Genesis 44:1

Benjamin and the Silver Cup

1 Then Joseph instructed his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his sack.

Genesis 44:1 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 44:1

And he commanded the steward of his house
Whom the Targum of Jonathan again calls Manasseh, the eldest son of Joseph: saying, fill the men's sacks [with] food, as much as they can carry;
this he ordered out of his great affection for them, and that his father and his family might have sufficient supply in this time of famine: and put every man's money in his sack's mouth;
not that which had been put into their sacks the first time, for the steward acknowledged his receipt of it, but what they had paid for their present corn, they were about to carry away.

Genesis 44:1 In-Context

1 Then Joseph instructed his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his sack.

2 Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.

3 At daybreak, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.

4 They had not gone far from the city when Joseph told his steward, “Pursue the men at once, and when you overtake them, ask, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

5 Is this not the cup my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wicked!’”