Genesis 43 Study Notes

43:25-28 Learning that they were to eat the noon meal—the first meal of the day—with Joseph, the brothers prepared the food gift (v. 11) and then humbly presented it to Joseph (cp. 37:7,9). Then the powerful Egyptian asked them about their elderly father, eliciting a polite response and a second bowing to the ground.

43:29-31 Joseph confirmed the identity of his brother Benjamin, his mother’s only other son and therefore his only full brother. Joseph’s blessing on Benjamin in the name of God was the first time Joseph blessed one of his brothers. Though Joseph had been filled with emotion in the presence of his brothers earlier (42:24), the sight of Benjamin overwhelmed him. To retain his dignity he quickly went into an inner room and wept there. The fact that as an Egyptian official he was wearing eye makeup was probably in part why he washed his face before returning to the room.

43:32-34 Because of racial and cultural prejudice, the meal was served at two different tables. Food was first brought to Joseph and the rest of the Egyptians, who ate at one table, then portions were brought to the table of the Hebrews. As an indication of respect for seniority among these non-Egyptians, the brothers were seated from the firstborn to the youngest—a fact that created astonishment among them since it would have required a detailed knowledge of the family. Perhaps as a further test of the brothers, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the other brothers’. Joseph may have made sure they became drunk to loosen the brothers’ self-restraint; if they harbored any jealousy or hatred toward Benjamin, Rachel’s son, it would be more likely to show.