Day 15: Genesis 43-46

(The previous post covered Joseph's promotion to Pharaoh's #2 man over all of Egypt. We also saw that Jacob sent all of his sons (except for Benjamin) to Egypt to buy food. Joseph, whom the brothers did not recognize, kept Simeon and told the rest of his brothers to bring Benjamin back to him.)

Genesis 43
¹ And the famine was sore in the land.
² And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

(The famine was sore, which meant "grievous; heavy; great." They did not plan to get Simeon, just to buy more food. Would they have even gone back if they didn't need food?)

³ And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
⁴ If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:
⁵ but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
⁶ And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

(Israel (Jacob) wanted to know why they mentioned Benjamin. He was worried he would lose another son. Judah waited until Israel told them to go back to Egypt to tell Israel that "the man" (Joseph) required Benjamin to be with them. Clearly neither Israel or his sons thought they would go back to Egypt.)

⁷ And they said, The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we in any wise know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

(The reason they mentioned Benjamin was because Joseph caught them off guard by asking about their family and brother. They only answered Joseph's questions.)

⁸ And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.
⁹ I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:
¹⁰ for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a second time.

(Judah was willing to bear the blame if anything happened to Benjamin. Remember, Reuben attempted to make the same deal with Israel at the end of the previous chapter.)

¹¹ And their father Israel said unto them, If it be so now, do this: take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;
¹² and take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:

(Israel tried to get on the right side of Justice with money and fruit. He also told his sons to bring back the money that was put in their sacks on their return from Egypt.)

¹³ take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:
¹⁴ and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release unto you your other brother and Benjamin. And if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

(Israel finally focused on the causes regardless of the effects (the Biblical definition of a man): he sent his sons because his family had a need (cause) regardless if he would be bereaved of his children (effect).)

¹⁵ And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

(Israel allowed Benjamin to go to Egypt.)

¹⁶ And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready; for the men shall dine with me at noon.
¹⁷ And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men to Joseph's house.
¹⁸ And the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

(Again, they were blessed and afraid, similar to Genesis 42:28.)

¹⁹ And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spake unto him at the door of the house,
²⁰ and said, Oh, my lord, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
²¹ and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging-place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.
²² And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food: we know not who put our money in our sacks.

(They confessed about the money.)

²³ And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

(The steward told the brothers that God gave them the treasure.)

²⁴ And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. And he gave their asses provender.
²⁵ And they made ready the present against Joseph's coming at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.
²⁶ And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down themselves to him to the earth.

(All eleven brothers bowed to Joseph, like his dreams from Genesis 37.)

²⁷ And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?
²⁸ And they said, Thy servant our father is well, he is yet alive. And they bowed the head, and made obeisance.
²⁹ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.
³⁰ And Joseph made haste; for his heart yearned over his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

(Joseph missed Benjamin and hid so he could weep away from his brothers.)

³¹ And he washed his face, and came out; and he refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
³² And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, that did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
³³ And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one with another.

(Joseph's brothers recognized that he sat them in order according to age and they "marvelled.")

³⁴ And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

(Benjamin's portion was five times more than his brothers.)




Genesis 44
¹ And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.
² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his grain money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

(The same instructions were given as during the first visit and Joseph's cup was put into Benjamin's sack.)

³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
⁴ And when they were gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
⁵ Is not this that in which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

(Joseph set them up.)

⁶ And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these words.
⁷ And they said unto him, Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? Far be it from thy servants that they should do such a thing.
⁸ Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?
⁹ With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

(The brothers proclaimed their innocence and stated the guilty person should die and the brothers would be Joseph's servants.)

¹⁰ And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be blameless.

(They negotiated: the steward changed the deal to only the guilty would become a servant. Remember, the steward would have known they had the silver cup so he actually negotiated so that the guilty brother wouldn't die.)

¹¹ Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
¹² And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left off at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
¹³ Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.
¹⁴ And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

(Again, Joseph's dream came true.)

¹⁵ And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I can indeed divine?
¹⁶ And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.

(All of the brothers agreed to be servants. Was this because they did not want to face their father without Benjamin?)

