Genesis 42

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'When Jacob learned' (vayyar Ya'aqov) — literally 'Jacob saw.' The verb ra'ah ('to see') here means to perceive or learn, probably through reports from traveling merchants. Jacob's awareness of Egyptian grain supplies contrasts with his sons' apparent paralysis.
2. 'Why do you look at one another?' (lammah tittra'u) — the reflexive form of ra'ah suggests staring at each other in indecision. Jacob rebukes their inaction. The family is starving, and the sons do nothing. Jacob's directiveness here recalls the patriarch who once schemed for the blessing — age has not dulled his capacity for decisive action.

Translator Notes

1. 'Go down' (redu) — the verb yarad ('to go down') is geographically appropriate (Canaan is higher than Egypt) but also carries theological weight. Abraham 'went down' to Egypt during famine (12:10); Isaac was told not to 'go down' (26:2). Each descent to Egypt marks a crisis point in the patriarchal narrative.
2. 'So that we may live and not die' (venichyeh velo namut) — the stark binary of life and death frames the entire journey. The brothers go to Egypt for physical survival, unaware that their journey will also confront them with their past sin and lead to moral and relational restoration.

Translator Notes

1. 'Joseph's ten brothers' (achei-Yosef asarah) — the narrator identifies them as 'Joseph's brothers,' not 'Jacob's sons.' The perspective has shifted: the story is being told from Joseph's vantage point. They are ten because Benjamin stays behind (v. 4) and Joseph is already in Egypt. The number ten will resonate with the ten who originally conspired against Joseph (37:2, where Joseph was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah).

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'Benjamin, Joseph's brother' (Binyamin achi Yosef) — the narrator identifies Benjamin specifically as 'Joseph's brother,' distinguishing him from the ten. Benjamin and Joseph share the same mother, Rachel, making them full brothers. Jacob's protectiveness of Benjamin stems from the presumed loss of Joseph — Benjamin is the last living link to his beloved Rachel.
2. 'Lest harm befall him' (pen-yiqra'ennu ason) — the word ason ('harm, calamity, fatal accident') is relatively rare, appearing in Exodus 21:22-23 for bodily harm. Jacob's fear is not vague anxiety but specific dread of fatal catastrophe. The word will recur in v. 38 and 44:29, forming a thematic bracket around Jacob's refusal to release Benjamin.
3. Jacob's overprotectiveness of Benjamin mirrors and extends his earlier favoritism of Joseph. Having lost one son of Rachel (as he believes), he cannot risk the other. Yet this very protectiveness will be tested and overcome as the narrative progresses.

Translator Notes

1. 'The sons of Israel' (benei Yisra'el) — the narrator switches from 'Joseph's brothers' to 'the sons of Israel,' using Jacob's covenant name. They come not as private individuals but as representatives of the covenant family.
2. 'Among those who came' (betokh habba'im) — they are anonymous members of the international throng coming to Egypt for grain (41:57). The covenant family is reduced to one group among many desperate nations. There is no special treatment, no divine fast-track — they wait in line like everyone else.
3. The famine in Canaan connects back to 41:57 and fulfills the prediction that the famine would affect 'all the earth.' The promised land itself cannot sustain the covenant family — only Egypt, under Joseph's administration, can provide.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'The governor' (hashallit) — from shalat ('to rule, to have dominion'). The title designates Joseph as the supreme administrator, the one wielding executive power over Egypt's grain distribution. The term is stronger than a mere official — it denotes absolute authority.
2. 'Bowed down before him with their faces to the ground' (vayyishtachavu-lo appayim artsah) — the narrator pauses to let the reader absorb the moment: Joseph's brothers, who mocked his dreams of their bowing (37:8), now bow with faces pressed to the earth before the brother they sold. The fulfillment of the dream is exact — and the brothers are utterly unaware of it.
3. This is one of the most dramatically ironic moments in all of Scripture. The reader knows what the characters do not: the foreign governor before whom they prostrate themselves is their own brother. Twenty years of narrative tension converge in this single act of obeisance.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'Recognized them' (vayyakkirem) — from nakar ('to recognize'). The verb is laden with irony: Joseph recognizes (makir) his brothers, but they do not recognize him. Twenty years, Egyptian dress, the shaved face, the royal office, and the use of an interpreter (v. 23) all make identification impossible from their side.
2. 'Made himself a stranger' (vayyitnakker) — from the same root nakar, but in the reflexive (hitpael) form. Joseph deliberately 'estranges' himself — he acts as one who does not recognize them. The wordplay between vayyakkirem ('he recognized them') and vayyitnakker ('he made himself strange') is untranslatable in English but central to the narrative artistry.
3. 'Spoke harshly' (vaydabber ittam qashot) — Joseph's harsh speech begins his extended test of his brothers. His severity is not revenge but a carefully calculated process of bringing them to genuine repentance. He needs to know whether they have changed since the day they sold him.

