GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 42 (Gen 42:1) Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? If these sons started looking at one another when they heard the word, “Egypt,” it would be obvious why they would start suddenly glancing at one another to see their reaction, and since they all would do it Jacob would wonder why. Only they knew that the word “Egypt,” brought back painful memories of the sale of their brother. Conscience has a powerful way of intruding when the slightest thing happens, a word that cuts like a knife, and a view that recalls a memory. There is no way to hinder the entrance of the policeman of conscience when we have violated its law. (Gen 42:2) 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. Ordinarily such a wealthy man as Jacob would send servants down to get bread, and the only reason that can be given for him not doing so this time is that it was in the providence of God to get the family to Egypt. Jacob would certainly have plenty of servants to send and there was no particular reason for the sons to leave home. (Gen 42:3) And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. It was not said that Jacob’s ten sons, went down, which would be true in itself, but Joseph’s ten brethren, to identify them with him whom they sold; the one they now would go and buy from and fulfill the dream that they would one day bow before their brother. 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) (Gen 42:4) But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
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The very thought of sending Benjamin brought back painful thoughts of the bloody coat he had seen many years ago and recognized it as belonging to Joseph. Thus he would not send Benjamin, for he was all he had left of his favorite wife, Rachel. The mischief that might befall him, was the same he felt had befallen Joseph. (Gen_37:33) (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. The fact that they came “among those that came,” implies that they may have joined in some caravan with others from Canaan, so that they did not travel alone. OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY 2Co_3:14 c) SAVIOR IN EGYPT Gen_42:5 (1) Joseph's brethren dwelt in a land without corn (Gen_42:5). (2) They wished to pay their own way (Gen_42:3). (3) They assumed a self-righteous attitude (Gen_42:7-11). (4) They were cast into prison for three days (Gen_42:17). (5)They were smitten in their conscience (Gen_42:21). (6) Joseph delivered them by grace (Gen_42:25). (7)They enjoyed a brief time of respite (God waits) (Gen_42:26). (8) But there were periodic disturbances of their superficial peace (Gen_42:27-28). (9) Joseph made himself known to his brethren (Gen_45:1). (10) Joseph made full provision for them (Gen_45:10-11). (11) Joseph ruled over his brethren (Gen_45:4-8). How does one recognize a genuine man of God, or how do those who are called to be men of God live up to their calling? In 1Ti_6:11-14, Paul gives specific instructions to Timothy which may be taken to apply to all men of God today. There are four qualities that identify a man of God (including, to a large extent, every Christian): (1) A man of God is known by what he flees from. (2) A man of God is known by what he follows after. (3) A man of God is known by what he fights for. (4) A man of God is known by what he is faithful to.
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What is a man of God known by? (Gen 42:6) And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. Surely Joseph had other managers who sold with him for the task would be great, but on the day his brothers came he was definitely the one who sold to them. All would be under his care and administration, but it does not seem feasible that he would be doing all the selling. He sold it (Gen_42:6) and received the blessing of "he that selleth it" (Pro_11:26), and there was no other name to buy from (Act_4:12). He will not only fill our sacks but give us such a plentiful supply of the "finest of the wheat" (Psa_81:16), that our barns will be filled with plenty. (Gen 42:7) And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. Joseph would have on his head all the paraphernalia that was worn by Egyptians and would not be easily recognized by his brothers, and the fact that this was the last place they would expect to see Joseph; they were not looking for him here. If they expected to see him it would have been on the streets as a servant going to do business for a master. They may have looked for him when they arrived, but certainly in other surroundings. Joseph made it even more difficult to detect him by speaking roughly to them and in the Egyptian language through an interpreter. (Gen 42:8) And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. It had been 22 years since they last saw him and very likely at seventeen he did not have much of a beard and now would have one
