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Genesis 42:15 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

15 But in this way will you be put to the test: by the life of Pharaoh, you will not go away from this place till your youngest brother comes here.

Cross Reference

1 Samuel 17:55 BBE

And when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, On your life, O king, I have no idea.

Deuteronomy 6:13 BBE

Let the fear of the Lord your God be in your hearts, and be his servants, taking your oaths by his name.

James 5:12 BBE

But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.

Matthew 23:16-22 BBE

A curse is on you, blind guides, who say, Whoever takes an oath by the Temple, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gold of the Temple, he is responsible. You foolish ones and blind: which is greater, the gold, or the Temple which makes the gold holy? And, Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the offering which is on it, he is responsible. You blind ones: which is greater, the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy? He, then, who takes an oath by the altar, takes it by the altar and by all things on it. And he who takes an oath by the Temple, takes it by the Temple and by him whose house it is. And he who takes an oath by heaven, takes it by the seat of God, and by him who is seated on it.

Matthew 5:33-37 BBE

Again, you have knowledge that it was said in old times, Do not take false oaths, but give effect to your oaths to the Lord: But I say to you, Take no oaths at all: not by the heaven, because it is the seat of God; Or by the earth, because it is the resting-place for his foot; or by Jerusalem, because it is the town of the great King. You may not take an oath by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. But let your words be simply, Yes or No: and whatever is more than these is of the Evil One.

Jeremiah 5:7 BBE

How is it possible for you to have my forgiveness for this? your children have given me up, taking their oaths by those who are no gods: when I had given them food in full measure, they were false to their wives, taking their pleasure in the houses of loose women.

Jeremiah 5:2 BBE

And though they say, By the living Lord; truly their oaths are false.

1 Samuel 20:3 BBE

But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death.

1 Samuel 1:26 BBE

And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side:

Genesis 42:7 BBE

And when Joseph saw his brothers, it was clear to him who they were, but he made himself strange to them, and talking roughly to them, said, Where do you come from? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to get food.

Genesis 44:20-34 BBE

And we said to my lord, We have an old father and a young child, whom he had when he was old; his brother is dead and he is the only son of his mother, and is very dear to his father. And you said to your servants, Let him come down to me with you, so that I may see him. And we said to my lord, His father will not let him go; for if he went away his father would come to his death. But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come with you, you will not see my face again. And when we went back to your servant, our father, we gave him an account of my lord's words. And our father said, Go again and get us a little food. And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will we go down; for we may not see the man's face again if our youngest brother is not with us. And our father said to us, You have knowledge that my wife gave me two sons; The one went away from me, and I said, Truly he has come to a violent death; and from that time I have not seen him, If now you take this one from me, and some evil comes to him, you will make my grey head go down in sorrow to the underworld. If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one, When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will come to his death, and our father's grey head will go down in sorrow to the underworld. For I made myself responsible for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever. So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers. For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?

Genesis 43:3 BBE

If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food:

Genesis 42:34 BBE

And come back to me with your youngest brother: then I will be certain that you are true men, and I will give your brother back to you and let you do trade in the land.

Genesis 42:30 BBE

The man who is the ruler of the country was rough with us and put us in prison, saying that we had come with a secret evil purpose.

Genesis 42:20 BBE

And come back to me with your youngest brother, so that your words may be seen to be true, and you will not be put to death. This is what you are to do.

Genesis 42:16 BBE

Send one of your number to get your brother, and the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are true; if not, by the life of Pharaoh, your purpose is certainly secret.

Genesis 42:12 BBE

And he said to them, No, but you have come to see how poor the land is.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 42

Commentary on Genesis 42 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-6

With the words “ Why do ye look at one another! ” viz., in such a helpless and undecided manner. Jacob exhorted his sons to fetch corn from Egypt, to preserve his family from starvation. Joseph's ten brothers went, as their aged father would not allow his youngest son Benjamin to go with them, for fear that some calamity might befall him ( קרא = קרה , Genesis 44:29 as in Genesis 42:38 and Genesis 49:1); and they came “ in the midst of the comers, ” i.e., among others who came from the same necessity, and bowed down before Joseph with their faces to the earth. For he was “the ruler over the land,” and had the supreme control of the sale of the corn, so that they were obliged to apply to him. השּׁלּיט seems to have been the standing title which the Shemites gave to Joseph as ruler in Egypt; and from this the later legend of Σάλατις the first king of the Hyksos arose (Josephus c. Ap. i. 14). The only other passages in which the word occurs in the Old Testament are in writings of the captivity or a still later date, and there it is taken from the Chaldee; it belongs, however, not merely to the Aramaean thesaurus, but to the Arabic also, from which it was introduced into the passage before us.


