Genesis 42:2

2 I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll 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 heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another?

2 I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”

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

4 But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him.

5 So Jacob’s sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.