CHAPTER 42

42:1-38 And Jacob having seen that there was a sale of corn in Egypt, said to his sons, Why are ye indolent? 2 Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; go down thither, and buy for us a little food, that we may live, and not die. 3 And the ten brethren of Joseph went down to buy corn out of Egypt. 4 But Jacob sent not Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, with his brethren; for he said, Lest, haply, disease befall him. 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy with those that came, for the famine was in the land of Chanaan. 6 And Joseph was ruler of the land; he sold to all the people of the land. And the brethren of Joseph, having come, did reverence to him, bowing with the face to the ground. 7 And when Joseph saw his brethren, he knew them, and estranged himself from them, and spoke hard words to them; and said to them, Whence are ye come? And they said, Out of the land of Chanaan, to buy food. 8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9 And Joseph remembered his dream, which he saw; and he said to them, Ye are spies; to observe the marks of the land are ye come. 10 But they said, Nay, Sir, we thy servants are come to buy food; 11 we are all sons of one man; we are peaceable, thy servants are not spies. 12 And he said to them, Nay, but ye are come to observe the marks of the land. 13 And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, in the land of Chanaan; and, behold, the youngest is with our father to-day, but the other one is not. 14 And Joseph said to them, This is it that I spoke to you, saying, ye are spies; 15 herein shall ye be manifested; by the health of Pharao, ye shall not depart hence, unless your younger brother come hither. 16 Send one of you, and take your brother; and go ye to prison, till your words be clear, whether ye speak the truth or not; but, if not, by the health of Pharao, verily ye are spies. 17 And he put them in prison three days. 18 And he said to them on the third day, This do, and ye shall live, for I fear God. 19 If ye be peaceable, let one of your brethren be detained in prison; but go ye, and carry back the corn ye have purchased. 20 And bring your younger brother to me, and your words shall be believed; but, if not, ye shall die. And they did so. 21 And each said to his brother, Yes, indeed, for we are in fault concerning our brother, when we disregarded the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we hearkened not to him; and therefore has this affliction come upon us. 22 And Ruben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Hurt not the boy, and ye heard me not? and, behold, his blood is required. 23 But they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. 24 And Joseph turned away from them, and wept; and again he came to them, and spoke to them; and he took Symeon from them, and bound him before their eyes. 25 And Joseph gave orders to fill their vessels with corn, and to return their money to each into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and it was so done to them. 26 And having put the corn on the asses, they departed thence. 27 And one having opened his sack to give his asses fodder, at the place where they rested, saw also his bundle of money, for it was on the mouth of his sack. 28 And he said to his brethren, My money has been restored to me, and behold this is in my sack. And their heart was wonder-struck, and they were troubled, saying one to another, What is this that God has done to us? 29 And they came to their father, Jacob, into the land of Chanaan, and reported to him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 The man, the lord of the land, spoke harsh words to us, and put us in prison as spies of the land. 31 And we said to him, We are men of peace, we are not spies. 32 We are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is with his father to-day in the land of Chanaan. 33 And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, Herein shall I know that ye are peaceable; leave one brother here with me, and having taken the corn ye have purchased for your family, depart. 34 And bring to me your younger brother; then I shall know that ye are not spies, but that ye are men of peace: and I will restore you your brother, and ye shall trade in the land. 35 And it came to pass as they were emptying their sacks, there was each man’s bundle of money in his sack; and they and their father saw their bundles of money, and they were afraid. 36 And their father Jacob said to them, Ye have bereaved me. Joseph is not, Symeon is not, and will ye take Benjamin? all these things have come upon me. 37 And Ruben spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee; give him into my hand, and I will bring him back to thee. 38 But he said, My son shall not go down with you, because his brother is dead, and he only has been left; and suppose it shall come to pass that he is afflicted by the way by which ye go, then ye shall bring down my old age with sorrow to Hades.

