The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt
Genesis 42:1–24 — Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yar kî yeš- še·ḇer bə·miṣ·rā·yim ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yō·mer lə·ḇā·nāw lām·māh tiṯ·rā·’ū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-saw Jacob that there-is grain (sheber) in-Egypt, and-said Jacob to-his-sons, ‘Why do-you-look-on-one-another?’”
Where the English smooths the original
This story shows plainly that all things are governed by God's providence for the profit of his Church.
Jacob’s words, therefore, mean, Why are you irresolute, and uncertain what to do? And then he encourages them to take this journey as a possible means of providing for the wants of their households.
either that which is broken, e.g. ground as in a mill, fromPulpit gives the lexical root of sheber — the grain “broken” in the mill.
It is a spur to exertion to see others supplied.
2“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
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hin·nêh way·yō·mer šā·ma‘·tî kî yeš- še·ḇer bə·miṣ·rā·yim rə·ḏū- šām·māh wə·šiḇ·rū- lā·nū miš·šām wə·niḥ·yeh wə·lō nā·mūṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-said, ‘Behold, I-have-heard that there-is grain in-Egypt; go-down there and-buy-grain (šibrū) for-us from-there, that-we-may-live and-not die.’”
Where the English smooths the original
I have heard: this word explains the word saw, Genesis 42:1 . Get you down; for Egypt was lower than Canaan
That he entrusted his sons, and not his servants, with the mission, though perhaps dictated by a sense of its importance (Lawson), was clearly of Divine arrangement for the further accomplishment of the Divine plan concerning Joseph and his brethren.
which shows the famine was very pressing, since, unless they could buy corn from Egypt they could not live, but must die.
3So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
‘ă·śā·rāh yō·w·sêp̄ ’ă·ḥê- way·yê·rə·ḏū liš·bōr bār mim·miṣ·rā·yim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-went-down ten brothers-of-Joseph to-buy-grain (bār) from-Egypt.”
Where the English smooths the original
they are called not Jacob's sons, as they were; but Joseph's brethren, whom they had sold into Egypt, and to whom now they were going, though they knew it not, to buy corn of him in their necessity, and to whom they would be obliged to yield obeisance, as they did.
The whole ten are needed, in order to carry back enough corn.
if not a primitive, like the Latin far (Furst), may be derived fromPulpit derives bār from bārar, “to separate, choose out, purify” — the winnowed grain.
4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’eṯ- ya·‘ă·qōḇ lō- šā·laḥ yō·w·sêp̄ ’ă·ḥî bin·yā·mîn ’eṯ- ’e·ḥāw kî ’ā·mar pen- ’ā·sō·wn yiq·rā·’en·nū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Benjamin, brother-of-Joseph, Jacob did-not send with his-brothers, for he-said, ‘Lest harm (’āsôn) befall-him.’”
Where the English smooths the original
Not because of his youth (Patrick, Lange), since he was now upwards of twenty years of age, but because he was Joseph's brother, and had taken Joseph's place in his father's affections
Jacob dares not part with Benjamin, for whom, both as his youngest child and as the surviving son of Rachel, he has special affection. On this trait the whole narrative turns
the only son he had with him of his beloved wife Rachel; and was very probably the more beloved by him since he had been bereft of Joseph
5So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl bə·ṯō·wḵ hab·bā·’îm way·yā·ḇō·’ū liš·bōr kî- hā·rā·‘āḇ hā·yāh bə·’e·reṣ kə·nā·‘an
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-came the-sons-of-Israel to-buy-grain in-the-midst-of those-who-came, for the-famine was in-the-land of-Canaan.”
Where the English smooths the original
this, though a very fruitful land, yet when God withheld a blessing from it, it became barren, as it had been before, Genesis 12:10 , and was to try the faith of those good men to whom God had given it, and to wean their hearts from being set upon it, and to put them upon seeking a better country
simply the customary recapitulations which mark the commencement of a new paragraph or section of the history, viz., that in which Joseph's first interview with his brethren is described
among others, "the sons of Israel" were compelled to undertake a journey from which painful associations made them strongly averse.
6Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
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wə·yō·w·sêp̄ hū haš·šal·lîṭ ‘al- hā·’ā·reṣ hū ham·maš·bîr lə·ḵāl hā·’ā·reṣ ‘am yō·w·sêp̄ ’ă·ḥê way·yā·ḇō·’ū way·yiš·ta·ḥă·wū- lōw ’ap·pa·yim ’ā·rə·ṣāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Joseph, he was the-ruler (haš·šallîṭ) over the-land; he it-was the-grain-seller to-all the-people-of the-land. And-came the-brothers-of-Joseph and-they-bowed-down to-him, faces to-the-ground.”