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[although it is likely he was not wearing one since Egyptians were clean shaven], besides all the other things that disguised him, such as his princely clothing, the splendor of his position and the place of authority, with all these servants attending him and a herald to proclaim that all were to bow the knee would throw these brothers off the trail so that they would never even consider Joseph. (Gen 42:9) And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. Seeing them bow before him would suddenly bring back a flow of memories; memories of the day he dreamed and of the persecution he received after he told it, and the pit when they started to kill him, and finally the sale into Egypt. All of this would suddenly come alive to him and he would realize that the long trail to this place was not in his own making, but that God had been behind the scenes all the time. (Gen 42:10) And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. Joseph suddenly devised a plan in his mind to test these brothers to see if there had been a change of heart since he last saw them. So he accused them of being spies. They quickly denied any such thing, but how could they prove it? They were totally at the mercy of this prime minister of Egypt who could refuse them any benefits of the land if he desired. (Gen 42:11) We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. They began with their pedigree. They were from a great patriarch back in Canaan and he was well known and would vouch for them. But of course he was not here and that would do no good for the present moment. They dwelt on their superficial goodness, and forgot their deeper wickedness. "We are no spies." No; they felt hurt by the very suspicion; they would have scorned the thing. But there are worse things than going forth to see the nakedness of the land, worse men
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than spies. And these very men were guilty of far greater wickedness (see Gen_37:2-5, Gen_37:11; Gen_37:18-20). They were guilty of malice, falsehood, treachery, murder. Their conduct was unmanly, unbrotherly, unfilial. They were not spies, but they were liars, impostors, kidnappers, fratricides, monsters. But they ignored the profound wickedness, and dwelt fondly upon a goodness which was not very good. Is not this a very common method with us still? We think how blameless we are in matters on the very surface of life, and forget how guilty we are in the weightier matters of the law. (W. L. Watkinson) (Gen 42:12) And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. Joseph kept pressing them because he wants to get as much information out of them without revealing to them who he was. He insisted that they were here for ulterior motives and knew they would have a difficult time proving otherwise. The whole treatment of his brothers by Joseph was meant to prove their characters, and see whether they had or had not repented of their sin against him, and whether they had or had not changed their disposition and mode of life. They did not know that he was thus experimenting on them, but the result satisfied him, and led to his revelation of himself to them. Now it is often similar with men and their fellows. When Gideon led his army to the brook, and saw his soldiers drink, they had no idea that he was picking out his three hundred for his midnight attack on the Midianitish camp. But so it was; for those who did not care luxuriously to go down on hands and knees to put their mouths to the stream, but who simply lapped the water up with their hands as a dog laps up with his tongue, showed thereby that they had the qualities of rapidity, dash, and hardihood which were specially needed for the service on which he was bent, and therefore they were selected for it. Even so men have been watched by others when they were not thinking of anything of the kind, and the diligence, energy, integrity, and amiability which they have shown has commended them to those interested for some situation of trust, honour, and emolument. Young man, your employer is testing yon when you do not know it, therefore see that you are faithful and obliging even in that which is least, that you
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may approve yourself worthy of something greater. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) [Rebekah had no idea she was being tested when she drew water for the camels. Stephen could not know that the man holding the coats would never forget what he saw that day, and this would be the day of his greatest glory] (Gen 42:13) And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. Here was something Joseph wanted to find out. Where was Benjamin? Why had they not brought him? Was there animosity against him as there had been against himself? He could not be satisfied until he knew their attitude toward his full brother, and the only way to find out was to ask questions that would not reveal who he was to them. (Gen 42:14) And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies: Joseph now had them at his mercy and he kept on the theme of spies so that he could find out from them all he could before sending them back to their father. He had grounds now to claim that they were spies because at the beginning they acted as though they were the only sons of their father and now revealed that they had a brother. Joseph could show them a discrepancy in their argument, and require them to bring Benjamin the next time they came. (Gen 42:15) Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. Of course, Joseph had not had time to plan out what he was going to say when he saw them for he did not realize this was going to happen, so now that it was transpiring, he began working out a plan to learn all he could, so he began by demanding that Benjamin come to see him, since they admitted they had a brother and Joseph knew who that brother was.
