Genesis 44:1-34

The Final Test

44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. 44:2 Then put ¹  my cup – the silver cup – in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” He did as Joseph instructed. ² 

44:3 When morning came, ³  the men and their donkeys were sent off. ⁴  44:4 They had not gone very far from the city ⁵  when Joseph said ⁶  to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! ⁷  When you overtake ⁸  them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 44:5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup ⁹  and use it for divination? ¹⁰  You have done wrong!’” ¹¹ 

44:6 When the man ¹²  overtook them, he spoke these words to them. 44:7 They answered him, “Why does my lord say such things? ¹³  Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ¹⁴  44:8 Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 44:9 If one of us has it, ¹⁵  he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves!”

44:10 He replied, “You have suggested your own punishment! ¹⁶  The one who has it will become my slave, ¹⁷  but the rest of ¹⁸  you will go free.” ¹⁹  44:11 So each man quickly lowered ²⁰  his sack to the ground and opened it. 44:12 Then the man ²¹  searched. He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! 44:13 They all tore their clothes! Then each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

44:14 So Judah and his brothers ²²  came back to Joseph’s house. He was still there, ²³  and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ²⁴  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ²⁵ 

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ²⁶  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ²⁷  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ²⁸  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of ²⁹  you may go back ³⁰  to your father in peace.”

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ³¹  Please do not get angry with your servant, ³²  for you are just like Pharaoh. ³³  44:19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ³⁴  The boy’s ³⁵  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ³⁶  and his father loves him.’

44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see ³⁷  him.’ ³⁸  44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father ³⁹  will die.’ ⁴⁰  44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 44:24 When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

44:25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 44:26 But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. ⁴¹  If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, ⁴²  for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. ⁴³  44:28 The first disappeared ⁴⁴  and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. 44:29 If you take ⁴⁵  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ⁴⁶  in tragedy ⁴⁷  to the grave.’ ⁴⁸ 

44:30 “So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ⁴⁹  44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ⁵⁰  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave. 44:32 Indeed, ⁵¹  your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’

44:33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers. 44:34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see ⁵²  my father’s pain.” ⁵³ 

Genesis 1:11

1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: ⁵⁴  plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, ⁵⁵  and ⁵⁶  trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so.

Genesis 3:19

3:19 By the sweat of your brow ⁵⁷  you will eat food

until you return to the ground, ⁵⁸ 

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” ⁵⁹ 

Genesis 8:1

8:1 But God remembered ⁶⁰  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ⁶¹  the earth and the waters receded.

Genesis 8:1

8:1 But God remembered ⁶²  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ⁶³  the earth and the waters receded.

Genesis 12:1

The Obedience of Abram

12:1 Now the Lord said ⁶⁴  to Abram, ⁶⁵ 

“Go out ⁶⁶  from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household

to the land that I will show you. ⁶⁷ 

Psalms 81:11

81:11 But my people did not obey me; ⁶⁸ 

Israel did not submit to me. ⁶⁹ 

Isaiah 49:7

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector ⁷⁰  of Israel, their Holy One, ⁷¹  says

to the one who is despised ⁷²  and rejected ⁷³  by nations, ⁷⁴ 

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect, ⁷⁵ 

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ⁷⁶ 

Is my hand too weak ⁷⁷  to deliver ⁷⁸  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁷⁹  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ⁸⁰ 

Isaiah 53:1-3

53:1 Who would have believed ⁸¹  what we ⁸²  just heard? ⁸³ 

When ⁸⁴  was the Lord’s power ⁸⁵  revealed through him?

53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, ⁸⁶ 

like a root out of parched soil; ⁸⁷ 

he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, ⁸⁸ 

no special appearance that we should want to follow him. ⁸⁹ 

53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, ⁹⁰ 

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him; ⁹¹ 

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ⁹² 

Matthew 22:3

22:3 He sent his slaves ⁹³  to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come.

Matthew 23:37

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ⁹⁴  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ⁹⁵  How often I have longed ⁹⁶  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ⁹⁷  you would have none of it! ⁹⁸ 

Revelation 22:17

22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.

