1 And the famine was really bad in the land.
One year would be bad enough, but each successive year would be worse because there would be less and less food in storage.
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.”
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 will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:
5 “But if thou will 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.’”
They are afraid that if they show up without Benjamin they will be executed as spies.
6 And Israel said, “Why dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?”
7 And they said, “The man asked us straightly of our state, and of 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 certainly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’”
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 shall 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 now we had returned this second time.”
Judah was the one who suggested they make a profit on Joseph and he seems to be the one who understands their plight the most right now.
11 And their father Israel said unto them, “If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
Some things would still be growing due to deep root systems, just not the grains needed to make breads and keep their animals alive. You can’t live on dates and figs alone.
12 “And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:
They still can’t figure out why their money was returned to them.
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 send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”
Jacob realizes that they are all going to die anyway, so what difference does it make if he loses Benjamin to the Egyptians instead of starvation?
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.
It sounds so much like Benjamin was a little kid in these passages. However, Joseph has been in Egypt for more than twenty years and later we will read that little Benny here already has ten children of his own. He is likely close to thirty years old.
16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, “Bring these men home, and slay [an animal for lunch], and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.”
17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into 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 slaves, and our donkeys.
19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,
20 And said, “O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
21 “And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, 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 hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.”
They are attempting to do the right thing.
23 And he said, “Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money.” And he brought Simeon out unto them.
The steward, of course, knew that Joseph had commanded their money be returned. He obviously also told everyone to give the credit to God. Maybe Joseph was such a kind master he had converted his servants to worship of the true God.
24 And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys food.
25 And they made ready the present for when Joseph came 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 themselves to him to the earth.
There’s that dream again.
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?”
Joseph missed his daddy. His hopes may be rising that he may get to see him again.
28 And they answered, “Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive.” And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, “Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me?” And he said, “God be gracious unto thee, my son.”
30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.
He loved his family very much and this was just too much for him.
31 And he washed his face, and went out, and 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, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
Some believe this custom came about because of Abraham’s deceit about 200 years earlier.
33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one at another.
Joseph had directed his steward where everyone was to sit and he placed them in age order as was traditional. Now, how could a total stranger know what age order to put a bunch of middle age men in?
34 And he took and sent food unto them from before him: but Benjamin's food was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
He may have been trying to see if the care of their brother was real or if they were still subject to jealousy, or he might just have been glad to see him.
One year would be bad enough, but each successive year would be worse because there would be less and less food in storage.
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.”
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 will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:
5 “But if thou will 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.’”
They are afraid that if they show up without Benjamin they will be executed as spies.
6 And Israel said, “Why dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?”
7 And they said, “The man asked us straightly of our state, and of 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 certainly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’”
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 shall 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 now we had returned this second time.”
Judah was the one who suggested they make a profit on Joseph and he seems to be the one who understands their plight the most right now.
11 And their father Israel said unto them, “If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
Some things would still be growing due to deep root systems, just not the grains needed to make breads and keep their animals alive. You can’t live on dates and figs alone.
12 “And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:
They still can’t figure out why their money was returned to them.
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 send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”
Jacob realizes that they are all going to die anyway, so what difference does it make if he loses Benjamin to the Egyptians instead of starvation?
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.
It sounds so much like Benjamin was a little kid in these passages. However, Joseph has been in Egypt for more than twenty years and later we will read that little Benny here already has ten children of his own. He is likely close to thirty years old.
16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, “Bring these men home, and slay [an animal for lunch], and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.”
17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into 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 slaves, and our donkeys.
19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,
20 And said, “O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
21 “And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, 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 hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.”
They are attempting to do the right thing.
23 And he said, “Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money.” And he brought Simeon out unto them.
The steward, of course, knew that Joseph had commanded their money be returned. He obviously also told everyone to give the credit to God. Maybe Joseph was such a kind master he had converted his servants to worship of the true God.
24 And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys food.
25 And they made ready the present for when Joseph came 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 themselves to him to the earth.
There’s that dream again.
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?”
Joseph missed his daddy. His hopes may be rising that he may get to see him again.
28 And they answered, “Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive.” And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, “Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me?” And he said, “God be gracious unto thee, my son.”
30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.
He loved his family very much and this was just too much for him.
31 And he washed his face, and went out, and 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, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
Some believe this custom came about because of Abraham’s deceit about 200 years earlier.
33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one at another.
Joseph had directed his steward where everyone was to sit and he placed them in age order as was traditional. Now, how could a total stranger know what age order to put a bunch of middle age men in?
34 And he took and sent food unto them from before him: but Benjamin's food was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
He may have been trying to see if the care of their brother was real or if they were still subject to jealousy, or he might just have been glad to see him.