Translator Notes

1. This brief sentence — one of the most powerful in Genesis — states the asymmetry that drives the entire drama of chapters 42-45. Joseph holds all the knowledge and all the power; his brothers have neither. The narrator's simple declaration invites the reader into Joseph's perspective: what would you do if the brothers who sold you into slavery stood before you, helpless and unknowing?
2. The verb nakar ('to recognize') appears for the third time in two verses, emphasizing the theme of recognition/non-recognition that structures the Joseph narrative. True recognition — of identity, of sin, of divine purpose — will come only in chapter 45.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'Joseph remembered the dreams' (vayyizkor Yosef et hachalomot) — the verb zakar ('to remember') connects Joseph's memory to the cupbearer's remembering in 41:9. But Joseph's remembering is not self-serving — it is the recognition that God's purposes, revealed long ago in dreams, are now unfolding before his eyes. His brothers are bowing, exactly as the sheaves bowed in his dream (37:7).
2. 'You are spies' (meragelim attem) — Joseph's accusation is a strategic fiction designed to test his brothers and create conditions under which he can learn about Benjamin and his father. The charge of espionage was serious — potentially capital — and immediately puts the brothers on the defensive.
3. 'The vulnerability of the land' (ervat ha'arets) — literally 'the nakedness of the land.' The term ervah ('nakedness') carries connotations of shame and exposure. Military scouts would seek out a land's undefended areas — its 'nakedness.' The metaphor is vivid: exposed territory, like exposed flesh, is vulnerable to attack.

Translator Notes

1. 'My lord' (adoni) — the brothers address Joseph with the deferential title adoni, unknowingly fulfilling the dream imagery of subordination. The irony deepens with each 'my lord' — they are literally lording over themselves the brother they once cast down.
2. 'Your servants' (avadekha) — they call themselves Joseph's servants. The language of servitude echoes the dreams where their sheaves bowed to his. Everything they say, unwittingly, confirms the very dreams they once rejected.

Translator Notes

1. 'Sons of one man' (benei ish-echad) — the brothers appeal to their family unity as evidence of innocence. A single family sending ten sons as spies would be improbable and strategically foolish. But the claim 'sons of one man' is also deeply ironic: they are the ones who tore that family apart by selling their brother.
2. 'Honest men' (kenim) — from ken ('honest, upright, true'). The brothers' claim to honesty rings hollow for the reader who knows their history of deception — the bloodied coat presented to Jacob, the cover-up sustained for over twenty years. Yet this self-description also represents what they will need to become: truly honest men who face their past.

Translator Notes

1. Joseph maintains the accusation, forcing the brothers to reveal more information. His interrogation technique is effective — by persisting in the false charge, he compels them to offer increasingly detailed accounts of their family, which is precisely what he wants to learn.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'Twelve brothers' (shenim asar avadekha achim) — the brothers reveal the full family count, including both Joseph and Benjamin. They still count Joseph among their number, even as they claim he 'is no more.' The number twelve carries covenant significance — these twelve will become the twelve tribes.
2. 'The youngest is with our father today' — this is the information Joseph most wants: Benjamin is alive and with their father. The mention of 'our father' (avinu) also tells Joseph that Jacob is still living.
3. 'One is no more' (veha'echad einennu) — the brothers' euphemism for Joseph's presumed death is deliberately vague. They do not say 'he died' — because they do not know his fate. They only know they sold him, and he vanished into slavery. The phrase einennu ('he is not') could mean death or simply absence. For Joseph, hearing his brothers refer to him in these terms must be profoundly affecting.

Translator Notes

1. Joseph seizes on their family information as supposed confirmation of his accusation. The logic is deliberately false — he uses their honesty against them. But the purpose is not punishment; it is to create the conditions under which he can bring Benjamin to Egypt and test whether his brothers have truly changed.

Translator Notes

1. 'By this you shall be tested' (bezot tibbachenu) — from bachan ('to test, to examine, to try'). Joseph frames the demand for Benjamin as a test of their truthfulness. But the deeper test — which the brothers do not yet perceive — is a test of their character: will they sacrifice Benjamin as they sacrificed Joseph, or will they protect him?
2. 'As Pharaoh lives' (chei Far'oh) — Joseph swears by Pharaoh's life, the standard Egyptian oath. He does not swear by YHWH before these men who do not know his identity. The oath adds gravity to his demand — this is not negotiable.

