it not. They knew not how wonderful is the Lord of Hosts in counsel, and how excellent in working.

3. That the crisis will arrive when the wicked must appear before the judgment seat of the pious. The time will come when the oppressors and the oppressed must meet together. The saints shall judge the world by their very position, for righteouness carries in itself the condemnation of sin. The highest form of this truth is “that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2Co_5:10). We must all come into the presence of Jesus Christ the Righteous, who will make manifest what we really are and appoint us our true place.

4. That retribution, even in kind, follows sin. Joseph was hated of his brethren for being his father’s spy, and now the time has come when they themselves are treated as spies. He who was hungry when they were eating now holds the food for which they hunger. They condemned Joseph to the pit, and now he judges them. That same thing which a man sows he also reaps.

5. That throughout the severity of God’s righteous anger against sin there runs a purpose of mercy. Joseph put on a stern demeanour. (Gen_42:7.) He must bring his brethren to a sense of their sin by lifting the rod of justice against them. And yet he feels more distress than the objects of his chastisement. He is like a wise and just father who feels compelled to punish his son, though all the time it goes sore against his heart. A merciful intention must often wear this hard aspect. Joseph afflicted his brethren for their good. He disguises his private feelings, and acts for the time with stern justice. But when the harsh remedy had wrought its end, then he relents, and the prevailing kindness of his nature is free to flow. And so God loves us, yet with a love which does not shrink from severity. But the purpose which underlies all His dealings is kind. He wounds only in order that he might heal. “He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger for ever. (Psalms 103.)

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Gen_42:3-4. The family is spoken of in their relation to Joseph, not as Jacob’s ten sons, but as Joseph’s ten brethren. He is the hero of the narrative. Benjamin was Joseph’s brother in a special sense, as born of the same mother, and beloved by the father in Joseph’s stead, so that he could not bear to part with him for fear the like calamity might fall upon him as befell Joseph. How little does Jacob know what is good or evil in Providence!—(Jacobus).

The guilt of Benjamin’s brothers seems to weigh upon the father’s heart as a kind of presentiment.—(Lange).

Gen_42:5. The expression sons of Israel, instead of sons of Jacob, points to Israel the man of faith, whose children they were, who accompanied them with his prayers, and for whose sake, though he knew it not, this journey to Egypt, so dark in its commencement, became a blessing to them all.—(Lange).

Gen_42:6. They bowed down themselves before him, etc. This fulfils most literally the dream of Joseph, which up to this time had seemed so impossible to human view. Joseph had doubtless rested in the confidence of this result as thus revealed to him, and had felt it his duty to wait patiently upon God through his long years of trial.—(Jacobus).

Gen_42:7-8. What must have been his feelings! The remembrance of the manner in which he parted from them two and twenty years ago, the events which had befallen him, their prostration before him, and the absence of Benjamin, from which he might be apprehensive that they also had made away with him,—altogether must have been a great shock to his sensibility. Let him beware, or his countenance will betray him. He feels the danger of this, and immediately puts on a stern look, speaks roughly to them, and affects to take them for spies. By this innocent piece of artifice, he could interrogate them, and get out of them all the particulars that he wished without betraying himself, which he could not have done by any other means.—(Fuller.)

God sometimes brings us to a sense of our sins by hiding Himself from us, and standing afar off.

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.—(Robertson.)

Gen_42:9. Such an imputation as this remains to this day, that to which a stranger is continually exposed in the East. The Orientials generally have no idea that people will make a journey unless from urgent necessity, or on gainful speculations. Curiosity, or the desire of collecting information, are motives perfectly incomprehensible to them, and are always treated as shallow and childish pretences. They ask triumphantly whether you have no trees, birds, animals, rivers, or ruins at home to engage your attention, that you should come so far to look for them.—(Bush.)

This is the Oriental method of challenging a stranger. In truth it is the very idea of the European passport system, which puts every traveller under so much suspicion of mischievous intent as to put him constantly upon the proof of an honest and good object in his visit.—(Jacobus.)

He was not only to bless, but also to punish and judge, i.e., become forgetful of all human relations and act divinely. A similar position God assumes towards believers when in tribulation. Let us, therefore, hold assuredly that all our misfortunes, trials, and lamentations, even death itself, are nothing but a hearty and fair display of the Divine goodness towards us.—(Luther.)

Joseph remembered the dreams. Event is the best interpreter of Divine oracles. The disciples understood not many things at first that our Saviour said to them. (Joh_2:22; Joh_12:16.) So John Baptist’s preaching wrought not for some years after it was delivered, and then it did. (Joh_10:41-42.)—(Trapp.)