[44:2]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express Joseph’s instructions.

[44:2]  ² tn Heb “and he did according to the word of Joseph which he spoke.”

[44:3]  ³ tn Heb “the morning was light.”

[44:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the men were sent off, they and their donkeys.” This clause, like the preceding one, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.

[44:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”

[44:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.

[44:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

[44:4]  ⁸ tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”

[44:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Is this not what my master drinks from.” The word “cup” is not in the Hebrew text, but is obviously the referent of “this,” and so has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[44:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he, divining, divines with it.” The infinitive absolute is emphatic, stressing the importance of the cup to Joseph.

[44:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you have caused to be evil what you have done.”

[44:6]  ¹² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Why does my lord speak according to these words?”

[44:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “according to this thing.”

[44:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “The one with whom it is found from your servants.” Here “your servants” (a deferential way of referring to the brothers themselves) has been translated by the pronoun “us” to avoid confusion with Joseph’s servants.

[44:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Also now, according to your words, so it is.” As the next statement indicates, this does mean that he will do exactly as they say. He does agree with them the culprit should be punished, but not as harshly as they suggest. Furthermore, the innocent parties will not be punished.

[44:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The one with whom it is found will become my slave.”

[44:10]  ¹⁸ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:10]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew word נָקִי (naqi) means “acquitted,” that is, free of guilt and the responsibility for it.

[44:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and they hurried and they lowered.” Their speed in doing this shows their presumption of innocence.

[44:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:14]  ²² sn Judah and his brothers. The narrative is already beginning to bring Judah to the forefront.

[44:14]  ²³ tn The disjunctive clause here provides supplemental information.

[44:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”

[44:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.

[44:16]  ²⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ²⁷ tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ²⁸ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[44:17]  ²⁹ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “up” (reflecting directions from their point of view – “up” to Canaan; “down” to Egypt).

[44:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”

[44:18]  ³² tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”

[44:18]  ³³ sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.

[44:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ³⁶ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”

[44:21]  ³⁷ tn The cohortative after the imperative indicates purpose here.

[44:21]  ³⁸ tn Heb “that I may set my eyes upon him.”

[44:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:22]  ⁴⁰ tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.

[44:26]  ⁴¹ tn The direct object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but is implied; “there” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:26]  ⁴² tn Heb “go down.”

[44:27]  ⁴³ tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”

[44:28]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “went forth from me.”

[44:29]  ⁴⁵ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

[44:29]  ⁴⁶ 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. See Gen 42:38.

[44:29]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

[44:29]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[44:30]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “his life is bound up in his life.”

[44:31]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”

[44:32]  ⁵¹ tn Or “for.”

[44:34]  ⁵² tn The Hebrew text has “lest I see,” which expresses a negative purpose – “I cannot go up lest I see.”

[44:34]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the calamity which would find my father.”

[1:11]  ⁵⁴ tn The Hebrew construction employs a cognate accusative, where the nominal object (“vegetation”) derives from the verbal root employed. It stresses the abundant productivity that God created.

[1:11]  ⁵⁵ sn After their kinds. The Hebrew word translated “kind” (מִין, min) indicates again that God was concerned with defining and dividing time, space, and species. The point is that creation was with order, as opposed to chaos. And what God created and distinguished with boundaries was not to be confused (see Lev 19:19 and Deut 22:9-11).

[1:11]  ⁵⁶ tn The conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the relationship of the clauses.

[3:19]  ⁵⁷ tn The expression “the sweat of your brow” is a metonymy, the sweat being the result of painful toil in the fields.

[3:19]  ⁵⁸ sn Until you return to the ground. The theme of humankind’s mortality is critical here in view of the temptation to be like God. Man will labor painfully to provide food, obviously not enjoying the bounty that creation promised. In place of the abundance of the orchard’s fruit trees, thorns and thistles will grow. Man will have to work the soil so that it will produce the grain to make bread. This will continue until he returns to the soil from which he was taken (recalling the creation in 2:7 with the wordplay on Adam and ground). In spite of the dreams of immortality and divinity, man is but dust (2:7), and will return to dust. So much for his pride.