Translator Notes

1. Joseph's initial plan — send one, imprison the rest — is more severe than his eventual arrangement (v. 19-20). This initial harshness may be designed to maximize pressure on the brothers, or Joseph may be adjusting his strategy as the encounter unfolds.
2. 'Whether truth is with you' (ha'emet ittkhem) — the word emet ('truth, faithfulness') is loaded. The brothers' 'truth' about their family is factually correct, but their deeper truth — what actually happened to their brother — remains concealed. Joseph's testing process will eventually bring all truth to light.

Translator Notes

1. 'Three days' (sheloshet yamim) — the three-day period allows time for the brothers to absorb the gravity of their situation and for Joseph to reconsider his approach. He will emerge on the third day with a modified plan (vv. 18-20). The 'three days' motif appears repeatedly in Scripture as a period of testing and transformation.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'Do this and live' (zot asu vichyu) — Joseph echoes his father's words from v. 2 ('that we may live and not die'). The language of survival pervades the encounter.
2. 'I fear God' (et-ha'Elohim ani yare) — this is an extraordinary self-revelation, though the brothers cannot grasp its full significance. Joseph identifies himself as a God-fearer, someone constrained by divine ethical standards. For the brothers, this should provide some reassurance that the Egyptian governor will act justly. For the reader, it explains Joseph's entire strategy: he is not acting from revenge but from reverence for God.
3. The phrase 'fear of God' (yir'at Elohim) in Genesis denotes moral conscience that restrains wrongdoing, even when there are no human witnesses (cf. 20:11). Joseph signals that his severity is not arbitrary cruelty but principled action.

Translator Notes

1. Joseph reverses his original plan: instead of keeping nine and sending one, he will keep one and send nine. The modified plan is more practical — nine brothers can carry far more grain for the starving family — and it is also more merciful. Joseph balances his testing strategy with genuine concern for his family's survival.
2. 'The hunger of your households' (ra'avon batteikhem) — the word ra'avon ('hunger, famine') reminds the brothers that their families are starving while they stand accused. Urgency and fear combine to heighten the emotional pressure.

Translator Notes

1. 'Your words may be verified' (veye'amnu divreikhem) — from aman ('to confirm, to verify, to prove true'). The same root that gives us 'amen' and emunah ('faithfulness'). Joseph demands that their claim be substantiated — their words must be made amen, shown to be reliable.
2. 'You will not die' (velo tamutu) — the threat of death hangs over the brothers. As far as they know, this Egyptian governor has the power to execute them as spies. Joseph uses this fear to ensure compliance.
3. 'And they did so' (vaya'asu-khen) — the brothers accept the terms. They have no choice — they are foreigners in a foreign land, accused of a capital offense, at the mercy of a man they cannot appease except by obeying.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'Surely we are guilty' (aval ashemim anachnu) — the particle aval ('surely, truly, indeed') introduces a confession of devastating sincerity. The word ashemim ('guilty') from the root asham carries the weight of guilt that demands atonement. After more than twenty years, the brothers' conscience finally erupts under pressure.
2. 'The distress of his soul' (tsarat nafsho) — this detail is not recorded in chapter 37's account of the sale. The narrator of chapter 37 told the story from the outside — the brothers' actions, not Joseph's reaction. Now, through the brothers' own confession, we learn what the earlier narrative withheld: Joseph pleaded with them. He begged. They heard his anguish and chose to ignore it. This retroactive revelation deepens the horror of the original crime.
3. 'We did not listen' (velo shama'nu) — the verb shama ('to hear, to listen') implies not just auditory reception but moral response. They heard Joseph's cries but refused to act on them. Their refusal to 'listen' then has led to their current 'distress' (tsarah) — the same root as Joseph's 'distress' (tsarat nafsho). The punishment mirrors the crime.
4. The brothers speak among themselves, not knowing that Joseph understands every word (v. 23). Their unguarded confession reveals the true state of their hearts: guilt has never left them.