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. (Gen. 42:9). ON THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF JOSEPH'S DREAMS. — And Joseph remembered the dreams he had seen. His brothers had indeed prostrated themselves before him. But there is something more exalted in those dreams that need to be investigated. It is evident that neither his father nor his mother, who had already died, can exhaust the meaning of everything he had seen about the sun and the moon, and that his father, who was still alive, had heard and because of this he had rebuked him. [Question 138]

 (Gen 42:15-16). ON JOSEPH'S OATH: "BY THE SALVATION OF PHARAOH." — How could Joseph, a man so prudent and so praised, not only by the testimony of the men among whom he lived, but by the affirmation of his own Scripture, so swear by the salvation of Pharaoh that his brothers would not depart from Egypt if their younger brother did not come with them? Is it true that even for a good and faithful man the salvation of Pharaoh was despicable, to whom was he faithful as before, in everything, as his master? And how much more should he keep to him who had placed him in such an important post, if he kept it to him who owned him as a servant who had bought! And if he did not care for Pharaoh's salvation, should he not have avoided perjury for the salvation of any man? Is it not perjury? He kept one of his brothers until Benjamin came and fulfilled what he had said: You will not leave here, unless your brother comes (Gen. 42:15). For these words of his could not refer to all his brothers, for how could Benjamin come if some had not come to bring him? But the words that come next pose an even greater problem, when he swears again, saying, Send one of you and bring your brother. In the meantime, the rest of you will remain here prisoners until your words are checked, to see if you speak the truth or not. If not, for the salvation of Pharaoh! that you are spies (Gen. 42:16), that is, if you do not tell the truth, you are spies. He ratified these words with an oath, for if they had not told the truth, they would be spies, that is, they would be liable to the punishment of the spies, those men who, in spite of everything, knew that they were telling the truth. In reality, one is not a perjurer if he says to someone, who knows that he is an absolutely chaste person; "If you have committed this adultery of which you are accused, God condemns you," adding an oath to these words. This individual swears a totally true thing, because there is given the condition that he used, saying: if you have done it, when you know perfectly well that he has not done it. But someone can say: it is true, because if he committed adultery, God condemns him. But how can this be true: if you do not tell the truth, you are spies, when, even if they lie, they would not be spies? Well, this is what it said in the Scripture: you are spies, as if you had said: you are worthy of the punishment of the spies, that is, you will be considered spies because of your lie. That the word you have been able to be used instead of "you will be held by" or "you will be considered as" is demonstrated by many other similar expressions, such as that of Elijah: He who hears in the fire, that will be God (I Kgs. 18:24). It does not mean that then it will be God, but then it will be had by such. [Question 139]

(Gen. 42:23). ON THIS PASSAGE: THEY DID NOT KNOW THAT JOSEPH HEARD THEM, FOR THERE WAS OF THEM AN INTERPRETER. —What do the words of the Scripture mean: They did not know that Joseph understood them, because there was an interpreter between them? The words refer to the repentant conversation of the children of Israel concerning their brother Joseph, in the sense that they had wronged him, and that God punished them for it, for they saw that they were in danger. This text must be interpreted in the sense that the brothers thought that Joseph did not understand them, because they saw the interpreter who stood between them. And they told him nothing of what they were talking about, believing that the interpreter was there precisely because Joseph ignored his tongue. They thought that the interpreter did not bother to say to the one who had put him there, the things that they did not say to him, but they commented to each other. [Question 140]

(Gen. 42:24). RELUCTANCE. — Again he approached them and told them. The text does not add what he told them. Therefore, it is understood that he would tell them what he had said to them before. [Question 141]

 (Gen. 42:38). STILL ON HELL. — And you will bring down my old age with sadness to hell. Would he go down to hell precisely because he came down with sadness? Or, even if the sadness is absent, does this perhaps mean as if by indicating that by dying he would descend into hell? About hell there is a big problem, and that is why we must study all the passages in which this word is mentioned. [Question 142]

