Genesis 42:2

2 Then he said, "Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us 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 When Jacob realized that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"

2 Then he said, "Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us there that we may live and not die."

3 And the ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.

4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, for {he feared harm would come to him}.

5 Then the sons of Israel went to buy grain amid those [other people] who went [as well], for there was famine in the land of Canaan.