Gen_42:10-13. 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 his 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.—(Murphy.)

Gen_42:14-16. 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 fore-ordination of God, and he feels bound to make this authority a reality for their moral good.—(Murphy.)

Gen_42:17-20. Here they lie three days; a period which afforded him time to think what to do, and them to reflect on what they had done. On the third day he paid them a visit, and that in a temper of more apparent mildness. He assures them that he has no design, upon their life, and ventures to give a reason for it which must appear to them no less surprising than satisfying: I fear God. What, an Egyptian nobleman know and fear the true God! If so, they can have no injustice to fear at his hands! nor can he withhold food from a starving family. The fear of God will ever be connected with justice and humanity to man. But how mysterious! If he be a good man, how is it that he should treat us so roughly? How is it that God should suffer him so to mistake our designs? Their hearts must surely at this time have been full. Such were the means which God by this wise man made use of to bring them to repentance. This indeed is His ordinary method of dealing with sinners. Now their fears are awakened by threatnings, or adverse providences, in which death sometimes stares them in the face; and now a little gleam of hope arises, just sufficient to keep the mind from sinking; yet all is covered with doubt and mystery. It is thus, as by alternate frost and rain, and sunshine upon the earth, that He humbleth the mind, and maketh soft the heart of man.—(Fuller.)

The true God had not been altogether forgotten in Egypt. Pharaoh had already confessed Him. (Gen_41:38-39.)

This mention of the fear of God would have a two-fold effect upon these men.

1. Encouragement. They would thus be assured that they would be dealt with by a higher principle than expediency or political considerations, even by the just law of heaven. Joseph served the same God in whom their fathers trusted.

2. Alarm. The mention of God’s name would serve to bring home to him a conviction of their sin.

The only permanent and true basis of morality is the fear of God.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

(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 (Gen_47:1), and also households of servants (Gen_46:5, where see Note). Joseph, moreover, besides the wagons and their contents, sends twenty loads of provisions for the use of his father by the way (Gen_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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. ten brethren] Jacob’s sons are here mentioned, not as heads of families, or as separate householders, but as the capable male members of a single family. The whole ten are needed, in order to carry back enough corn.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

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.

Genesis 42:4

gen 42:4

gen 42:4

gen 42:4But 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3. Joseph’s ten brethren went — No one of them would go alone, and they conclude it is best for all of them to go together. They might thus mutually protect and help each other. In this there is another intimation of their guilty fears.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Joseph"s ten brethren went down either it was for safety that all the ten went, or because, the corn being sold to individuals, the quantity received would depend on their numbers (Lange)to buy corn the word for corn, rB if not a primitive, like the Latin far (Furst), may be derived from rrB; to separate, sever, choose out, hence purify (Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Gesenius), and may describe grain as that which has been cleaned from chaff, as in Jer_4:11 in (literally, from, i.e. corn to be brought from) Egypt.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

וירדו אחי יוסף AND JOSEPH S BRETHREN WENT DOWN — It does not call them “the sons of Jacob” (as in 5:5), thus suggesting that they regretted having sold him and that they had made up their mind to behave towards him in a brotherly manner and to redeem him at whatever price people might fix for them to pay (Midrash Tanchuma, Miketz 8).

עשרה TEN — What is the mention of this number intended to tell us? Is it not written (Genesis 42:4) “but Benjamin, Joseph’s brother did he not send” (and we therefore know that only ten brothers went to Egypt)? But it means to suggest that so far as their feeling of brotherhood towards Joseph was concerned they were divided into ten, because the love and hatred that all of them bore him were not alike, where as in regard to buying corn they were at one and united (Genesis Rabbah 91:2).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

וירדו אחי יוסף. The reason why the Torah describes them all of a sudden as “Joseph’s brothers” instead of as Yaakov’s sons, is that they went down to Egypt because of what had happened with Joseph so many years ago. The time had come for Joseph’s dream to be realised, and the Torah wants to alert the reader to this. In Bereshit Rabbah 91,2 the question is raised why there is a dividing tone sign, etnachta, under the word עשרה, as if the verse ended there. The answer given is that nine of the brothers only were concerned with finding Joseph and being good brothers, whereas the tenth, Shimon, joined them only in order to buy grain. [the basis of the Midrash is the number “ten” being mentioned. We all knew that only ten brothers went to Egypt, Yaakov not allowing Binyamin to join them. Hence, the Midrash reads additional meaning into the word “ten,” as well as into the tone sign under that word. Ed.]

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.