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM OF CONSTANTINOPLE. The ravages of famine had spread to the land of Chanaan, where Jacob's father Joseph lived. Jacob, therefore, having heard that wheat was being sold in Egypt, said to his sons, Why do you abandon yourself to nonchalance? (Gen. 42:3) Here I learn that there is wheat in Egypt. Go ahead, buy us some supplies that support our lives. (2) Why do you stay inactive, he tells them? Go to Egypt and tell us what is necessary for our sustenance. All these things came to pass, so that the brothers of Joseph would serve the perfect fulfillment of his vision, so that they would confirm by events the interpretation they had made of the dream recounted by Joseph. The ten brothers left without taking with them Benjamin, the maternal brother of Joseph. Carson father said: I fear that some misfortune will happen to him. He spared this child because of his young age. When they arrived, they bowed down to Joseph, face down, as before the master of Egypt. (6) They acted thus, knowing nothing yet. For the long space of time that had passed prevented them from recognizing their brother. It is quite natural that, having reached its maturity, it would have changed a little in appearance. But, if I am not mistaken, everything had been arranged by the God of the universe, so that they could not recognize their brother, neither in his language nor in his face. Indeed, how could they even conceive such a thought? They believed that he was a slave to the Ishmaelites, exposed to the sufferings of servitude among this barbarous people. Far removed by themselves from such an idea, they did not recognize Joseph. But he, seeing them, recognized them: he concealed, however, and affected to behave with them as with strangers. He feigned to be a stranger to them, and spoke to them roughly; He said to them, Where are you from? If he feigns complete ignorance, it is in order to be informed of everything exactly, for he desired to hear from his father and brother.

And first he asks about the country they come from: they say they come from Chanaan to buy food. The distress caused by hunger, they say, made us undertake this journey: and that is why we left everything to come here: And Joseph remembered the dreams he had had dreams, and seeing them come true, he wanted to be well informed about everything. This is why he answers them first with great harshness: You are spies, he tells them, and you have come to recognize the passages of the country. It is not with good intentions that you came. You must have undertaken this journey for some treacherous and criminal purpose. - The others, all frightened, answer: No, Lord. (10) And from them they teach Joseph what he wanted to know: Your servants came to buy food. We are all sons of the same father, we are peaceful, your servants are not spies. (11) So far they are limited to justifying themselves all troubled by fear, they have not yet said what Joseph burns to know. So he continues in his saying: No, you have come to recognize the passages of the land. (12) You can talk to me like this: I see enough, considering you, that it is a bad design that has led you here. So pressed by necessity, and wanting to touch his heart, they say to Joseph: Your servants are twelve brothers. (13) O lure words! they understand in number the one they sold to the merchants: they do not say: We were twelve, but: We are twelve brothers: And the youngest is with our father. And that's precisely what he wanted to know, if they had not done the same fate to his brother as himself. The youngest is with our father, and the other is no longer in the world. They do not clearly indicate the reason, they simply say: He is no longer in the world. Then, coming to fear that they would have treated Benjamin as himself, he continues: What I said is the truth, you are spies. (14) You will not leave here until your younger brother has come. (15) It is he whom I want to see: I am burning to consider the one who has come out of the same womb as me, for I suspect, from your conduct towards me, your fraternal feelings. Therefore, if you wish: Hurry one of you, and bring him (16); as for you, stay in prison until you arrive. His presence will show me the truth of your relationship, and will free you from all suspicion. Otherwise, it will be obvious that you are spies, and that is the reason for your coming. At these words he had them put in prison. (17) Do you see how he experiences them, how does his behavior towards them testify to his tenderness for his brother? But at the end of three days, having called them, he said to them: Do what I am going to say to you, and you will live: for I fear God. (18) If you are men of peace, let one of you remain in the prison: let the others leave, take away the wheat that they have bought (19), and bring me back their young brother: and I will add faith to your words: otherwise you will die.