Translator Notes

1. 'Did I not tell you' — Reuben claims the moral high ground, reminding his brothers that he opposed the plan (cf. 37:21-22). While this is partially true — Reuben did intervene to save Joseph's life — his own motives were not entirely pure, and he failed to prevent the sale.
2. 'Do not sin against the boy' (al-techetu vayyeled) — Reuben uses the word chata ('to sin'), the same theological vocabulary of the brothers' guilt confession. What they did to Joseph was not merely a crime against a brother but a sin.
3. 'His blood is being required' (vegam-damo hinneh nidrash) — from darash ('to seek, to require, to avenge'). Reuben interprets their current predicament as divine retribution for the presumed murder of Joseph. The theological framework is clear: blood guilt demands divine reckoning (cf. 9:5). The brothers believe Joseph is dead and that God is now exacting payment.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'An interpreter' (hammelits) — from luts ('to interpret, to mediate between languages'). Joseph had conducted the entire interrogation through a translator, creating the impression that he spoke only Egyptian. This ruse allowed the brothers to speak freely in Hebrew in his presence, believing themselves unheard.
2. The dramatic irony is exquisite: the brothers have just confessed their deepest guilt — their abuse of Joseph — directly in front of the very person they wronged, who understands every word. Joseph hears them acknowledge his suffering, his pleading, and their refusal to listen. This moment is the emotional climax of the chapter.

Translator Notes

1. 'He turned away from them and wept' (vayyissov me'aleihem vayyevk) — Joseph's weeping is the first crack in his composure. Hearing his brothers' confession of guilt — especially the detail about his own pleading — overwhelms him. He must remove himself to weep privately. This is the first of several times Joseph will weep during the reunion narrative (43:30; 45:2, 14-15; 46:29; 50:17).
2. 'He took Simeon' (vayyiqqach me'ittam et-Shim'on) — why Simeon? As the second-born, Simeon may have been the ringleader after Reuben's partial dissent. Alternatively, Joseph may have selected Simeon as the most aggressive brother (cf. 34:25, where Simeon and Levi slaughter the Shechemites). Some suggest Joseph was separating Simeon from Levi to prevent them from conspiring.
3. 'Bound him before their eyes' (vaye'esor oto le'einehem) — the public binding maximizes the emotional impact. The brothers must watch as their brother is chained — a haunting echo of what Joseph experienced when they sold him. The phrase 'before their eyes' forces them to witness suffering they cannot prevent, just as Joseph was forced to suffer in their hands.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'To return each man's silver to his sack' (ulehashiv kaspeihem ish el-saqo) — Joseph's hidden generosity — returning their payment — is an act of grace disguised as mystery. The brothers will discover the silver and be terrified (v. 28, 35), interpreting it as a trap or divine judgment. What Joseph intends as kindness, their guilty consciences transform into evidence of God's pursuit.
2. 'Provisions for the journey' (tsedah laddarekh) — beyond the grain for their families, Joseph ensures they have food for the return trip. Even while testing them, he cares for their physical welfare. This dual action — severity in the public encounter, generosity in private provision — reveals the complexity of Joseph's heart.

Translator Notes

1. The brothers leave Egypt with grain but without Simeon, carrying silver they do not yet know about. Every element of their departure contains a hidden charge that will detonate at various points on their journey home.

Translator Notes

1. 'At the lodging place' (bammalon) — from lun ('to spend the night'). This could be a caravanserai or simply a stopping point along the route. The discovery occurs during the routine act of feeding animals — the mundane suddenly becomes terrifying.
2. 'In the mouth of his bag' (befi amtachto) — the word amtachat ('bag, sack') differs from saq used in v. 25, suggesting either a different container or a synonym. The silver sits conspicuously at the top — 'in the mouth' — as though placed there deliberately.

Translator Notes

1. 'Their hearts sank' (vayyetse libbam) — literally 'their heart went out.' The idiom describes the sensation of one's heart leaving the body — a visceral image of shock and dread. Their heart (singular, collective) 'departs' — they are left hollow with fear.
2. 'Trembling, they turned to one another' (vayyecherdu ish el-achiv) — from charad ('to tremble, to be terrified'). The brothers are physically shaking. Their trembling before the returned silver contrasts with their cold composure when they sold Joseph. Guilt has made them interpret every unexplained event as divine retribution.
3. 'What is this that God has done to us?' (mah-zot asah Elohim lanu) — the brothers immediately attribute the mysterious silver to God. They do not consider natural explanations — their guilty consciences leap directly to divine action. The God they invoke is the God against whom they sinned when they betrayed their brother. Their theological interpretation is essentially correct: God is indeed at work, though not to punish them but to bring about reconciliation.

Translator Notes

1. The brothers arrive home and must now report to their father. Their account (vv. 30-34) closely follows the events as narrated but is shaped by their perspective — they present themselves as innocent victims of an unreasonable Egyptian governor.

Translator Notes

1. 'The man, the lord of the land' (ha'ish adonei ha'arets) — the brothers describe Joseph with the same title 'lord' (adoni/adonei) they used in his presence. To Jacob, this signals they were dealing with the highest authority in Egypt — making the situation both dangerous and non-negotiable.

