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1 Now the famine was severe in the land. 112:10; 26:1; 41:56 2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buys us a little food.” 42:2 3 But Judah spoke to him, Saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 “If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 “But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'” 6 And Israel said, “Why did you deal so wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?” 7 But they said, “The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, “Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly had known he would say, “Bring your brother down’?”
Even though the brothers feel remorse for what they had done to Joseph twenty some odd years ago, and deceived their father about it, they still have that deceptive heart in them. They lie to their father once more about what was said back n forth with Joseph, when he took Simeon and held him back until they return to him with Benjamin. Joseph never asked if their father was still alive, or if they had any other brothers that were not with them. It was out of fear for their own lives that the brothers told Joseph of their other brother Benjamin, and that they were all the sons of one man from the land of Canaan (Gen 42: 11-13). In verse six Jacob asks them point blank, “Why did you deal so wrongfully with me” In my opinion, accusing them of putting him in the position of having to give up his son Benjamin (The full brother of Joseph, and the only other son born of Rachel, the woman he loved the most), so that all of Israel would not die from starvation. Out of guilt for what they had done to Joseph years ago, they don’t want their father to hold them accountable for the fate of Simeon (whether dead or alive), and that of Benjamin, if anything were to happen to him. The guilt is already eating them alive for what they had done to Joseph, they cannot bear to have the fate of Benjamin upon their shoulders as well, so they twist around what was said when they were in Egypt.
8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 42:2; 47:19 9 “I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bare the blame forever. 42:37 10 “For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.” 42:37; 44:32
Judah, the fourth son born of Jacob, and the one with whom the promised seed (In which all nations on the earth shall be blessed), shall be handed down from, will put the burden upon his shoulders for all of Israel if anything were to happen to Benjamin. I have been seeing how Joseph has been a type of Jesus in his life, but now This time I see Judah portraying a type of Jesus in his actions. We are told in the scriptures that a child will be born and the weight of the world will be upon His shoulders (Isa. 9:6),it seems only fitting that Judah would be the one to bare the sins of Israel for what they had done to Joseph (a type of Jesus himself), a sacrifice of one for the preservation of many (Gen. 45: 5, 7). Judah ends by admonishing his father; that if he would have just listened to their plee earlier to take Benjamin to Egypt they would have already been back with more grain, Simeon, and Benjamin, and they would not even be having this discussion.
11 And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man- a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 “Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. 42:25, 35 Jacob has now come to the realization that if Benjamin must go with them to Egypt in order for their whole family to live then, “It must be so.” Jacob makes a kind gesture t0 the lord of Egypt, in hopes that he in turn will deal kindly with them. Jacob sends the best that their land has to offer (As a gift), of their harvest. Jacob also tells his sons to take twice the amount of money with them to purchase more grain, maybe at the chance that the price has gone up for the grain because the severity of the famine has grown even larger, making the grain priceless (So to speak). To show the lord of Egypt that the brothers are indeed honest men. Jacob also orders his sons to also take back all the money that was originally used to purchase the grain the first time (The money that was found in the mouth of their sacks upon returning from Egypt the first time).
13 “Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. 42:38 14 “And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. “If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”
Reluctantly Jacob tells his sons to take Benjamin with them and go back to the man in Egypt in hopes of securing grain for his family, securing the release of Simeon, and allow Benjamin to also come back with them. In my opinion; When Jacob states, “If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!” in my opinion is the same as when he said earlier, “If it must be so” However, meaning this time that if Simeon and Benjamin do not return with them, he will be bereaved (H7921), just as he is bereaved with the loss of his son Joseph years ago.
15 So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went down to Egypt: and they stood before Joseph. 39:1; 46:3 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of the his house, “Take these men to my home, and slaughter an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon.” 44:1 17 The man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.
The brothers arrive in Egypt, to the place where Joseph oversees the day to day activities of his governance, in the morning hours. He was probably ecstatic to see his brother Benjamin (It must have been hard for him to contain himself), for the first time in over twenty years. Joseph still doesn’t reveal his true identity to them at this time. He tells his steward to go and prepare a meal (A feast if you will), for his brothers, and at noon they will dine together. But Joseph does not tell the brothers why they are being taken to his house.
18 Now the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may make a case against us and seize us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys.” 19 When they drew near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they talked with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, “O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food; 42:3 21 “but it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand. 22 “And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.”
Because the brothers do not know why they are being taken to Joseph’s house, they assume the worst. Once again they grow weary for fear of their lives: Ever since they first came to Egypt their lives have not been the same; From being accused of not being honest men, and being spies, to having one of their own brothers (Simeon), help captive until they can prove their innocence to the lord of Egypt (Joseph). Then having to go back home and ask their father Jacob to trust them with the son he loves the most (After the supposed death of Joseph), by taking him back to Egypt in order to secure the release of Simeon. All the while, on their way back to Egypt with Benjamin they had to be thinking to themselves (If not discussing it with one another), about the money that was discovered in the mouth of their sacks; when they first left Egypt. They might have been wondering to themselves if this lord of Egypt would believe they did not steal that money from them, and turn them into slaves. The brothers start making their case to Joseph’s steward beforehand so as to give a defense for themselves, in hopes that the steward would speak to Joseph on their behalf.
