Genesis 42:5

Gen 42:5 And the sons of Israel came to buy [corn] among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Ver. 5. And the sons of Israel came.] God could have fed them by a miracle, as he did Elijah by the ravens; and Israel in the wilderness, where he rained them down manna, and set the flint abroach; {a} and Merlin, hid in a hay mow in the massacre of Paris, by a hen that came thither, and laid an egg by him every morning. {b} But he worketh ordinarily by means, and will have them used, but not trusted to.

{a} Dedit eis pluviam escatilem, et petram aquatilem. - Tertul.

{b} Dike’s Mich. and the Drag.

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.

the famine was in the land of Canaan--The tropical rains, which annually falling swell the Nile, are those of Palestine also; and their failure would produce the same disastrous effects in Canaan as in Egypt. Numerous caravans of its people, therefore, poured over the sandy desert of Suez, with their beasts of burden, for the purchase of corn; and among others, "the sons of Israel" were compelled to undertake a journey from which painful associations made them strongly averse.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

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

5. Among those that came — They mingled themselves with the multitudes of some caravan, as if anxious to escape notice.

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

And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came literally, in the midst of the comers; not as being desirous to lose themselves in the multitudes, as if troubled by an alarming presentiment (Lange), which is forced and unnatural; but either as forming a part of a caravan of Canaanites (Lawson), or simply as arriving among ethers who came from the same necessity (Keil). For the famine was in the land of Canaan. The statements in this verse concerning the descent of Joseph"s brethren to Egypt, and the prevalence of the famine in the land of Canaan, both of which have already been sufficiently announced; (vide ver. 3 Gen_41:57 Gen_42:2) are neither useless repetitions nor proofs of different authorship, but simply the customary recapitulations which mark the commencement of a new paragraph or section of the history, viz., that in which Joseph"s first interview with his brethren is described (cf. "Quarry on Genesis," pp. 556, 557).

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

famine

See note, (See Scofield "Gen 12:10").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came

The word "came" can be translated as "went." Also, the words "grain" and "Egypt" are understood. AT: "The sons of Israel went to by grain along with other people who went to Egypt" (See: Go and Come and Ellipsis)

Now Joseph

"Now" marks a change from the story to background information about Joseph. (See: Background Information)

over the land

Here "land" refers to Egypt. AT: "over Egypt" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

all the people of the land

Here "land" includes Egypt and other surrounding countries. AT: "all the people of all the nations that came to buy grain" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Joseph's brothers came

Here "came" can be translated as "went." (See: Go and Come)

bowed down to him with their faces to the ground

This is a way of showing respect. (See: Symbolic Action)

translationWords

Jacob

famine

Canaan

govern

bow

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

בתוך הבאים AMONG THOSE THAT CAME — They hid themselves in the crowd that people should not recognize them, for their father had bidden them not to show themselves all at one entrance to the city but that each should enter by a different gate in order that the evil eye should not have power over them (i.e. that they should not attract the envious attention of the people) for they were all handsome and stalwart men (Midrash Tanchuma 1.:10:6).

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.

בתוך הבאים, they did not appear different although they were Hebrews. Seeing that it was a time of danger, i.e. famine, they mingled freely with all the other people traveling to Egypt for the same purpose.

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.