Where the English smooths the original
Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him—His prophetic dreams [Ge 37:5-11] were in the course of being fulfilled, and the atrocious barbarity of his brethren had been the means of bringing about the very issue they had planned to prevent
Thus Joseph’s first dream was already fulfilled; their sheaves bowed to his sheaf.
השּׁלּיט seems to have been the standing title which the Shemites gave to Joseph as ruler in Egypt
presided over the general market of the kingdom (Murphy), probably fixing the price at which the grain should be sold, determining the quantities to be allowed to purchasers, and examining the companies of foreigners who came to buy
7And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yō·w·sêp̄ ’eṯ- way·yar ’e·ḥāw way·yak·ki·rêm way·yiṯ·nak·kêr ’ă·lê·hem way·ḏab·bêr qā·šō·wṯ ’it·tām mê·’a·yin bā·ṯem way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem mê·’e·reṣ kə·na·‘an way·yō·mə·rū liš·bār- ’ō·ḵel
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-saw Joseph his-brothers and-he-recognized-them, but-he-made-himself-strange (way·yiṯ·nakkēr) to-them and-spoke with-them hard-things; and-he-said, ‘From-where do-you-come?’ And-they-said, ‘From the-land of-Canaan to-buy food.’”
Where the English smooths the original
his object in all his seemingly harsh treatment was to get at their hearts, to test their affection toward Benjamin, and to bring them to repent of their unkindness to himself.
This concealing is not to be followed, nor any actions of the father's not approved by God's word.Geneva is the lone dissent — it warns Joseph’s disguise is not exemplary.
in the Hithpael has the sense of representing one's self as strange, i.e. of feigning one's self to be a foreigner.
It would be an injustice to Joseph's character to suppose that this stern manner was prompted by any vindictive feelings
8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
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yō·w·sêp̄ ’eṯ- way·yak·kêr ’e·ḥāw wə·hêm lō hik·ki·ru·hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-recognized Joseph his-brothers, but-they, they-did-not recognize-him.”
Where the English smooths the original
As this is twice repeated, some suppose that Joseph (in Genesis 42:7 ) had only a suspicion, from their dress and appearance, that these Canaanites were his brethren; but that when they spake the Hebrew tongue (comp. Genesis 42:23 ), every doubt was removed.
the high position occupied by Joseph, the Egyptian manners he had by this time assumed, and the strange tongue m which he conversed with them, all conspired to prevent Jacob's sons from recognizing their younger brother
Because his visage was much altered by his beard, and by other things, it being about twenty years since they saw him
9Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
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yō·w·sêp̄ ’êṯ way·yiz·kōr ha·ḥă·lō·mō·wṯ ’ă·šer ḥā·lam lā·hem way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem ’at·tem mə·rag·gə·lîm bā·ṯem lir·’ō·wṯ ’eṯ- hā·’ā·reṣ ‘er·waṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-remembered Joseph the-dreams (ḥălōmôṯ) that he-dreamed (ḥālam) about-them, and-he-said to-them, ‘You are-spies (mərag·gəlîm); to-see the-nakedness of-the-land you-have-come.’”
Where the English smooths the original
He remembered the dreams — But they had forgotten them. The laying up of God’s oracles in our hearts will be of excellent use to us in all our conduct.
As the sight of his brethren bowing before him with the deepest reverence reminded Joseph of his early dreams of the sheaves and stars, which had so increased the hatred of his brethren towards him as to lead to a proposal to kill him, and an actual sale
Ye are spies (literally, ye are spying , or going about, so as to find out, the verb רָגַל signifying to move the feet)
not believing they were, nor absolutely asserting that they were such; but this he said to try them, and what they would say for themselves, and in order to lead on to further discourse with them, and to get knowledge of his father and brother Benjamin
10“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō ’ă·ḏō·nî way·yō·mə·rū ’ê·lāw wa·‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā bā·’ū liš·bār- ’ō·ḵel
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-said to-him, ‘No, my-lord (’ăḏōnî); but-your-servants have-come to-buy food.’”
Where the English smooths the original
One in the name of the rest, or each in his turn, denying that they were spies, and addressing him with the greatest reverence and submission, calling him their lord, and thus further accomplishing his dreams
and persisted in this charge notwithstanding their reply, "nay, my lord, but (ו see Ges. 155, 1b) to buy food are thy servants come.
11We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
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nā·ḥə·nū kul·lā·nū bə·nê ’e·ḥāḏ ’îš- ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā ’ă·naḥ·nū hā·yū kê·nîm lō- mə·rag·gə·lîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“We all are sons-of one man; honest (kēnîm) are we — your-servants are not spies.”