23 But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 42:24
The steward calms the brothers down and tells them to not be afraid. The Egyptians worship many gods. Being that this is Joseph’s steward, I think it would be safe to assume he is very familiar with the God of Joseph. He has probably told the man about his God on more than one occasion. All the steward has to do is look at his masters (Joseph), own life and see that his God has blessed him tremendously. In my opinion, this steward was not one of the servants we read about in chapter forty two; when Joseph told his servants to put grain in the the bags of the brothers. If we look closely at chapter forty two verse twenty five, we read that Joseph told his servants to put the grain in the bags of the brothers, BUT! then in the next sentence we see that it is “HE” (Joseph), who is the one that put the money in their bags, and not his servants (Gen 42:25), this is why the Steward here tells the brothers that he had their money, and like Joseph it had to be their God that gave them the treasures in their sacks. Joseph (who was is in charge of all the Pharaoh’s possessions), had access to all of the money that was being brought in for the purchase of the grain, and it is he who gave the steward the money for the grain (in a roundabout way probably), and put the extra money in his brothers sacks.
24 So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. 18:4 25 Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard they would eat bread there.
After assuring the brothers of their well being he brings them into Joseph’s house, gives them water to drink and to wash their feet, he also feeds their donkeys. The brothers are now feeling better about themselves because they have been told that they would eat with the lord of the house (Joseph), whom they still do not know is Joseph. And they make ready the present that their father told them to put together and give to the lord of Egypt.
26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down to him before the earth. v. 28:37, 10; 42:6; 44:14 27 Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, “ Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 42:11, 13 28 And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves. v.26
The present which the brothers brought were a cache of spices, nuts honey, balm (Ointment for the skin), almonds, myrrh. It could be said that some of these gifts were known to be of high regard, and the best of the land of Canaan. These gifts could have touched a nerve with Joseph, reminding him of the days of old, when life was much simpler, the days of his youth (If you will), and a time of innocence lost. Top that off with the fact that the brothers bowed their heads to Joseph upon giving these gifts to him, would undoubtedly bring to memory the dreams he had long ago of just this scenario. (Gen 37:5-8), back then none of them could have dreamed (No pun intended), of how this dream could come to fruition. By this act of obeisance by his brothers, the picture is now becoming clearer to Joseph. Then when he inquires of his fathers well being, asking if he is still alive, the brothers Acknowledge to Joseph that their father is his servant, and by bowing their heads to Joseph one more time (All the brothers being present),bowing to him, thus fulfilling the second dream Joseph had of all his family bowing to him (Gen 37:9, 10). The dreams Joseph had back when he was seventeen are becoming more clear to him now, but In my opinion it will take some time still to make sense of it all. Right now he is with his brothers and does not have the time to go somewhere in private, meditate on what just happened, and in my opinion going to the Lord and inquire of Him about the deeper meanings of these dreams. As we will see later on Joseph does indeed come to a better understanding of what God Almighty had planned all along.
29 Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there. 42:24; 45:1, 2, 14, 15 31 Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, “Serve the bread.”
Joseph looks up and sees his brother Benjamin for the first time in over twenty years. This is his brother with whom they both share the same mother (Rachel), I believe because of this there is this special bond between the two. Immediately Joseph ask God to bless him: to show favour to Benjamin and be kind to him. Joseph wanted so much to go to his brother, wrap his arms around him, and show his love for him. Instead Joseph runs away to his bedroom where he can be alone with his thoughts and cry. These tears were bittersweet: Tears of joy to see his brother once again, and tears of sadness, for Benjamin was just a boy when Joseph was sold into slavery, and now he is a young man. Those lost years of not seeing his brother growing up, being able to be a big brother to him, protecting him, bonding with him, nurturing him, and just being boys;doing the things boys do: getting into mischief, hunting, playing jokes on one another, wrestling around with each other, having friendly competitions amongst themselves, so on and so forth. All these things they never had a chance to share with one another. Scripture doesn’t say, but I would Imagine that Joseph probably got on his knees and went into prayer, thanking the Father above for the grace He has shown him. Afterwards, Joseph gathers himself, washes his face so that no one knows he had been crying, he restrains himself from going to Benjamin, wrapping his arms around him, and revealing who he is to all of them. Joseph has had plenty of time to think of how he wants to deal with his brothers when and if they return with Benjamin in order to free Simeon. At this juncture he is not ready. Maybe he is thinking that over the course of the dinner, and the conversation, he will gather more insight as to his brothers, how they treat one another, and what they will say about their father, or even himself. Where is their heart? Of course this is just my opinion for whatever it is worth.
