Genesis 42 Study Notes

42:21-26 The brothers’ harsh treatment in Egypt—the land where they had once sent Joseph—as well as the stiff demands placed on them made it plain to them that they were being punished for what they had done to their brother twenty years earlier. Reuben, eldest of the group and the one who had kept Joseph from being killed by his brothers (37:22), interpreted the current events as a divine accounting for Joseph’s blood, i.e., his death. Reuben’s earlier defense of Joseph and his current rebuke of his brothers may explain why second-born Simeon was detained instead of Reuben.

Joseph, whose heart—but not his outward appearance—had been softened toward his brothers by Reuben’s comments, understood the words the brothers spoke in Hebrew, turned away from his brothers, and wept. After dismissing his brothers Joseph compassionately provided them not only with grain for the family, but returned each man’s silver to his sack and gave them food for their journey. Joseph’s act of kindness was probably also meant to test the brothers’ character; if they were honest, they would return the money.

42:27-35 Joseph’s brothers, who had once traded Joseph’s life for money, now felt their hearts “depart” (sank) when they received this money from him. Worried that they would be pursued as criminals, they trembled in fear of what God had done to them. Upon their return home Jacob was greeted by only nine sons. The matter worsened when he was told that the brothers were accused of spying, and the clan could get Simeon back and trade for additional food in Egypt only if the men brought back their youngest brother Benjamin. Everyone became even more afraid when they found bags of silver in each man’s sack; now all nine brothers could be imprisoned as thieves if they ever returned to Egypt.

42:36-38 Reduced to despair by his sons’ report, Jacob responded by saying, Everything happens to me! Perhaps Jacob even doubted God’s repeated promise to bless him (32:39; 35:9). His adamant refusal to let Benjamin go down with his brothers to Egypt was understandable but irrational, since it meant that the entire clan would die of starvation. Reuben, who had once saved Joseph’s life (37:22), now stepped forward to save the clan. He countered his father’s fears of losing Benjamin by offering to experience the loss of two of his four sons (Ex 6:14) if anything happened to him in a return trip to Egypt. If Benjamin died, Reuben would experience a proportionately worse fate than his father. However, Reuben’s argument had no effect on Jacob; if Jacob’s son should die, it would not make him feel better to kill two of his grandchildren as well.