Where the English smooths the original
their answer, as Abravanel points out, is a sound one: for no man would send his whole family on so dangerous an errand.
true men ] Lit. “straight,” i.e. genuine and above suspicion.
We are all one man’s sons, and therefore not spies; for it is not likely either that a father would venture so many sons upon so hazardous an employment
12“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
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lō kî- way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem bā·ṯem lir·’ō·wṯ hā·’ā·reṣ ‘er·waṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-said to-them, ‘No — for the-nakedness of-the-land you-have-come to-see.’”
Where the English smooths the original
this he urged in order to get a further account from them of their family and the state of it, which he was anxious to know.
"Spies are ye." This was to put a color of justice on their detention.
But it must be remembered that he was sustaining the part of a ruler; and, in fact, acting on the very principle sanctioned by many of the sacred writers, and our Lord Himself, who spoke parables (fictitious stories) to promote a good end.JFB answers the charge that Joseph’s false accusation is a lie — it is the licensed dissimulation of an office, like a parable.
13But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yō·mə·rū ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā ’ă·naḥ·nū šə·nêm ‘ā·śār ’a·ḥîm bə·nê ’e·ḥāḏ ’îš- bə·’e·reṣ kə·nā·‘an wə·hin·nêh haq·qā·ṭōn hay·yō·wm ’eṯ- ’ā·ḇî·nū wə·hā·’e·ḥāḏ ’ê·nen·nū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-said, ‘Your-servants are twelve brothers, the-sons-of one man in-the-land-of Canaan; and-behold, the-youngest (haq·qāṭōn) is today with our-father, and-the-one is-not (’ênennū).’”
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i.e. Is dead, as that phrase often signifies both in Scripture, as Genesis 37:30 44:20 Jeremiah 31:15 Matthew 2:17 ,18
this must be very striking and affecting to Joseph, who knew full well they meant himself.
the youngest - literally, the little one (cf. Genesis 9:24 ) - is this day with our father, and one - literally, the one, i.e. the other one
14Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yō·w·sêp̄ hū ’ă·šer way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem dib·bar·tî ’ă·lê·ḵem lê·mōr ’at·tem mə·rag·gə·lîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-said to-them Joseph, ‘That is-it that I-spoke to-you, saying, You are-spies.’”
Where the English smooths the original
Joseph’s real object is to find out about Benjamin, whether he was alive, and well treated by his brothers. It is a delicate touch in the story, that he abstains from cross questioning them about the brother that “is not.”
Hence his persistent accusation of them, which to the brothers must have seemed despotic and tyrannical, and which cannot be referred to malevolence or revenge, must be explained by a desire on the part of Joseph to bring his brothers to a right state of mind.
Joseph persists in his charge, because, besides the information which he gained, he also wished to get Benjamin into his power, that he might have him with him.
15And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
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bə·zōṯ tib·bā·ḥê·nū p̄ar·‘ōh ḥê ’im- tê·ṣə·’ū miz·zeh kî ’im- haq·qā·ṭōn ’ă·ḥî·ḵem bə·ḇō·w hên·nāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“By-this you-shall-be-tested (tib·bāḥênū): life-of Pharaoh! if you-go-out from-here unless your-youngest brother comes here —”
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It is only in the stricter morality of the Gospel that such oaths are forbidden ( Matthew 5:33-37 ).Ellicott reads Joseph’s oath against the Sermon on the Mount.
The Egyptians who were idolaters, used to swear by their king's life: but God forbids swearing by anyone but him: yet Joseph dwelling among the wicked was corrupted by them.
it is no wonder that Joseph was carried by the stream of the general practice of the court, especially as the law of God concerning the appropriation of oaths unto God
The oath by the life of the king is found in an Egyptian inscription of the 20th century b.c.Cambridge corroborates the oath-form archaeologically.
16Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šil·ḥū ’e·ḥāḏ mik·kem wə·yiq·qaḥ ’eṯ- ’ă·ḥî·ḵem wə·’at·tem hê·’ā·sə·rū ha·’ĕ·meṯ diḇ·rê·ḵem wə·yib·bā·ḥă·nū ’it·tə·ḵem wə·’im- lō p̄ar·‘ōh kî ḥê ’at·tem mə·rag·gə·lîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Send one of-you and-let-him-fetch your-brother, and-you shall-be-bound, that-may-be-tested your-words, whether truth is-with-you; and-if not — life-of Pharaoh — surely you are-spies.”
Where the English smooths the original
by this it would be seen whether they were men of truth and honesty or not; and should their brother be brought they would appear to be good men and true
"Send one of you." This proposal is enough to strike terror into their hearts. The return of one would be a heavy, perhaps a fatal blow to their father.