Translator Notes

1. The brothers repeat their claim to honesty. The irony remains: they are honest about their identity but carry decades of dishonesty about what they did to Joseph.

Translator Notes

1. The brothers faithfully reproduce their statement to Joseph (cf. v. 13). Their report to Jacob is accurate but incomplete — they do not mention their own confession of guilt (v. 21) or their terrified interpretation of the returned silver (v. 28). They present a sanitized version to their father.

Translator Notes

1. The brothers' account to Jacob continues to track their experience accurately. They relay the governor's terms faithfully.

Translator Notes

1. 'You may trade freely in the land' (ve'et-ha'arets tischaru) — from sachar ('to trade, to travel as a merchant'). Joseph's offer includes commercial privileges in Egypt — a significant inducement. If they comply, they gain not just Simeon's freedom but ongoing access to Egyptian grain markets.
2. The brothers' report concludes here. They have laid out the situation: Simeon is imprisoned, Benjamin must go to Egypt, and the family's long-term food security depends on compliance.

Translator Notes

1. 'Every man's bundle of silver' (ish tseror kaspo) — the word tseror ('bundle, pouch') suggests the silver was tied in cloth bundles. Each brother finds his own payment returned — the complete refund affects all of them, not just the one who discovered his silver at the lodging (v. 27).
2. 'They and their father... were afraid' (hemmah va'avihem vayyira'u) — the discovery terrifies the entire family. The returned silver, intended by Joseph as a gift, is perceived as a trap. If the Egyptian governor discovers they have 'stolen' back their payment, the accusation of spying would seem confirmed. Jacob now shares his sons' dread — the situation is worse than they had reported.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'You have bereaved me' (oti shikkaltem) — from shakol ('to make childless, to bereave'). Jacob directly blames his sons for his losses. The accusation is more penetrating than Jacob knows — regarding Joseph, they are indeed responsible. His instinct is correct even though his information is incomplete.
2. 'Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more' (Yosef einennu veShim'on einennu) — the repetition of einennu ('is no more') for both sons creates a devastating litany of loss. Jacob sees a pattern: every time his sons go out, one fails to return.
3. 'All these things are against me' (alai hayu kullanah) — Jacob's cry of despair is one of the most poignant in Scripture. He sees himself as the target of relentless misfortune. The patriarch who wrestled with God and prevailed (32:28) now feels overwhelmed by accumulated grief. Yet the reader knows what Jacob does not: everything that appears to be 'against him' is actually working 'for him' — Joseph is alive, Simeon will be freed, and the family will be reunited.

Translator Notes

1. 'You may put my two sons to death' (et-shenei vanai tamit) — Reuben's offer is extravagant but emotionally tone-deaf. He offers his own sons — Jacob's grandsons — as collateral. The offer actually compounds the threatened loss: if Benjamin is lost, killing Reuben's sons would mean losing three grandsons instead of one. Jacob rightly rejects this clumsy guarantee.
2. Reuben, as firstborn, tries to assume responsibility, but his track record is poor: he failed to prevent Joseph's sale (37:29), violated his father's concubine (35:22), and his surety offer here is rejected. Judah will eventually succeed where Reuben fails (43:8-10), offering himself rather than his children.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'His brother is dead' (achiv met) — Jacob refers to Joseph as Benjamin's brother, not theirs. The distinction is painful: Joseph and Benjamin are Rachel's sons, the children of the wife Jacob loved. The other sons are present, but in Jacob's grief, only Rachel's children truly count. This favoritism — the same pattern that provoked the brothers' original jealousy — persists even now.
2. 'He alone is left' (vehu levaddo nish'ar) — of Rachel's children, only Benjamin remains. Jacob's world has contracted to a single point of vulnerability: Benjamin is all he has left of Rachel.
3. 'If harm should befall him' (uqra'ahu ason) — the word ason ('harm, calamity') returns from v. 4, forming a bracket around Jacob's refusal. His deepest fear — voiced at the beginning when he kept Benjamin home — is now stated again, more explicitly, as his final word on the matter.
4. 'My gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol' (seivati beyagon she'olah) — the image is devastating: Jacob envisions himself descending to the realm of the dead (Sheol) as a broken old man, his gray hair a visible marker of grief. Seivah ('gray hair') represents the totality of his aged life; yagon ('sorrow, grief') would be its defining quality. Jacob refuses to risk this final catastrophe.
5. The chapter ends with Jacob's refusal. The impasse will require the deepening famine (43:1) and Judah's self-sacrificial guarantee (43:8-9) to break. The narrative pauses here at maximum tension: Simeon imprisoned, Benjamin demanded, Jacob immovable, and the family's survival hanging in the balance.