Genesis 42:2

2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is food in Egypt; go down there and buy for us from there that we may live, and not die.

Genesis 42:2 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 42:2

And he said, behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt,
&c.] This explains what is meant by the phrase he saw, one sense being put for another: get ye down thither;
as fast as you can without delay; Egypt lay lower than Canaan, and therefore they are bid to go down, as when they went from thence to Canaan they are said to go up, ( Genesis 45:25 ) ; and buy for us from thence, that we may live, and not die;
which shows the famine was very pressing, since, unless they could buy corn from Egypt they could not live, but must die.

Genesis 42:2 In-Context

1 Now when Jacob saw that there was food in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why are ye looking upon one another?

2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is food in Egypt; go down there and buy for us from there that we may live, and not die.

3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy wheat in Egypt.

4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure disaster befall him.

5 And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.