Genesis 42:18-24

42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say ¹  and you will live, ²  for I fear God. ³  42:19 If you are honest men, leave one of your brothers confined here in prison ⁴  while the rest of you go ⁵  and take grain back for your hungry families. ⁶  42:20 But you must bring ⁷  your youngest brother to me. Then ⁸  your words will be verified ⁹  and you will not die.” They did as he said. ¹⁰ 

42:21 They said to one other, ¹¹  “Surely we’re being punished ¹²  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ¹³  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ¹⁴  has come on us!” 42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ¹⁵  42:23 (Now ¹⁶  they did not know that Joseph could understand them, ¹⁷  for he was speaking through an interpreter.) ¹⁸  42:24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ¹⁹  he had Simeon taken ²⁰  from them and tied up ²¹  before their eyes.

[42:18]  ¹ tn Heb “Do this.”

[42:18]  ² tn After the preceding imperative, the imperative with vav (ו) can, as here, indicate logical sequence.

[42:18]  ³ sn For I fear God. Joseph brings God into the picture to awaken his brothers’ consciences. The godly person cares about the welfare of people, whether they live or die. So he will send grain back, but keep one of them in Egypt. This action contrasts with their crime of selling their brother into slavery.

[42:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “bound in the house of your prison.”

[42:19]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal.

[42:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “[for] the hunger of your households.”

[42:20]  ⁷ tn The imperfect here has an injunctive force.

[42:20]  ⁸ tn After the injunctive imperfect, this imperfect with vav indicates purpose or result.

[42:20]  ⁹ tn The Niphal form of the verb has the sense of “to be faithful; to be sure; to be reliable.” Joseph will test his brothers to see if their words are true.

[42:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they did so.”

[42:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ¹² tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ¹⁴ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.

[42:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.

[42:23]  ¹⁶ tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story.

[42:23]  ¹⁷ tn “was listening.” The brothers were not aware that Joseph could understand them as they spoke the preceding words in their native language.

[42:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for [there was] an interpreter between them.” On the meaning of the word here translated “interpreter” see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ and M. A. Canney, “The Hebrew melis (Prov IX 12; Gen XLII 2-3),” AJSL 40 (1923/24): 135-37.

[42:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he turned to them and spoke to them.”

[42:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “took Simeon.” This was probably done at Joseph’s command, however; the grand vizier of Egypt would not have personally seized a prisoner.

[42:24]  ²¹ tn Heb “and he bound him.” See the note on the preceding verb “taken.”