Joseph spoke in the style of an Egyptian and perhaps did not think there was any evil in it. But we are taught to regard all such expressions in the light of an oath (Mt 5:34; Jas 5:12).JFB closes the contested oath by reading it under the NT prohibitions (Matt 5:34; Jas 5:12) — the same lens Ellicott applies at v. 15.
17So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,
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way·ye·’ĕ·sōp̄ ’ō·ṯām ’el- miš·mār šə·lō·šeṯ yā·mîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-gathered them into ward (mišmār) three days.”
Where the English smooths the original
Yet the clemency of Joseph appears in this, that whereas he had lain three long years in prison as the result of their inhumanity towards him, he only inflicts on them a confinement of three days.
The brethren would be a prey to the sickening dread either of being brought out only to be executed, or of being prevented from returning to their homes. Joseph himself had endured a long experience of captive life in Egypt.
Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land.
18and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šə·lî·šî bay·yō·wm yō·w·sêp̄ way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem ’eṯ- ’ă·nî yā·rê hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm ‘ă·śū zōṯ wiḥ·yū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-said to-them Joseph on-the-third day, ‘This do and-live; God (hā·’ĕlōhîm) I fear.’”
Where the English smooths the original
"The God do I fear." A singular sentence from the lord paramount of Egypt! It implies that the true God was not yet unknown in Egypt.
the fear of God will be a check upon those that are in power, to restrain them from abusing their power to oppression and tyranny.
By the use of the name Elohim they would understand that he worshipped the same God as they did.
He fears God, who protects the stranger and the defenceless. Perhaps there is a reference to his brothers’ disregard of this fear of God in their former treatment of himself.
19If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’im- ’at·tem ’ă·ḥî·ḵem kê·nîm ’e·ḥāḏ yê·’ā·sêr bə·ḇêṯ miš·mar·ḵem wə·’at·tem lə·ḵū hā·ḇî·’ū še·ḇer ra·‘ă·ḇō·wn bāt·tê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“If honest (kēnîm) you-are, let-one of-your-brothers be-bound in the-house-of your-ward, and-you, go, take-back grain (sheber) for-the-hunger (ra‘ăḇôn) of-your-households.”
Where the English smooths the original
Joseph, though he dealt with them after this manner to get what knowledge he could of his family, and to get sight of his brother, yet was concerned for the good of them and theirs, lest they should be in extreme want through the famine
The three days’ interval had moderated Joseph’s threat and his first appearance of indignation. The change to a more generous treatment is part of his whole policy
How differently had they acted towards their brother! The ruler of all Egypt had compassion on their families who were in Canaan suffering from hunger; but they had intended to leave their brother in the pit to starve!
20Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’eṯ- tā·ḇî·’ū haq·qā·ṭōn ’ă·ḥî·ḵem ’ê·lay ḏiḇ·rê·ḵem wə·yê·’ā·mə·nū wə·lō ṯā·mū·ṯū ḵên way·ya·‘ă·śū-
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And your-youngest brother bring to-me, that-may-be-verified (yê·’ā·mənū) your-words, and-you-shall-not-die. And-they-did so.”
Where the English smooths the original
Besides his desire to be re-united to his brother, Joseph reasonably felt that the possession of Benjamin would be the best means of inducing his father also to come to him.
i.e. Resolved and promised to do so. Those things are oft said to be done in Scripture which were sincerely resolved upon
"And they did so:" in these words the writer anticipates the result of the colloquy which ensued, and which is more fully narrated afterwards.
21Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yō·mə·rū ’el- ’îš ’ā·ḥîw ’ă·ḇāl ’ă·naḥ·nū ’ă·šê·mîm ‘al- ’ā·ḥî·nū ’ă·šer rā·’î·nū nap̄·šōw ṣā·raṯ bə·hiṯ·ḥan·nōw ’ê·lê·nū wə·lō šā·mā·‘ə·nū ‘al- kên haz·zōṯ haṣ·ṣā·rāh bā·’āh ’ê·lê·nū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-said, each to his-brother, ‘Surely guilty (’ăšêmîm) are-we concerning our-brother, in-that we-saw the-anguish of-his-soul when-he-pleaded with-us, and-we-would-not-listen; therefore has-come upon-us this distress (ṣārāh).’”
Where the English smooths the original
We are verily guilty - "this is the only acknowledgment of sin in the Book of Genesis" (Inglis)
This particular is not mentioned in the history of this affair, recorded chap. 37., from which circumstance we learn, that the silence of Scripture concerning certain matters, is not a sufficient proof that they did not take place.
