Genesis 42

Ge 42:1-38.

JOURNEY INTO

EGYPT.

1. Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt--learned from

common rumor. It is evident from Jacob's language that his own and his

sons' families had suffered greatly from the scarcity; and through the

increasing severity of the scourge, those men, who had formerly shown

both activity and spirit, were sinking into despondency. God would not

interpose miraculously when natural means of preservation were within

reach.

5. the famine was in the land of Canaan--The tropical rains,

which annually falling swell the Nile, are those of Palestine also; and

their failure would produce the same disastrous effects in Canaan as in

Egypt. Numerous caravans of its people, therefore, poured over the

sandy desert of Suez, with their beasts of burden, for the purchase of

corn; and among others, "the sons of Israel" were compelled to

undertake a journey from which painful associations made them strongly

averse.

6. Joseph was the governor--in the zenith of his power and

influence.

he it was that sold--that is, directed the sales; for it is

impossible that he could give attendance in every place. It is

probable, however, that he may have personally superintended the

storehouses near the border of Canaan, both because that was the most

exposed part of the country and because he must have anticipated the

arrival of some messengers from his father's house.

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

(Isa 60:14;

Re 3:9,

last clause).

7, 8. Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, . . . but

they knew not him--This is not strange. They were full-grown

men--he was but a lad at parting. They were in their usual garb--he was

in his official robes. They never dreamt of him as governor of Egypt,

while he had been expecting them. They had but one face; he had ten

persons to judge by.

made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly--It would be

an injustice to Joseph's character to suppose that this stern manner

was prompted by any vindictive feelings--he never indulged any

resentment against others who had injured him. But he spoke in the

authoritative tone of the governor in order to elicit some

much-longed-for information respecting the state of his father's

family, as well as to bring his brethren, by their own humiliation and

distress, to a sense of the evils they had done to him.

9-14. Ye are spies--This is a suspicion entertained regarding

strangers in all Eastern countries down to the present day. Joseph,

however, who was well aware that his brethren were not spies, has been

charged with cruel dissimulation, with a deliberate violation of what

he knew to be the truth, in imputing to them such a character. 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.

15. By the life of Pharaoh--It is a very common practice in

Western Asia to swear by the life of the king. 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).

17-24. put them . . . into ward three days--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. The drift of their

conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the

power of conscience

[Ge 42:21, 22].

24. took . . . Simeon, and bound him--He had probably

been the chief instigator--the most violent actor in the outrage upon

Joseph; and if so, his selection to be the imprisoned and fettered

hostage for their return would, in the present course of their

reflections, have a painful significance.

25-28. Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to

restore every man's money--This private generosity was not an

infringement of his duty--a defrauding of the revenue. He would have a

discretionary power--he was daily enriching the king's exchequer--and

he might have paid the sum from his own purse.

27. inn--a mere station for baiting beasts of burden.

he espied his money--The discovery threw them into greater

perplexity than ever. If they had been congratulating themselves on

escaping from the ruthless governor, they perceived that now he would

have a handle against them; and it is observable that they looked upon

this as a judgment of heaven. Thus one leading design of Joseph was

gained in their consciences being roused to a sense of guilt.

35. as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's

. . . money was in his sack--It appears that they had

been silent about the money discovery at the resting-place, as their

father might have blamed them for not instantly returning. However

innocent they knew themselves to be, it was universally felt to be an

unhappy circumstance, which might bring them into new and greater

perils.

36. Me have ye bereaved--This exclamation indicates a painfully

excited state of feeling, and it shows how difficult it is for even a

good man to yield implicit submission to the course of Providence. The

language does not imply that his missing sons had got foul play from

the hands of the rest, but he looks upon Simeon as lost, as well as

Joseph, and he insinuates it was by some imprudent statements of theirs

that he was exposed to the risk of losing Benjamin also.

37. Reuben spake, . . . Slay my two sons, if I bring him

not to thee--This was a thoughtless and unwarrantable

condition--one that he never seriously expected his father would

accept. It was designed only to give assurance of the greatest care

being taken of Benjamin. But unforeseen circumstances might arise to

render it impossible for all of them to preserve that young lad

(Jas 4:13),

and Jacob was much pained by the prospect. Little did he know that God

was dealing with him severely, but in kindness

(Heb 12:7, 8),

and that all those things he thought against Him were working together

for his good.