Genesis 43
43
Joseph’s Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin
1Now the famine in the land continued to grow more severe. 2When all the grain they had brought from Egypt was almost gone, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us more food.”
3But Judah objected, “The Egyptian warned us repeatedly, ‘You will not see my face again, unless Benjamin is with you!’ 4We’ll only go if you’ll let our brother come with us. 5If you insist he remains here, we won’t go, for the man solemnly told us, ‘You will not see my face again, unless your brother is with you!’ ” # 43:5 Jacob’s sons told him, essentially, “We won’t see Joseph’s face until he sees Benjamin.” The name Benjamin means “son of my right hand.” There is One greater than Joseph who is now waiting until he sees “the sons of his right hand,” an overcoming company of sons and daughters who will sit and reign with him in victory (see Rev. 3:21). When the church matures into the full measure of sonship, we will see him whom our soul loves.
6Israel # 43:6 Israel is the name God gave to Jacob. demanded, “Why did you make it so hard for me by telling the man you had another brother?”
7They answered him, “The man interrogated us about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We had to answer his questions! We had no idea he would say, ‘You must bring your brother here to me.’ ”
8-9Then Judah spoke up and said to Israel, “Father, I promise to guarantee his safety with my life. # 43:8–9 This was an amazing statement of sacrificial love from Judah. One day a son of Judah would come, a Lion from the tribe of Judah, Jesus, who would offer his life as a ransom for many. Only a father can understand the loss of two of his children, and Judah had experienced that loss. See Gen. 38:7, 10. You can hold me personally responsible if I don’t return with him. I’ll bear the blame before you for the rest of my life if I fail to bring him safely back to you! You have my promise. Entrust him to my care, and let us be on our way, so that we all don’t die of starvation—we and you and all our children—we will live and not die! 10And besides, if we hadn’t delayed so long, we could have gone and returned twice by now!”
11After considering their words, their father Israel said to them, “If that’s the way it has to be, then do this: Load your donkeys with the very best gifts you can find, choice products of the land, and offer them to the man. Take some balm and some honey, spices, and myrrh, # 43:11 Ironically, these items were the same things carried in the caravan that took Joseph away as a slave (see Gen. 37:25). Now they carry the same items to Joseph as tribute. pistachio nuts and almonds. 12Take double the money with you. Give him back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks, for it may have been a mistake. 13Take your brother, too, and be off! Go back to the man at once. 14May the God who is more than enough # 43:14 Or “El Shaddai.” See second footnote on Gen. 17:1. grant you mercy and favor before the man, so that he may send back both Simeon and Benjamin. As for me, if I suffer loss, then let it be so.”
15So the brothers set off for Egypt and took double the money, the many gifts, and Benjamin. Once they arrived, they presented themselves before Joseph.
Joseph Prepares a Feast for His Brothers
16When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin with them, he said to his chief servant, “Bring the men to my house and make them feel at home. Butcher an animal and prepare a meal, for these men are to dine with me at noon.” 17Joseph’s chief servant did as he was told and brought the men to Joseph’s house.
18Now the brothers were very apprehensive as they were being led inside, and said to each other, “He brought us here because of the money that was put back in our sacks the first time we came to Egypt! He’s looking for an opportunity to arrest us, turn us into his slaves, and take away our donkeys!” 19So they approached the chief servant and spoke to him at the entrance of the house. 20“If you please, my lord,” they said, “we came here once before to buy food, 21-22but on our way home, when we camped for the night and opened our sacks, we found each one’s money in the top of his bag. All our money was there in our bags! We know it must have been an oversight of some kind, and we have no clue who put it there, so we have brought it all back with us. Plus, we have additional money to buy more food.”
23“Relax,” he replied, “don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have been the one who put treasure in your bags. I have received your money; it’s all accounted for.” Then the chief servant brought Simeon out to them. 24Then he gave feed to their donkeys and brought the brothers into the house. He gave them water to drink and washed their feet. 25The men laid out their gifts to present to Joseph, for they were told he would appear before them at noon and would dine with them.
26When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought with them into the house. They each bowed low before him with their faces to the ground. 27He asked them how the family was doing, saying, “You mentioned your aging father; is he still alive? Is he doing well?”
28“Yes,” they replied, “our father, your servant, is still alive and doing well.” And they bowed low before Joseph in respect.
29Looking them over, he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said to them, “So, I see you have returned with your youngest brother, of whom you spoke. God be gracious to you, my son.” 30Joseph hastily left the room, for he was overwhelmed with feelings of love # 43:30 This is the Hebrew word racham. It is used ninety times in the Bible and almost always refers to God’s compassionate, merciful love for us. Racham is also the word for “womb.” Racham is best described as nurturing love, the love a mother would have for her children. for his brother and on the verge of tears. He went into a private room and sobbed, as tears ran down his cheeks. # 43:30 All of a sudden, this world leader, this captain over millions, collapsed inside. It was beginning to make sense to him—all the loneliness, those dark days in prison, the misunderstanding, and the pain of rejection. A family shattered for over two decades was being reunited. It took great discipline for Joseph to keep his secret from them. Joseph’s heart moved him to tears—tears of tenderness and affection for his younger brother and his long-lost family. Like a little boy again, Joseph missed his daddy. 31When he finally composed himself, he washed his face, reappeared, and ordered: “Serve the meal.”
