Text -- Genesis 42:28-38 (NET)

42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” They were dismayed; they turned trembling one to another and said, “What in the world has God done to us?” 42:29 They returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all the things that had happened to them, saying, 42:30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and treated us as if we were spying on the land. 42:31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies! 42:32 We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. One is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father at this time in the land of Canaan.’ 42:33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for your hungry households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’” 42:35 When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man’s bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid. 42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. And now you want to take Benjamin! Everything is against me.” 42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care and I will bring him back to you.” 42:38 But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair in sorrow to the grave.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 42:28

¹ tn Heb “and their heart went out.” Since this expression is used only here, the exact meaning is unclear. The following statement suggests that it may refer to a sudden loss of emotional strength, so “They were dismayed” adequately conveys the meaning (cf. NRSV); NIV has “Their hearts sank.”

² tn Heb “and they trembled, a man to his neighbor.”

³ tn Heb “What is this God has done to us?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question.

NET Notes: Gen 42:30

¹ tn Heb “made us.”

² tn The words “if we were” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 42:32

¹ tn Heb “twelve [were] we, brothers, sons of our father [are] we.”

² tn Heb “the one is not.”

³ tn Heb “today.”

NET Notes: Gen 42:33

¹ tn The word “grain” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 42:34

¹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.

² tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”

³ sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.

NET Notes: Gen 42:36

¹ tn Heb “is not.”

² tn Heb “is not.”

³ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.

NET Notes: Gen 42:37

¹ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.

² tn Heb “my hand.”

NET Notes: Gen 42:38

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

³ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.

⁴ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.