Consider his intelligence; Desiring at the same time to show his love for men, to relieve the distress of his father, and to know the truth about his brother, he has one of Jacob's sons retained, and ordered the others to leave. But see the incorruptible judge act now, the conscience of the guilty who raises himself, and compels them, without any one to accuse them or to bring them to justice, to become their own accusers. (21) And they said to one another, Because we sinned against our father, that we were not moved by the pain of his soul when he implored our pity, that we do not We did not listen, that's why we fell into that affliction. That's what sin is; when he is committed, realized, he reveals his own enormity. A drunk man, as long as he drinks from one shot to the next, has no feeling of the evils engendered by drunkenness; it is later that experience makes him aware of the greatness of this plague; so it is with sin: as long as it is not consumed, it blinds the spirit and spreads darkness over the inner sight; but then the consciousness rises like an inexorable accuser to tear the soul apart and denounce the enormity of its fault. Behold, the sons of Jacob are coming back to them, and it is at the moment when the greatest danger hangs on their heads, that they confess their conduct, and say: It is precisely because we have sin, because blacks have not been moved by the pain of his soul. It is not without reason that we are thus treated, it is precisely, very precisely; we are punished for the inhumanity and cruelty we have shown towards our brother: Because we were not moved by the pain of his soul, when he implored our pity, and we did not we did not listen. It is because we have been without charity, without humanity, that we experience the same treatment in our turn. That's why we fell into that affliction.

They spoke to one another in this way, believing that they were not heard by Joseph. Indeed, as if he had not known them and had ignored their language, he had brought an interpreter, to convey his words and explain their answers. But when he heard this, Reuben said to them, Is it not true that I said to you, Do not hurt this child, and have not listened to me? And now God is asking for his blood again. Did I not advise you, conjured then, to commit no iniquity against him? So now God is asking you for his blood again. Because, of intention, you killed him; if you have not thrust the sword into his throat, you have sold it to barbarians, you have imagined for him servitude worse than death; that is why God asks you for his blood. Do you represent what it is to be accused by one's conscience, to be perpetually prey to the obsessions of that stern and formidable voice which reminds us of our faults. (23) And Joseph heard this; but they did not suspect it, since he used an interpreter. But Joseph can no longer contain himself, the strength of the blood, the fraternal tenderness betray him. And having turned away from them, he wept (24) so ​​as not to be recognized. He came back to them and spoke to them again. (25) And they gave him Simeon, whom he bound before them. You see him: he neglects nothing to throw them into terror, so that seeing Simeon tied, they make him appear they were sensitive to brotherly love. All his conduct was intended, in fact, to test them, and to recognize whether they had not shown themselves to Benjamin as they had been to himself. If, then, he binds Simeon in their presence, it is to test them well, to observe whether they will show him some affection. For then, out of pity for him, they will hasten to bring Benjamin, and fill the vows of Joseph there. And he commanded them to fill their sacks of corn, to put his money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the road. (26) And after having loaded their donkeys, they departed. See what generosity! he compels them in spite of themselves, by returning their money to them, instead of confining themselves to delivering them corn. Now one of them, having opened his sack, to give food to the donkeys, sees the money, and announces the news to his brethren. Thereupon their hearts were astonished, they were troubled, and said to one another, What has God done to us?

You still want to take me Benjamin. All these evils have fallen on me. These words make us see the emotion that troubles the bowels of this father. He had been despairing for a long time about Joseph, whom he believed to be devoured by ferocious beasts; he was now despairing of Simeon; and now he feared for Benjamin. He resists first, he does not want to deliver his child. But Reuben, the eldest of his children, said to him, Kill my two sons, if I do not bring him back to you. Put it in my hands, and I'll bring it back to you. Trust me, I'll take care of it, and I'll give it back.

Reuben spoke thus, thinking that it was impossible for them, if the child did not accompany them, to return to Egypt, and to buy what was necessary for the subsistence of the family. But the father will not give in: No, my son will not go with you. Then he gives the reason, as if pleading his case before his children: His brother is dead, and he alone remains to me. And it will happen that because of his youth, he will be well tested on the way, and you will lead my old age with pain in the tomb. I fear for his youth; I am afraid of finishing my days in pain, deprived of this consolation. Indeed, as long as he stays with me, it seems to me that I feel some relief, and his society lessens the sorrow I have about his brother. Thus Jacob's tenderness for his child Benjamin prevented him at first from letting him go: But the famine redoubled, and the food was wanting for them. [Homilies on Genesis]