32First, they served Joseph who was seated apart from his brothers, then the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians by themselves. (It would have been utterly offensive for the Egyptians to eat at the same table with the Hebrews.) 33Now, the brothers had been seated before Joseph in their birth order, # 43:33 What a feast was before them! They had not eaten like this for months, maybe years. As they noticed the order of seating, the brothers were amazed but still had no clue. There are 39,916,800 different orders in which eleven individuals could be seated. Did they believe he had supernatural wisdom to know their birth order? from the firstborn at one end of the table to the youngest at the other end. They were all stunned when they realized the seating arrangement and looked at each other in astonishment. 34Eleven plates of food were taken from Joseph’s table and set in front of each of them, but Benjamin’s portion was five times more than any of theirs! # 43:34 Joseph let them understand that Benjamin was his favorite, giving him a portion five times larger than the others. Five times more meat, five times more vegetables, five times more of everything! Why would Joseph have given more to Benjamin? Was he merely following the steps of his father’s favoritism that brought all of this on? No. Joseph was testing them to see if they would be jealous again. Were they truly broken? Could they endure seeing one brother favored over the others and still rejoice? Or, would they get rid of Benjamin as they had him? They feasted and drank their fill with Joseph until they all became drunk.
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Genesis 43: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationGenesis 43
43
The Brothers Go Back to Egypt
1Still no food grew in the land of Canaan. 2When Jacob’s family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again and buy a little more grain for us to eat.”
3But Judah said to Jacob, “The governor of that country strongly warned us, ‘If you don’t bring your brother back with you, you will not be allowed to see me.’ 4If you will send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But if you refuse to send Benjamin, we will not go. The governor of that country warned us that we would not see him if we didn’t bring Benjamin with us.”
6Israel said, “Why did you tell the man you had another brother? You have caused me a lot of trouble.”
7The brothers answered, “He questioned us carefully about ourselves and our family. He asked us, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. How could we know he would ask us to bring our other brother to him?”
8Then Judah said to his father Jacob, “Send Benjamin with me, and we will go at once so that we, you, and our children may live and not die. 9I will guarantee you that he will be safe, and I will be personally responsible for him. If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me all my life. 10If we had not wasted all this time, we could have already made two trips.”
11Then their father Jacob said to them, “If it has to be that way, then do this: Take some of the best foods in our land in your packs. Give them to the man as a gift: some balm, some honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12Take twice as much money with you this time, and take back the money that was returned to you in your sacks last time. Maybe it was a mistake. 13And take Benjamin with you. Now leave and go to the man. 14I pray that God Almighty will cause the governor to be merciful to you and that he will allow Simeon and Benjamin to come back with you. If I am robbed of my children, then I am robbed of them!”
15So the brothers took the gifts. They also took twice as much money as they had taken the first time, and they took Benjamin. They hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, “Bring those men into my house. Kill an animal and prepare a meal. Those men will eat with me today at noon.” 17The servant did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house.
18The brothers were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house and thought, “We were brought here because of the money that was put in our sacks on the first trip. He wants to attack us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” 19So the brothers went to the servant in charge of Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the door of the house. 20They said, “Master, we came here once before to buy food. 21While we were going home, we stopped for the night and when we opened our sacks each of us found all his money in his sack. We brought that money with us to give it back to you. 22And we have brought more money to pay for the food we want to buy this time. We don’t know who put that money in our sacks.”
23But the servant answered, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks. I got the money you paid me for the grain last time.” Then the servant brought Simeon out to them.
24The servant led the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave their donkeys food to eat. 25The men prepared their gift to give to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had heard they were going to eat with him there.
26When Joseph came home, the brothers gave him the gift they had brought into the house and bowed down to the ground in front of him. 27Joseph asked them how they were doing. He said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still alive?”
28The brothers answered, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” And they bowed low before Joseph to show him respect.
29When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, who had the same mother as he, Joseph asked, “Is this your youngest brother you told me about?” Then he said to Benjamin, “God be good to you, my son!” 30Then Joseph hurried off because he had to hold back the tears when he saw his brother Benjamin. So Joseph went into his room and cried there. 31Then he washed his face and came out. He controlled himself and said, “Serve the meal.”
32So they served Joseph at one table, his brothers at another table, and the Egyptians who ate with him at another table. This was because Egyptians did not like Hebrews and never ate with them. 33Joseph’s brothers were seated in front of him in order of their ages, from oldest to youngest. They looked at each other because they were so amazed. 34Food from Joseph’s table was taken to them, but Benjamin was given five times more food than the others. Joseph’s brothers ate and drank freely with him.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.