Bereshis 42
42
1Now when Ya'akov saw that there was shever (grain) in Mitzrayim, Ya'akov said unto his banim, Why do ye look one upon another?
2And he said, Hinei, I have heard that there is shever (grain) in Mitzrayim; get you down to there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.
3Achei Yosef asarah (Yosefʼs ten brothers) then went down to buy grain in Mitzrayim.
4But Binyamin, achi Yosef, Ya'akov sent not with his achim; for he said, Lest ason (evil, harm) befall him.
5And the Bnei Yisroel came to make purchase among those that were coming; for the ra'av (famine) was in Eretz Kena'an.
6And Yosef was the Shalit Al HaAretz, and he it was that sold to kol Am HaAretz: and Achei Yosef came, and prostrated themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
7And Yosef saw his achim, and he recognized them, but made himself a stranger unto them, and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, From where come ye? And they said, From Eretz Kena'an to buy ochel.
8And Yosef recognized his achim, but they recognized not him.
9And Yosef remembered the chalomot which he dreamed about them, and said unto them, Ye are meragelim (spies); to see the ervat ha'aretz (nakedness of the land) ye came.
10And they said unto him, Lo, adoni, but to buy okhel are thy avadim come.
11We are all bnei ish echad; we are truthful ones, thy avadim are no meragelim.
12And he said unto them, Lo, but to see the ervat ha'aretz ye came.
13And they said, Thy avadim are Shneym Asar Achim, the bnei ish echad in Eretz Kena'an; and, hinei, the katon is today with Avinu, and one is not.
14And Yosef said unto them, That is it just as I spoke unto you, Ye are meragelim;
15Hereby ye shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth from here, except achichem hakaton (your youngest brother) come here.
16Send one of you, and let him bring back achichem, and ye shall be kept prisoner, that your words may be tested, whether there be any emes in you; or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are meragelim (spies).
17And he put them all together el-mishmar (in custody) shloshet yamim.
18And Yosef said unto them on the Yom HaShlishi,#42:18 See 1C 15:4 This do, and live; for I fear HaElohim:
19If ye be truthful ones, let one of your achim be bound in your bais mishmar; go ye, carry grain for the ra'avon (famine of) bateichem (your house);
20But bring achichem hakaton unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
21And they said one to another, Surely we are ashemim (guilty ones) because of achinu (our brother), in that we saw the tzoros of his nefesh, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this tzoros come upon us.
22And Reuven answered them, saying, Spoke I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the yeled; and ye would not hear? Therefore, hinei, the accounting for his dahm is required [of us].#42:22 See Mt 27:25
23And they had no da'as that Yosef understood them; for he spoke unto them by the melitz (go-between, interpreter).
24And he turned himself away from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and spoke with them, and took from them Shim'on, and bound him before their eyes.
25Then Yosef commanded to fill their kelim with grain, and to restore every manʼs kesef into his sack, and to give them provision for the derech; and thus did he unto them.
26And they loaded their chamorim with the grain, and departed from there.
27And as one of them opened his sack to get feed for his chamor in the malon (inn), he saw his kesef; for, hinei, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28And he said unto his achim, My kesef is restored; and, hinei, it is even in my sack; and their lev failed them, and they shook with fear, saying one to another, What is this that Elohim hath done unto us?
29And they came unto Ya'akov Avihem in Eretz Kena'an, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
30The ish, who is adonei HaAretz, spoke roughly to us, and took us for meragelim HaAretz.
31And we said unto him, We are truthful ones; we are no meragelim;
32We are Shneym Asar Achim, Bnei Avinu; one is not, and the katon is today with Avinu in Eretz Kena'an.
33And the ish, adonei HaAretz, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are truthful ones; leave one of your achim here with me, and that which is needful for the ra'avon bateichem (famine of your houses), take and be gone;
34And bring achichem hakaton unto me; then shall I know that ye are not meragelim, but that ye are truthful ones: so will I restore you achichem, and ye shall freely trade in the land.
35And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, hinei, every manʼs pouch of kesef was in his sack; and when both they and Avihem saw the pouches of kesef, they were afraid.
36And Ya'akov Avihem said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children; Yosef is not, and Shim'on is not, and ye will take Binyamin away; all these things are against me.
37And Reuven spoke unto Aviv, saying, Slay my two banim, if I bring him not to thee; entrust him into my yad, and I will bring him to thee again.
38And he said, Beni (my son) shall not go down with you; for achiv is dead, and he is left alone; if ason (harm, evil) befall him on the derech in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hair in yagon (sorrow) to Sheol.
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Bereshis 42: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 42
42
Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt
1When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, # Ac 7:12 he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at each other? 2Listen,” he went on, “I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die.” # Gn 43:8 3So 10 of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.”
5The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. # Gn 37:7-10; 41:43; Is 60:14 7When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.
“Where do you come from? ” he asked.
“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.
8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9Joseph remembered his dreams about them # Gn 37:5-11 and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness # Lit nakedness of the land.”
10“No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said. 11“We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies.”
12“No,” he said to them. “You have come to see the weakness of the land.”
13But they replied, “We, your servants, were 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now # Or today with our father, and one is no longer living.”
14Then Joseph said to them, “I have spoken: # Lit “That which I spoke to you saying ‘You are spies! ’ 15This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies! ” 17So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.
18On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God # Gn 39:9; Lv 25:43; Neh 5:15 — do this and you will live. 19If you are honest, let one of you # Lit your brothers be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households. 20Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.
21Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.” # Gn 37:26-28
22But Reuben replied: “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? # Gn 37:22 But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood! ” # Lit Even his blood is being sought
23They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. 24He turned away from them and wept. Then he turned back and spoke to them. He took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. 25Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man’s money to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out. 26They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.
The Brothers Return Home
27At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his money there at the top of the bag. 28He said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us? ”
29When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them: 30“The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. 31But we told him: We are honest and not spies. 32We were 12 brothers, sons of the same # Lit of our father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now # Or today with our father in the land of Canaan. 33The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. 34Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’ ”
35As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of money! When they and their father saw their bags of money, they were afraid.
36Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me! ”
37Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my care, # Lit hand and I will return him to you.”
38But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. # Gn 37:33-34; 42:13; 44:27-28 If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.” # Gn 44:29
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