32 So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 46:34; Ex 8:26
Apparently there were three tables set for dining: one for Joseph (Who ate by himself), probably because of his stature among the Egyptians. The second table was for Joseph’s brothers, and the third table was set for the Egyptians who ate with them. We are told in this verse that it was an abomination to the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews. There are a couple reasons why it would be an abomination for the Egyptians to eat with the ?Hebrews: there was a time before Joseph in which shepherds (Also known as Hycsos), meaning king shepherds, who, according to Manetho (An Egyptian historian), invaded and ruled Egypt for approximately two hundred and fifty nine years. According to Manetho, these Hycsos (King-shepherds), were very cruel to the Egyptians (Burning cities, massacring the people and selling them of to slavery). since the Hebrews were known as shepherds that word had a bad connotation to the Egyptians. The second reason why it may have been an abomination to eat with the Hebrews was because they sacrificed animals to God that the Egyptians themselves held sacred. Adam Clarke has this to say on the subject of why it would be an abomination for the Egyptians to eat at the same table with the Hebrews:
The Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews – There might have been some political reason for this, with which we are unacquainted; but independently of this, two may be assigned. 1. The Hebrews were shepherds; and Egypt had been almost ruined by hordes of lawless wandering bandits, under the name of Hycsos, or King-shepherds, who had but a short time before this been expelled from the land by Amasis, after they had held it in subjection for 259 years, according to Manetho, committing the most wanton cruelties. 2. The Hebrews sacrificed those animals which the Egyptians held sacred, and fed on their flesh. The Egyptians were in general very superstitious, and would have no social intercourse with people of any other nation; hence we are informed that they would not even use the knife of a Greek, because they might have reason to suspect it had cut the flesh of some of those animals which they held sacred. Among the Hindoos different castes will not eat food cooked in the same vessel. If a person of another caste touch a cooking vessel, it is thrown away. Some are of opinion that the Egyptian idolatry, especially their worship of Apis under the figure of an ox, was posterior to the time of Joseph; ancient monuments are rather against this opinion, but it is impossible to decide either way. The clause in the Alexandrian Septuagint stands thus, Βδελυγμα γαρ εστιν τοις Αιγυπτιοις [πας ποιμην προβατων,] “For [every shepherd] is an abomination to the Egyptians;” but this clause is probably borrowed from Gen. 46:34, where it stands in the Hebrew as well as in the Greek. See Clarke on Gen. 46:34: 1. Shepherds and feeders of cattle were usually a sort of lawless, free-booting bandits, frequently making inroads on villages, etc., carrying off cattle, and whatever spoils they could find. This might probably have been the case formerly, for it is well known it has often been the case since. On this account such persons must have been universally detested.
2. They must have abhorred shepherds if Manetho’s account of the hycsos or king-shepherds can be credited. Hordes of marauders under this name, from Arabia, Syria, and Ethiopia, (whose chief occupation, like the Bedouin Arabs of the present day, was to keep flocks), made a powerful irruption into Egypt, which they subdued and ruled with great tyranny for 259 years. Now, though they had been expelled from that land some considerable time before this, yet their name, and all persons of a similar occupation, were execrated by the Egyptians, on account of the depredations and long-continued ravages they had committed in the country.
3. The last and probably the best reason why the Egyptians abhorred such shepherds as the Israelites were, was, they sacrificed those very animals, the ox particularly, and the Sheep, which the Egyptians held sacred. Hence the Roman historian Tacitus, speaking of the Jews, says: “Caeso Ariete velut in contumelia Ammonis; Bos quoque immolatur, quem Aegyptii Apim colunt.” “They sacrifice the ram in order to insult Jupiter Ammon, and they sacrifice the ox, which the Egyptians worship under the name of Apis.” Though some contend that this idolatry was not as yet established in Egypt, and that the king-shepherds were either after the time of Joseph, or that Manetho by them intends the Israelites themselves; yet, as the arguments by which these conjectures are supported are not sufficient to overthrow those which are brought for the support of the contrary opinions, and as there was evidently an established religion and priesthood in Egypt before Joseph’s time, (for we find the priests had a certain portion of the land of Egypt which was held so sacred that Joseph did not attempt to buy it in the time of the famine, when he bought all the land which belonged to the people, Gen_47:20-22), and as that established priesthood was in all likelihood idolatrous, and as the worship of Apis under the form of an ox was one of the most ancient forms of worship in Egypt, we may rest tolerably certain that it was chiefly on this account that the shepherds, or those who fed on and sacrificed these objects of their worship, were an abomination to the Egyptians.
33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another. 34 Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamins serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him. 45:22
The brothers were seated in the order of their age (from oldest to youngest), not by them, but by Joseph. He is the only one other than the brothers who would know the order by age. This is why it says the brothers looked in astonishment at one another. back home in the land of Canaan they would have sat in the same order. It appears to me that it is Joseph who serves the brothers their portions of the food, and not one of his servants. To his brother Benjamin (His full brother), born of the same mother (Rachel), he gave five times more than any other brother. By this act, Joseph is showing great honor to Benjamin, and the fact that it is five times greater than the others, places an exclamation of his importance to Joseph, among the other brothers. everyone drank and ate, and were in a very festive mood with one another.