[3:19]  ⁵⁹ sn In general, the themes of the curse oracles are important in the NT teaching that Jesus became the cursed one hanging on the tree. In his suffering and death, all the motifs are drawn together: the tree, the sweat, the thorns, and the dust of death (see Ps 22:15). Jesus experienced it all, to have victory over it through the resurrection.

[8:1]  ⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).

[8:1]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “to pass over.”

[8:1]  ⁶² tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).

[8:1]  ⁶³ tn Heb “to pass over.”

[12:1]  ⁶⁴ sn The Lord called Abram while he was in Ur (see Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2); but the sequence here makes it look like it was after the family left to migrate to Canaan (11:31-32). Genesis records the call of Abram at this place in the narrative because it is the formal beginning of the account of Abram. The record of Terah was brought to its end before this beginning.

[12:1]  ⁶⁵ tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.

[12:1]  ⁶⁶ tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”

[12:1]  ⁶⁷ sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the Lord. The command is to leave. The Lord’s word is very specific about what Abram is to leave (the three prepositional phrases narrow to his father’s household), but is not specific at all about where he is to go. God required faith, a point that Heb 11:8 notes.

[81:11]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”

[81:11]  ⁶⁹ tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).

[49:7]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:7]  ⁷¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[49:7]  ⁷² tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a לבזוי, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, לִבְזוּי (livzuy, “to the one despised with respect to life” [נֶפֶשׁ is a genitive of specification]). The consonantal sequence וי was probably misread as ה in the MT tradition. The contextual argument favors the 1QIsa^a reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”

[49:7]  ⁷³ tn MT’s Piel participle (“to the one who rejects”) does not fit contextually. The form should be revocalized as a Pual, “to the one rejected.”

[49:7]  ⁷⁴ tn Parallelism (see “rulers,” “kings,” “princes”) suggests that the singular גּוֹי (goy) be emended to a plural or understood in a collective sense (see 55:5).

[49:7]  ⁷⁵ tn For this sense of קוּם (qum), see Gen 19:1; 23:7; 33:10; Lev 19:32; 1 Sam 20:41; 25:41; 1 Kgs 2:19; Job 29:8.

[50:2]  ⁷⁶ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[53:1]  ⁸¹ tn The perfect has a hypothetical force in this rhetorical question. For another example, see Gen 21:7.

[53:1]  ⁸² sn The speaker shifts here from God to an unidentified group (note the first person plural pronouns throughout vv. 1-6). The content of the speech suggests that the prophet speaks here as representative of the sinful nation Israel. The group acknowledges its sin and recognizes that the servant suffered on their behalf.

[53:1]  ⁸³ tn The first half of v. 1 is traditionally translated, “Who has believed our report?” or “Who has believed our message?” as if the group speaking is lamenting that no one will believe what they have to say. But that doesn’t seem to be the point in this context. Here the group speaking does not cast itself in the role of a preacher or evangelist. No, they are repentant sinners, who finally see the light. The phrase “our report” can mean (1) the report which we deliver, or (2) the report which was delivered to us. The latter fits better here, where the report is most naturally taken as the announcement that has just been made in 52:13-15.

[53:1]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “to whom” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[53:1]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “the arm of the Lord.” The “arm of the Lord” is a metaphor of military power; it pictures the Lord as a warrior who bares his arm, takes up his weapon, and crushes his enemies (cf. 51:9-10; 63:5-6). But Israel had not seen the Lord’s military power at work in the servant.

[53:2]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 173-74.

[53:2]  ⁸⁷ sn The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.

[53:2]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[53:2]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[53:3]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 HT [39:4 ET]).

[53:3]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see BDB 712 s.v. מַסְתֵּר).

[53:3]  ⁹² sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.

[22:3]  ⁹³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[23:37]  ⁹⁴ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ⁹⁵ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ⁹⁶ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ⁹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ⁹⁸ tn Grk “you were not willing.”