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(Gen 42:16) Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. His first thought was simply to send someone after his own brother Benjamin. He later changed this plan because it was not one that had been thought out, but was being worked out as he went along. Someone could go get the brother while they experienced what a jail was like for a few days.
Joseph wanted to be certain that his brothers had not killed Benjamin, as they had tried to kill him. (Ryrie Study Notes) (Gen 42:17) And he put them all together into ward three days. So he put all of them into jail, very likely the same one he had spent three years in. They would be let off light with only three days, instead of three years. 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. (Barnes Notes) (Gen 42:18) And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: By this time he had devised another plan, so that not all of them would have to suffer the prison while one went after Benjamin, but could go back home and only one remain in the prison. It is only the fear of God that can free us of the fear of men (Witherspoon) There is a Greek story of a poet who, falling under the daggers of robbers, called upon some cranes who were flying overhead to avenge his death. While his name and fate were yet upon the public tongue, in a great assembly of the people; when in the vast theatre of Corinth, open to the sky, the solemn chorus and personation of the Furies were exhibiting the truth, that "there is no shadow of death
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where the workers of iniquity can hide themselves" a flock of those noisy birds darkened and shook the air. A cry escaped from the assassins, who were present at the spectacle. Their detection followed, and their just death was added as the terrible conclusion of the sacred song, and fulfilment of its prophecy. (N. L. Frothingham) (Gen 42:19) If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: He recognized that the seriousness of the famine must be taken into account and that it would take time, so he sent them all back but one with the stipulation that they must return. By keeping one of them here they would feel obligated to return Reasonable testimonies of truth may be peremptorily demanded of suspected persons. (G. Hughes, B. D.) (Gen 42:20) But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. He had made a very strict and binding obligation for them. There was even the threat of death if they were not found to be true men. Such in those days was common and men could lose their lives over the slightest violation. Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience [Gen_42:21, Gen_42:22]. (JFB) (Gen 42:21) 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. Now the conscience began to work as it always does in a case like this. When we have done wrong and some problem comes along, the first thought is, “I wonder if this is happening because of what I did?” They were now looking for possible connections. They revealed here that Joseph cried out to them in the pit. It was not recorded there, but it
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was obvious at this point that Joseph heard all that was going on that day including the sale into Egypt. (Gen 42:22) And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required. Joseph knew from their conversation, probably for the first time, that Reuben was against all of this and for that purpose he may have saved himself at this time from being the one put in prison. Joseph would more than likely put the oldest in prison as the one most responsible for any transaction among the brothers, but since he had tried to rescue Joseph, he would choose Simeon instead, the second born. (Gen 42:23) And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. They would be speaking in Hebrew. They thought that this Egyptian would not understand their language. Very likely Joseph spoke Egyptian with an accent but these men would not discern it at the time. He would have been required to learn to speak Egyptian almost immediately after he arrived in Egypt in order to work as a slave, especially in taking over the estate of a man like Potiphar. (Gen 42:24) And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. It was no wonder that he wept at this point. This would be a very traumatic moment while he knew that he had to refrain from identifying himself to them, wanting to embrace them and could not, wanting to find out more information, for which he would have to wait. They would have had no knowledge of why he chose Simeon and the fact that he did not choose Reuben the firstborn would further keep them from being suspicious of his knowledge of who they were. He wept over his house also (Gen_42:24) as Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luk_19:41).
