Gen. 42:1-38

1. Locate the passage

In this passage, Joseph’s brothers, with a little help from Joseph, are finally forced to confront their sin in selling their brother into slavery. For 13 years, they lived with their unconfessed and unaddressed sin. How God used Joseph’s test of his brothers may be different than Joseph’s intention. In this passage, Joseph’s brothers are twice forced to confront their sin against Joseph. Reuben reminded them of their sin when Joseph initially spoke harshly to them and the last three verses of the chapter highlight their sin again as Jacob recalls being bereft of Joseph. We also see evidence that Jacob has not forgotten the sin of Reuben (when he slept with Bilhah) and no longer trusts him.

2. Genre

The passage is narrative and records the conversations between Jacob and his sons, Joseph and his brothers, and the brothers among themselves.

3. Determine the structure of the passage

4. Exegete the passage

42:1-2 – Jacob both “saw” and “heard” that there was grain in Egypt

• The verb “ra’ah” is used of both Jacob and his charge against the brothers
  • Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt; he, then, asked the brothers why they were looking at each other
    • Jacob’s question from the Hebrew (“la’mah tit’rau”) is reflexive and suggests that they were looking at each other.
  • The almost blind Jacob could “see” the situation more clearly than his sons, who are accused by their father of lacking vision or foresight; or perhaps laziness.

42:3-5 – The “ten” brothers and “Joseph’s brother”

• The same word is used in two different contexts here.
  • The ten were in fact Joseph’s brothers, being from the same father
  • However, Benjamin was of a much closer relationship with Joseph being of the same father AND the same mother.
• Jacob is protective of Benjamin and unwilling to “send” him to Egypt.
  • This verse suggests possible guilt that Jacob was feeling over having “sent” (The Hb. “shalaq” is the same word used here) Joseph to find the brothers (the same ones being sent to Egypt) in Shechem (Cf. 37:13).
  • So, Jacob will not “send” his only other remaining son of Rachel with his other sons.

42:6 – Joseph’s dream fulfilled

• The narrator reminds the reader of Joseph’s position – he was the ruler and the one in charge of distributing the grain that his brothers came to buy.
• This verse records the fulfillment of Joseph’s first dream (37:4-8).
• That Joseph’s brothers bowed down to him fulfills the sheaves of Joseph’s dream bowing down to his (37:7)
  • The indignant retort of Joseph’s dream by his brothers, “are you really going to rule over us” has come true.

42:7 – It may over-spiritualize the text to suggest that Joseph was testing his brothers to force them to confront their sin and repent of it. The text does not stipulate that. It is just as possible that Joseph was concerned about the welfare of his brother, Benjamin and wanted to know if his other brothers were treating Benjamin as poorly as they treated him.

• The fact that he spoke to them in anger may not have been an act. He certainly had a right to be angry with them.
• The word “recognized” is used three times in 42:7-8
  • Joseph recognized his brothers
  • His brothers did not recognize him

42:8 – Along with recognizing his brothers, Joseph remembered his dreams

• As the brothers bowed down to him, Joseph recognized the fulfillment of his dream

42:9-12 – You are spies

• Joseph accused the brothers of coming to Egypt to spy out the land in order to attack it (and, supposedly, take their food).
  • Joseph accuses them of coming to Egypt to spy out the “naked” portions of the land.
• The brothers responded that they were not spies and had only come to buy food
  • How one proves a negative is the tension of this verse. The only response the brothers can make is to stipulate their integrity to “a stranger” who has falsely accused them.

42:13-14 – Realizing that simply maintaining their innocence will not convince the Egyptian ruler, the brothers respond by giving Joseph more information about their family in an effort to earn his trust.

42:15-16 – The brother’s plan backfired. Hoping to gain Joseph’s trust by being honest about their family led to Joseph demanding to see Benjamin to “prove” their innocence.

• This is the first of two tests of the brother’s honesty that Joseph offered in the text. But, Joseph did not allow for the brothers’ response to this test. Instead, Joseph put them in prison.

42:17 – Joseph put his brothers in prison

• Putting his brothers in prison paralleled them putting him in a pit and selling him into slavery where he spent 2 years in prison.

42:18-20 – This is the second test of the brother’s honesty that Joseph offered in the text. Again, the brothers are not given an opportunity to respond. This is not a negotiation. Joseph made the decision and began to carry out his plan.

• The consequence of not following Joseph’s instructions was death.
  • The death penalty could be from physically putting them to death or simply by not selling them grain.
• Joseph said to his brothers, “I fear God”
  • He did not say, “I too fear God.” Perhaps this is meant to contrast their leaving Joseph in prison and his own unwillingness to leave a brother in prison because he feared God.

