Genesis 42:6

6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was who sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

Genesis 42:6 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 42:6

And Joseph [was] the governor over the land
Not the land of Canaan last mentioned, but the land of Egypt; under Pharaoh, he had the chief and sole authority, and especially in the affair of the corn, and the disposal of that; [and] he [it was] that sold to all the people of the land:
of Egypt, and also to all that came out of other lands; not that he in person could do all this, but by those that acted under him: and Joseph's brethren came;
to Joseph to buy corn of him: and bowed down themselves before him, [with] their faces to the earth;
not only bowed the knee as the Egyptians did, but prostrated their whole bodies, stretching out their hands and feet, and touching the ground with their faces, as was the manner of the eastern countries, at least some of them; and so of Canaan; and thus did they submit themselves to him in the most humble manner, and thereby, though without their knowledge, fulfilled his dream of their sheaves making obeisance to his sheaf, ( Genesis 37:7 ) .

Genesis 42:6 In-Context

4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren, for he said, "Lest perhaps mischief befall him."

5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was who sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he recognized them, but made himself as a stranger unto them and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, "From whence come ye?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food."

8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.