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(In fact it is mentioned that Joseph wept seven times [Gen_42:24; Gen_43:30; Gen_45:2, Gen_45:24; Gen_46:29; Gen_50:1, Gen_50:17]) Jesus wept several times also. (Gen 42:25) Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them. This was his own household and he who does not take care of his own is worse than an infidel, so he not only sent them home with their purchases, he returned their money and added to it some provision for the journey. They may well have wondered why this generosity with provisions, and would be perplexed later about how the money got into their sacks, but it did not make them suspicious. (Gen 42:26) And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence. There would have had to be many such donkey’s loaded with corn for their family was huge. There is no telling how many servants they had, besides their immediate families and the animals that would have to be provided for. It must have been quite a caravan to carry the supplies on so long a journey from Egypt to Canaan. (Gen 42:27) And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth. The inn they stayed at was not the Holiday Inn, or Best Western [Best Eastern in their case], and certainly not Comfort Inn. This was a (H4411) ba-mâlôn (maw-lone') From H3885; a lodgment, that is, caravanserai or encampment: inn, place where . . . lodge, lodging (place). It would be something like a campsite where they could spread their tents and keep their animals from straying during the night. (Gen 42:28) And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? One calamity was now piling on top of another, and what had started out to be a simple trip to negotiate for provisions was now becoming a GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 42—PAGE 10
complicated and problematic adventure. Thus they recognized that God must have had something to do with all this, otherwise how could they be reaping so much when if they had not sowed? (Gen 42:29) And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying, This news from his nine sons would be quite disturbing for an old man like Jacob to endure, especially that he found himself now without another son, one that he may or may not ever see again since he was in prison in a foreign land under a king who did not mind taking the life of prisoners. This was indeed a difficult moment for Jacob. (Gen 42:30) The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. In Hebrew this statement is even more harsh than in English, for the Hebrew word order is, “spake the man, lord of the country, with us harsh things,” indicating the strong feeling which their treatment in Egypt had stirred. Of course they had no way to know that this harsh speaker was one who loved them more than any other. (Gen 42:31) And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies: They did not realize that this was not what they must prove to Joseph. He knew they were not spies, but he did not know the condition of their hearts toward him and toward Benjamin. As in most cases where people try to prove their point, the thing one party has in mind is totally different from what the other is thinking. Joseph used a ploy that he knew they could not prove, for if they were spies all evidence would naturally be hidden. (Gen 42:32) We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. The word “be” is in italics which tells us that it was supplied by the translators. They were likely saying they had been twelve, but now were not that many. Had they known things from God’s perspective they would have known that they still were twelve, but they could not
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know that yet. They were all brothers through their father, but not through the mother’s side. (Gen 42:33) And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone: They did not dare mention parts of the account that might make their father grieve even more. They said nothing of Joseph’s first decision to keep all in prison until someone went and fetched Benjamin, nor of binding Simeon in the prison, which is something, they beheld with their own eyes. Enough had been said already to bring much grief to their aged father. (Gen 42:34) And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land. Though they left out those more grievous elements, they said enough to greatly trouble Jacob. For he could not bear to part with Benjamin, especially since he had already lost Joseph, the only other son of his favorite wife, Rachel. His heart was bound up in these two special children because of that relationship. These were some of the most difficult moments in the life of Jacob. (Gen 42:35) And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. The emptying of the sacks would have taken place over a long period of time for they would not open one until they had emptied another. By it stating that the money was found as the sacks were emptied it appears that the money of all but one was put in the bottom of the sack. The one found at the inn was in the sack’s mouth, possibly so that they could buy something along the journey if necessary. (Gen 42:36) And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
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It is interesting that he would say “Me have ye bereaved,” when he did not know that they had sold Joseph into Egypt. However he was right, it had been them who caused all this loss, though they still hid it from their father. In fact, the one thing I wonder about is just when did he find out what really happened? It was probably when he was sent for by Joseph to come to Egypt. (Gen 42:37) And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. Such oaths were often given in those day to show the seriousness of a person’s position, but they were always unwise because we do not always know the circumstances and can easily get ourselves into a place of having to back down on what we said. What would have happened for example had Jacob found out that Rachel was the one with the gods when he stated that the person with whom they were found should be killed? Look at most of the rash vows and you will notice that they were made without knowing about some circumstances that would have totally changed the making of the vow if it had been known. (Gen 42:38) And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. The word son here [ben, bane] is the “builder” [of the family name], and he considered Benjamin to be the one who would carry on his family through Rachel. None of these other children could ever hold the place of Joseph and Benjamin. Though most of them were responsible for the majority of the building of the family name, it was Benjamin he thinks of first and most. Thus he determined that there was no way Benjamin would be allowed to go to Egypt.
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