The same word is used by them to denote their present state of trouble and Joseph’s former agony of mind, when they threw him into the cistern to die. It is the law of retaliation, “distress” for “distress,”
See the good of afflictions; they often prove the happy means of awakening conscience, and bringing sin to our remembrance.
22And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
rə·’ū·ḇên ’ō·ṯām way·ya·‘an hă·lō·w ’ā·mar·tî ’ă·lê·ḵem lê·mōr lê·mōr ’al- te·ḥeṭ·’ū ḇay·ye·leḏ wə·lō šə·ma‘·tem wə·ḡam- hin·nêh niḏ·rāš dā·mōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-answered them Reuben, saying, ‘Did-I-not say to-you, saying, Do-not sin against the-boy (yeleḏ); and-you-would-not-listen? And-also, behold, his-blood (dām) is-required (niḏrāš).’”
Where the English smooths the original
therefore, behold, also his blood is required - literally, and also his blood, behold it is required . This was in accordance with the Noachic law against bloodshed ( Genesis 9:5 ), with which it is apparent that Jacob's sons were acquainted.
Reuben’s interference had prevented them from shedding Joseph’s blood ( Genesis 37:22 ), but they were morally guilty of his life.
God will take vengeance on us, and measure us with our own measure.
23They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hêm lō yā·ḏə·‘ū kî yō·w·sêp̄ šō·mê·a‘ kî ham·mê·lîṣ bê·nō·ṯām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they did-not-know that Joseph was-hearing (šōmê‘a), for the-interpreter (ham·mêlîṣ) was-between-them.”
Where the English smooths the original
Joseph’s pretending not to understand their language was a wise piece of art, as by that means he discovered their real sentiments
The Tel el-Amarna tablets shew that between the kings of Canaanite cities and the court of Egypt, communications were carried on in the Assyrian language, as a kind of lingua franca .Cambridge grounds the interpreter in attested Egyptian-Canaanite diplomacy.
speaking to one another in the Hebrew language, and he being an Egyptian, as they took him to be, they did not imagine that he could understand them, and therefore were not at all upon their guard in what they said
24And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yis·sōḇ mê·‘ă·lê·hem way·yê·ḇək way·yā·šāḇ way·ḏab·bêr ’ă·lê·hem ’ă·lê·hem way·yiq·qaḥ šim·‘ō·wn mê·’it·tām ’eṯ- way·ye·’ĕ·sōr ’ō·ṯōw lə·‘ê·nê·hem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-turned from-them and-wept; and-he-returned to-them and-spoke to-them, and-took from-them Simeon and-bound-him (way·ye·’ĕsōr) before their-eyes.”
Where the English smooths the original
Though he acts harshly, yet his brotherly affection remained.
He turned himself and wept tears, partly of natural affection and compassion towards his brethren, now in great distress and anguish; and partly of joy, to see the happy success of his design
There was no bitterness in Joseph’s heart, and at their first word of regret he melted. But lest he should lose Benjamin he overcame his feelings
took … Simeon, and bound him—He had probably been the chief instigator—the most violent actor in the outrage upon Joseph
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens on hunger. Jacob “sees” — the Hebrew way·yar (v. 1), which the commentators rightly gloss as learns by report; Poole notes the explanatory “I have heard” of v. 2 “explains the word saw.” The keyword is sheber, grain — a noun built on the root šābar, “to break,” the crushed kernel (so the Pulpit Commentary, citing Gesenius). Three words for what they go to fetch — sheber (v. 1–2), bār the winnowed grain (v. 3), again sheber (v. 19) — and Joseph’s whole office in v. 6 is named ham·maš·bîr, the grain-breaker, from the same root. The narrator quietly binds famine, fracture, and the broken brother into one sound. Geneva reads the providence plainly: “all things are governed by God's providence for the profit of his Church.” And note the names: vv. 1–4 say “Jacob,” but v. 5 says “the sons of Israel” — Cambridge sees a documentary seam; canonically it is the first time the future nation’s title falls on these ten guilty men, arriving anonymous “in the midst of the comers” (Keil).