Verse 7-8

Joseph recognised his brothers at once; but they could not recognise a brother who had not been seen for 20 years, and who, moreover, had not only become thoroughly Egyptianized, but had risen to be a great lord. And he acted as a foreigner ( יתנכּר ) towards them, speaking harshly, and asking them whence they had come. In Genesis 42:7, according to a truly Semitic style of narrative, we have a condensation of what is more circumstantially related in Genesis 42:8-17.


Verses 9-17

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, he said to them, “ Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land (i.e., the unfortified parts of the kingdom which would be easily accessible to a foe) ye are come; ” and persisted in this charge notwithstanding their reply, “ nay, my lord, but ( ו see Ges. §155, 1 b ) to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons ( נחנוּ for אנחנוּ , only in Exodus 16:7-8; Numbers 32:32; 2 Samuel 17:12; Lamentations 3:42): honest ( כּנים ) are we; thy servants are no spies .” Cum exploratio sit delictum capitale, non est verisimile; quod pater tot filios uno tempore vitae periculo expositurus sit ( J. Gerhard ). But as their assertion failed to make any impression upon the Egyptian lord, they told him still more particularly about their family (Genesis 42:13.): “ Twelve are thy servants, brothers are we, sons of a man in the land of Canaan; and behold the youngest is now with our father, and one is no more ( אימנּוּ as in Genesis 5:24). Joseph then replied, “ That is it ( הוּא neut. like Genesis 20:16) that I spake unto you, saying ye are spies. By this shall ye be proved: By the life of Pharaoh! ye shall not ( אם , like Genesis 14:23) go hence, unless your youngest brother come hither. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother; but he shall be in bonds, and your words shall be proved, whether there be truth in you or not. By the life of Pharaoh! ye are truly spies! ” He then had them put into custody for three days. By the coming of the youngest brother, Joseph wanted to test their assertion, not because he thought it possible that he might not be living with them, and they might have treated him as they did Joseph ( Kn .), but because he wished to discover their feelings towards Benjamin, and see what affection they had for this son of Rachel, who had taken Joseph's place as his father's favourite. And with his harsh mode of addressing them, Joseph had no intention whatever to administer to his brethren “a just punishment for their wickedness towards him,” for his heart could not have stooped to such mean revenge; but he wanted to probe thoroughly the feelings of their hearts, “whether they felt that they deserved the punishment of God for the sin they had committed,” and how they felt towards their aged father and their youngest brother.

(Note: Joseph nihil aliud agit quam ut revelet peccatum fratrum hoc durissimo opere et sermone. Descendunt enim in Aegyptum una cum aliis emtum frumentum, securi et negligentes tam atrocis delicti, cujus sibi erant conscii, quasi nihil unquam deliguissent contra patrem decrepitum aut fratrem innocentem, cogitant Joseph jam diu exemtum esse rebus humanis, patrem vero rerum omnium ignarum esse. Quid ad nos? Non agunt poenitentiam. Hi silices et adamantes frangendi et conterendi sunt ac aperiendi oculi eorum, ut videant atrocitatem sceleris sui, idque ubi perfecit Joseph statim verbis et gestibus humaniorem se praebet eosque honorifice tractat. - Haec igitur atrocitas scelerum movit Joseph ad explorandos animos fratrum accuratius, ita ut non solum priorum delictorum sed et cogitationum pravarum memoriam renovaret, ac fuit sane inquisitio satis ingrata et acerba et tamen ab animo placidissimo profecta. Ego durius eos tractassem. Sed haec acerbitas, quam prae se fert, non pertinet ad vindicandum injuriam sed ad salutarem eorum poenitentiam, ut humilientur . Luther.)

Even in the fact that he did not send the one away directly to fetch Benjamin, and merely detain the rest, but put the whole ten in prison, and afterwards modified his threat (Genesis 42:18.), there was no indecision as to the manner in which he should behave towards them - no “wavering between thoughts of wrath and revenge on the one hand, and forgiving love and meekness on the other;” but he hoped by imprisoning them to make his brethren feel the earnestness of his words, and to give them time for reflection, as the curt “is no more” with which they had alluded to Joseph's removal was a sufficient proof that they had not yet truly repented of the deed.


