Genesis 42:2

2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may ¹live 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 learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another? ”

2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die. ”

3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.

5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Cross References

• 1. 42:2 ch. 43:8