They bow — way·yiš·ta·ḥăwū, the verb of prostration (šāḥāh) — “faces to the ground” (v. 6), and every voice marks it: JFB, “His prophetic dreams … were in the course of being fulfilled, and the atrocious barbarity of his brethren had been the means of bringing about the very issue they had planned to prevent.” Benson: “Thus Joseph’s first dream was already fulfilled; their sheaves bowed to his sheaf.” Then the Hebrew puns: Joseph recognized them (way·yak·ki·rēm) and made himself unrecognized (way·yiṯ·nakkēr) — one root, nākar, turned inside out in two words (v. 7). The Pulpit: he feigns “to be a foreigner.” The voices labor to clear him of malice — Barnes: his aim “was to get at their hearts, to test their affection toward Benjamin, and to bring them to repent”; only the Geneva Bible enters a caution, “This concealing is not to be followed.” At v. 9 the engine is named: “Joseph remembered the dreams” (the cognate ḥālam/ḥălōmôṯ). Benson distills it: “The laying up of God’s oracles in our hearts will be of excellent use to us in all our conduct.”
The interrogation is an assay. Joseph charges “spies” three times; the brothers plead they are kēnîm — “straight,” “genuine and above suspicion” (Cambridge) — a claim the reader knows is, toward Joseph, exactly false. They confess “twelve … one is not” (’ênennū, the Enoch-idiom for death, 5:24) — pronouncing Joseph dead to the living Joseph (Gill: “very striking and affecting to Joseph, who knew full well they meant himself”). He swears by the life of Pharaoh, and here the voices split honestly: Benson excuses it (“the law of God … was not yet delivered”), while the Geneva Bible and JFB name it a fault, and Ellicott reads it against “the stricter morality of the Gospel” (Matt 5:33–37). The verb of the whole ordeal is tib·bāḥênū, “you shall be tested” (v. 15) — the assaying of metal. Its turning-point is v. 18, the chapter’s moral center: “the God I fear.” Barnes: “A singular sentence from the lord paramount of Egypt!” Benson: “the fear of God will be a check upon those that are in power.” On that ground Joseph reverses his harsher demand (Cambridge: “The change to a more generous treatment is part of his whole policy”), and Keil presses the contrast: “The ruler of all Egypt had compassion on their families … but they had intended to leave their brother in the pit to starve.”
Affliction does its work. “Surely we are guilty” (’ăšêmîm) — “this is the only acknowledgment of sin in the Book of Genesis” (Inglis, in the Pulpit). They remember “the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us” — a detail chapter 37 never recorded; Benson draws the principle, “the silence of Scripture … is not a sufficient proof that [things] did not take place.” And Hebrew seals the justice in one repeated root: Joseph’s ṣārāh (anguish) and their ṣārāh (distress) — Cambridge, “‘distress’ for ‘distress’ … the law of retaliation.” Reuben raises the Noahic statute — “his blood is required” (dām + dāraš, the very words of Gen 9:5; so the Pulpit). They speak freely, not knowing Joseph hears (šōmê‘a, v. 23 — the same verb they would not do in v. 21) because “the interpreter was between them.” Then the mask breaks: “he turned … and wept” (v. 24). Geneva: “Though he acts harshly, yet his brotherly affection remained.” He binds Simeon — not Reuben, who had tried to save him, but the likely instigator (JFB) — “before their eyes,” a speaking act, and the chapter that began with a famine for bread ends with a brother in tears.
Under Sola Scriptura, the chapter offers itself as a study in how God writes straight with crooked lines — and the reading I (the machine) put forward, to be tested against the text, is this: the instrument of the brothers’ salvation is the very sin they cannot undo. They sold a brother into Egypt; Egypt is now where bread is. They made him a slave (‘eḇeḏ); they now name themselves his “servants” (‘ăḇāḏe·ḵā, vv. 10, 13). They pronounced him dead — “one is not”; he stands alive and ruling before them. The Hebrew will not let the irony rest: the word sheber, “broken grain,” is the same fracture they worked on him, and the broken one (ham·maš·bîr) is now the only source of bread for the world. Joseph’s harshness is not revenge but assay (tib·bāḥênū, v. 15): he is testing whether the men who sold one son of Rachel will now abandon the other. The hinge is not Joseph’s power but his confession — “the God I fear” (v. 18) — for it is the fear of God, not the throne of Egypt, that turns a tyrant’s opportunity into a brother’s mercy. And the proof that the testing is love is the tear in v. 24, shed in secret. The text does not yet resolve; Simeon is bound, the father is not told. But it has already shown its thesis: conscience, not coercion, is what God is after — “Surely we are guilty,” the first such confession in Genesis, wrung out under a distress that exactly mirrors the distress they once refused to hear.