Verses 18-25

On the third day Joseph modified his severity. “ This do and live, ” i.e., then ye shall live: “ I fear God .” One shall remain in prison, but let the rest of you take home “corn for the famine of your families,” and fetch your youngest brother, that your words may be verified, and ye may not die, i.e., may not suffer the death that spies deserve. That he might not present the appearance of despotic caprice and tyranny by too great severity, and so render his brethren obdurate, Joseph stated as the reason for his new decision, that he feared God. From the fear of God, he, the lord of Egypt, would not punish or slay these strangers upon mere suspicion, but would judge them justly. 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! These and similar thoughts could hardly fail to pass involuntarily through their minds at Joseph's words, and to lead them to a penitential acknowledgement of their sin and unrighteousness. The notion that Joseph altered his first intention merely from regard to his much afflicted father, appears improbable, for the simple reason, that he can only have given utterance to the threat that he should keep them all in prison till one of them had gone and fetched Benjamin, for the purpose of giving the greater force to his accusation, that they were spies. But as he was not serious in making this charge, he could not for a moment have thought of actually carrying out the threat. “ And they did so: ” in these words the writer anticipates the result of the colloquy which ensued, and which is more fully narrated afterwards. Joseph's intention was fulfilled. The brothers now saw in what had happened to them a divine retribution: “ Surely we atone because of our brother, whose anguish of soul we saw, when he entreated us and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us .” And Reuben reminded them how he had warned them to no purpose, not to sin against the boy - “ and even his blood...behold it is required ” (cf. Genesis 9:5); i.e., not merely the sin of casting him into the pit and then selling him, but his death also, of which we have been guilty through that sale. Thus they accused themselves in Joseph's presence, not knowing that he could understand; “ for the interpreter was between them .” Joseph had conversed with them through an interpreter, as an Egyptian who was ignorant of their language. “ The interpreter,” viz., the one appointed for that purpose; בּינות like Genesis 26:28. But Joseph understood their words, and “ turned away and wept ” (Genesis 42:24), with inward emotion at the wonderful leadings of divine grace, and at the change in his brothers' feelings. He then turned to them again, and, continuing the conversation with them, had Simeon bound before their eyes, to be detained as a hostage (not Reuben, who had dissuaded them from killing Joseph, and had taken no part in the sale, but Simeon, the next in age). He then ordered his men to fill their sacks with corn, to give every one ( אישׁ as in Genesis 15:10) his money back in his sack, and to provide them with food for the journey.


Verse 26-27

Thus they started with their asses laden with the corn. On the way, when they had reached their halting-place for the night, one of them opened his sack to feed the ass, and found his money in it. מלון , camping-place for the night, is merely a resting-place, not an inn, both here and in Exodus 4:24; for there can hardly have been caravanserais at that time, either in the desert or by the desert road. אמתחת : an antiquated word for a corn-sack, occurring only in these chapters, and used even here interchangeably with שׂק .


Verse 28

When this discovery was made known to the brethren, their hearts sank within them. They turned trembling to one another, and said, “ What is this that God hath done to us! ” Joseph had no doubt had the money returned, “merely because it was against his nature to trade with his father and brethren for bread;” just as he had caused them to be supplied with food for the journey, for no other reason than to give them a proof of his good-will. And even if he may have thought it possible that the brothers would be alarmed when they found the money, and thrown into a state of much greater anxiety from the fear of being still further accused by the stern lord of Egypt of cheating or of theft, there was no reason why he should spare them this anxiety, since it could only help to break their hard hearts still more. At any rate, this salutary effect was really produced, even if Joseph had no such intention. The brothers looked upon this incomprehensible affair as a punishment from God, and neglected in their alarm to examine the rest of the sacks.


Verses 29-34

On their arrival at home, they told their father all that had occurred.


Verse 35-36

But when they emptied their sacks, and, to their own and their father's terror, found their bundles of money in their separate sacks, Jacob burst out with the complaint, “ Ye are making me childless! Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and will ye take Benjamin! All this falls upon me ” ( כּלּנה for כּלּן as in Proverbs 31:29).


Verse 37-38

Reuben then offered his two sons to Jacob as pledges for Benjamin, if Jacob would entrust him to his care: Jacob might slay them, if he did not bring Benjamin back-the greatest and dearest offer that a son could make to a father. But Jacob refused to let him go. “ If mischief befell him by the way, he would bring down my grey hairs with sorrow into Sheol ” (cf. Genesis 37:35).