¹⁷ And he said, Far be it from me that I should do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.

(Joseph only wanted Benjamin.)

¹⁸ Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh, my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

(Judah definitely recognized Joseph's power. He saw him as equal to Pharaoh.)

¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
²⁰ And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loveth him.
²¹ And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
²² And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.

(Judah tried to make the point that their father would die if Benjamin did not return.)

²³ And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
²⁴ And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
²⁵ And our father said, Go again, buy us a little food.
²⁶ And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, expect our youngest brother be with us.
²⁷ And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:
²⁸ and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since:
²⁹ and if ye take this one also from me, and harm befall him, ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.

(Joseph found out his father still mourned his absence and that he was believed to be dead.)

³⁰ Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life;
³¹ it will come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.
³² For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father for ever.
³³ Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.

(Judah wanted to stay instead of Benjamin because he did not want to cause his father's death.)

³⁴ For how shall I go up to my father, if the lad be not with me? lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.

(Judah ended his explanation to Joseph with a question. Notice, it was Judah that spoke for the group: fourth son and the one through whom ran the lineage of Christ. Did Judah's words have any effect on Joseph?)




Genesis 45
¹ Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood before him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

(Judah's words resolved the conflict. Joseph removed everyone from the room except his brothers.)

² And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
³ And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

(Again, a blessing was seen as trouble.)

⁴ And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
⁵ And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

(God sent Joseph to Egypt to preserve life.)

⁶ For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and there are yet five years, in which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest.

(There was still five years of the famine left. Joseph was thirty-nine years old at this time.)

⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
⁸ So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
⁹ Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not;
¹⁰ and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
¹¹ and there will I nourish thee; for there are yet five years of famine; lest thou come to poverty, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast.

(Joseph told them his intent to provide for the family.)

¹² And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
¹³ And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen: and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.
¹⁴ And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
¹⁵ And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
¹⁶ And the report thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

(Pharaoh was pleased.)

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye: lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;
¹⁸ and take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
¹⁹ Now thou art commanded, this do ye: take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

(They came to Egypt in wagons.)

²⁰ Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
²¹ And the sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.
²² To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

(Again, Benjamin received much more than his brothers.)

²³ And to his father he sent after this manner: ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way.
²⁴ So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.
²⁵ And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father.
²⁶ And they told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he believed them not.

(Jacob did not believe his sons.)

²⁷ And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
²⁸ and Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

(Jacob was referred to as Israel.)




Genesis 46
¹ And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
² And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

(God said Jacob twice.)

³ And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
⁴ I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

(God gave three "I wills.")

⁵ And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
⁶ And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
⁷ his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons's daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

(Jacob/Israel went to Egypt. What followed was an accounting of the people who went to Egypt.)

⁸ And these are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's first-born.
⁹ And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
¹⁰ And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
¹¹ And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
¹² And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
¹³ And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puvah, and Iob, and Shimron.
¹⁴ And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
¹⁵ These are the sons of Leah, whom she bare unto Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.

(Leah's clan consisted of thirty-three people.)

¹⁶ And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
¹⁷ And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel.
¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.

(Zilpah's clan consisted of sixteen people.)

¹⁹ The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.
²⁰ And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On, bare unto him.
²¹ And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
²² These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

(Rachel's clan consisted of fourteen people.)

²³ And the sons of Dan: Hushim.
²⁴ And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.

(Bilhah's clan consisted of seven people.)

²⁶ All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, that came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

(The total number of people outside of Egypt was sixty-six people.)

²⁷ and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

(Joseph and his family made it seventy people total. Joseph's sons were half-Egyptian.)

²⁸ And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to show the way before him unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
²⁹ And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
³⁰ And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, that thou art yet alive.
³¹ And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh, and will say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
³² and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
³³ And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
³⁴ that ye shall say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

(Joseph told his brothers to tell Pharaoh that they were shepherds from their youth so they could have an "office" in the kingdom. Joseph helped them rehearse Pharaoh asking them what their occupation was.)

(This post covered Joseph revealing his identity to his brothers and the family's subsequent move to Egypt.)

Day 16