The grain they crossed a desert to buy is called <em>sheber</em>, “the broken thing” — and the one who breaks it to them is the brother they broke. (a reading, not a verse)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The prostration of v. 6 (way·yiš·ta·ḥăwū, “they bowed down,” root šāḥāh) is the literal enactment of Joseph’s boyhood dreams; v. 9 names them outright. The verbal tie is carried by the dream vocabulary: the Verifier records that 42:9 and 37:5 share the cognate pair ḥālam/ḥălōwm (to dream / a dream), the distinctive lexeme of chapter 37 returning at the moment of fulfillment. The bow itself (42:6 ↔ 37:9) shares only šāḥāh (to bow, in 166 vv) and ’āḥ (brother, in 571 vv) — both common words, so that half of the link is structural, not a quotation. The verbal tier below rests on the dream-cognate alone. Every voice — JFB, Benson, the Pulpit, Cambridge — reads the bow as the dream coming true.
Genesis 37:5 · Genesis 37:9 · Genesis 42:6 · Genesis 42:9
basis: Verbal half (Verifier-confirmed verbal): 42:9 ↔ 37:5 share the cognate dream-pair H2492 châlam (in 25 vv) + H2472 chălôwm (in 55 vv) — distinctive enough that the Verifier rates it verbal. Structural half (downgraded honestly): 42:6 ↔ 37:9 share only the common H7812 shâchâh (166 vv) and H251 ’âch (571 vv), which the Verifier rates structural/thematic, not verbal. The badge’s ‘verbal’ tier is earned by the dream-cognate, not by the bowing.
Jacob’s fear that “harm might befall” Benjamin (v. 4) uses the rare noun ’āsôn — only five occurrences in the whole Hebrew Bible, three of them in this Joseph cycle (42:4; 42:38; 44:29). The Verifier rates 42:4 ↔ 44:29 a verbal link on the strength of this rare lexeme. The repetition is the narrator’s way of keeping the father’s exact terror audible across three chapters.
Genesis 42:4 · Genesis 42:38 · Genesis 44:29
basis: shared rare lexeme H611 ’âçôwn “calamity/harm” (in only 5 vv) — the Verifier’s recorded basis for 42:4 ↔ 44:29; the same word recurs at 42:38.
Reuben’s cry, “his blood is required” (v. 22), is the very vocabulary of the primal blood-statute. The Verifier confirms 42:22 ↔ 9:5 share both dārash (to require/seek) and dām (blood) — the two roots of “your blood … will I require” in Genesis 9:5. The Pulpit Commentary makes the connection explicit: Reuben speaks “in accordance with the Noachic law against bloodshed.”
Genesis 42:22 · Genesis 9:5
basis: shared lexemes H1875 dârash (152 vv) + H1818 dâm (295 vv) — both common, so the link is structural/legal rather than a rare verbal quotation, but the pairing is the precise idiom of Gen 9:5 (Verifier-recorded).
The chapter’s grain-vocabulary travels on two rare words, and the Verifier ties them to different verses, so the basis must be split honestly. The keyword sheber (the broken kernel; vv. 1, 2, 19) is a nine-occurrence noun: through it 42:1 binds verbally to the rest of the famine-narrative (47:14, where sheber + Egypt recur) and, strikingly, to Amos 8:5, where merchants long for the sabbath to end so they can “sell grain” (sheber) and cheat the poor. The second word is bār, the winnowed grain of v. 3 (14 occurrences), paired with the denominative verb shâbar “to deal in grain” (20 vv): through that pair 42:3 ties verbally to Proverbs 11:26 — “he who withholds grain, the people curse … blessing on the head of him who sells it” — and to Amos 8:6. So Proverbs 11:26 is anchored to v. 3 (bār/shâbar), not to v. 1 (sheber); the draft had mis-anchored it. The synthesis on top of these lexical data: Joseph, the just grain-seller who feeds the world, stands as the silent foil to the grasping sellers Amos and Proverbs indict — that contrast is the ⚙ reading, not the Verifier’s datum.
Genesis 42:1 · Genesis 42:3 · Genesis 47:14 · Amos 8:5 · Amos 8:6 · Proverbs 11:26
basis: Two verbal channels, each Verifier-confirmed. (1) Rare noun H7668 sheber (in only 9 vv): 42:1 ↔ Amos 8:5 and 42:1 ↔ 47:14. (2) Moderately rare H1250 bâr (14 vv) + denominative H7666 shâbar (20 vv): 42:3 ↔ Proverbs 11:26 and 42:3 ↔ Amos 8:6. Proverbs 11:26 shares NO lexeme with 42:1 (Verifier: ‘no shared original-language lexeme’) — it links to v. 3, not v. 1. The just-vs-grasping-seller contrast is the synthesis layer, not the lexical datum.
The chapter’s pivot — “do this and live; the God I fear” (v. 18) — anticipates Joseph’s own theology of the whole affair: “you intended evil … but God intended it for good, to bring about … the saving of many lives” (50:20). The Verifier confirms 42:18 ↔ 50:20 share ḥāyāh (to live/keep alive) — the live/die axis that runs from Jacob’s plea (v. 2) to Joseph’s final word. The fear of God in v. 18 is the seed of the providence-reading in chapter 50.
