029. XVII. Joseph And His Brothers
§ XVII. JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS
1. Journey of Joseph’s brothers to Egypt. Now when Jacob saw that there was grain for sale in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Why do you stand looking at each other? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt; go down there and buy for us from thence, that we may live and not die. So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph’s own brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers; for he said, Lest harm befall him. Thus the sons of Israel came among others to buy grain; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
2. His first interview with them. Now Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was who sold to all the people of the land. Therefore Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the earth. And when Joseph saw his brothers he knew them, but he acted as a stranger towards them and talked harshly to them, and said, Whence do you come? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. Thus Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him. Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had had about them and said to them, You are spies come to see the defenselessness of the land. And they said to him, Nay, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies. But he said to them, Nay, to see the defenselessness of the land you have come. They replied, We your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is to-day with our father, and one is no more. And Joseph said to them, It is just as I said to you, ‘You are spies.’ By this you shall be proved: as sure as Pharaoh lives you shall not go from here unless your youngest brother comes hither. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain in confinement, that your words may be proved, whether or not there be truth in you. Or else, as sure as Pharaoh lives, you are indeed spies. And he put them all together into prison for three days.
3. The second interview. Then Joseph said to them the third day, This do, and live; for I likewise fear God. If you are true men, let one of your brothers remain bound in your prison-house; but you go, carry grain for the needs of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me. So shall your words be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so. And they said to each other, Truly we are guilty in regard to our brother, in that when we saw the distress of his soul, while he was beseeching us for pity, we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us. But Reuben also answered them, saying, Did I not say to you, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ but you would not listen? therefore now also his blood is required. And they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he had spoken to them through an interpreter. He, however, turned himself about from them and wept; then he returned to them, and spoke to them and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with grain, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way. And thus it was done to them.
4. Return of the brothers and their report toJacob. So they loaded their asses with their grain, and departed. And when they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had befallen them, saying, The man who is lord in that land spoke harshly to us, and put us in prison as though we were spying out the country. And we said to him, We are honest men; we are not spies; we are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more and the youngest is to-day with our father in the land of Canaan. And the man who is lord in that land said to us, By this shall I know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take the grain for the needs of your households, and go your way; bring your youngest brother to me, then shall I know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men; so will I give up your brother to you and you shall be free to go about in the land.
5. Discovery of the money in their sacks. But as they were emptying their sacks, they found that every man’s purse of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their purses of money, they were afraid. And their hearts failed them and they turned trembling to one another, saying, What is this that God hath done to us ? And Jacob their father said to them, You bereave me of my children: Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin also; all these things have befallen me. But Reuben said to his father, You may put my two sons to death, if I do not bring him to you. Put him in my charge and I will bring him back to you. Then Jacob said, God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. But I—if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
6. The need of grain. And the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food. And Judah said to him, The man protested strongly to us saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food, but if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘ You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ And Israel said, Why did you bring evil upon me by telling the man you had another brother? And they said, The man asked particularly about us and our kindred, saying, ‘ Is your father yet alive? have you another brother?’ So we informed him according to the tenor of these questions. How were we to know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’ But he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead and he only is left. If harm befall him on the way by which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.
7. Judah’s proposal. Judah, however, said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go that we may live, and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; from my hand you may require him; if I do not bring him to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever; for if we had not lingered, surely we would now have returned the second time. Therefore their father said to them, If it must be so, then do this: take some of the products of the land in your vessels, and carry down a present to the man: a little balsam and a little grape syrup and ladanum, pistacia nuts, and almonds. Take also twice as much money in your hands, and the money, that was returned in the mouth of your sacks, carry back with you; perhaps it was a mistake. Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. So the men took this present with twice as much money in their hands, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
8. Their reception at Joseph’s house. Now when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready, for these men will dine with me at noon. And the man did as Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph’s house. The men, however, were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our grain-sacks at the first are we brought in, that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, together with our asses. And when they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they spoke to him at the door of the house, and said, Oh, my lord, we simply came down the first time to buy food; and it came to pass, when we reached the place, where we were to pass the night, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; and we have brought it back with us. And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food; we do not know who put our money into our sacks. And he said, Peace be to you, fear not; your God and the God of your father hath given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money. Then he brought Simeon out to them. And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water that they might wash their feet, and he gave their asses fodder. Then they made ready the present in anticipation of Joseph’s coming at noon, for they had heard that they were to eat there.
9. Joseph’s royal hospitality toward them. Now when Joseph came to the house, they brought in to him the present which was in their hands, and bowed down before him to the earth. And he asked them regarding their welfare and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive? And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is yet alive. And they bowed their heads, and made obeisance. And Joseph lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to you, my son. And he made haste; for his heart yearned toward his brother; and he sought a place to weep; and he went into his room and wept there. Then he bathed his face and came out and controlled himself, and said, Bring on food. And they brought on food for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at each other in astonishment. And he took portions from before him for them; But Benjamin’s portions were five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.
10.Concealment of his cup in Benjamin’s sack. Then he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s grain-sacks with food as much as they can carry, and, put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
11.Command to pursue and recover the cup. When the morning dawned, the men were sent away, together with their asses. They had gone out of the city, but were still not far away, when Joseph ordered his steward, Rise, pursue the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good ? Why have you stolen my silver cup? Is not this that in which my lord is accustomed to drink, and by which he divines? you have done wrong in so doing.’