42:21-22 – The brothers interpreted their situation with Joseph as Divine judgment

• Feeling guilty (finally) for their treatment of Joseph, the brothers came to the conclusion that they were being falsely accused as a punishment for their sin against Joseph.
• The precise statement Reuben, here, claims to have said is not recorded in Genesis 37. Here, Reuben says that he told the brothers that what they were considering against Joseph was a sin.
• Reuben seems to be trying to absolve himself of any responsibility in the selling of Joseph into slavery.
  • Even though Reuben was the oldest brother and, thus, was ultimately responsible for Joseph.
• What Reuben claims to have said is not exactly what the text records in Gen. 37:21. In that passage, he simply says, “Let us not take his life.” It was his idea to throw Joseph into a pit. Gen. 37:22 says that Reuben intended to rescue Joseph and return him to Jacob; however, Reuben inexplicably leaves allowing his brothers to sell him to the Midianite traders. So, his claim here that “you would not listen,” which implies that he was unable to persuade them is not exactly consistent with what is recorded in Genesis 37. So, at best, Reuben’s complaint is revisionist history. At worst, it is a lie to make himself look better.
• We learn a detail here that was not included in Genesis 37. Here, the brothers recalled that Joseph pled with them not to sell him into slavery. Though, they didn’t “hear” Joseph’s pleadings as they returned to their father and concocted a cruel lie; now, they seem to hear Joseph’s pleadings and can “see” his distress.

42:23 – Joseph overheard the brothers talking about him

• The presence of an interpreter hid the fact that Joseph spoke Hebrew.

42:24 – The imprisonment of Simeon parallels a previous situation with the brothers of one brother imprisoned, but the others benefit financially from it.

• The brothers also faced the identical situation as they had with Joseph. One of their brothers was imprisoned and they were returning to the father to explain it. The tension of the verse is whether or not they would once again lie to their father about his “lost” son.
• Joseph knew that the famine would last seven years. He, likely knew that they would eventually run out of grain and have to return.
  • The sad irony is that the brothers did NOT return to Egypt until they ran out of grain.
    • They did not return when they discovered that the money that they had “paid” for the grain was “mistakenly” returned to them.
    • They did not return to rescue (or even plead for) their enslaved brother
  • Why Simeon was chosen by Joseph is not stated in the text.
    • Simeon was the 2^nd son of Leah, after Reuben.
      • Some have speculated that perhaps Joseph, having overheard Reuben’s efforts to help him, that he assigned more blame to the next oldest
      • Others point to Simeon’s sin (with Levi) against the Shechemites.
    • Ultimately, the text does not answer the “why” question
  • The Hebrew simply says that, “he bound him before their eyes.”
    • It is reasonable to assume that Joseph had this done
    • Though, it is not impossible to conclude that Joseph himself bound Simeon

42:25-28 – Joseph ordered that each of the brother’s money be returned to them

• Only later in the journey did one of the brother’s (not identified) discover that their money had been returned.
• What has God done to us?
  • Isn’t this the typical response that we make when we suffer consequences for our sin?
    • God often get blamed for things that WE caused; just as we often assign ourselves credit for things HE did.

42:29-35 – The brothers recounted the events in Egypt to their father

• Unlike the episode with Joseph, they told the truth here (though they left out the part of feeling guilty for selling Joseph into slavery).
• They did ADD one component to the story that the text does not indicate. They recounted to Jacob that Joseph told them that once they proved themselves honest men that they would be allowed to “trade” in the land.
  • The brothers may have inferred this from Joseph’s instructions to them
  • Or, they may have added it to influence Jacob to allow them to return with Benjamin
  • The word, “trade” (Hb. “sachar”) is the same word used of the Midianite “traders” (37:28) who purchased Joseph from the brothers.

42:36 – Jacob blamed the brothers for already being bereaved of two of his children (Joseph and Simeon) and now accused them of wanted to jeopardize another (Benjamin)

• All these are against me
  • Jacob expressed the pain of losing children

42:37-38 – My son will not go with you!

• Reuben passionately plead to his father for his father to trust him
  • But, Jacob had lost faith in Reuben (35:22; 37:21)
    • Reuben had failed in his responsibility as the older brother to protect Joseph
    • Reuben had failed in his flagrant sin against his father in his public affair with Bilhah
  • This passage ends with the clear message from Jacob that he would not trust Reuben with the life of Benjamin!

5. Let the structure of the text drive the sermon

Exp. The passage is more about God than Joseph: God fulfilled His plan; God brought the brothers to Egypt; God convicted the brother of their guilt;

Exp. The irony of the passage is that the one thing for which God gets credit in this passage is the one thing that God didn’t do!

• God can use our circumstances and even our mistakes to bring about His plan
• Mistakes of our past can prevent courage in the present
  • Jacob felt guilty for sending Joseph to his brothers
  • Jacob held Reuben responsible for his failure with Joseph and his previous sin
• God can use our circumstances to remind us of our sin
  • Joseph may have still harbored anger towards his brothers; he may also have been concerned for the welfare of Benjamin
  • But, the Lord used the circumstances to bring appropriate guilt in the hearts of the brothers over their unrepentant sin against Joseph
  • Sometimes we try to minimize or hide our own sin, as Reuben does in this passage, but God is a righteous judge and holds us accountable.
• Believers need to be careful not to blame God when we experience consequences of our own sin
  • The brothers asked, “What is this that God has done to us?”
• Believers need to turn to God in crises