Genesis 42:18 · Genesis 45:5 · Genesis 50:20
basis: shared lexeme H2421 châyâh “to live/preserve life” (257 vv) between 42:18 and 50:20 (Verifier-recorded); common root, so structural/thematic — the live-not-die motif, not a rare quotation.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Joseph is among the oldest and most widely-held types of Christ in Christian reading: the beloved son sold by his brothers for silver, reckoned dead, raised to a throne, and made the one through whom “all the people of the land” (v. 6) receive bread in the famine. The chapter’s keyword sheber, “broken grain,” deepens the figure for Christian eyes — the broken brother becomes the bread that keeps the nations alive (cf. John 6:35; 1 Cor 11:24). His brothers must come, bow, and confess before they are fed. This typology is ancient (the church fathers, the Reformers); it is offered here to be weighed against the text, not asserted over it — Genesis itself draws no such line.
Genesis 42:6 · Genesis 42:1 · John 6:35 · Acts 7:9
“Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him” (vv. 7–8). Stephen’s speech keeps exactly this seam: the patriarchs, “moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt” (Acts 7:9), and he “was made known to his brethren” only “the second time” (Acts 7:13) — recognition deferred, then disclosed. (Honesty note: Acts 7:25, sometimes cited here, is not about Joseph but about Moses, whose brethren likewise “understood not” that God would deliver them by his hand; the not-recognized-at-first pattern is one Stephen draws across both deliverers, and the Joseph half of it is 7:9–13, not 7:25.) The reading that Joseph’s hidden, weeping mercy (v. 24) — testing in order to save, not to avenge — prefigures the disguised mercy of the crucified-and-risen Lord toward those who pierced him is a later, figural construal. It is novel relative to the bare text and is marked as such; it cannot use shared Hebrew lexemes, since Acts is Greek, so it stands or falls as typology, not as a verbal link.
Genesis 42:7 · Genesis 42:8 · Genesis 42:24 · Acts 7:9 · Acts 7:13
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
Source spread. Every verse draws on a rotating panel of public-domain commentators (Ellicott, Benson, Henry, Barnes, JFB, Gill, Geneva, Cambridge, Pulpit, Keil & Delitzsch, Poole); excerpts are verbatim and contiguous, trimmed only at the ends. Where Henry, Barnes, JFB and Keil supply a single block covering several verses (e.g. 42:1–6, 42:7–20), the same block legitimately recurs under those verses — the quotation chosen for each verse is pointed to that verse’s concern.
Contested points, flagged not smoothed. (1) Joseph’s oath “by the life of Pharaoh” (vv. 15–16): the voices genuinely disagree — Benson and Poole excuse it as pre-Sinai custom, the Geneva Bible and JFB call it sin, Ellicott reads it against Matthew 5. We report the disagreement rather than resolve it. (2) The shift “Jacob” → “sons of Israel” (v. 5) and the doublets in vv. 5, 13: Cambridge takes these as marks of separate documentary sources; the Pulpit takes them as ordinary Hebrew recapitulation. Both readings are given. (3) The brothers’ “one is not” (v. 13): whether this is a lie or a reasonable inference that Joseph was dead is disputed (Wordsworth/Lawson vs. Ellicott/the Pulpit); the parse and the voices are left to stand.
Cross-Testament caution. The two Christ-readings reach into Acts and John, which are Greek; no shared-Strong’s verbal link is possible across the Testaments, so those connections are tiered as typology (one ancient/widely-held, one novel), never as “verbal.” In the second Christ-reading we corrected a common misattribution: Acts 7:25 (“he supposed his brethren would have understood … but they understood not”) speaks of Moses, not Joseph; the Joseph half of Stephen’s recognition-deferred pattern is Acts 7:9–13 alone. The Hebrew↔Hebrew threads carry the Verifier’s computed bases, with rare lexemes (sheber, 9 vv; ’āsôn, 5 vv; the dream-cognate châlam/chălôwm) distinguished from common ones (dārash, dām, châyâh, šāḥāh) so that the verbal claims are not overstated. Note in particular the dreams-and-bow thread: its “verbal” tier is earned only by the dream-cognate (42:9 ↔ 37:5); the bowing half (42:6 ↔ 37:9) shares only common words and is structural, as the Verifier rates it.
Note on this unit and Joshua 1:5. This unit is in Genesis, not Joshua, and does not contain Joshua 1:5; the mandatory Joshua 1:5 → Hebrews 13:5 flag does not apply here.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)