12. Its discovery in Benjamin’s sack. So he overtook them and said these words to them. And they said to him, Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! Behold, the money which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; how then should we steal from your lord’s house silver or gold? That one of your servants with whom it is found shall die, and we will also be my lord’s bondmen. And he said, Now then let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; but you shall be blameless. Then they hastily took down every man his sack to the ground, and every man opened his grain-sack. And he searched, beginning with the oldest, and finishing with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s grain-sack. Then they rent their clothes and every man loaded his ass and returned to the city.
13.The brothers before Joseph. So Judah and his brothers came back to Joseph’s house; and he was yet there; and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done? did you not know that a man like me could divine with certainty? And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s bondmen, both we and he also in whose hand the cup is found. But he said, Far be it from me that I should do so! the man in whose hand the cup is found shall be my bondman; but you yourselves go up in peace to your father.
14. Judah’s appeal to Joseph. Then Judah came close to him, and said, Oh, my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not let your anger be kindled against your servant; for you are as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and as his brother is dead, he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.’ And you said to your servants, ‘ Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes upon him.’ But we said to my lord, ‘ The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’ And when we went up to your servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food.’ But we said, ‘ We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ And your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; and one went from me, and I said, “ Surely he is torn in pieces ”; and I have not seen him since; now if you take this one also from me, and harm befall him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’ And now if I come to your servant, my father, without having with us the lad in whose life his life is bound up, then when he sees that there is no lad, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to the grave. For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, when I said, ‘ If I do not bring him to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’ Now therefore let your servant, I pray you, remain instead of the lad as a bondman to my lord, but let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father, if the lad is not with me?—lest I should see the sorrow that would come upon my father.
15. Joseph’s declaration of his identity. Now Joseph could not control himself before all those who were standing by him and he cried out, Cause every man to go out from me. Now there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard and Pharaoh’s household heard. Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father yet alive? And his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they to see him. Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now be not troubled, nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For now the famine has already been two years in the land. And there are yet five years in which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to give you a remnant on the earth, to effect for you a great deliverance. So now it is not you that sent me here but God. And he hath made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
16.Command tobringhis fatherandkinsmen toEgypt. Hasten and go up to my father and say to him, Thus saith your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt, come down without delay. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have, and there will I provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine, lest you be brought to poverty, together with your household and all that you have. And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that is speaking to you. And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen, and you must quickly bring my father down hither. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers, and wept upon them; and afterwards his brothers talked with him.
17.Pharaoh’s command. And the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, that Joseph’s brothers were come; and it pleased Pharaoh and his servants; therefore Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, ‘This do, load your beasts and go and enter the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, that you may eat the fat of the land.’ And he commanded them, This do, take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. Also do not pay any attention to your household goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. And the sons of Israel did so.
I.Literary Beauty of the Story. In the account of Joseph’s meeting with his brothers these stories reach their climax. In literary charm and depth of feeling they are unsurpassed. They also reveal the noblest qualities in Joseph’s character. A pathos runs through them all which tugs strongly at the heart-strings. Every scene is suffused with pent-up emotion. The anxiety of the brothers, the pathetic fears of the fond, aged father, the elder brother’s noble sense of responsibility, and the burning affection of Joseph react and blend in a marvellous series of pictures. The impassioned address of Judah (14) is also one of the strongest appeals in all literature. The story is a closely knit literary unit; to be fully appreciated it must be read and studied as a whole.
II.Joseph’s Test of his Brothers. The story is so simply and fully told that it almost interprets itself. The background is the ancient oriental world in which the law of revenge was still the dominant principle in public codes and private ethics. The brother, who had been shamefully treated and pitilessly sold as a slave, now had his opportunity to avenge his wrongs. Joseph’s outward acts in the earlier part of the narrative suggest that this was his purpose; but the sequel reveals his real aim and the true greatness of his character.
Experience had made Joseph a keen student of human nature. His knowledge of his brothers was limited to his boyhood experience. If their characters had not changed, to show them the many favors which it was in his power to bestow, would be but to cast pearls before swine. For their own sake it was necessary, that they should know his power and recognize his authority. The different tests to which he subjected them have these definite aims in view. Early in the story the narrator reveals to the reader the affectionate heart concealed behind the rude exterior. Joseph, however, held his own natural feelings in check until he could be sure of his brothers’ contrition, and until he knew that the opportune moment had arrived.
III.The Crucial Test of Joseph’s Character. When he was assured that he could trust them, Joseph’s love for his father and for his brothers, who had so flagrantly wronged him, swept away all barriers. The scene which followed is one of the most dramatic in the Old Testament. All personal resentment was forgotten by Joseph in his zeal to help his kinsmen, and the divine quality of forgiveness found expression in the noblest words and deeds. For the honored and successful governor of Egypt to acknowledge as his own brothers the rude Canaanite nomads, who had given him every reason for repudiating them, called for the highest loyalty and devotion. Many men resist the temptations of youth, and attain positions of eminence, and then fail to pay the debt which they owe to their humble kinsmen who have helped them to success. With Joseph the debt, if any, was small. There was also no absolute necessity of revealing his identity, much less of inviting his uncouth kinsmen to the land of Egypt. His action, therefore, reveals a simple nobility of character rarely equalled in the past or present.
IV.Teachings of the Story. Many vital truths are illustrated by this marvellous story. The chief perhaps are: (1) Every man who does wrong is confronted by the consequence of his act at the most unexpected and painful crises of his life. (2) Forgiveness and love are invincible. (3) God is ever overruling evil for good. (4) The severest tests of character come at the most unexpected moments and in the most unexpected forms. (5) A man’s loyalty to his humble kinsmen in the hour of his own success is the surest evidence of his nobility.